Part 30: Li’l Fio’s Welcome Home Shovel

Part 30:
Li’l Fio’s Welcome Home Shovel

After going back to the Mermaid Oasis to retrieve the Green Orb and saying their goodbyes to Lucrezia, the crew left the Lactia Republic. They made their way home to the World Tree Castle, where Fio the elf girl met them warmly at the towering gates. She had seen them from the third-floor balcony, and with a bright expression she rushed down to meet them, her breasts swaying.

“Welcome home, Uncle Alan!” Fio spread her arms wide and smiled as dazzlingly as the sun itself.

In return, Alan smoothed the palm of his hand over her head. “Thanks. Glad to see you’re doing well, Fio.”

“I’m just…so glad you’re all o…kay?” Fio glanced at the horse and carriage behind Alan. Sitting in the back were the lady knight and the naked undead girl, completely petrified.

“Um, Catria and Alice look like they’ve seen ghosts.”

“Yeah, well…” Alan rubbed the back of his neck. “Catria’s exhausted because I used my new Shovel Home Run to fly us home from the Lactia Republic, I guess.”

“Shovel…Home Run?”

“It’s a technique where I use a shovel to hit the carriage a super long distance.”

He had developed this technique after studying the popular Lactia Republic sport of “baseball.” By scooping his shovel upward, he could imitate an upper swing, allowing him to send a target flying a long distance. Alan’s explanation did little to clear things up for Fio.

Er, if he hit the carriage that hard, wouldn’t he destroy it? Um, um! But if Lady Lithisia and the carriage are both okay, I guess I shouldn’t overthink it!

“What about Alice?” Fio asked.

“Hee, hee…” Alice slumped out of her seat and out of sight. “I…love shovels…”

“O-oh.” Fio, clever as she was, could tell she shouldn’t dig any further. “I’m not sure I really understand, but I do know you’re amazing, Uncle Alan!”

Fio was an elf girl as open-minded as she was large-breasted.

“Fio… Are you really…okay with that?” Catria muttered.

“This carriage has definitely been shovelfied…” Alice groaned.

Catria and Alice both attempted to speak, but came off more like zombies moaning into the wind.

At that point, Lithisia merrily disembarked from the carriage. “Sir Miner, I suggest we take a break inside and perhaps shovey wovey for a bit.”

“A break sounds good,” he agreed. “But no shovey woveying.”

“No? Aww…”

Fio leaned in curiously. “Lady Lithisia, what exactly is shovey woveying?”

Lithisia’s eyes sparkled as she drew close to Fio’s ear and whispered the answer.

As she murmured, Fio’s cheeks turned utterly pink and her eyes darted about. She held her hands to her chest, inadvertently accentuating her breasts. “O-oh my gosh! That’s what it means?!”

“Hee hee, indeed, shovel.”

“G-gosh, oh gosh…”

Alan hastily pulled the two of them apart. “Stop poisoning Fio’s mind with your shovel education nonsense.”

“My apologies, but I just thought even elves needed a little shovey wovey goodness.”

“I’m not even going to pretend I follow, but I think you’re the only one who needs that.”

“Eh? Er, um, ah…” Lithisia happily put her fingers together as she squirmed about. “I-I am a Shovel Princess, a-after all.”

Perhaps it would’ve been better for all parties involved if they had left this princess in the Lactia Republic.

After sharing tales of their adventures with Fio, Alan and the others decided to take a whole day to rest. Alan notwithstanding, Catria and Alice were clearly wiped, and the group also needed to review the new information they’d acquired.

Around evening, Alan whipped up a marble bathhouse and was having a soak to test it out. It was about as large as a small throne room and could fit approximately one hundred people. This sort of structure would be a municipal necessity for when the elves came back to power.

“I really have to make some time to think that over, too,” Alan said to himself, lying back in the steam.

For now, Alan was using his time in the bath to think long and hard about the five orbs in their possession, and what that meant for their journey. In other words, it was almost over.

Once this quest was finished, Alan would return to his mountain, but before that, he had to fulfill his promise to Fio: the promise to help restore the elves to their former glory. For the time being, he had crafted the World Tree Castle, a means to keep the elves safe. But that wasn’t enough to revive an entire civilization. For that, one needed not only people, but an economy, culture, and all sorts of other things.

It would be impossible for someone as young as Fio to do all by herself. Alan had to consider what was possible for him to contribute…and what he should leave to her.

Just then, Alan heard the quiet shift of water as someone else entered the bath. Well, it’s a fairly huge bathhouse, so that’s no big deal…

“No, wait a sec.”

Was he not currently the only man in the elf castle?

The splashing drew closer and closer. Soon, Alan could make out the silhouette of a pointy-eared individual hidden within the steam. Next, he identified their skin color. Then, their considerable…assets. Their tips were concealed by sheer clouds of heat.

It was Fio.

It appeared as though she knew someone else was present, but couldn’t make out his face. She approached with a blithe smile. “Um, it’s me, Fio. Lithisia? Catria?”

“Ah, no,” said Alan. “It’s me…”

“Huh?” Fio froze. Only her breasts maintained their softness, bouncing up and down due to the abruptness with which she stopped in her tracks. She was submerged in the water from the waist down, so Alan couldn’t see anything below the water line, but depending on one’s perspective, this meant he could see everything else.

Fio the elf girl was more or less nude in front of him.

Her cheeks turned crimson. “Er, um, Uncle…Alan…I…EEEEEEK!”

In one fell swoop, Fio plopped her entire body underneath the water and balled up in embarrassment. Unfortunately, this left her back and nape totally defenseless, charming in their own right.

Alan groaned. “I thought I told Lithisia it’d be ‘men’s only’ for a while.”

“All she told me was it was going to be ‘shovels only,’ so no shovely doveling!”

“Ugh, I’m so sorry, this is all my fault.” Alan was an idiot for trusting the dastardly princess with any sort of message. “Look, I’ll get out.”

“Eh? No, wait! I-I’m the one who intruded on your bath!”

“Fio, um, if you move like that…I can—”

“EEEEK!”

Back down she went.

This time, Fio dove so deeply into the water that even her mouth was submerged. Even then, the shadow of her breasts swaying beneath the surface were all too distinct. Alan averted his eyes, but realized it was impossible to avoid her completely. In his long days as a miner, he had acquired the Shovel Eye, an ability that made him wary to every little detail in even the darkest of surroundings. As such, he was unable to stop picking up on every one of Fio’s little movements. In the dim, her skin shivered.

“Ah, you…really notice everything, huh…?” Fio said as she contorted her body, trying to better cover herself.

This was bad. The longer Alan stayed, the worse he felt. Time to get the heck out. Alan started to rise from the bath.

“N-no, please wait!” Fio pleaded. It appeared as though she’d come to some sort of inner conclusion. “Um, I, um…it’s fine…it’s fine if you can see me…!”

“It absolutely isn’t! You’re a young, unmarried woman. How could any of this be fine?”

“It’s…embarrassing, but…” Fio hid her mouth with her hand and continued faintly. “I’m going to show you everything when we shovel together…so…”

“Er, come again?”

What was this buxom elf girl going on about? Sure, Alan had promised to “shovel” with her, by which he meant he was going to craft a hero’s statue for the home of the elves. What did her body, nude or otherwise, have to do with sculpting?

Wait a minute.

Hrmph, in other words…

Alan nodded, newly confident. “So you’re saying you want me to carve you (a statue).”

“Augh… E-er, I mean, more specifically, ‘dig’ me!” Fio flailed and covered her face with her hands.

Why was she being so shy? “Hm, but does it really need to be you (as a model)?”

“Huh?” Fio looked puzzled.

“I’ve seen many great elven heroes and heroines in my time.”

“Er, um, I, but they’re all dead.”

“Even if they are, I can still carve them (in a sculpting fashion).”

“You can (in a child-making fashion)?!” Fio was the most startled she’d been all day. Her breasts rocked, almost emerging from the water. Fio was too surprised to notice. “Ah, b-but I suppose Alice is undead, so I guess that makes sense?!”

“I mean, it’s certainly easier to do the deed with someone still alive (in a modeling sense), but as long as I can remember what they looked like, it’s fine.”

“It’s fine?!”

“Heck, Pasarunak often did it with dead elves.”

“He did?!” Fio’s mental image of Pasarunak grew grim and distant.

“Oh, wait! What if I did Pasarunak? He was one of the grandest elves of all.”

“Lord Pasarunak…? No, no, no! He’s a man!”

“What does that have to do with anything? Pasarunak paid no mind to those sorts of things.”

“He didn’t?!” Fio’s mental image of Pasarunak became even more distant and obscure.

The pair had yet to notice a fearsome misunderstanding was still underway.

“Haaah, haaah, I’m so shocked…” Fio murmured.

“That’s why it doesn’t necessarily have to be you,” Alan explained, feeling proud of himself for solving Fio’s problems. “Especially since you’re so flustered.”

As far as Alan could tell, what Fio desired was a statue of a nude woman. In other words, she thought she herself would have to undress and model for him. But between her age and their status as adopted family, Alan considered this a dubious proposition at best.

“U-um…” Fio poked her index fingers together. “I-It’s certainly flustering, but…I, um… I know I’m not suitable as a partner, but…even then!”

Even then, Fio thought as she bit her lip.

“I still want you to shovel me, Uncle Alan…” She kerplunked into the water again. “You saved me, Uncle Alan. Y-you’ve been so kind to me…and no matter how much we talk, I just feel so at ease and safe. Th-that’s why, um, it’s hard to put into words, but!”

“No… That’s more than enough. I understand.” Alan clenched his fist with determination. “I’ll do it.”

Honestly, at this rate, he’d agree to anything to avoid subjecting the girl to more indignity. Alan decided to sculpt Fio with all her elegance and all his might.

Fio smiled, relieved by this turn of events. She stood and expressed her gratitude over and over again. “Thank you so much! Thank you oh so much!”

Tragically, her bouncing breasts now occupied the majority of Alan’s line of sight.

Oh boy… he thought, averting his Shovel Eyes as best he could. Fio truly was a remarkable specimen. If Alan made a statue modeled after her, it might invite all manner of concerning male tourists.

“Ah, eeek!” As soon as Fio noticed Alan’s strained expression, she hastily covered her breasts, etc. “Ah, I-I’m sorry. I know you’ll need to see things properly in order to do your work…”

“No, no. The form of someone covering themselves is—artistic. It’s perfect for shoveling. Keep up the good work.”

“It is…? Um, er, so…” Fio pressed her arms deep into the valley of her chest. She hesitated for a moment, then spoke again. “Do you think, um, I’m…shovelly enough…?”

It took a full five seconds for Alan to understand what was happening. Well, not quite. It took five seconds for Alan to understand that he had no flipping clue what was going on. “My apologies, but could you translate that into regular words?”

“Oh, um, I’m sorry… Apparently ‘shovelly’ is an adjective that refers to something that makes you instinctively want to shovel. It was listed in Rostir’s basic dictionary.”

“Burn that dictionary.”

The future of Rostir’s educational system was in dire straits.

“Hm, but I suppose in that sense, yes, you are sufficiently ‘shovelly,’” said Alan.

“R-really?!”

“I’ve seen all manner of elves in my lifetime, but you are undoubtedly the most ‘shovelly’ of them all.”

Within this pure elf was a contradictory innate allure. She would make for a splendid statue, even if it would be primarily for men.

Fio’s cheeks turned pink and tears welled in her eyes. Her ample breasts swelled. “I…I’m such a happy little shovel… Ah!”

Perhaps due to spending too much time in the bath, Fio lost her balance. Alan panicked and rushed to catch her. Fio fell face-first into Alan’s chest, causing her chest to make contact with his. She was wondrously soft to say the least, like some kind of softness that existed just to be tenderly touched and touch in turn.

“Ah…ah!”

Beneath Fio’s delicate shoulders was a spectacular figure. With heavy eyes, Fio leaned her entire body up against Alan.

Alan was suddenly compelled to make her feel safe. “Fio, next time I come back, let’s shovel as much as we can.”

“As much as we can?!”

“I’ll put my everything into it. I’ll make a hundred of ’em for you.”

“O-one hundred?! Oh gosh!” Fio’s eyes spiraled out of control as her golden locks waved in the water.

And so another night passed in the World Tree Castle. The misunderstanding between the elf and the miner was speeding in the direction of the almighty shovel, thanks to a home run shot.

***

The following day, the party assembled in the great hall to hold a roundtable meeting. Before they could search out the next orb, they had to review some vital new information.

“Apparently, we’ve received a Vision Orb from Prime Minister Zeleburg,” said Alan.

“Hmph. Has he figured out we’re using the World Tree Castle as our base of operations?” Catria asked.

Alan shook his head. “No. The orb was delivered to an inn in Shilasia, the ice nation.”

“Huh? Why?”

“According to Zeleburg’s intelligence, we’re currently ‘on our way home from Shilasia.’”

“Let me guess, you buried the truth again, right?”

In any event, they played the Vision Orb. An image unfurled from within it, and they were greeted with the sight of Zeleburg’s beautiful human form clad in a majestic cape.

“Greetings, my dear Princess Lithisia. Let me congratulate you on acquiring two orbs.”

“That number doesn’t add up, Alan,” said Catria. “Don’t we have more?”

“Don’t worry, I buried the truth about that too. In addition to the one Lithisia already had, he thinks we only acquired the Silver Orb from Shilasia.”

“However, I must warn you,” Zeleburg continued. “The remaining orbs reside with my most powerful of underlings, the Tetrad Archfiends. The ‘Red Dragon of the Desert,’ the ‘Undead King,’ the ‘Archfiend of the Great Sea.’ The strength of any one of these great monsters rivals that of the gods themselves. They look upon mankind as naught but garbage!”

“Ouch…” Catria couldn’t help pitying the prime minister. All these monsters had been instantly eliminated by Alan’s Wave Motion Shovel Blast. The Undead King Alice was present and accounted for, but she was a victim of the shovel in her own way.

“And then there’s the most powerful of the Tetrad Archfiends, the ‘Emperor of the Sky’, Pazuzu! Even I am incapable of controlling him fully. He is very nearly a god of destruction. And as his name implies, he resides in the great sky, the floating city of Rahzelfo. Yes, the very same one from the legends of the ancient magic kingdom! Humans cannot fly, my dear Princess Lithisia.” Zeleburg scoffed. “However, I’m willing to offer you a chance. There is a magic teleportation ring that will take you to Rahzelfo located to the southwest of Rostir on an island deep within the Remote Ruins. Fear not, Princess. I will welcome you with open arms. I’ll be waiting.”

Zeleburg smiled just before the video cut off.

Catria was beginning to worry that he was perhaps the most unfortunate demon in the entire world.

“Sir Miner, looks like we have our next destination!” Lithisia declared.

“Indeed. We’re journeying to the floating city. In other words…”

Alan hoisted his shovel with a clank and a light blue aura shimmered around it. Then the aura shot from his shovel and arced toward the carriage in the garden. On contact, the entire vehicle bobbed gently into the air.

“It’s shoveling time.”

How long will Zeleburg wait for Lithisia at these so-called Remote Ruins before he realizes she’s never going to show? Catria thought to herself. As Catria imagined that scenario, she found herself slightly at ease. Finally, I’ve found someone worse off than I am.