004. The Princess is Tired

“Leave me alooooooooone!”

“Little princess why are you running away?”

“Because if I get grabbed by those hands, the next place I’ll be going is into the sky to greet the [Azure Spirit]!”

Running back up the stairs, doggedly following me was a terrifying sight. That is to say, Beni really wanted to hug me, but there was no way I would let her after seeing the damage Cyrus had taken.

It had never been this hard to escape a hug before since I had escaped from Panne many times in the past. There was just a single difference this time. Beni was physically fit and I wasn’t.

Between Panne and I, it’s unlikely that either of us would be able to even run one mile nonstop. Beni on the other hand, could probably run a couple miles and still be fine. I hadn’t even gotten halfway up the staircase before my breathing became ragged while Beni leisurely followed behind.

“Hey princess, if you’re tired, why don’t you take a breather?

“You know… why I can’t… do that…”

“Nope. I don’t get it at all!”

Ugh. This woman. Too much energy. That smile and those horns really make her look like a demon. Not to mention the skull on her head is creepy.

…

Blue sun. Horned woman. Is this too far of a stretch to make?

“Hold… up…”

I raise my hand to signal her to stop pursuing me. We’re about ¾ of the way to the top of the staircase.

“Sure.”

Surprisingly she listens to me and stops. Her arms are still outstretched though forcing me to remain on guard.

“Thanks…”

“No problem.”

“Those horns…”

“You mean these?”

She points to the slightly off color white appendages sticking out of either side of her head right above the ears that curved outward in a ‘L’ shape.

“Right..those. Are you… a demon?”

Beni’s face suddenly contorts from a cheerful face to a much more serious and sharp expression.

“Now why would you think that?”

She’s still smiling, but I’m painfully reminded of Panne. This is one of those smiles where it was dangerous to confront them. Usually I would run and hide if Panne was in this state, but I was still catching my breath while watching Beni.

“…Blue sun…you…horns…demon.”

“Are you supposing that because I have horns and with the sun outside being blue, the logical conclusion is I’m a demon?”

“…Yes.”

“Well when you put it that way, I very well could be a demon.”

“…!”

I had finally gotten my breath when my ears heard something ridiculous. Was she admitting to being a demon? Why had she been talking to Cyrus? Wait no, in the first place Cyrus was already suspicious. A randomly high ranking member of [Scarves] coming to peaceful Viyor was highly abnormal. Coupled with trying to get close to my sister through bribing me, he was just plain shady.

Not that he even needed to try to get close, Panne had gotten charmed long before Cyrus had given me the monster book.

And just now, I had witnessed him enter his own shadow and disappear in the middle of all these strange happenings after giving Beni a pouch of white powder. Could it possibly be a drug to make me fall asleep or paralyze me? The possibilities were endless.

“I could be a beast-kin you know.”

“That’s not possible! You don’t have a tail, you can’t fool me, demon!”

“Oh geez, it looks like I’ve been caught. Whatcha gonna do now huh princess?”

She’s shrugging and rolling her eyes again like she had done with Cyrus.”

“I-I don’t have to tell the likes of you.”

“Hmm. I see. Well that would be bad for me you see so I’ll just show my true form now…”

This is bad. This is really bad. Beni is bent over, the skull on her head somehow still resting on her head even though it’s gone vertical. Hands clenched into fists with her back pointed outward, I can feel an ominous feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Is she going to sprout wings? In the legends of the war against demons, the flying types were apparently the weakest. To make up for this, they had amazing aerial mobility, picking off soldiers who got lost from their comrades. But even though I say weakest, that was in comparison to other demons.

She would be plenty strong enough to tear me apart.

“AHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Beni screams out sending shivers down my spine. Am I going to die here? I don’t want to die!

…

“Hey…wait…”

“Yes?”

“No, no please wait a second?”

“Sure.”

…

“Did you just tear your horns off?”

“Yeah.”

I’m utterly dumbfounded. There’s no signs of blood, rather I can now see there are strings hanging off each horn.

“So… you aren’t a demon?”

“Nope.”

“You know you led me to believe you were, right?”

“Yep.”

…

Dammit. With all my heart. Dammittttttttttttt.

“That doesn’t mean I’m going to stop from giving you a hug though.”

And so continued the cat and mouse chase from the staircase towards my room. Luckily I had left the door open, allowing me to quickly enter my room then use my weight to quickly shut it close.

“Hiya Sanct. Standing guard like always, right? You sure are hardworking.”

Is she talking to the suit of armor outside? Would it be okay to say Beni is crazy strong, dangerous, and a little bit loony in the head?

“Think this is gonna be the one? I see. Ehehe, you devious gambler you.”

Attentively listening to see if she would try to force her way into my room, she continued to be strangely occupied with talking to the armor.

I really think there’s been too many, but yet another surprise awaited me. It was nothing as beautiful as the green dawn, nor as silly as the chase with Beni though.

I do know that she’s only expressing herself and not actively attempting to kill me. At least that’s my hope. But nothing prepared me for what was in my room.

A giant iron cage. It held what appeared to be two children, a small black haired boy and an older chestnut colored haired girl. The boy looked very small and couldn’t have been older than 10, while the girl was an early teenager, some years younger than myself.

The little boy appeared to be very sickly, coughing every once in a while. Keeping the sleeping boy’s head on her lap, the young girl looked at me, yet not at me, as if peering through a reflection in the water.

She had two pointed, tufted ears and a tail. A genuine beast-kin. Off to the side of the cage was a table with what appeared to be a walking stick with a bell attached to the top. And also a key.

I abandoned my post safeguarding the door and slowly walked over to the table, gingerly picking up the key and gripping it tightly. The girl’s gaze followed me the entire time, the unnerving yellow eyes giving me goosebumps. Inserting the key carefully into the keyhole, I opened up the door to the cage.

“Are you alright?”

The beast-kin girl sniffed the air, getting ahold of my scent.

“… Human.”

She clutched the boy’s head closer to herself and started backing away into corner of the cage, growling at me.

Any attempts to get closer made her growl louder, her canines sharply coming into view.

“I just want to help.”

“… I don’t want your help.”

There’s always a momentary pause in her replies, as if carefully thinking over everything she says. Suddenly the boy starts speaking in his sleep.

“No… No… Help!”

Was he having a nightmare?

“Noo! Nooooooo!”

The screams continue to get louder until the girl muffles the boy’s cries with her body.

“Nnn……”

“… It’ll be alright”, whispers the girl into the boy’s ear smoothly.

“Dad… Mo… mmy.”

The boy finally calms down and returns to a fitful slumber racked with coughs.

“… Human, please leave us alone. That’s the help I want.”

“Miya.”

I hear Beni call out my name from behind the door, but her voice has none of the cheerfulness it had earlier displayed.

“Ring the bell on the shepherd’s stick.”

I listen to her words seriously and follow her instructions. A shepherd’s stick was it? I back out of the cage and walk to the table where I had grabbed the key. Just picking it up causes the bell to ring and a faint spell of dizziness passes me at the clear resounding note’s sound.

“I just… wanted to help them.”

An honest desire.

<<Conditions met: Parent: Miya Viyor; Children: Oleander, Hyakki>>

I hear a sigh of relief come from the boy’s mouth as his fits of coughing gradually subside. Turning myself around, the girl seems to be struggling to stay awake, her head nodding up and down. I raise the shepherd’s stick once more and tap it on the ground, ringing the bell again. None of the disorientation from earlier occurs, but I feel extremely tired now. Just what had [Interface] tried to tell me?

The girl finally succumbs to the forced sleep and closes her eyes.

“Little princess, can I come inside?”

Even though she asks me, Beni was already leaning on the wooden door having entered the room. A request for politeness’s sake. Not that I have the energy to deny her.

“Yeah.”

Feeling exhausted, I drag myself to my desk chair, promptly collapsing onto it. Beni then walked into the cage, picking up both children using one arm each. Carrying them over to my bed, she tucks them in, pulling the blankets over them.

I toss the cloud plush I had made earlier at her. Without even looking back, Beni catches it with one hand and places it in the arms of the little boy.

“You better get some rest Miya.”

Looks like she’s still in her serious mode. Better than her trying to hug me to death I suppose.

“Right.”

“I’ll be coming to wake you and the kids up later though, there’s a lot we need to talk about.”

Giving one last smile, she exits the room closing the door behind her.

…

“Oh Spirit above, what have I done to deserve this?” I ask while watching the slowly climbing azure sun outside my window.

003. The Princess is Weirded Out

“… It’s too quiet.”

Even if I were to consider everything strange that had happened as a non-factor, the castle was deathly silent for a place that should have been hurriedly been making preparations for breakfast or wiping the hallways clean.

There hadn’t even been a maid to visit to wake me up, I had gotten out of bed of my own accord.

… What a disaster. For the last month I had been forcing the head maid to send people to wake me up in order to spite her for the one time she complained about my carefree lifestyle.

Shifting out of my magnificent thinking pose, I pulled my legs up onto the chair, wrapping my arms around them while facing my head downwards to my knees.

Some people might call this a fetal position. I call it a tactical withdrawal to re-evaluate my available courses of action.

“Ahhhh, all that hard work of rebelling against head maid is gone now that I’ve gotten up on my own!”

My bemoaning of wasted effort would have probably gone on if [Interface] had not pinged an alert.

<<Skill [Plush Maker] learned>>

Huh?

I immediately sat up and inched to the edge of my seat to pull up the main screen of [Interface]. This is done by swiping all fingers except for thumb and pinky downward by the way. Of course everyone should know that, it’s one of the first things children are taught alongside walking.

It’s apparently troublesome to teach little kids the proper hand sign from what I’ve heard from the maids. Panne tells me both Myles and I had no issue at all learning it, but she had a dangerous glint in her eye. We probably caused her a great deal of trouble.

A transparent light blue screen promptly appeared from where I had swiped down. [Interface] has no actual substance, being something similar to a projection of light. To be clear though, it’s not light though. Some researcher in one of the capital cities theorized it was a visualization created from the azure flow inside of a person’s body, but there’s apparently no way to test that without endangering someone’s life.

That aside, my status looked pretty okay. Health points are full, which is always a good thing. What I was more currently concerned with was the new skill I had obtained, [Plush Maker]. Dragging the skills tab out of the main screen to open a new window, I found the new skill quickly. Probably because there are hardly any skills in the list to begin with.

<<Skill [Plush Maker]: A skill that allows one to create higher quality plush objects faster. Craft skill guidance allowed>>

My hard work trying to make that plush cloud paid off then?

“No, this is just wrong.”

An apprentice to a woodworking master would spend countless hours watching him working and creating their own creations. It would only be after several years of this that the apprentice might get the skill. By that time, the apprentice would have been able to make quality work even without the skill.

That isn’t to say the skill wasn’t helpful at that point though. My desk still had the materials for making another plush on it so grabbing fabric in one hand and stuffing in the other, I began to wrap the white stuffing in the likewise white fabric. Then taking a needle from the sewing kit, I prepared to attempt yet another stuffed cloud.

<<Activate [Plush Maker] guidance? Yes/No>>

“Yes.”

Responding to my answer, small blue pinpricks appeared on the fabric in my left hand. A ghostly image of a finished cloud appeared and small arrows directed me to where to join the edges of the white cloth.

Following this outline, my hands began to sew, add stuffing, and cut excess fabric as if I had always known what to do from the start.

…

<<[Plush Maker] object Cloud Plush added to craft list>>

“I-It looks like an actual cloud!”

I hugged my newly made plush while once again returning to my tactical positioning with the one difference of cloud in my arms instead of my legs.

No wait, this isn’t the time to be happily hugging a stuffed cloud. On top of the blue sun and mysterious changes outside the castle, I had just obtained a new skill which should have taken years of effort.

Something strange was definitely going on and I was caught in the middle of it. Reminded of the odd quietness of the castle, I sneaked over to the door and tentatively peeked into the hallway outside.

“A suit of armor?”

Right beside my door as I creaked it open was a gigantic standing figure covered in metal plates. A rectangular sword lacking a pointed end was held in both hands with the blade facing downward. The shoulder span was easily twice the width of my own shoulders and the top of my head only reached the neck of the suit.

It wasn’t a glamourous armor as it lacked adornments and embellishments. Actually, it looked rather plain despite it being so large. Nonetheless, it would have been comforting to know there was a guard, especially such a large one outside my room what with all the strange happenings going on.

“But…”

“It’s missing a head…”

Throwing the door wide open, I stepped towards it and got up on my toes to try to look inside the armor. Alas, it was too tall.

Returning to my feet while looking around once again, I noted there was no one in sight. To add on to that, something weird had happened once again.

“Is that a tree?”

The hallway was greatly altered, changing from a rectangular pathway to a large circular floor. The inner circle of the floor had been removed and the trunk of a tree could be seen growing through it. Around this incision were railings which I grabbed ahold of to find out that the tree grew even higher, reaching up to more floors which our castle never had. Turning my gaze downward, the roots of the huge plant were in the earthy ground one floor below.

Was my room the only thing that been untouched? I would have gone on to ponder this when I noticed a familiar figure on the floor below.

“Heeeeeeeeeeeey, Mr. Lambell!” I shouted.

Cyrus turned his head hearing my shout, but just beamed a smile at me and waved. It looked like he yelled something back, but I couldn’t hear him, the ground floor being so far away from where I was. He seemed to be waving for me to come down though. Following that brief exchange he turned his back to speak to… a woman?

Unlike Cyrus’s choice of official looking black attire coupled with his dark blue scarf, she wore just a wraparound covering her ample chest and shorts, the two together showing off her bare midriff and legs.

“Uwaaa… She’s showing so much skin.”

I’d known some of the town girls were experimenting with shortening their skirts, but this was over the top. Did she just lose her sense of shame somewhere?

Continuing on, covering her back appeared to be a fur pelt of some sort. She didn’t wear a scarf like Cyrus, so she wasn’t part of the [Scarves], but sitting on her ponytailed head was the top half of some animal’s skull with dirty white horns protruding from either side of her head.

She could be an adventuring acquaintance of Mr. Lambell. That would explain the… odd choice of attire and also the similarly strange head accessories. It was apparently the way of hunters to fashion their equipment from the things they killed, making use of the bones and pelts. They were a rare sight in Viyor since there weren’t any particularly large or unique game in the forests.

At that moment I was traversing a long stairway on the inside wall of what I have now deemed a tower, leaving the strange armor by my room behind. Watching the exchange between Cyrus and the woman, he suddenly pulled out a thick fist sized pouch from inside of his uniform handing over to the woman. I was close enough now to shout and get their attention, but I kept quiet.

Keeping my eye on the pouch, she opened the small bag to reveal what appeared to be a white substance inside. Grabbing a tiny amount, she placed it inside of her mouth. Apparently confirming whatever it was, she tied the pouch to a belt where other various bags were. Then she tightly hugged Cyrus lifting him off the ground.

“Ah, AH! Lessen up on the strength Beni! It’d be good if you didn’t kill me here.”

This was the guy my sister loved. Really. This Beni girl must have been seriously strong to make a scarf flinch though. Adventurers sure were a lively sort though. From this higher vantage point, Cyrus apparently noticed I had reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Beni, tap out. TAP OU-“

Releasing him, Cyrus fell to the floor, his legs buckling then failing him as he fell onto his bottom and gasped for air while clutching his sides.

“Oooh, my ribs…”

“Don’t be such a wuss, it was just a short hug.”

“A short hug? I swear you’re trying to kill me. I might even have broken a couple of ribs!”

“Nawh, you couldn’t have broken any ribs. If you did, there would be a more crackling breaking sound. Yours just creaked and groaned from pressure.”

“Gah, does that mean you actually broke someone’s ribs before?!”

“Well…”

“You know what, don’t answer that. I don’t want to know.”

Beni just shrugged and rolled her eyes as if to imply asking in the first place was a silly notion. Cyrus had been using his short breaths to strike Beni back with verbal attacks, but he now calmed and started to take deep breaths.

“Right so… princess Miya… meet Beni… Beni… meet princess Miya…”

Is he going to be alright?

“A pleasure to meet you,” I greeted as I lightly picked the edges of my dress and lifted them wide while bowing to present the drape of dress.

“A good to honest princess ain’t she? Nice to meet’cha!” said Beni with hands on her waist while smiling.

“With introductions… out of the way… I’m off… then…”

Wow she really did a number on him.

“Hey wait Cyrus! Explain everything! Why is the sun blue? Where did the castle town go? Why is there a tree growing in the castle? Where is everybody? Why-“

“Find out… yourself.”

Foaming at the mouth, Cyrus fell backwards as if he had fainted. As his head was about to hit the ground, it passed through his shadow with the rest of his body following suit until he had all but disappeared, all traces of having been there gone.

“That’s just like him you know. Dodging out of the way when there’s work to be done.”

“Is that so…?”

Disappearing into one’s own shadow, I had heard there was an azure art which let you do just that. But I had only read about it in some of the eastern texts we had gotten from foreign far reaching traders. The book was more like gossip in a newspaper, talking about the mysterious practices of people working in the dark toppling tyrants.

Why would Cyrus know such a thing?

“I look forward to our budding relationship then!” says Beni beaming brilliantly at me.

Arms outstretched, she is walking closer and closer to me bearing with her one thing. Death.

I have to make friends with this leg flashing, midriff baring, pelt wearing, animal skull sitting on head, horned woman?!

002. The Princess is Pondering

Impervious to attacks made through [Azure Arts] and so massive that it could have encompassed several castles within its dimensions; that is the structure known as the Demon World gate. Etched and carved into an enormous obsidian platform were countless sigils and glyphs all inside of an enormous pentagram with an obelisk stationed on each point of the star within.

A conflict numbering in at hundreds of thousands of combatants, the Demon World gate sealing was the finale to a war that had gone on for decades. In reality, this legendary battle was far from glamorous.

A ragtag wall of dirtied, muddied soldiers and adventurers with the remainder of the archery and artisan units bringing up the rear. Mixed in among them were knights on horseback, though most had been cut down in the initial charge to secure a landing point on the beach. Those were the forces that stood against the bristling and blackened horde of demons amassed atop the hill where the gate stood on this accursed island fortress.

Already strewn throughout the battleground were the corpses of man and demon, evidence of the previous engagement in combat. That fight had been short, a harassment of their forces which ended in the demon’s retreat back to the gate. Following them, the army under the banner of the [Azure Spirit] came to a standstill before the base of the hill which their opponents occupied.

Silence pervaded the field. Only the shifting of armor, the sharpening of claws, and the clinking of metallic weapons could be heard. Feets shuffled on the pure black ground which would show no indication of the countless gallons of blood spilt.

“CHAAAAAAARRGE!”

A yell shouted out by some nameless soldier.

One by one, more and more took up the call, the repetition of one word turning into an ear numbing chorus. Slowly advancing forward, then changing into a full on sprint; they desperately climbed upwards towards the gate to meet the forces of the Demon World in their final encounter.

…

…

At the very forefront of the battle was the [Hero], the first one to witness the blue sun shining down on the landscape of the Demon World as he materialized out of the gate onto the other side.

“I want all soldiers up front, put yourselves between the clergy and the demons! We cannot let the chant be interrupted!”

“Yes, Sir Hero!”

With the destruction of the gate an impossibility, the only solution left to them was to lock it down. The seal could not be so simply accomplished however. A simultaneous chant by the clergy from both sides of the portal would be required.

Being defenseless against the demons however, it fell to the many foot soldiers in the vanguard to protect them. As friend after friend was cut down on either side of him, one such soldier continued slashing away at anything in front of him under the blue light of that world’s sun.

“Simon Falfig. Will Travor. Ernst Hrye.”

The only things that he thought of were the names of those who had fallen, the rest of his mind dedicated to surviving.

“Block the cut from the right. Step in and thrust. Twist the blade and fall back. Deli Ralts. Anton Port. Mark Comay.”

The names continue to pile on just like the growing number of lifeless bodies at his feet.

“Bores Numkin. Drake Qures. Lars Feris.”

Suddenly he felt the pressure of a hand on his shoulder and a shout ring in his ear.

“Hey man, they did it! They finished the chant! WE CAN GO BA-“

An arrow punctures the messenger square in the chest knocking him over, killing him instantly.

“Oars Wilk.”

Registering the order to retreat, he starts to fall back towards the gate where the clergy are already homebound. Bringing up the rear, his feet slip on one of the many puddles of blood that had gathered and filled the grooves of the sigils and glyphs on the floor.

Hitting the ground, he hurriedly moves to cover himself with a shield just as an arrow thuds into it, yet another flower in the bouquet on the shield. An axe follows swiftly afterwards, thudding into the shield, embedding itself in the sheared metal. The axe is strongly wrenched away, ripping the shield right off of his arm to show the scar ridden face of a grinning demon.

“…Victor Viyor”

Victor’s own name flashed in his mind as the smiling demon raised its axe high, the weapon preparing to take his life away.

“The clouds go quite beautifully with that green sunset.”

A man leaps past him swinging his sword downward in a swift slash which brings the blade to the ground. Demon blood splatters his face as its head flies off, disconnected from its owner. Looking through bleary eyes, he can only see the back of a man, an azure cape, the [Hero].

It was at that moment Victor felt someone grab the back of his jerkin and yank him into the gate.

…

…

Of those who survived the other worldly battle, they were rewarded with coin or the titles of nobles in their home country. Victor was especially lauded for surviving the frontlines, and would later receive land set aside by the Southern Union. It was the head of the clergymen who took the initiative in having them all swear to never speak of the Demon World, later propagating their own story of the barren wasteland and a cruel blue sun.

“I’m…I’m really still alive.”

The idea seemed so foreign to him after returning to his normal frame of mind.

“H-Hey! Is there someone who can write here?” yelled Victor as he toured the makeshift camp of survivors. One of the clergymen treating the wounded raised his hand to signal that he could.

He would then go on to rattle off the names of as many as he could, a record of those he had known who had died. Eventually other soldiers, ones that he did not know began to join in too, adding on to the list of named casualties.

Victor would later go on to erect a monument on his estate, though it would not be an obelisk on account of the gate’s own possession of them. It was a simple structure that he had made, just a slab of stone shaped into a box with the names carved in by stonemasons.

I leapt out of the bed and ran towards the window. Who knew I could have such energy so early in the morning after waking up?

Of course this was no ordinary morning after all. Pushing off the desk with my arms, I raised myself higher to get a clear look. Confirming with my eyes once again the color of the morning sun, I fell back and slumped into the chair next to my desk. The energy that had spurred my short burst was already draining away.

“It really is…a blue sun.”

It was only on my second glance that I noticed something just as abnormal.

The ocean is really beautiful. Or rather, that is what they call an ocean right? A giant body of water that you can’t see the end of? To my left was a beach open to the great open water and to the right of that was a splendid forest with green foliage.

What exactly was abnormal about the situation you might ask? For one, Viyor is a landlocked country. Panne had detained me following one of her trips to refuse yet  another persistent suitor in a far off country to talk my ear off about how much water there was in the ocean and how surprisingly salty it was unlike a river or lake. Of course seeing it for myself was completely different and on top of that for it to be outside my window?

“Unbelievable…”

In between the beach and forest was a giant clearing where only short grass grew. Well, I say clearing, but there was one thing in there that made the clearing not so clear. That ‘thing’ would be great-great grandfather’s monument.

“But something’s happened to the box, why is it black?”

The monument had been made of rather ordinary stone, such that the names on it had to be re-etched every couple years because of the corrosion by the weather. Father had even allowed me to touch it once when I was young, lifting me up high such that I could reach the upper edge of the box. It had a smooth feel, but left grainy gray dust on my hands after brushing it.

The box was now a distinct black with a curious sheen to it, a striking contrast to the green grass surrounding it.

“There’s an ocean, forest, and that old man’s box has turned a strange black… Not to mention the sun is blue on top of all of that.”

A forest wasn’t something strange for me to see, there were plenty in Viyor after all, lumber being one of the country’s main exports.

“No no! The problem is, where is the town?”

Where the forest was should have the castle town connected to this very castle, where the subjects under father’s ruled lived. There was no such place that I could see.

The world had inexplicably changed outside of my room and I had not the faintest idea as to the cause of it all.

“I suppose it must be that then”

The only thing that truly made no sense at all, I shielded my eyes in an attempt to get a better look at the blue sun.

Was it odd that there was an ocean? I can’t even crack a joke about it, but it certainly is something that exists outside of Viyor. While the black box was similarly odd, it’s possible someone had gone out and painted it.

There had been a project led by the castle wizard to make something that would protect the monument from damage, but he had changed gears suddenly in trying to make that high quality antidote.

Bracing my elbow on the hand rest of the chair, I rested my chin against my curled up hand to assume a thinking pose.

“Would father really let them discolor great-great grandfather’s box though?”

I couldn’t imagine he would, but it was a costly structure to maintain after all.

And while the appearance and subsequent disappearance of forest and town were very worrying, they weren’t as blatant a change as the azure sun at daybreak causing a green dawn.

The idea of a blue sun, it was troubling to think about.

After all, the blue sun only rose in the Demon World according to the church.

001. The Princess is Bored

“Hmm.”

It was another typical day of sitting at my window side desk with my head resting sideways on my crossed arms. Looking out to the sky and watching the clouds lazily roll by, a simple question came to mind. Was there anything as fluffy as a cloud?

“There really isn’t anything fluffier, is there?”

The typical life of the Viyorian kingdom’s second princess, free from responsibilities and worries. Normally, such a person would be married off to a neighboring nation to ensure peace. Being an exception to that rule, I merely spent the long days reading books and learning what I wanted.

Why was I allowed such free roam you might ask? To answer that, you would have to first understand my elder sister, Panne.

“A smile that could calm a baby’s cries, and a countenance like a tranquil lake!”

I assure you, those were the exact words that a would-be suitor uttered to compliment my sister at one of the royal galas. He even got down on his knees and held my sister’s hand looking upwards to her while saying such.

It hurt to hear such blatant flattery, but he wasn’t exactly wrong. Panne could have popped into a storybook and no one would doubt her to be the lovely damsel in distress. The effect was somewhat ruined when she whispered to me when they weren’t looking.

“Even if they’re just the sons of rich merchants, I wish they would have more tact in their compliments. None of them have a particularly handsome or striking face either.”

“Ah…how long are you going to be like this Panne! If you keep this up, you’re going to end up single when they finally crown you queen.”

“That’s a perfectly satisfactory outcome you know. All the men here are idiots, going on and on about how their father owns land here and there. The only thing they’re thinking of is how they can bed me anyway.”

Groaning, I turned away from my sister kneading my temples with one hand. Whenever it came to the topic of marriage, it was never a question of love, but what benefits would it bring to the country.

What she said pained my heart even more by the fact that she kept up her unwavering smile throughout. Rather than a change of face, Panne had changes of smiles. Only a few people were able to discern her change in expressions, me being one of them. But even so, it took a couple moments to realize she had worn a smile for teasing.

“Panne!”

She flashed a knowing smile back at the exasperated look directed towards her. Even though she joked often about it, Panne’s marriage would have huge consequences for our kingdom. As a result it was always a matter of who was most advantageous to marry.

Although I wish I could, I can’t fault her way of thinking. Our father’s health had been on the decline in recent months and the pressure for her to take the throne had steadily been increasing.

No son had been born into the family, hence the authority to rule would pass from our father down to her. With this in mind, she was bombarded with countless marriage proposals and had been pressured by other countries even as a young child.

Yet she showed no signs of having such a troublesome burden. Never showing a frown, she happily smiled even as my sister and I wandered around the castle bothering servants when we were little.

It wasn’t until when I was much older that I discovered the truth behind my sister’s smile. Father had taught her just one rule to follow.

“Smile, so that your enemies never know what you are thinking.”

That was how my sister had coped early on with bothersome suitors, refusing them with a cold smile. Give a wave farewell, and resume her duties. There was no one that she could confide her troubles in, not to the servants nor to her parents.

When I was born though, apparently the change in Panne’s demeanor was remarkable. Rather than make everyone present uncomfortable, she was now an extremely gentle and warm person who was easy to talk to. Surprisingly, it seems that Panne had carried me more as a baby than even my nursemaid or mother.

She admitted later that she poured out all of her troubles to me when no one else was around. For my part though, I was reasonably well behaved for a baby listening to the woes of my older sister.

It’s probably because I didn’t understand anything that she said and simply liked her voice and smile, though I won’t ever tell her that.

When Myles, our little sister was born, Panne was ecstatic, bouncing her on one knee while sitting bedside. As was typical of me, I was just lying down on the large bed, limbs outstretched.

“Isn’t she just adorable Miya!”

“Yeah!”

That was my naive reply before the realization seeped in that she would spend more time with Myles now.

To sum it up, my sister had a large amount of affection for Myles and I. So much that she took care of political issues so that the two of us would never be troubled by matters of the state, leading to the responsibility free life that I now lead.

That said, she could dote extremely well on my sister and I with no end to her love for us. In particular, Panne had no restraints when it came to hugging Myles, who still hadn’t learned the artful way to escape her clutches like I had.

On the other hand, her experience with love different than that of familial love was like watching a newborn doe taking its first steps.

Of all the people she could fall head over heels for, it was a person in the [Scarves Guild].

The [Scarves Guild] was an agency of investigative and combat experts.  In the aftermath of the Demon World gate sealing, conflicts erupted all over the [Southern Union] between member nations now that the threat of demonic invasion was at an end. Quickly gaining renown for mediation between these states, they became known as Scarves for the uncommon articles of clothing they wore in the otherwise warm south.

It wasn’t mediation that made them known all over the Union however. During one such negotiation between North and South Claios, major nations in the Union, it was discovered that the crown princess of South Claios had gone missing when they discovered her carriage ditched alongside the road across the northern border. While angry  accusations were exchanged between north and south, the Scarves went ahead in investigating the disappearance, going as far as to mount an assault on a fortress while royal examiners were still analyzing the crime scene.

With only a band of 3 combatants, they were able to successfully rescue the crown princess and apprehend the culprit, a noble of a neighboring state who plotted to have North and South Claios at war. By supplying both sides, he stood to profit from the conflict and weaken both nations at the same time. Tales soon spread of the group that rescued the princess while fighting off waves of mercenaries in their escape.

As the story became exaggerated to such lengths that it’s said that the 3 Scarves engaged over 100 men in combat, the [Scarves Guild] was founded in South Claios and gradually branched out, taking on trainees and expanding their area of operations, from simple requests from citizens to escorting important political figures.

When someone inquired whether  3 Scarves could actually defeat 100 men, they simply replied,”It depends.”

It was one such person that Panne became love struck for. Having taken on a request from the guild, he was a newly assigned member to the existing branch in our country.

What I can’t figure though, is why such a high ranking scarf was assigned here. The original Scarves had arbitrary colorings, but this had since changed so that color would reflect rank in the organization. Wearing a scarf colored a dark blue that reminded me of the the sky right before the stars appeared; this was a senior member of the guild.

Of course my sister didn’t pay that any mind, her normally logical thought processes seeming to go on break whenever she saw him. Always in an excited state after talking with him, Panne became very prone to giving my sister and I more money to spend as a result.

Well, I’m not going to complain.

Every once in a while there’ll be an odd slip in her behavior, a curious laugh here and there. I can only imagine she’s spending all her time fantasizing now.

With an increase in my disposable income, I went ahead and started  spending it all on new books.

There’s alot of ways to get new books besides just buying them though. Exchanging homemade cookies for copies of newly published art treatises with the castle wizard was one of the more curious transactions.

I heard that they later found the wizard trying to formulate a high quality antidote in the laboratory. It was kind of puzzling since there aren’t many poisons in the kingdom of Viyor.

At any rate, there were only 3 particularly interesting books in everything that had been acquired. A very thick and not so light volume on identifying monsters; a present from the senior scarf Panne dearly loved. Introducing himself by the name of Cyrus Lambell, he had just left father’s bedroom, doubtless expressing concern for his majesty’s condition.

It worried me somewhat that even though he was a high ranking senior of the guild, he had been able to so easily obtain an audience with the king. On the other hand though, my father wasn’t the kind of person who would refuse a like minded individual concerned for the people’s well-being.

By coincidence, I had been passing by right when he was closing the door to the bedroom. Giving a short greeting, I had planned to walk by and continue back to my room,but he stopped me to reveal he had prepared a present for me; the monster book.

I couldn’t help, but feel a little mystified by this newcomer that Panne had her eyes set on…

Doubts aside from how her relationship would pan out, Cyrus explained that the book was a collaborative effort on the part of the guild. Enchantments were woven into the pages so that whenever someone wrote in a book, it would be written into all others. A single crystal of azure was embedded into the book’s spine to supply the needed energy for the enchantments to work.

If what he said was true, he had given me an unbelievable gift. Azure was even more valuable than pure gold, its uses in arcane experimentation making it hugely demanded.

“Hey, is it really okay for you to give me this?”

“Are you saying that you want to return the book to me then?”

“Muu…”

I gripped the book close to my chest turning away from him. Then Cyrus started patting my head.

“What do you think you’re doing!”

Anyone should be angry if they suddenly had their head patted randomly, right?

“Oh whoops, sorry, you really reminded me of my little sister back home. She always acts like she doesn’t like the gifts I bring home, but she’s kept every single one.”

“Well I’m not your little sister.”

Wearing a sheepish grin and scratching the back of his head, he just apologizes and walks away giving me no chance to try and hand the book back. Are the Scarves really such carefree people, touching the heads of princesses?

He did ask that I put in a good word with my sister though. Trying to bribe me with expensive gifts? That’ll work.

The second book was the art treatises I received from the castle wizard. When I say arts though, I don’t mean those silly painter people that the nobility pay for works of debatable quality. Though there are some remarkable pieces I have seen around the castle. Mostly of me and Myles. It doesn’t take much imagination to guess the painter.

Back on topic though, the treatises were about new methods to perform basic [Azure Arts], that being, works of magic that are fueled by azure. Azure could easily be found in the air, although the density of it was much higher in areas untouched by people. By gathering and condensing  these particles, it then became possible to cast azure arts. If you had a piece of crystallized azure though, you could use that in place of the gathering time.

The human body also coursed with the power of azure, but it was dangerous to tap into that, the consequences being endangerment of one’s life.

Disappointingly though, none of the new methods worked for me. The problem was that my affinity with azure was so bad that I couldn’t even gather enough for a simple art like a flame on my fingertip to light up a room. It’s like changing out the arrowhead you use when you have a broken string on a bow.

“Oh…but if I used the crystal in the book Cyrus gave me…”

But that’s something that I can’t do. First of all, the crystal was an absolute gem and extremely valuable. Secondly, the book had been a gift, and using it for such a purpose just didn’t sit well with my conscience.

And thirdly.

“…I have no idea how to get the azure crystal out of this book’s spine.”

Thus ended my plan to try and use a crystal to cast an art.

The final of the three books was a guide on how to sew plushies. In preparation, I had already gathered fabric, thread and most importantly, stuffing. Sitting down at my desk with materials nearby, needle in hand, and book in my lap, I was determined to create something by the end of the day.

In almost no time at all, my room was littered with my attempts to make a plush of a cloud. Which sounds easy right?

Well you’re wrong.

“ARRGH.”

Maybe I should have worn gloves for this, the ends of my fingers are hurting from all the times I accidentally prick myself with the needle. How could something so shapeless possibly require so much work to get the right shape? Everything I’ve made kind of just look like fabric wrapped cotton balls. It befuddles the mind.

Shifting away from the desk, I lead myself over to the bed then flopped over onto it rolling on my side until I reach the middle with my face down in a pillow.

“Panne can just patch up my fingers properly tomorrow. Better not tell her that monster book is a gift from Mr. Lampbell though.”

Well, that’s what I said and heard in my mind. But since I was speaking into a pillow it came out quite differently.

“Mrmph mrpph mmmrrrmh mmph mrpp mmmh.”

I woke up in the morning and found myself still sprawled in my bed. Sometime in the night, I had turned myself over away from my face down position. Probably so that I could breathe easier.

Staring up at the circular patterns of my room’s ceiling, I started to take stock of the new morning, blinking my eyes to get rid of the blurriness from waking up.

“Comfortable bed and lazy clothes, check.”

Craning my neck to look over at my desk, I imagined the look on a maid’s face if they saw me in my current state of disheveled clothes and hair.

“Injured fingers from trying to make a plushie…”

“Owww….check…”

Panne probably has some kind of ointment back from the days when Myles and I were getting into all kind of scrapes.

Peeking beyond my desk, I look out the window to take a glimpse of the morning sky.

“A bright dawn and…”

“Ah. Is that a green sunrise?”

…

Just what the heck happened while I was asleep?