Chapter 1: Spirit Wolf Fenrir? No! From Now On, I Am Fen-fen!

Among all the Demon Kings of history, none have been so mighty, nor lauded so high, as Zag’giel. A master of the art of war, he utilized his soldiers to their greatest possible effect, ingeniously thwarting all who would stand in his way, no matter how strong. Within a few short years, he had brought all of the Dark Continent to heel. He was by disposition a cautious commander, and yet his own personal strength could only be described as overwhelming. All who took up arms against him met only with despair.

Zag’giel had the mind of a researcher as well as that of a warlord, and brought many convenient magics from ancient times back into modern usage. He was a bloody conqueror and a wise sage—just and honorable, and remorseless beyond compare. He had no understanding of the feelings of the weak. He was the perfect despot. The most feared of all Kings of Demons.

Right now, though, he was suffering the fluffy ministrations of a young girl.

“Good kitty!” the girl sang as she fluffed and fluffed his fluffy fur. “You like it here, don’t you? Right here?”

“S-Stop!” the King of Demons protested. “Be g-gentle with our forehead! If you persist in this, we shall...we shall lose our composure completely!”

“That’s fine! I like it when you lose your composure, Zaggy!”

“Our vassals have at times told us that we do not understand the emotions of others,” Zag’giel gasped out. “But you, Kanata, we especially do not understaaaaaaaaahh—!”

The two carried on their ridiculous escapades right in the middle of the road. When Zag’giel had been in his humanoid form, he’d had soldiers to patrol roads such as these and deliver him reports, but now he was a strange ball of fur with two triangular ears sticking out of his head. It looked for all the world like a girl playing with a small animal.

In fact, a girl playing with a small animal was exactly what was happening. Their conversation, however, was, in a word, concerning.

“Ahh,” Kanata sighed, smiling. “That was gooooood...” Her skin was glossy with perspiration.

“Haa... Haa...” Zag’giel gasped for breath. “Will this really help us become stronger?” Finally free, he plopped himself down on Kanata’s lap. “No. We must not entertain such thoughts. We must have faith in our master! This training will lead us to ultimate power! We are certain!”

He was certainly wrong. This was not training at all, but merely a somewhat-excessive degree of love. Would the day ever come for Zag’giel to realize his error? Most likely, it would not.

“You’re already the fluffiest, but you wanna get even fluffier?” Kanata marveled. “You’re so committed to the fluff, Zaggy! It’s absolutely positively amazing!”

“I-It is? We do not understand well this unit of power—fluff—you speak of, but your praise does our heart well.”

Their misunderstanding as firm as ever, the two shared a look, and laughed.

“Well,” said Kanata, “that’s about enough of a rest. Let’s keep going!” She stood up from where she’d been sitting on a large boulder on the side of the road, dusted herself off, and picked up Zag’giel, placing him on her head.

“It seems the road continues on to the west,” Zag’giel observed. “What is in that direction? We wandered the human realms for many years, but we never drew close to human settlements. We fear our knowledge of geography leaves something to be desired.”

“Well, let me think,” Kanata said. “There’s a few small villages farther along, and then if we keep going we’ll reach the headquarters of the Holy Church.”

“The Holy Church. The religious institution that reveres that Goddess?”

“Yeah! Although mainly what they do is help people get their Professions when they turn fifteen. Oh, and they do stuff like running orphanages, distributing alms, purifying the spirits of the dead...”

“Hm. They do some good work, it seems, but if that Goddess is one of their patrons, we cannot trust them. We have our doubts about their work as well. Was it not you, Kanata, and not the Church, who exorcised the spirits in the Royal Capital, purified the sewers, and gave succor to those who had been poisoned?”

Indeed, if Kanata hadn’t taken care of the issue with the sewers in Undertown, it would have been a disaster for the city. The polluted water would have spoiled the land, ruining crops and spreading new diseases farther and farther as the deaths mounted. The signs had been there for all to see, but if Kanata had been much later in redressing the problem, it would have spread to the whole of the Royal Capital. And the cause of the pollution had been the restless dead.

Kanata had made the exorcism look easy, but that hideous amalgamation of restless souls bore curses of not inconsiderable power. Such an entity having taken up residence in the sewers could not possibly have happened by chance. It was simply not possible that the Church had failed to notice such an immense presence beneath the city. No—it was an issue that they were actively neglecting. And yes, the Church did have the issue of overlooking the needs of Undertown, whose people did not have the money to give the Church fat tithes. But if it had been left unaddressed, the damage would have spread to Midtown and even Hightown. The inescapable conclusion was that the Holy Church was acting out of active malice.

It was only natural that Zag’giel would hold such suspicions of a Church run by that atrocious Goddess. For Kanata’s part, although everything she had heard of the Goddess’s scheme had come from Zag’giel himself, she didn’t seem all that surprised. Indeed, the revelation that the gods saw human souls as nothing more than their nourishment and wielded the Demon King to that end like an instrument of harvest did not seem to come as much of a shock at all. Why? Because Kanata cared for only one thing—the fluff! All of her energy was devoted to that end. She had no attention to spare for unrelated matters. As her brother Alus was well aware, Kanata was a congenitally unserious person.

Kanata had played the part of a perfect lady for no reason other than her manic desire to become a Beast Tamer. She wasn’t especially interested in saving the world or thwarting the Goddess’s schemes. All she cared about was befriending cute and fluffy critters. And so, despite setting out on her journey with no destination in mind, she had led herself and Zag’giel steadfastly to the west.

“We know not how much the humans of the Sacred Church have gleaned of the Goddess’s true nature,” Zag’giel continued, “but that she is our enemy, there can be no doubt. And you would have us march straight to their headquarters.”

“Yeah!” Kanata said. “When we met the Goddess, I thought I could smell just a liiiittle whiff of some kind of fluff lingering on her. I have a feeling that there’s a new fluff-fluff waiting for us to the west!”

The Goddess had descended from the heavens for hardly a minute, but Kanata was still able to detect the aroma of fluff. Her nose was sharper than any dog’s, and she was putting it to work on this nonsense of all possible things.

“Oh? Then you would not retreat, but rather seize the opportunity to take the offensive, invading their very citadel! A brilliant stratagem—and what courage! Truly, you are the one worthy to be my master.”

“Hehe!” Kanata giggled. “Right? My fluffdar is pinging like crazy!”

“Hmm...” Zag’giel pondered. “We know nothing of this ‘fluffdar,’ but if it is related to the ‘fluff,’ it must certainly have to do with martial prowess. Wretch of a Goddess! If you would think to take arms against us, we shall strike you down from your haughty post!”

“Hehehe! Fluff-fluff! Fluffy-fluff! I wonder what the new fluffy-fluff will be!”

The two were very fond of each other, despite their persistent failure of communication. Laughing cheerfully, they continued into the west.

† † †

The grandest building in the Holy City Lordentia was the High Cathedral of the Holy Church. And deep underground, in the heart of the city itself, was a prison. It was dimly lit by flickering braziers and echoed with the cries of a beast—for imprisoned there was a great silver wolf. He was a beautiful creature, seeming to shine white with an inner light.

The cell could hold several humans with room to spare, but the wolf was big enough to fill it out himself. He was sprawled out, as if trying to take up as much space as possible. Even in prison, he cut an imposing figure. He was such a splendid wolf that if one were to meet him in the mountains or the forest, they would have no recourse but to fall down in worship.

“Grrrr...”

The wolf curled his lips back into a snarl. He was frustrated at how weak his body had grown in his imprisonment. This environment was bad for him. Even the color of his fur seemed to be dimming. They weren’t feeding him enough either—he had grown thin enough for his rib cage to be visible, and his eyes had become cloudy.

But cloudy as they were, their light had not yet gone out.

“Defiant as ever, I see,” someone said, stepping out of the darkness.

She was a cloistered sister wearing a white habit, but despite her dress, there was something lascivious about her affect.

“I would advise you to give it up and become my servant. You have your own duty, do you not? The Spirit Wolf must follow a Saint. Would you not serve me as you served the First Saint, long ago? It would set a terrible example to the faithful if you were to refuse. You were hoping to find a Saint to serve when you left your hiding place in the Forest of Spirits to come to a human village, were you not? Why are you so insistent on refusing me?”

“How dare you treat me this way?!” the wolf demanded, growling as he projected his thoughts to the sister telepathically. “What of our promise?!”

“I’m afraid this treatment is necessary, due to your continued defiance,” the sister said. “Swear that you will become the servant of myself, Saint Marianne, and you will be released.” She stuck her foot in a gap between the bars. The wolf in the cage would have loved to bite her juicy toes off, but Marianne’s foot was pressing down on his muzzle. “At least tell me what you want,” she said. “I am a Saint, the head of the Holy Church with its millions of devoted followers. All of your desires will be seen to. You can have anything you wish. You need only submit to me.”

The Spirit Wolf growled ferociously. “I have no desires! I will only obey a true Saint! I will never submit to you!”

Marianne stomped again on his face. He whimpered. His four limbs were bound by chains, but the thing really restraining him was the magic circle carved into the floor. Whenever he tried to resist, it would shine, sapping him of his strength.

“You’ll only obey a true Saint? I have no idea what you’re insinuating. I have shown you definite proof that I hold the Profession of Saint. My orders come from the Goddess herself. Do you dare to defy the will of the gods?”

“Sainthood is not a matter of Profession! It is one’s deeds that mark them as a Saint!” The wolf pushed his way past Marianne’s foot. “Nothing you have done has been Saintly! You spread ill will throughout the world, and inflict torment on its people! You carnal temptress! You succubus! I will never obey you! Never ever ever ever ever!”

At the word succubus, Marianne’s face tensed up in rage. She lifted her leg up high.

“You! Are! More! Trouble! Than! You’re! Worth!” she shouted, stomping and stomping and stomping on his face. Her eyes were lit up with sadistic glee. With her full thighs peeking out through the high slits on her habit, she looked even less like an innocent cloistered sister.

“Gh-Gh...” the wolf whimpered in pain.

“I shall pray to the Goddess for your quick recovery,” Marianne said, sneering fiendishly. “Not that you should need it. I know you have a hard head.” She turned her back and left, two formidable warrior-priests stepping out of the shadows to follow her as her guard.

The Spirit Wolf did not even have the strength to lift his head as he watched her leave.

“My Lady Saint...” he said. “Wherever you are... Please...”

One thousand years ago, the Spirit Wolf had lost his Saint. She had saved the world, and passed into death as if she were falling asleep. Released from his duty to protect her, he secluded himself in a hollow in the Spirit Tree, far away from the human realm, and there he slumbered. It was a peaceful life, but a boring one, and lonely. It was like he had been cut off from part of himself—another half that should have been there but wasn’t.

What had awoken the Spirit Wolf from his eternal slumber was a smell. It was familiar and comforting. It made him think of the First Saint. He had halfway become part of the tree, but the scent wafting in on the winds was enough to stir his heart.

It was the birth of a Saint.

He knew he must go to meet her. It was his duty as Spirit Wolf to serve the Saint. He shook off the vines that had grown around him and departed from his hollow. He left the Forest of Spirits, which humankind cannot enter, and wandered the world. But though he searched for fifteen years, he could not find his Saint. Finally, after his heart had grown weak from the fatigue of his long journey, he’d been taken unawares and captured by this false Saint.

“Please... Come to me. I wish... I wish but to see your face...” He howled pitiably, his voice strange and thin in the confined space.

And then—

“Wh-What’s this?!” His nose twitched. Before his conscious mind had noticed, his nose had picked up a scent wafting into the stale air of the prison. It was so distant and so faint that none but the Spirit Wolf could have detected it. He knew that scent. It was the same that he had smelled a thousand years ago, and then again fifteen years in the past. “That purity! It’s been so long! I’d recognize that smell anywhere!” It was coming closer. “The Saint is coming! The true Saint, not this pretender!”

This was no time to wallow in self-pity!

“I must pay her my respects!” His resolve was firm, but no matter how hard he struggled, there was no breaking free of the magic circle binding him. “Then I have no choice... If I fail at this, my soul will be destroyed. Even if I succeed, I will lose the greater part of my power. But if Her Holiness has come, I must protect her! The true Saint exists! I will not be fooled by that succubus!”

He gathered the last of his strength and gave a mighty cry. His silver fur, which shone like moonlight, grew brighter and brighter still until his form was no longer solid. The light was so bright that it shone out of the underground prison like a beam of sunlight. And then, a white furball plopped out of the cell.

“I seem to have been successful,” he said. The furball wiggled and changed shape. Short legs protruded out of it, and it took on a face that looked like the Spirit Wolf’s, albeit much younger. “I split myself off into this form. I may lack power, but at least I can warn Her Holiness of the danger!” The rest of him—his husk—was still in the prison cell, bound tight as ever. Its soul departed, it merely looked to be sleeping. It might fool the false Saint, for a while at least.

“Wait for me, Your Holiness!” he said as he pitter-pattered up the stairs. “Your faithful hound, the Spirit Wolf Fenrir, shall speed at once to your side!”

† † †

Kanata and Zag’giel made their way down the road. The sky was blue as far as the eye could see. The wind was pleasantly cool, and the light of the sun was warm against their skin. It was the perfect weather for travel.

There were many people traveling this stone-paved road to the west, but Kanata in her school uniform, wearing a catlike magic beast on her head, stood out like a sore thumb. Her happy smile, though, warmed the hearts of the passersby who saw her.

As she followed the road up a gently sloping hill, Kanata turned to look back in the direction she had come from.

“The Royal Capital’s gotten so small!” she said.

“Indeed,” Zag’giel nodded. “As vast as the city is, it will soon be out of sight.” The Royal Capital was the very heart of the kingdom, but now it looked no bigger than the ring between Kanata’s index finger and thumb. “With your legs, Kanata, we could have moved much faster along the road.”

“Well, but, I mean,” Kanata said, “we’ve waited so long to go on this journey! We should take our time and really savor it.”

“You are not wrong. Our pressing concerns have been settled, thanks to your intervention. We would accompany you to the ends of the world.”

“You’ll come with me to the ends of the world?!” Kanata marveled. “Yay!” She intended to lead him to the very ends of the world of fluff.

“We shall!” Zag’giel declared, laughing proudly. “Let it be known that wherever Kanata shall go, there too shall go Zaggy!” He had no idea.

“Well, I guess we’d better get started!” Kanata said, making grabbing motions with her hands as she loomed over the tiny creature.

“Hm?!” Zag’giel balked. “Wait! By ‘the ends of the world,’ we meant we would follow you anywhere on our journey, not— Kanata! Kanata, what is that look in your eyes?! You are frightening us!” He pushed away with all his strength, but Kanata’s face drew closer and closer.

“Ahhhh!” Kanata exclaimed. “Your round little body’s so so jiggly!”

“Kanata, calm yourself! We have a long way to go down this road!”

“Oh, that’s fine. I can fluff you as I walk!”

“What does that mean? Kanata, what does that mean?!”

But there was no stopping Kanata when she got like this. She was certainly drawing stares from the passersby now, as she fluffed and fluffed Zag’giel to her heart’s content.

† † †

“Let’s stop for lunch!” Kanata declared. “Today’s entrée is grilled ham and cheese!”

“Oho!” Zag’giel exclaimed, clapping his stubby forepaws. “Grilled ham and cheese, is it?”

They sat down on a large tree stump a ways out of sight of the road. The sun was high in the sky—it was the perfect time for an early lunch.

“Wait,” Zag’giel asked, “what exactly is grilled ham and cheese?” Zag’giel was learning more about human cuisine by the day, but there were still many dishes he had never heard of. The sandwich Kanata had mentioned was one such dish.

“Just wait and see!” Kanata laughed. “It’ll be delicious!”

Kanata used her dimensional magic to access the extradimensional space she had created, which she called her Inventory Screen. She took out the fresh ingredients she had brought and set to work. Her cooking skills were no less like magic.

“First, a layer of mayonnaise on the bread...”

Zag’giel nodded along passionately as Kanata cooked, following each step of preparation.

“We see. A condiment made of vinegar, oil, and egg. It is hard to resist licking it up on its own.”

“And on top we put thin-cut pieces of ham!” Kanata continued, ignoring Zag’giel’s comment.

“We see, we see! We, too, are partial to salted pork.”

“Make a barrier with shredded cheese...”

“A curious shape! There must be some purpose behind it.”

“And you break an egg in the middle!”

“Ah! The wall of cheese prevents the egg from running!”

“Salt and pepper...a bit more ham...and finish it off with another slice of bread!”

“You could eat this dish with one hand, could you not? It seems perfect for taking a meal out of doors.”

Kanata giggled. “Well, you could do that with any old sandwich! But now, for the pièce de résistance!” She held the sandwich with both hands and closed her eyes, focusing intently.

“Tasty, tasty, tasty food!” she intoned. The aroma of toasted bread wafted over the area.

“Incredible! You toasted it with fire magic?!” Zag’giel’s senses could detect magic power emanating from Kanata’s hands. His ears perked up in surprise. “Fire magic is famed for its destructive power, but it is difficult to control. It is no small feat to achieve the precision needed to use it for cooking! But it’s no more than we should expect from our master.” Lost in his admiration for Kanata’s handiwork, Zag’giel didn’t notice the line of drool running down his chin. “But what a smell,” he said. “It is most stimulating to our appetite. Truly, bread is a foodstuff worthy of awe!” His luxuriant tail swayed back and forth impatiently as he waited for the sandwich to be finished.

“Okay,” Kanata said. “I think that about does it!” She opened her hands, revealing the bread, toasted golden brown. “Perfect!”

“Ooh! So this is grilled ham and cheese!”

“And you cut it in half to eat!” Kanata split the sandwich perfectly down the middle, letting the still-runny yolk of the egg and the melted cheese ooze out.

A drop of liquid threatened to fall out of the sandwich and onto the floor.

“No!” cried Zag’giel. “We will not allow a single drop to be wasted!” He leapt into the air to catch it, but was unable to jump high enough. “Nhh... We cannot even jump such a short distance!” he lamented as he bounced on the ground. “This body is far too weak!”

The curse the Goddess inflicted on Zag’giel had been broken, and Zag’giel could return to his original form at any time, but if he did so he was sure to once again find himself at the mercy of the curt and distant version of Kanata. The gorgeous features of his humanoid form did not interest her in the slightest. Zag’giel had thought Kanata was sending him a message that he must gain power in his black furball form as well.

“But our master Kanata believes that we can achieve ultimate power in this feeble form. We must not disappoint her!” Zag’giel would never dream of betraying Kanata’s trust in him by turning back into his original form.

He had misunderstood, of course. Kanata’s displeasure was solely due to his true form’s lack of fluff. She had no regard for his strength one way or another.

“Ahhh!” Kanata sighed. The image of Zag’giel struggling to get back to his feet had overcome her with passion. “Zaggy’s so cute when he messes up a jump like that!”

She had complete faith that Zag’giel would one day become the greatest (fluff) of all.

“Here you are!” Kanata said, finally reining in her fluff reverie and offering Zag’giel his sandwich. “Careful! It’s hot!” Grilled cheese of any kind is best eaten while it’s hot. Nobody wants to eat a cold block of solidified cheese and egg.

“Our thanks! Our thanks indeed!” Zag’giel had been salivating for some time now, thanks to the delectable smell. Without even bothering to get to his feet, he took a big bite out of the sandwich, right out of Kanata’s hand. “Oh?! This...this is...” The salty ham blended with the egg and cheese to create a rich, mellow flavor. The slight acidity of the mayonnaise and the hint of spice from the pepper rounded it out perfectly. The ingredients harmonized wonderfully to create an absolutely singular flavor.

“Delicious! Delectable! Dangerously so, even!” Zag’giel’s praise for the sandwich was so effusive that beams of golden light might as well have been shooting from his mouth.

“I’m so glad you like it, Zaggy!” Kanata licked up the runny egg and cheese and took a bite herself. “You’re right!” she said. “It is good!”

“It is! Your cooking is without peer! We had never tasted such delights before entering your service. We would have never imagined such things could exist!” The corners of Zag’giel’s mouth were stained yellow with eggy cheese.

“Oh my gosh, Zaggy, your mouth is all messy! It’s so cute! I feel like I’m falling for you all over again! I can’t handle it!” Kanata wiped the goop from Zag’giel’s face, her body shaking with throes of passion. Some people on the road happened to see her and wondered what on earth was happening, but Kanata remained blissfully unconcerned with their attention, and the two enjoyed a wonderful lunch.

“Well, our bellies are nice and full,” Kanata said. “Time to hit the road!”

Their short rest concluded, Kanata took to her feet.

“Yes! We are not far from a town, it seems.”

The two had overheard travelers saying as much on the road. It seemed that just over the crest of this gently sloping hill, they would find a small town. This road was frequented by merchants, and there were many such settlements dotting its course offering inns for them to stay the night.

“Yeah,” Kanata said. “I don’t wanna make my Zaggy sleep outside! We gotta make it to town so we can get a room at an inn!”

“Is that not our line?” Zag’giel rejoined. “It would not do for a young girl such as yourself to sleep out of doors. We are used to life in the wilds. There is no need to worry on our account.”

“As long as I have your fluff for a pillow, I can sleep anywhere! Even on top of a boulder or a bed of needles!”

“We would rather not. Such sleeping arrangements may well imperil our life.”

“Oh! I guess you’re right! I’ll have to get a nice soft mattress for my Zaggy pillow.”

“There is also the option of refraining from using us as a pillow entirely...”

“Wait,” Kanata said. “You want to use me as a pillow? That would be fantastic!”

“H-Hm... Well, we suppose you are nigh invincible, after all...”

They set out for the village, Zag’giel perched again on Kanata’s head. But then, just as soon as she started walking, Kanata stopped.

“Kanata? What is the matter? Is the town not ahead?”

“Fluff-fluff...”

“What?”

“I can smell the fluff!” Kanata’s head whipped around, staring in a completely different direction than the road to the village.

“Say what?! You can smell the fluff? Kanata, what does that mean? Is it our body? You can smell our body?” Despite taking a bath with Kanata every day, Zag’giel was suddenly concerned about his body odor. He lifted up his foreleg to sniff at his armpit. Normally, such a gesture would have thrown Kanata into a fit of mania, but this time was different. Kanata was staring far off into the distance, at something only she could sense.

“Target acquired!”

“What?!”

“Fluff-fluff-fluff-fluff-fluuuuuuuff!”

“Nuwhaaaaaaaaaaa?! K-Kanataaaaaaa!”

Supporting Zag’giel to keep him from falling, Kanata pelted off into the wilderness at top speed, leaving behind a plume of dust. The other travelers on the road stared in shock, jaws hanging open. “What in the world?!”

† † †

“Sniff sniff...” Fenrir sniffed at the air. His sharp senses were telling him that his master, the true Saint, was nearby. “She’s close! Her Holiness is close! I can smell her! Wait for me, Master, just a while longer... Your servant will speed to your side!”

Full of conviction, he howled gloriously to the sky. It echoed far away. Unfortunately, however, he was currently bound and suspended in midair.

He was hanging upside down, his tiny little limbs each tied to a pole, borne aloft by goblins walking on two legs. They cheered happily and cried out, “Gob gob!” as they hefted him through the forest.

“Hya ha ha! Meat! It’s been so long since we’ve had meat!”

“Gonna give my kids some proper food to eat!”

“Goblins,” Fenrir said, addressing the goblin at the front. “Your kindness to your children is truly commendable. However, I must go to Her Holiness the Saint. If you wish to assist me in this glorious task, release me from my bonds at once!”

“You can’t eat glory, though, can you?” said the lead goblin.

“No,” Fenrir admitted. “You cannot...”

“Then who cares! We need meat, and you’ll do!”

“Yeah! Yeah!” chimed in another goblin. “Shut up and let us eat you! I promise we’ll use every last bone!”

“D-Do you even know what you propose?” Fenrir demanded. “To eat the flesh of the Spirit Wolf Fenrir...”

“The Spirit Wolf Fenrir?! What’s that supposed to mean? I’ve never heard of you.”

“Me neither!” another goblin added.

“You ignorant goblins!” Fenrir cried. “How dare you!”

“Mmm,” one of the goblins mused. “I wonder how this Fen thing tastes...”

“Well, let’s eat him and find out!”

“Yeah! He’s tiny, but he’s so soft! Definitely worth eating!” The goblins drooled openly, fantasizing about eating Fenrir.

“But if we go back with just the one Fen, Lord Ogre is just gonna take the food for himself...” a goblin griped.

“He calls himself our guardian,” another added, “but he never really helps out.”

“Talking about building an underground empire...making us dig and dig and dig...” the goblin sighed. “All we want is to live in peace...”

“Weak magic beasts get gobbled up by the strong,” a goblin said. “There’s nothing weaklings like us can do about it.”

“I hate being a goblin...”

The goblins sighed and adjusted their grips on the poles. Goblins were some of the weakest magic beasts, and they knew it. But it sounded like an ogre had taken up residence with these goblins, calling himself their guardian. He stole their food and forced them to do hard labor. It was a sorry tale.

“I see...” Fenrir said. “You have endured your own hardships. I, too, have had my share of troubles. However, if you struggle to feed yourselves, there is no reason for you to remain here. Would you be so kind as to release me?”

“No,” all the goblins said at once. It was amazing how synchronized they were.

“Lord Ogre is terrifying!” one goblin said. “If we try to run away, he’ll crush our heads in his hands!”

“If we don’t bring him meat, he’ll eat us instead!” another added.

Clearly, this so-called Lord Ogre governed entirely by fear.

“I knew it...” Fenrir sighed. “There’s no negotiating with them. Then I must break free with force! Haaaaaaah!” The Spirit Wolf concentrated his power. His hair stood on end, and he seemed to grow in size. “These meager rope-vines will not hold me! Haaaaaaaaaaaah!” The vines began to strain and creak—it looked like they were on the verge of splitting!

“Haaaaaaaaaa...aa...a...” It was a false hope. Fenrir’s power ran out, and he deflated like a balloon.

“Oh, stop trying to escape!”

“Quit struggling and let us eat you!”

“Grr...” Fenrir was proud and defiant. “I will not give up! I will not! I will never yield until I have reunited with My Lady Saint!” The goblins ignored Fenrir and went on talking to each other about how they were going to cook him.

“We should stuff him with herbs and roast him whole!”

“No! It’s gotta be a stew!”

They carried on in that vein for a while, without any concern for the fact that the ingredients were listening.

“If I had my real power, these bonds would be nothing!” Fenrir cried. “But I’m stuck in this tiny fragment of my body! Perhaps I left too much of myself behind. But if I hadn’t reduced my power to such a degree, I could not have slipped through the barrier on the Church’s prison. I suppose I had no other recourse, but I can’t believe there’s nothing I can do against goblins, the weakest magic beasts! Gah! Your Holiness! Where are you?!” She was closer than when he had been imprisoned in his cell, but still so far away. Fenrir cried out in torment.

He had faced many trials since escaping his cell. He was able to avoid notice by the Church’s guards, but his legs were so short, and the distance he had to travel was so long. In the end, he decided to instead roll down the road. But he hit a steep downhill slope and went faster than he had intended, colliding with a carriage that knocked him into the river. With his tiny legs, he couldn’t even properly doggy-paddle, and he was carried downstream until he reached the shore, where he was immediately captured by goblins.

“It’s all over,” he said. “I really am going to be eaten by goblins...” He was too weak to break free. It really was the end. “My Lady Saint,” he sighed. “Wherever could you be? I may never again sit in your presence, smelling your gentle scent...” He took in a long breath, hoping that maybe the scent of the Saint drifting in from far away would give him comfort in his last moments. “What’s this? Perhaps it’s my imagination, but her scent seems to be growing stronger. Is this an illusion, conjured up by my weak and failing heart?”

It was no illusion. The calming, refreshing scent of the Saint was coming closer and closer to the forest. Fenrir could feel her approaching with staggering speed. “Has she found me?! Your Holiness! I am here! Your faithful servant awaits you!” He howled and howled for all he was worth.

“Awoooooooo! Awawaooooooooooo!”

And then, he heard a girl’s voice answering back!

“Fl...ff...”

It was too far away to hear what she was saying clearly, but Fenrir didn’t want to miss a single word the Saint said.

“What’s she saying?!” he cried, perking up his ears and concentrating. “What is My Lady Saint saying?!”

He could hear her calling in her sacred voice. “Fluuuff-fluuuuuuuuff!”

“Fluff-fluff...?” Fenrir echoed. What in the world could that possibly mean?

† † †

Kanata was like the wind itself. Using wind magic to lower her air resistance, and with powerful force and perfect technique, she coursed across the plains faster than a hawk in mid-dive. Even Melissa the Zephyr—the Adventurers’ Guild receptionist back in the Royal Capital and a capable adventurer herself—had felt her claim to her sobriquet slipping by the second she’d seen Kanata race by.

“Kanata!” Zag’giel clung on to her head for dear life. “Where are you going! What has happened?! Kanataaaaaaa!”

“Fluff fluff fluff fluff fluff fluff fluff fluff fluuuuuuuuuff!” Kanata didn’t even seem to hear Zag’giel’s screams. She was taking the minimal consideration of keeping him from falling off, but most of her attention was focused on something too far away for Zag’giel to see.

Kanata sniffed the air, finding her way to the whatever-it-was by scent.

“It’s close!” she said. “I can smell it!”

“What are you, a dog?!”

In truth, she was far greater. Not even the Spirit Wolf himself could have pinpointed a precise location from this distance. Another heroic feat born of the love of fluff. Kanata’s nose was itching for fluff, and fluff alone. And so she ran, enthralled by the scent, dashing across fields, passing by forests, leaping over streams, flying over mountains and valleys, far, far off of her intended route.

And finally she slammed on the brakes, coming to a screeching halt in front of her destination. Some goblins were carrying a long pole between them, to which was tied a white ball of fur.

“Fluff Fluuuuuuff! I found yoooooooou!”

“H-Hey!” said one of the goblins. “Who are you?!”

“Wh-Wh-Where did you come from?!” demanded the other.

Understandably, they were shocked by the sudden appearance of a human girl on the scene. It was rare enough for humans to come this deep into the forest, but for a young girl to come alone was flat-out suicidal. And yet, the goblins could sense a strange aura of menace coming from the girl before their eyes.

“Wh-Wh-What does a human want with us?!”

“If you’re looking for a fight, take it up with Lord Ogre!”

They tried to intimidate her as best they could, but the black-haired girl didn’t even seem to notice. Smiling, she drew closer and closer.

“No!” a goblin shouted. “St-St-Stay away!”

“Are you after our food?! No way! That’s ours! We need it! If we come back empty-handed, Lord Ogre will have our heads!”

The goblins were paralyzed with fear. To all appearances, she was just a slender-bodied girl, but she was shrouded in an aura of undeniable, overwhelming might.

Then the goblins noticed that their poles were suddenly lighter. The girl was holding the white furball they had captured in one of her arms. The ropes, untied, fell to the ground.

“When did she—?!”

“I didn’t even see her move!”

The girl raised her free right arm. The goblins felt an intense pressure, as if a giant magic beast were looming over them.

“Awawawawah!” one babbled.

“N-No... We’re going to die...” said the other. They looked like they might pass out at any second.

But Kanata held up the palm of her hand and presented it to the goblins. “I have a proposition,” she said.

The goblins stared blankly. They were so overwhelmed it was hard for them to even breathe. A black hole appeared above Kanata’s hand, and from it fell bread, eggs, and ham.

“Let’s make a trade!”

† † †

“Holy gob! What was that?! I’ve never tasted anything so good!”

“Have humans been eating stuff like this this whole time?!”

Tears were streaming down the goblins’ faces as they devoured Kanata’s grilled-ham-and-cheese sandwiches. Their fear seemed totally forgotten. Up until now, they had known of no cuisine beyond roasting and stewing.

Kanata held her head up high. “Then it’s a deal. I’ll be taking the fluffy baby?”

“Such are the words of Kanata,” Zag’giel added. He had been serving as interpreter.

The goblins didn’t hesitate for a second. “Yeah! Go right ahead!” they said, and, taking their sandwiches along with them, left in high spirits.

“It would have been a simple matter to defeat those creatures,” said Zag’giel, “and yet, Kanata, you would choose to reach an accord with them. We have abiding respect for your wisdom and compassion. As a king, we feel we must learn from your example.”

“Eheh heh,” Kanata giggled. “Zaggy, you’re making me blush! But hold on! First, this cutie.”

Kanata turned her attention toward the newcomer. She cleansed his silver-white fur with magic, revealing its brilliant luster. He didn’t have any visible injuries, but Kanata cast a healing spell anyway, just to be safe.

He should have been all better, but the white furball was still quivering away.

“Are you okay?” Kanata asked. “Did the goblins scare you?”

Zag’giel regarded the furball with contempt.

“What is this pitiful creature?” he asked. Nobody was there to point out that Zag’giel himself was every bit the pitiful little furball this puppy was.

They watched him shake and tremble, and then suddenly the new furball raised his head, gazing up at Kanata with his eyes—blue like the depths of the ocean.

“I...” he said, “I was right. I was right all along...” Tears began to flow from those deep-blue eyes of his.

“Huh?!” Kanata flinched back. She hadn’t been expecting this reaction. “Are you okay?! Does it hurt?! Did my spell not work?!”

But the furball leaped into the air with pure jubilation and landed on her chest. “Your Holiness! I-I have waited so long for you! Day after day after day after day! Y-You’re here! You came for me!”

“Whoa! The fluff is fluffing me?! Is it my youthful allure? My floof-ful allure? Being a Beast Tamer is amazing!”

The furball wagged his tail as she squeezed him tight, greedily.

† † †

“Aha ha ha...fluff fluff...white and soft...waggy waggy little tail...so cute...so cute!”

Kanata shook with emotion—the white fluff had just jumped up onto her chest! Ever since she had been a little girl, fluffy critters would run from Kanata whenever she tried to touch them. For this fluffball to be wagging his tail and showering her with affection of his own volition was beyond her wildest dreams. Her entire consciousness was absorbed in the sensation of soft, fluffy fluff. All else had been excised.

The furball yapped and whined, conveying his words of joy to her telepathically. “My Lady Saint! Oh, how I’ve longed to meet you! I’ve missed you so desperately!”

Telepathy took too much magic power for an ordinary animal to use. Moreover, animals would inevitably flee in terror before the aura of might that Kanata unconsciously projected. But if this furball was a magic beast, then what kind of magic beast was it? Even Kanata, who had read all of The Bestiary of Albert Molmo, Tamer of Legends (Complete Edition) had never heard of something like this before.

“Your Holiness!” he cried again. “My Lady Saint!”

What was that about? In his heartfelt cries, he had repeatedly called Kanata a Saint, but that was not the Profession Kanata had chosen. Moreover, as far as Kanata could remember, she had not met this fluffball before today. In fact, she was sure of it. If she had ever set eyes on such marvelous white fluff in the past, she would not possibly have forgotten—it would have been burned into her memory for all of time. Perhaps the furball was mistaking Kanata for someone else?

But Kanata’s cognitive faculties were currently on par with the average zombie. None of that occurred to her in the slightest.

“White...fluff...cu-cu-cute...” she said. She was lost in the bliss of fluff.

“It’s me!” the furball said, still pressed up into Kanata’s chest as she squatted to the ground. “Your faithful servant! Please! Let me hear you say my name!”

But someone else was there, grumbling and seething—Zag’giel, the first and original fluff-fluff.

“Who do you think you are?!” he hissed from his perch on Kanata’s head. His tail shot up in an attempt at intimidation. “How dare you address our master in such a familiar tone?! Begone from her!”

Eventually, subjected to the fury of Zag’giel, the white fluff looked up from Kanata’s chest. “Hm?” he said. “Who’s this black furball?”

“F-Furball?! You have some nerve to say that when you are nothing but a white furball yourself!”

“You dare?! Ruffian furball!”

“What are you supposed to be if not a furball?!”

The pair meowed and hissed and yipped and yapped. Zag’giel had had just about enough of this white fluff thing that wouldn’t let go of Kanata. He jumped up from Kanata’s head, his back to the sun as he dropped on the furball.

“Nothing you say makes any sense! Then, take this!” His round body spun and spun, faster and faster, as he tackled the white fluffball for all he was worth.

“Hmph! Come, then!” the white furball declared.

Zag’giel struck him and bounced lightly off of his soft white fur, landing next to the white fluff in Kanata’s arms.

“Knave!” Zag’giel spat. “Wastrel!”

“Don’t you dare touch Her Holiness, furball!”

“Silence! How dare you touch our master!”

“Villain!”

“Insolent cur!”

The two flailed in Kanata’s arms, battering each other with their tiny, stubby legs.

“Oh good golly jeez!” Kanata marveled. “Double fluff?! I wasn’t— I wasn’t ready—!” She held them tight in her arms like bouquets of fluffy flowers. Never in her life had she experienced such pure jubilation.

“Aaah!” she cried. “I-I can’t hold back!” Something in her snapped. “Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y,” Kanata stammered. “Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y...”

“Y?” both furballs asked at once, stopping their fight to stare up at her, uncertain what to make of her change in behavior.

“Kanata, what is it?” Zag’giel asked.

“Do you need something, Your Holiness?” asked the newcomer.

Those cute round eyes looking up at her was too much. All that was left of Kanata’s rationality boiled over, and evaporated, and was gone.

“Y-Y-Y-You two are so naughty...” she said.

The white fluff didn’t know what to make of this, but Zag’giel, who had heard that phrase before, twitched involuntarily. “N-No!” he shouted. “Kanata! Get ahold of yourself!”

“Y-Your Holiness? Have I done something to offend—?”

Kanata’s eyes were burning hot. Her breath was labored. She was so worked up that her body had started to sweat. From the fire in her eyes, it was clear that she was beyond reason. “Haah...” she panted. “Haah... Haah... The double fluff is so cute... I can’t...I can’t...I can’t hold myself back!”

“K-Kanata! Stop! A lady must not do such a—”

“Your Holiness? Your Holiness?! What are you doing?!”

Their desperate pleas seemed to have the opposite effect. Kanata only looked more excited. “Your cute cute cute bodies are just drawing me in!” she said. And then, she breathed in. She breathed in double.

Slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp!

It was a terrible, inhuman sight. Kanata was sucking so hard it seemed like she might inhale the two furballs entirely.

“Ghwaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

“Nooooooooooooo!”

Deep in the forest, far from any human settlements, the two cried out, mewing and yapping for their lives.

† † †

“La la la la la~♪”

Kanata skipped through the forest with a brilliant grin on her face. She’d had her fill of fluff. The black and white furballs she was carrying in her arms drooped lifelessly. Whatever she had done to them, their coats of fur were slick and moist.

“What could Her Holiness have been doing...?” the white fluff muttered, still in a daze.

“Hah. Then you do not know. You have much to learn, novitiate.” For all his haughty pride, Zag’giel was exactly as wrung out as the white furball.

“Then... You know? What was that?”

“We know indeed. In truth...”

“In truth what?!”

“In truth, Kanata has been training us,” Zag’giel pontificated to his rapt audience.

“Th-That was training?!” the white furball balked.

“Yes indeed! She ambushes us with this peculiar training in order to hone our strength!”

This was, of course, completely wrong, but it was what Zag’giel had decided was the case. This was a special training that would lead him to further power. It was a perfect delusion.

“If we had known such an ambush was coming,” Zag’giel continued, “we would have been well able to endure it. But caught unawares, it has reduced us to total enervation! This is the teaching Kanata means to impart. Do not lower your guard. You must constantly bear in mind that battle can start at any time. Your heart must be an eternal battleground.”

It was as if in an archery contest he had spun around and loosed an arrow in precisely the opposite direction. The white fluffball closed his eyes, gave it a good long think, and then opened them again.

“I see!” he said. Needless to say, he did not. “Truly, even the great battles of my past did not exhaust me as much as this training. Her Holiness is incredible! I have never even heard of training so strict!”

“Indeed, indeed!” Zag’giel said. They really did match one another. “Kanata is truly incredible! We are proud to have her as our master!”

“Her Holiness hasn’t changed a day in the past thousand years! She is always putting the people around her above herself!”

Something in the white furball’s praise of Kanata struck Zag’giel as off. “Thousand years, you say?” he asked. “What do you mean?! Kanata is only fifteen years—”

“Aaah!” the furball cried, suddenly interrupting. “I forgot! Oh no!” He clambered down from his position in Kanata’s arms and bounced down to the ground, making his way in front of Kanata and sitting with an air of solemnity.

“O-wha-wha—?” Kanata said. “Sit! He’s sitting!”

“My Lady Saint, please forgive my earlier indiscretion! I lost myself in the joy of our long-awaited reunion! I thank you deeply for coming to meet me yourself in my hour of greatest need, when I had urgent need to seek you.”

He bowed his head politely, and Kanata clutched her hands over her heart.

“Oh my gooooosh!” she marveled. “The puppy bows!” But she shook her head. “No, no, no,” she said. “I mustn’t be rude. That was a lovely introduction!” She was already reaching out for him. The desire to squeeze the cute puppy furball was burning in her heart, but after fluffing her fill earlier, Kanata was in a state of postfluff clarity. At the very least she could introduce herself.

“I’m Kanata!” she said. “Nice to meet you! This is Zaggy! Say hi!” Kanata held Zag’giel aloft in her arms.

The King of Demons adopted a superior posture. “We do not think you will be of much use to Kanata. All the assistance she needs we can provide. However, it is not we who decide these things, but Kanata. If you wish to join us, prepare yourself! This life is not for the faint of heart!” He puffed his chest out as much as he could, with all the gravitas of a senior student.

However, the white fluff wasn’t paying any attention to Zag’giel at all. He was perplexed by something in Kanata’s self-introduction.

“Did you say...‘nice to meet you’?” His voice was shaking.

“Yeah!” said Kanata. “Nice to meet you!”

“Wh-What?!” Dizzy with shock, he staggered forward up to Kanata’s feet and stood up on his two hind legs. “We’ve met before, Your Holiness! It’s me! The Spirit Wolf Fenrir! Have you forgotten your long journeys by my side?”

Kanata’s attention was somewhere else. “He jumps up on two legs! C-C-Cuuute!” The furball bouncing on his hind legs had shot an arrow through her heart.

“Your Holiness! Please remember!”

“Okay! I’m remembering!” Kanata wasn’t really listening to what was being said, but she gave it her all anyway. She had to, if fluff was at stake. “Nhhhhhh!” She used her top-tier recollective powers to call up her memory of her entire past.

“Do you remember our first great feat, freeing the beastmen from the tyrannical rule of Imperial Azamut?! Ah, you were so magnificent then, Your Holiness.”

“Hm? Imperial Azamut? Like, the neighboring country? No...I don’t remember that...”

“Th-Then... Do you remember saving the people of the Kingdom of Falkas from famine?!”

“I don’t... I’m sorry...”

“Bringing rain to the drought-stricken Farlé Grasslands, averting desertification and slaking the thirst of the masses?!”

“I don’t think I know you...”

“Defeating a dark god from another world who tried to send their soldiers here? Defeating the Demon King with the Hero on the Dark Continent?! That was such a terrific battle—you must remember it!”

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“No... No way...”

Fenrir had recounted many tales from his time journeying with the Saint, but Kanata really had no memory of any of it. Even accounting for the increasingly large part of her memory that had been sacrificed entirely to contain nothing more than Zaggy’s fluff, she wouldn’t have forgotten something as big as that.

“She...really doesn’t remember...” Fenrir’s ears flattened against his head. Kanata was still worked up over the fluff, but Fenrir had fallen into a deep sadness.

“I don’t,” Kanata said. “But are you sure this isn’t our first meeting? To begin with, I’m not a Saint...” Saint had been one of the thousands of Professions she had gotten to pick from in her Selection Ceremony, but what Kanata had picked was not Saint, but Beast Tamer. The white fluffball must be thinking of someone else.

“No! I would not mistake Her Holiness! This smell can only belong to My Lady Saint!”

“S-Smell?” Kanata asked. “Do I smell?!”

“Fear not,” Zag’giel said as Kanata sniffed at her clothing. “You always smell clean and well washed. But this furball, we think, has not had a bath in some time. We detect a certain odor.” He was still trying to assert dominance over the newcomer, as if he hadn’t been dirty with grass and sweat and mud only recently himself.

“Not that!” Fenrir went on. “The unique smell of Her Holiness’s soul! I could never forget such a splendid fragrance. She is Her Holiness!” He pulled his forelegs up onto Kanata’s lap, his back legs still bouncing away.

“Wah ha ha ha!” Kanata laughed. “That’s precious! Too precious! Am I even allowed to see something as precious as this?! They should... They should charge for admission!”

“My Lady Saint! Please! Remember! My Lady Saint!”

“Enough of your yapping!” Zag’giel stepped between Fenrir and Kanata. “It is plain that Kanata is not your Saint! You yourself said this happened a millennium ago, but Kanata is a child of fifteen years of age! And perhaps you are not aware of this, but the souls of dead humans are the sustenance of the gods. Reincarnation is a myth! You are being ridiculous!”

“I am not being ridiculous! Please! Believe me, Your Holiness! You have to believe me!”

Zag’giel was aware of the relationship between humans and the gods, but he did not know that Kanata had been reborn from another world, with her memories of her previous life intact—her previous life, which she had lived out in a sterile hospital room with plastic tubes connected to her body. Whoever it was Fenrir remembered, it was not Kanata.

“You really...really don’t remember...” He could see from Kanata’s expression that she really didn’t remember who she was. Fenrir took a step back and turned his ears down, dejected.

Kanata squatted down and reached out to pet Fenrir gently on the head. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I really don’t know what you’re talking about. But I don’t think you’re lying or anything.”

If she had been reborn here from a different world, it was possible that before that, she had existed in a different world as well. If reincarnation took place between different worlds, it wasn’t completely impossible for Fenrir’s Saint to have been reborn in Kanata’s world.

Kanata couldn’t imagine the sadness Fenrir had been feeling, searching in vain for his precious master for a thousand years. But she could at least give him her hand.

“I may not be your Saint,” Kanata said, “but I would very much like to be friends with you. We can go on all kinds of adventures, and make lots of memories of our own! If that’s...okay with you...”

Fenrir lifted his drooping head to look up at Kanata. “Such kind eyes,” he said. “I knew it...” Gazing into her smile, he could feel an old memory come back to him anew—a girl’s joyful smile, her black hair fluttering in the breeze. That sight had been the beginning of his journey. He remembered traveling with his master, in her original incarnation. She had helped so many people, but nobody had ever taken the time to help her. She’d helped, and helped, and helped, and helped...but even at that last moment, when they had been parted forever, nobody had come to her aid. Perhaps it was best that she’d lost the memories of her life. She had been released from her charge as Saint.

Fenrir made up his mind then and there that he would stay by her side to assure her happiness. It was not because she was a Saint that he decided to serve her, but simply because she was such a sweet and kind girl. Even if her form and her name had changed, this was the master Fenrir had been searching for. And he would protect her, not for the sake of the world, but for her own sake.

Having made up his mind, Fenrir’s ears perked up to attention. “Your Holiness...no,” he corrected himself. “Lady Kanata! I believe I was not mistaken! Remember me or not, you are the only one I will serve!”

“Really?! Oh my gosh, I’m so happy!” Kanata spread her arms wide in joy, inviting Fenrir to jump in. He did so with no hesitation.

“I promise, Lady Kanata! I will be of use to you!”

“Yeah! I can’t wait to travel with you, Fen-fen!”

“Fen-fen...?”

“Yes! Fen-fen! Every Beast Tamer worth her salt knows you gotta give nicknames to your magic beasts!” she said with an air of knowing confidence. This notion of hers was left over from her previous life—in fact, it was straight from the video games she used to play.

Fenrir closed his eyes, grimacing as if he were in pain. “Nhh...”

“We see,” said Zag’giel. “That explains some things...”

Zag’giel, of course, had vivid memories of being given a nickname of his own. His confusion over suddenly being called Zaggy. Whether his claim had any veracity to it, Fenrir had called himself a Spirit Wolf. Of course he would resist being given such an utterly undignified name.

“But if one cannot overcome this trial,” he said, “then one has no right to call themself Kanata’s servant.” He nodded, more sure than ever of his merit.

Fenrir, meanwhile, kept his eyes shut. “Fen-fen...” he echoed.

“Yeah!” said Kanata. “Fen-fen!” She sounded so cheerful when she said the name.

Suddenly Fenrir’s eyes snapped open. Was he angry about being ridiculed with a nickname?

“I understand!” Fenrir said with shocking earnestness, sitting up very straight and wagging his tail so vigorously it looked like it might tear itself apart. “I will no longer use the name Fenrir! From now on, I am Fen-fen, Kanata’s number-one servant! My life is yours! I swear it!”

“Wh-What?!” A shiver ran down Zag’giel’s spine. “Fen-fen...you...you accept it?! You have no objections?!” This newcomer was taking to this with far too much grace! “No, wait. We will not allow your claim to be the number-one servant to go unopposed. It is we who are Kanata’s number one! You are number two! The second!”

“Hmph,” said Fenrir. “What are you, anyway? You’ve been loitering around Lady Kanata for a while now, haven’t you. But a weak-looking furball like you has no right to call himself Lady Kanata’s servant!”

“We are telling you that you are also a furball! And moreover, this is not our true form!” Zag’giel jumped down from Kanata’s shoulder. “Perhaps seeing the difference in our power will cause you to understand. We are Zag’giel! The Demon King who unified the warring Dark Continent and reigned over its long peace!” As he landed, Zag’giel unleashed his transformation, shining with a vivid black light that grew brighter and brighter and shifted, until he stood before Fenrir in the form of a tall, beautiful man in a black cape. His magic power, vast and menacing, whirled around him like a hurricane.

Fenrir fell over on his back. “Th-The Demon King?!”

“Indeed. Unlike you, O self-proclaimed Spirit Wolf, we are the true King of Demons.”

“I-Impossible! Why would the Demon King be here?!”

“Hah. Our meeting with Kanata was nothing short of a miracle,” he said, haughtily. “And now the bond between us is—”

Suddenly he felt someone glaring down the back of his head. He looked over his shoulder to see Kanata staring at him through narrowed eyes.

“Kanata, what’s—?” he started. But Kanata’s silent glare was louder than he was.

“We are clarifying our position with this newcomer,” Zag’giel said. “If we must talk, then later we can—”

Kanata kept on staring.

She was clearly dissatisfied. Perhaps she had a problem with Zag’giel introducing himself by his original name. Panicked, he turned back around to face Fenrir. “W-We are Zaggy!” he declared. “We are not the Demon King Zag’giel! We are merely a magic beast who admires Kanata!”

The beautiful youth turned back into the black cat-ball. He looked nervously over his shoulder.

“Eheh heh,” Kanata giggled. “That’s right! Zaggy is Zaggy.”

It seemed Zag’giel had been correct. He sighed, relieved to have Kanata back to normal.

Kanata was not fond of Zag’giel’s original form. Or, rather, it wasn’t that she wasn’t fond, so much as that she regarded his furball form as correct.

“L-Lady Kanata?!” Fenrir pointed a stubby paw at Zag’giel. “What is the meaning of all this?! Why are you working alongside the Demon King, the enemy of the entire world?!”

“Hah,” said Zag’giel. “It is as we said. We are not the King of Demons. We are nothing more than Kanata’s servant.”

“Y-You... You abandoned your status as Demon King?!” Fenrir’s eyes lit up. “Lady Kanata reformed the Demon King, the avatar of evil itself! I knew it! I knew she was the true Saint!”

“No,” Kanata said. “I’m a Beast Tamer!” She scooped up both furballs in her arms. “If I were a Saint, I would never have gotten so much fluffy fluffy fluff!” Kanata nuzzled her cheeks between the two critters, indulging herself to her heart’s content. “I’m so glad I’m a Beast Tamer! Fluff fluff, fluffy fluff, fluff fluff fluff!”

Zag’giel’s fine fur was smooth and almost cool to the touch. Fenrir’s was soft and warm like dandelion fluff. But as different as they were, both fluffs were sublime. Kanata was on cloud nine.

“We will concede the argument and acknowledge you as our companion,” Zag’giel said. “After all, Kanata has chosen you. However, we will not call you the number-one servant! It was we who were with her from the start!”

“I have served Lady Kanata for a thousand years!” objected Fenrir. “But it isn’t a matter of seniority. We will know who is the number-one servant by their service!”

“Hisss...!”

“Grrrr...!”

The two thrust their heads together, glaring each other down. Sandwiched between them, Kanata looked like she had gone to heaven. It was a ridiculous tableau.