Chapter 5: Armor Upgrade? No, This is a Brush!

“A dream...” Zag’giel sat on his cold iron throne and muttered to himself.

He knew his body was still that pitiful furball thing. He had no knees to properly cross his legs, and his arms were too stubby to prop up on an elbow rest. Therefore, because he sat as he once could in his true form, this must be a dream. Moreover, he could remember well the cold air of his throne room and its scent—the scent of stone, scarred by sword marks, steeped in blood. It was here that he had sat when he ruled the Dark Continent in those far-off days, when there had been peace and prosperity among demonkind.

It was likely a dream of that day, one hundred years after he had taken the throne. If that was the case, he knew well what was about to happen next. Right on cue a formless voice, divine and feminine, addressed him.

“Zag’giel, King of Demons. Why do you not make war on the land where humans live? Have not all Demon Kings who have claimed rulership of the Dark Continent prior to yourself led their armies to the human continent?”

Zag’giel was fully aware who this voice was, and because he knew, he could not keep himself from laughing with scorn.

“Why do we not make war on the human realm, you ask? Hah. Rather, we would ask you, Goddess, you who are the friend of humanity, why such a thing interests you so? Is it not better that we avoid disturbing the peace between our peoples?”

The Goddess fell silent. It seemed Zag’giel had touched a nerve.

“We tire of endless war. That was the very reason we brought unity to the Dark Continent. Our land does not lack in natural resources. We have no need to rob and plunder. Now that the continent is pacified under our control, we have time to develop our civilization. Why need we cause a new conflict with the humans?”

“You are king of the cruel and savage demonkind—the Demon King—are you not?”

“We are the King of Demons. One who is king must needs keep his thoughts ever on the good of his people. Perhaps, as a demon, we may grow bored with this life of peace, but for now we have had our fill of conflict, courtesy of the war for unification. Now is the time to recover our strength and heal our people. In such a way shall we build a kingdom to last a thousand years.”

Zag’giel wanted to do what no demon had done in history.

“Are you serious? Now that you are Demon King, you should be possessed of an irrepressible hatred toward humanity. How have you managed to endure it?!”

“And now you show your true colors. We have endured it, Goddess, because we see through your plot!”

Indeed, there was a horrible vortex of wicked desires in his mind. But because he understood that these were not his own, he had been able to push them into a small corner of his consciousness.

“The Demon Kings before us slaughtered humans without so much as a reason. And every time, the slaughter gave rise to a Hero who could oppose them. For years and years, you have caused this cycle to repeat.”

“H-How much do you know?!”

“We know nothing,” said Zag’giel, looking up at the ceiling as if glaring down the heavens themselves, “save that to you higher beings, humankind serves as food, and we demons are but an efficacious scythe for your harvest of souls. When their numbers grow great, you reap. When they decline, you raise up more. We have no desire to be subsumed by your worthless, abysmal system. We shall rule the world by our own will alone. Do not take us lightly, evil spirit who dares pretend to the name Goddess!”

He twisted his mouth into a grimace, baring his fangs.

“I see. Understood. I have determined that you are of no further use to me. I must reconsider my choice of Demon King.”

“You are no longer hiding your nature, then. What can you, who can do naught but give revelations, hope to do against us?” He spoke mockingly, but his opponent was a higher being—a phantom who existed on a separate plane of reality. Zag’giel clenched his fists and channeled the magic power in his body.

When she replied, the Goddess’s voice was dripping with melodramatic pity.

“Zag’giel, King of Demons, your wicked heart knows nothing of compassion. To you, I will send a trial.”

“A trial? What is it that you speak of?”

“Drunk on your own power, you do whatsoever you please and torment the people to no end. As a Goddess, I cannot allow such conduct to pass uncorrected.”

The Goddess’s words were the complete opposite of the implications from the earlier conversation, and Zag’giel knitted his brows. Suddenly it hit him.

“You fiend! You intend to have your way with us under the pretense of divine trial!”

“Your trial will be strenuous. You will be stripped of the whole of your power and live among the lesser beings. However, the gods are benevolent. They do not bestow trials that cannot be overcome.”

“Gh!” Zag’giel cried. “Our body! It is so hot, it feels that it might melt!”

His body temperature rose dramatically, while his line of sight grew closer and closer to the ground. His legs and arms grew shorter, and his whole body became covered in black fur. Even his voice failed him.

“Your trial is this,” the Goddess continued. “Obtain the love of one million beings. Cruel king who knows not love, you must learn to love and be loved in turn.”

A sacred light shone down from the ceiling, and a seed shaped like a walnut floated down from the heavens.

“When this seed buds and blooms, your curse shall be lifted and you shall return to your original form. However, until then you must remain in the body of this pitiful creature. It may be difficult to obtain the love of one million beings in such a state, but I believe that you can overcome this trial. I await the day you are able to learn to be a kind, gentle Demon King.”

“Scoundrel! This is meant to be a trial?! It amounts to no more than a coward’s curse! An evil spirit the likes of miu—!” Zag’giel suddenly found that the only words he could form were the cries of the little catlike creature he had become. “Miu! Miu!” He tumbled down from his throne.

Zag’giel stood up on unsteady legs and reached out with his stubby paws to grab the seed. But before he could reach it, someone else reached down to pick it up.

“I thought it sounded like something strange was happening in here, but I never imagined...”

“Z-Zarbok!” Zag’giel cried.

Zarbok looked down at Zag’giel. His sunken eyes shone out of his sickly, emaciated face. “Hm...” he pondered. He looked over the seed, setting it on the palm of his hand. “This does not seem to be the origin of the curse. It seems more of a way to gauge how close the curse is to being released. I doubt anything would happen were I to destroy it.”

“We see,” said Zag’giel. “However, we are heartened indeed that you, our right hand, are so quick to understand the situation. The love of a million, that blasted Goddess said. Fool. She has underestimated our support among demonkind. If you, our chancellor, were to vouchsafe our identity—that even in this form we are yet the Demon King Zag’giel—then this curse of hers would be broken in an instant.”

Zarbok raised an eyebrow. “Oh?” he said. “How peculiar. I do not see the Demon King Zag’giel anywhere!”

“Zarbok! What are you saying? You heard the conversation between ourself and the Goddess, did you not? We are Zag’giel! We are the King of Demons!”

“Enough of your mewing! You are a strange beast. I certainly do not know of you.”

“Wh—?! Zarbok! You mean to betray us?!”

“Guards!” Zarbok shouted, ignoring Zag’giel’s angry words completely. “There is no sign of the Demon King Zag’giel! Do something!”

Guards in armor opened the heavy door and entered. “Wh-What in the hells? Chancellor Zarbok, where did His Infernal Majesty go?!”

“That is your job to find out!” Zarbok rebuked them. “Do not neglect your duties, lest a strict punishment await you!” The guards shrank back at Zarbok’s words. “However,” he continued, “the hunt for the Demon King must come first. Send word all throughout the land! His Infernal Majesty must be found!”

“Yes sir!”

Zarbok sneered at the guards bowing in front of him. They didn’t suspect a thing.

“Oh, one more thing,” he said. “A pest got inside the castle. Have it disposed of outside.”

He picked Zag’giel up by the scruff of his neck and thrust him at the guards.

“W-Wait!” Zag’giel shouted. “We are— Ghak!” Zag’giel spasmed, and lost consciousness.

“It may be infected with some disease,” Zarbok said, “so go ahead and have it killed.” The furball was smoking—Zarbok had shocked it with lightning magic. He shoved it off onto the guards. The guards looked suspicious, but they took it, bowed, and left.

When they were gone, Zarbok sat down on Zag’giel’s throne and propped up his elbow. He snickered cunningly. “What fortune!” he said. “I had almost given up on becoming the Demon King, when the throne simply fell into my lap!”

Zarbok had always intended to betray Zag’giel, but the Demon King had never left him an opening. He had just about lost hope when this squabble took place. He could only be grateful to the Goddess.

“Come to think of it,” he said, “that Goddess said that she would reconsider her choice of Demon King. I do not know what her game is, but that she wishes to plunge the world back into war is enough. Loot! Slaughter! That is a demon’s true desire! And she would let us indulge in those all we please!”

Turning the seed over in his hand, Zarbok laughed, and laughed.

† † †

Thereafter, Zag’giel lived in hell. He was stabbed again and again by his loyal guards, lit on fire, and disposed of with the castle’s waste. But somehow, he escaped with his life. The body he had been cursed with was weak and frail, but perhaps the curse itself did not allow him to die.

Chased out of the castle, he tried to approach a number of demons, but none of them would believe that he was the king. They treated him rather harshly. Zag’giel was stepped on, laughed at, and even injured for sport. For hundreds of years, that was his life. For sustenance, he drank muddy water and ate grass and bugs. It was miserable. Torturous.

As the centuries passed, both his hatred for the Goddess and his anger at his subordinate who had betrayed him began to fade. He simply spent his days wandering. He didn’t even know why he continued to live. One day, he lost all hope of ever returning to his original body and threw himself into the sea.

The current carried him to the human continent, but nothing was different for him there. After all, his body was too weak to defeat a slime. His tormentors had changed, but his life of torment had not. However, one day, something a little unusual happened.

“Gugeyeyey! What’s wrong, Your Infernal Majesty?!”

“This is the former king?! No way! He’s much too weak!” The rocs circled in the air, cackling with earsplitting laughter.

“Y-You—!” Zag’giel staggered backward, squinting as he looked up. But all that came from his mouth was a feeble, kitten-like “miu miu!”

“Stubborn though, isn’t he?!” said one of the birds, turning to shout at Zag’giel. “I’ve had about enough of playing with you. Why don’t you go ahead and die already! Then we can finish our mission!”

“Maybe it’s ’cause he’s the former king! He’s got no claws or fangs, and his whole body is a soft, pudgy ball of fluff, but he just won’t die!”

The rocs were correct. He should have been long dead already in the face of their relentless assault, but he wasn’t. As weak as his body was, Zag’giel could not die, even if he wanted to. He was every bit as powerless as he looked, but his pathetic body nonetheless had infinite vitality. This was part of the Goddess’s curse. No matter what wounds he received; no matter what poison he was dosed with; no matter if you drowned him or burned him or ate him, Zag’giel would not die. He would survive and experience the agony in full. It was a terrible fate.

Unlike the others who had attacked him day after day in the living hell that was his life, however, these attackers were somewhat different. They somehow knew who Zag’giel was, and seemed to be working under someone’s orders. It was baffling. What did they hope to accomplish by killing him now, now that he had lost his power? In fact, if they could kill him, he would welcome it. Zag’giel was tired of his wretched and lonely life.

But then—

“That’s enough!” Someone stepped between Zag’giel and the rocs—a beautiful young lady. It looked for all the world like she was protecting him. “You will harm the fluff no further!” she said, her voice full of brilliant conviction. “I won’t allow it!”

The girl struck down the rocs who had been attacking him in an instant, and while Zag’giel was still recovering from the shock, she healed his wounds as well. Nobody had shown him such kindness in centuries—perhaps even in his whole life. She held him and gently stroked his fur. He had never imagined that the touch of another being could feel so warm and so good. He looked up at her and met her eyes with his big black pupils. “Yes?” the girl asked, smiling gently.

“We...” Zag’giel began, but he couldn’t think of what to say. Looking at this girl’s smile, he felt like his body was growing warm and floaty. His chest felt tight. After hundreds of years suffering under the curse, Zag’giel had finally, for the first time, felt the touch of love.

† † †

It was an unpleasant dream, nostalgic as it was, but at least it had ended with salvation. As he slowly came to consciousness, he felt like he was still wrapped in Kanata’s embrace from his dream. The warmth of her skin—it was the thing he had been seeking all those years. Those centuries he had spent as the very weakest of magic beasts had worn him down. He had experienced unbearable pain and suffered the agony of starvation many, many times. He had even started considering bowing down before that arrogant Goddess and begging for forgiveness, when Kanata had come gallantly to his rescue, offering him her hand as if it was the most obvious thing to do in the world. She could not imagine how much the warmth of her arms served to heal his weary heart.

Zag’giel roused himself. Next to him, a young woman with black hair was sleeping silently. Kanata Aldezia. With her perfectly composed features, she seemed cold as ice when she was silent. But the moment she opened her mouth, that perception would flip. She was a strange and amusing girl—exactly the kind of girl who would, despite all her genius, choose a useless magic beast like Zag’giel as her partner. He had no words to express his gratitude to her.

“Kanata,” Zag’giel said. “For you, we would do anything.” He brushed the hair off of her cheeks as he made his vow.

“Really?!” Kanata’s eyes snapped wide open, and she bolted up, wide awake. It seemed like she had heard him. Her sudden movement launched Zag’giel into the air, and Kanata caught him in her arms, pressing his soft belly against her face. “Anything? Anything at all?!”

“A-Ah. Indeed. We did say those words...” He patted her head as she ground her face into his body, thinking that perhaps his earlier statement had been a mistake.

“So then! So then!” said Kanata. “I can fluff-fluff you this way or that way?! All the ways I’ve been holding back on?!”

“You have been holding back?!” Kanata had relentlessly spoiled Zag’giel in all sorts of ways unbecoming of a human, but she had been holding back? In what ways could a Kanata who was no longer restraining herself possibly touch him?! Zag’giel’s face spasmed. “Wh-When we said anything, we meant mainly in terms of battle... We suspect that your anything and ours differ in some—”

Zag’giel tried to correct his earlier error and push Kanata’s face off of his belly, but it wasn’t very effective. Kanata’s fluff-fluff mode had been switched on.

“Zaggy! Zaggy! Zaggy! Zaggy Zaggy Zaggy Zaggy Zaggy Zaggyzaggyzaggy Zaaaaaggyyyyy!”

“K-Kanata! Calm yourself! Kanataaaaaaaa!”

Mere words could not express the level of fluffing that Kanata gave Zag’giel that morning.

† † †

“La la la~♪” Kanata sang as she walked cheerfully through the streets. Zag’giel was flopped on her right shoulder, having been wrung out like a towel. “I’ve got my daily supply of Zaggyite, and I’m good to go!”

What in the world was Zaggyite? Zag’giel was curious, but his instincts were telling him not to ask.

“Be that as it may,” he said, “we have received our reward for our work with the guild. There is now nothing stopping us from making preparations for our journey.”

“Yeah!” said Kanata. “Finally!”

Today was the day they would gear up. Kanata was full of motivation, and, unlike last time, her purse was full of money. She had received a large sum of money for yesterday’s request to clean the sewer. After all, the terms of the request were three copper coins per stride-length cleaned, and Kanata had purified the sewer almost in its entirety. The kingdom had set those terms out of stinginess, but now they worked to her advantage.

The reward Kanata was entitled to from the kingdom’s government office was no less than six hundred gold. It was a ridiculous amount of money—enough to make the official who posted the request beg on his knees and cry. It was only thanks to Kanata’s generous handling of the situation that the official hadn’t been fired with extreme prejudice. More than eighty percent of the reward would be spent on Kanata’s plan to improve conditions in Undertown. If it went well, it would also resolve an issue that had been troubling the office for many long years. As far as the official was concerned, Kanata was a Saint.

Although her reward had been substantially reduced, she was still left with one hundred gold coins—more than enough to get ready for their journey. “Melissa told me that they sell high-quality tents and sleeping bags at the guild, so let’s start by looking for rations!” Kanata said.

Melissa, the receptionist for the Adventurers’ Guild, had been happy to recommend the tents and sleeping bags, but had cautioned her in the strongest terms against buying the guild’s preserved food. She’d had a haunted look in her eyes as she spoke.

The hard rations sold at the guild were of the very highest quality. Each rectangular brick, about the size of a fist, had enough calories to last an entire day. For adventurers whose jobs took them on long trips, they were a lifesaver just in terms of reducing encumbrance. They were high in nutrition and could be stored for years at room temperature without going bad. As rations, they were perfect. Perfect, that is, except for taste.

Those who had tasted the rations agreed. The flavor was a mix of dried vomit, a dirty rag someone had used to wipe up spilled milk and then left in the sun, and grass that a dog had used as a toilet. They were cheap, and a lifesaver for low-ranking adventurers without much money, but nobody who had any other options wanted to eat the stuff. Melissa, of course, had had plenty of experience with the guild’s rations during her time as an adventurer. She mercifully took it upon herself as Kanata’s senior to save her promising junior from the same terrible fate.

“Agreed,” said Zag’giel. “Rations are an essential item. However, so too is our equipment. You do not mean to set out on a journey in that outfit, do you?”

“Hm?” asked Kanata. “It’s kinda cute, though.”

“Y-Yes, you speak true. Even we can see the cuteness of that outfit. However, it leaves something wanting in the way of defense, does it not?”

Kanata was still wearing her school uniform from the Lulualas Academy for Girls. It was a stylish and well-made outfit, but it was not designed to stand up to a long journey. Outside the walls of the Royal Capital, the land was crawling with bandits and horrible magic beasts. No matter how strong Kanata was, Zag’giel thought it would be dangerous to leave without a sword and armor.

“Yeah, okay!” said Kanata. “If you say so, Zaggy, I’ll find the strongest armor in the city!”

“We are glad that you have seen reason. And fortunately, there is an equipment shop nearby. We should go inside.”

“Okay! Let’s start by getting some armor.”

Kanata opened the door and stepped inside the shop they had happened upon. “Excuse me!” she cried.

“Welcome!” The cheerful shopkeeper greeted them with a big smile. “Well, aren’t you an adorable young lady! If you’re looking for a sword, we have some lightweight ones. And we just received a shipment of mythril armor! It’s very light and easy to wear.”

Kanata handed the shopkeeper a leather bag stuffed full of coins. “Give me the best armor I can get for this much money, please!” she said.

“Oh!” The shopkeeper rubbed her hands together, coins in her eyes as she counted Kanata’s gold. It had been a long time since she’d had such a big customer. “This much money could get you some top-tier armor, miss! Now, come this way and let’s get you fitted.”

“Thank you!” said Kanata. She bowed her head and held something out for the shopkeeper, who had just picked up her measuring tape. It was Zag’giel.

“Kanata?!” said Zag’giel.

“Miss?” asked the shopkeeper. Both of them stared blankly at her.

Kanata beamed. “Please give this baby the best armor you can!”

† † †

Zag’giel’s soft body dangled down from Kanata’s hands like a piece of mochi.

“Armor...for this cat? Armor for a cat to wear?” The shopkeeper cocked her head as she looked dubiously at Zag’giel.

“Hmph!” Zag’giel huffed, indignant. “Insolence! We are no cat!”

The shopkeeper was astonished. “I-It speaks! Is that a magic beast?!”

“Yes!” said Kanata. “He’s my precious companion!”

“A magic beast for a companion?!” The shopkeeper balked. “Then...miss, are you a Beast Tamer?”

“I am!” said Kanata, holding her head high with pride as she declared her low-ranking Profession. “I am a brand-new Beast Tamer!”

At once, the shopkeeper understood why the girl had a magic beast with her and was seized by a whole new anxiety. Beast Tamer was a Profession revealed, in the gods’ magnanimity, to great numbers of petitioners at their Selection Ceremony, even if they had no skills or talents at all. However, very few people chose to become a Beast Tamer in actuality. While the Profession did allow you to befriend magic beasts, it would only work on beasts weaker than the tamer themself, and the substantial penalty it applied to all abilities was well known. It was not very useful to an adventurer. The most that could be expected of Beast Tamers would be picking medicinal herbs or cleaning sewers.

For a Beast Tamer to have this much money to buy equipment was absurd. The shopkeeper thought back to the bag Kanata had given her. The gold was the correct weight, so it most likely wasn’t fake. This girl certainly seemed to have the means to pay. Her outfit was well tailored too. In fact, on second inspection, she seemed to be wearing the uniform of the Lulualas Academy for Girls. Most likely this was an upper-class girl, who had chosen to become a Beast Tamer out of some adventurous impulse or rebellion toward her parents. Nobility had it easy no matter what Profession they chose. That made sense. This must be nothing more than the idle hobby of a rich girl. Or so the shopkeeper believed, ignorant of the truth.

“But...armor for a magic beast...” the shopkeeper said. In all her work at this shop, she had never been asked to make armor for a magic beast before. Most Beast Tamers would prioritize their own defense, to compensate for their ability penalty. She had never imagined that there would be someone so eccentric as to put their companion’s defense above their own. Still, to say she couldn’t do it after having taken the request would damage the good name of the shop. “A-All right,” she said. “Then I’ll take your measurements.”

First, the shopkeeper went to measure the fit of a helmet for Zag’giel. Magic beasts were fearsome beings, but the creature in front of her looked like nothing more than a roundish black cat. For a young girl like this to have caught it, it must be quite weak. With the tape measure in one hand, she quickly measured his body shape and limb length, and took stock of the amount of fur on his body. Zag’giel’s flesh was as soft as jelly and his whole body was covered in fluffy fur. His legs were short and stubby, and he was so round that it wasn’t clear where his body ended and his head began. She came to the conclusion that the only way to fit armor for this thing would be to fit a single piece, with very few joints, onto his whole body.

“Excuse me for a moment,” the shopkeeper said. Seized by a sudden whim, she took the helmet from one of the sets of mythril armor she had on display. It had been intended to be sold to a girl like Kanata, but the size and roundness might make it a perfect fit for the magic beast. She placed the helmet over Zag’giel’s round body. It was such a perfect fit it looked like it had been made to order. “I knew it!” she said. “Perfect!”

“Hm...” Zag’giel considered. “It is not uncomfortable. What say you, Kanata? Do we look gallant?”

Kanata staggered backward like she had been struck by a meteor. “Oh my gosh,” she said. “Too cute!” Her heart had been pierced by a cuteness great enough to kill a man. Even if she would need to have the rest of the armor made separately, she had to have this helmet. It was essential. Kanata swore that she would buy it, no matter what.

“H-Hmm?!” Zag’giel began to squirm and fidget under the helmet. “Kanata, this will not do. There is an issue.”

“Your cuteness is a big issue!” Kanata said, growing even more excited as she watched Zag’giel’s cute little movements. “I might get a nosebleed!”

“We hope you do not,” said Zag’giel. “That would be troublesome. But rather, this helmet will not do.”

“Huh? Why not?” asked Kanata. “It’s so cute, though...”

“It is nothing to do with cuteness...” Zag’giel had tried to stand up, but all he could do was move his body slightly. “Th-This helmet is too heavy for us. We cannot move.”

As cute as Zag’giel was with his body quivering like that, if the armor was too heavy to move in, it wouldn’t do. Kanata gave up on the helmet. “Oh,” she said. “Okay. Instead of this, can we try your lightest helmet?”

“Um,” the shopkeeper said, “miss, I don’t have any helmets lighter than this one.” Mythril was a kind of magical silver, even lighter than leather. It was so light that a baby would still float on water wearing this helmet. But Zag’giel was even weaker than that.

“N-Nhhh!” he cried, straining himself with exertion as he spent his full strength in the effort to take to his feet. “We shall not lose to a thing like this!” But in the end, all he could do was jiggle his body.

The shopkeeper lost all hope at the sight. “I am so sorry. If this helmet won’t do, I’m afraid I can’t help you...” She had never imagined that there existed any being in the world too weak to wear mythril armor, but Zag’giel’s feeble body had exceeded her expectations.

† † †

In the end, Kanata had no choice but to abandon her plan to find armor for Zag’giel. “We hope you come again,” said the shopkeeper, bowing apologetically as she saw Kanata off.

When they were outside, both Beast Tamer and beast heaved a heavy sigh and slumped their shoulders, each disappointed for their own reasons.

“To think that our strength has declined to such an extent...”

“You were so cute wearing that helmet...”

Zag’giel was the type of man who would rather be seen as cool than cute. He cleared his throat, hoping to change the topic. “It seems there is nothing that can be done. As much as we lament our powerlessness, if we cannot wear armor, there is nothing more to be said. Let us accept our defeat with grace.”

He had initially been trying to get Kanata to obtain new equipment for herself. He was unsure in the first place why they had been purchasing armor for him. Now was the time to move on to buying gear for Kanata.

While Zag’giel was thinking, Kanata raised her head. “No,” she said. “It’s too early to give up, Zaggy.”

“What?”

“If we can’t buy you the strongest possible equipment...” Kanata said, trailing off suggestively.

“What do you mean? What if we can’t?”

“Then we’ll just have to make it!”

“Make it, you say? Kanata, do you have prowess as a blacksmith as well?”

In fact, she did. Kanata had honed all her skills as much as she could. It would be easy for her to hammer out basic equipment. However, Kanata had decided that nothing but the best would do for her Zaggy.

“Let’s look for a professional blacksmith!” she said. She would have them make something to bring Zag’giel to a whole new level of cuteness—a whole new level of fluff! It didn’t have to be armor necessarily. A ribbon might serve just as well. It might look good on him.

“Eheh heh,” she said, “Zaggy’s so cute...”

“Return to us, Kanata! You are lost in some fantasy!”

“Eheh heh heh heh heh...” In Kanata’s mind, her objective had strayed far from Zag’giel’s original suggestion. She walked through the streets, thinking of nothing but Zag’giel in all sorts of cute accessories. She led them through a small street out of the main shopping district, where they somehow stumbled on a shop with a sign indicating a smithy. Perhaps even lost in her reverie, Kanata’s senses were as sharp as ever.

“She actually found one!” Zag’giel marveled. “We don’t believe it...”

“Excuse me!” Kanata stepped through the doorway. She could hear people ahead of her having a serious conversation. Whatever was happening seemed to take their full attention—they didn’t even notice Kanata entering the shop.

A man wearing flashy clothes was speaking to a younger girl wearing a work outfit with her hair in a ponytail.

“Look, missy,” he said. “Why don’t you give up on this shop already? You’re never gonna pay back your father’s debt.”

“I-I’ll pay!” the girl said. “I promise I’ll pay! Just give me a little bit more time!”

The man was clearly some kind of criminal, and while the girl was dressed lightly above the waist, she was also wearing a thick apron to protect herself from fire. Kanata figured that she was the blacksmith. Her skin was burnt red from the heat of the fire, but right now it had lost its color due to her fear. It was easy to imagine why—the man had mentioned some sort of debt.

“Please!” she said. “I need more time! Please, I beg you!” She bowed deeply.

The man regarded her with an air of boredom. “You can say that,” he said, “but you don’t have anything to pay with! How do you expect to keep a smithy running if you don’t forge anything? If you don’t make anything to sell, how do you expect to make money?”

“Th-That’s just because the furnace is out!” she pleaded. “Once I hire a Magician to start the fire again, I’ll get right back to work!”

A smile came to the man’s face. He rubbed his chin. “But they won’t be able to light it, will they? The furnace here isn’t your typical furnace, is it?”

“N-No,” the girl said. “It’s an incredible furnace. It was my father’s greatest masterpiece. When he was alive, we could create just about anything with it. At least...until the fire suddenly went out...”

“I am well aware,” said the man. “A unique magic furnace, said to run hotter than dragon fire. It’s too good an invention to waste on a poor little smithy. If you sold it, you could pay off your debt and have enough left over to live on your whole life! Or do you lack the contacts to sell it? In that case, I can help.”

“I-I refuse! This is my father’s keepsake! And why are you so obsessed with our furnace?! I hate to even think it, but were you the ones who put the fire—”

“That’s enough,” the man interrupted. “What a thing to accuse someone of! And the furnace isn’t broken, is it? If you reignite it, it will work. But you can’t. And since you can’t, you can’t make money! You’ll borrow no more from us! And no one else will lend to you either! Not to a debt-ridden little smithy that can’t pay its collections!”

“Kh...” The girl bit her lower lip in frustration.

“Hey, missy,” said the man. “You’re out of moves. You can’t use the furnace. It would take a very high-level Magician to reignite it, but you don’t have the money to pay for someone like that!”

“Nhh...”

“Well? Don’t be stubborn—give up on the shop! Such a high-class furnace doesn’t suit a run-down little shop like this anyway. I’m sure it’ll be happier in a bigger workshop.”

“I knew this was suspicious!” the girl said. “Did some other smithy hire you to get our furnace?”

“Oh, enough with your jokes. But what difference does it make? What matters is your debt. Can you pay it or not? What’s your decision? A smithy without a single customer would go out of business even without the debt. Giving up the shop really is your best option.”

The girl lowered her eyes as the man pressed his head closer, a sinister grin on his face.

The girl’s shoulders were shaking; her eyes were swimming with tears. She couldn’t deny the truth of the man’s words. Even without the debt, she could see no choice but to give up the shop. The loan shark was right. Without customers, she had no income. And nobody would come to shop at a smithy without a working furnace. A smithy that could make nothing.

“She has a customer,” said Kanata, coming up beside the pair.

“Wah?!” The man staggered back in surprise.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation,” Kanata said.

“I-If you’re sorry, don’t do it in the first place!” the man said. “I’m ahead of you in line!”

“But if I let things be, the shop will go away, right? That would be a problem for me too.”

“What?! Have you been eavesdropping, you little punk? Nasty of you, ogling in on someone’s misfortune without any intention of helping. Did you butt in out of a sense of guilt? Justice? This is a legitimate debt, with a legitimate contract! If you’re gonna pick a fight, you’ll be the one arrested.”

“Well, I can’t just stand by and watch this happen,” said Kanata.

“Hah! Why? What would happen if you did! Or are you saying you’ll pay this place’s debt? Including interest, this place owes one hundred gold coins! If you got it, hand it over! Come on! All one hundred gold! The entire thing! Well?”

“Okay, here you go.”

“Oh, thank you. Wait—whaaaat?!” Kanata had shoved her bag of coins into the man’s hands as he rambled. He fell to the ground in shock.

“I believe you will find that to be one hundred coins,” said Kanata. “Now, the contract, please?”

“It iiiiis!” the man exclaimed as he counted the money. “One hundreeeeeeeeeed!” He had been unprepared for Kanata’s counterattack. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect to be handed one hundred coins on the spot. He shook his head feverishly, half out of his mind.

“Now, I don’t believe we will need this anymore,” said Kanata. She tossed the contract in the air and tore it into pieces with wind magic, reducing the thick paper to dust in a split second. She must have conjured an incredible number of blades of wind to cut it into such infinitesimally fine pieces.

The contract dust fell on the loan shark, and he sneezed. This girl was no ordinary person. “Eeeeeeeeeek!” he shrieked, and he crawled as fast as he could out of the store, too frightened out of his mind to stand. “I’m sorry to bother yooooooooooou!”

The girl stared at Kanata, dumbfounded. “Wh-Who are you?” she asked.

Kanata smiled. “I’m a Beast Tamer!”

† † †

“I’m Lily,” the girl said. “I run this smithy. Well, to be honest, between one thing and another, I haven’t been able to get any work done...”

“I see,” said Kanata. “That sounds tough. My name is Kanata.”

“You may call us Zaggy.”

“You really have a magic beast! I guess you weren’t kidding when you said you were a Beast Tamer.” Kanata was an odd customer, but she was also the first customer Lily had had since inheriting the shop. She decided to hear what Kanata wanted. Kanata’s request was rather odd. “So...basically,” Lily confirmed, “you want something for your...cat? Your slime? You want something for this furball thing to equip.”

“Mmhm!” Kanata confirmed.

“We are in your hands,” said Zag’giel. The pair bowed their heads.

Lily scratched the side of her head. “Well...um... I’m very grateful to you for paying off my debt. I’ll do what I can. I have to thank you somehow, after all.”

“We, too, were astonished that you would hand over the entire sum at once,” said Zag’giel. “However, it was most satisfying to witness. It was a deed befitting of our master. Without kindness, one’s courage is in vain. We are truly honored to be your magic beast.”

“Aaah, oh wow!” Kanata gasped. “Zaggy! You’re too nice!”

Zag’giel pretended he hadn’t heard Kanata when she’d muttered something to herself about getting fluff-fluff items for cheap.

“But,” said Lily, “you heard what that man was saying, right? The fire in our forge’s furnace is out. I can’t make anything, no matter how much I want to.”

“So all I have to do is light a fire in that big furnace?” Kanata asked, touching its heavy iron doors with her hand.

“Yeah,” said Lily, “but it’s impossible. This is a magic furnace. It needs a magic flame to light it. Once it’s lit, it’ll keep working halfway to eternity, but that first flame is the problem. You need a lot of power. I’m not sure there’s a Magician good enough with fire magic in the entire Royal Capital. And even if there were, I have nothing to pay them with.”

“Like this?” asked Kanata.

“Right, exactly. You just cast a fire spell with that much power and the forge will—wait, what?! Wh-Wha... What?! How did you—”

The magic furnace was roaring merrily with bright flames. Lily was stunned. It was like it had never gone out—no, it seemed to be even more powerful than before. How was such a thing possible?!

“Didn’t you tell me how yourself?” Kanata asked. “I lit it with magic fire.”

“I didn’t think you could do it! The last Magician who lit the furnace was incredible! How in the blazes were you able to make it even stronger?! What are you?!”

“I told you, I’m a Beast Tamer!”

“Can Beast Tamers do things like that? I thought...” She trailed off. Kanata had answered her so casually that she didn’t know what to think. Yet another person had had their assumptions about Beast Tamers completely shattered.

As confused as she was, however, Lily understood that since coming to her shop, Kanata had, like a goddess from the heavens, resolved her problems with both the loan sharks and the forge in the space of a few minutes.

“H-How can I ever thank you?” she said. “You’re like a Saint from a make-believe story... I know you haven’t asked for anything, but there must be something I can—”

“Oh, it’s okay,” said Kanata. “I did ask for something.”

“You did?”

“Please give Zaggy the cutest fluff-fluff item you can! It’s a fair exchange.”

“That’s it?” Lily blinked.

“That’s it! In fact, I’ll be very grateful if you make one for me.” Kanata was completely serious.

Lily was trembling under the weight of Kanata’s expectations, but she clenched her fist and nodded. “All right!” she said. “I’ll make anything at all for you! I swear on the name of my dear departed father, the Great Smith!”

“Yay!” Kanata cheered.

“We find this strange,” said Zag’giel. “Did we not come here to find some armor we might equip? What do you mean by the cutest fluff-fluff item? Or, rather, was not our objective to procure equipment for yourself, Kanata? It seems we have strayed far from our goal.”

To put it plainly, Kanata had strayed from Zag’giel’s goals from the word go.

Unfortunately, the two girls were busy discussing the commission and didn’t hear Zag’giel’s objections. “The fluff is the important part!” said Kanata.

“I see!” said Lily. “I don’t quite understand, but I’ve mostly made sturdy and practical weapons and armor. I’ve never had a commission like this before! But you say he’s too weak even to equip mythril.” She sighed. “A metal lighter than mythril would be...”

“Impossible?”

“Hm?” said Lily. “Did I say that? A blacksmith doesn’t ever say ‘impossible.’ I can do it! I’ll make something for you!” She was clearly getting excited.

“Yay! Yay!” Kanata clapped.

“You want an item to make your furball fluffier, right? That doesn’t mean it needs to be something worn on his body.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just leave it to me! I’m in your debt, after all! I want to make it out of the best materials I can...” Lily glanced around her workshop. “Among the metal I have on hand, I suppose the best would be...”

“Oh!” said Kanata. “How about this?” She produced a scale the size of her palm. It had a dull metallic luster. “I happened to pick this up earlier, but I don’t really have a use for it.”

Lily took the scale and examined it with a magnifying glass. “What is this? It’s not out of the question to use magic beast parts, but if it isn’t tempered, it’ll be hard to...to...to...to...wait, is this—” Lily suddenly thought she might know what this scale might be. Her eyes opened wide in shock.

“The underscale that Kanata tore from a dragon,” said Zag’giel from his perch on Kanata’s shoulder.

“I must be dreaming,” Lily marveled. “The underscale?! And this looks like it’s from a true dragon!”

“Indeed it is.” Zag’giel puffed his chest out proudly despite having had nothing to do with Kanata’s victory.

“Y-You’re giving me this to work with?” Lily asked. “You know this is a top-quality material...”

“Go right ahead!” said Kanata. “If there’s any left over, consider it a present!”

“Are you sure? If you sold this, you could earn back that hundred gold you spent...”

“I’m absolutely sure! If this can make Zaggy even fluffier, it’s a small price to pay.”

“Goodness gracious...” Lily shook her head. “You really are the most outrageous customer I’ve ever had. You cleared my debt, gave me a job, provided materials... If I can’t meet your expectations, I’ll be a disgrace to blacksmiths everywhere! Wait just a moment! I’ll show you what I can do!” Grinning, Lily donned her goggles and took her hammer in hand. Before long, the clear sound of metal hitting metal filled the workshop for the first time in ages.

† † †

“It’s finished!”

“Ooh!”

“What in the world is that?!” Zag’giel looked dubiously at the item Lily was holding. It looked like a dagger, but its grip was very short and the blade was round and covered in a huge number of fine needles, each too thin to be seen by the naked eye.

“Zaggy’s fluff-fluff item!” Kanata cried. “Could it be—?!”

Lily laughed triumphantly. “It seems the girl has some idea,” she said, nodding along.

“This weapon can make us stronger?”

“Yes!” said Kanata. “It’ll make you the strongest”—in terms of fluff, she meant—“of all! Zaggy, you sit on my lap.”

“Hm? You intend to equip us with it?” Zag’giel thought it was a strange request, but he obediently sat down on Kanata’s lap as he was told.

Kanata took the thing by its hilt and ran the needles along Zag’giel’s body. “Okay, here I go!”

“M-Mh! Oooooh?!” The sensation struck him like a chill down his spine. “Wh-What is this?!” Zag’giel moaned in pleasure, enraptured, as Kanata ran it through his fur. “We feel a tremendous stirring in our spirit! Incredible!”

“Great!” said Kanata. “I’m gonna do more, okay?”

“Excellent! This item is indeed the key to our strength!”

“That’s right! Your fluff is gonna be fluff-fluffier than ever!”

“I can’t help feeling like there’s some miscommunication happening here,” Lily said, “but if you’re happy, I’m happy. It was a valuable experience for me too. I never thought I’d have an opportunity to work with a dragon underscale.”

Yes! Lily had made for them the strongest weapon of all—the brush! Made of a dragon’s underscale, a sturdy material that could obtain any level of hardness a craftsman desired, depending on their technique, this brush would bring an animal’s fur to a whole new level of smooth softness. When Kanata finished brushing out Zag’giel’s fur, he was even fluffier than he had been before. Lily had fulfilled Kanata’s request marvelously.

“Thank you, Lily!” said Kanata. “This is the best fluff-fluff item I could have hoped for!”

“Indeed. We feel that we have been reborn. As we are now, we could handily dispatch the likes of a slime!”

“Oh,” said Lily, “well, I’m glad you like it.” She paused. “Um...good luck!” She meant it. She wanted Zag’giel to live his best life.

Kanata left the smithy satisfied, her goal achieved. “Come anytime if you want something else made!” Lily told her. “For you, I’ll forge anything!”

“I will! Thank you so much!”

“You have our thanks.”

“You’d better,” said Lily. “I haven’t even come close to paying back what I owe you.”

“Okay!” Kanata said, shouting back cheerfully as she walked away. Lily kept waving until the pair were out of sight.

“Father...” she said once she was alone, “I am going to do my best with this second chance. I’m not alone anymore. I’m sure those two will come around again. And I’m sure they’ll have some ridiculous commission for me.” She giggled to herself, imagining what absurd items they might ask her to make in the future. “And...” she said, “I will keep getting better!”

She went back inside, where the magic furnace was still working perfectly. Kanata’s sacred flames had done their job. The bell in the shop’s doorway chimed softly, as if it were blessing her.