I knew before I even asked what the answer would be, but even so, I propositioned Paul while he was helping me prepare for bed.
“I want to sleep with Sol tonight!”
“Absolutely not.”
As expected, Paul turned me down flat.
But I wasn’t about to give up so easily! If I let this chance slip through my fingers, I might never get another one!
“Please, Paul! It will be perfectly safe—Sol will be right there with me, and I’ll even have Shinki and the others come too!”
“There’s no way I could allow a high-ranking noble lady like yourself sleep outdoors without so much as a bed.”
What is he saying?! I can use Sol as a bed! There’s no finer bed in the entire continent, maybe even the world!
And when you add in Seigo, Rikusei, and Inaho, my fluffy paradise is complete!
“Pleeeease!”
You’re leaving me no choice, Paul; I’m going to have to use my ultimate secret weapon—the glistening tears attack!
“I think it’s time to admit defeat, Paul. If not, Neema’s going to start crying, and nobody wants that…” Karna chuckled.
That’s right! Just you try me—I really will start crying, don’t think I won’t!
With even Karna taking my side, Paul had no choice but to give in.
“I will make the preparations, so please wait here for a moment.”
“Woo-hoo! Thanks, Paul!”
Paul had several conditions for letting me sleep outside with Sol: first, he insisted on assigning Shinki, Spica, and Kai to be my bodyguards, and second, all of the monsters had to come, too. Paul made me promise to abide by these rules, but I was more than happy to agree.
Once all the preparations were complete, Spica returned from changing out of her uniform and into her own clothing.
“Sleeping all together like this reminds me of when I used to live with the pack!” Based on how her tails happily wagged as she said that, I got the sense that Spica had been lonelier than she’d let on.
When she’d lived with the kobold pack, she’d been constantly surrounded by her adopted family, after all. Even if she’d grown accustomed to sleeping alone by this point, she must’ve been homesick at first.
“If Paul says it’s okay, let’s have a sleepover again sometime!” I offered, feeling a bit guilty it hadn’t occurred to me sooner.
“Okay!” Spica eagerly agreed.
We chatted all the way to the courtyard, where Sol was still lounging just as we’d left him. When he saw us, he said wryly, “I thought you might come.”
You know me so well!
I laid out the sleeping bag Paul had procured for me against Sol’s stomach.
“Lord fire dragon, I’m entrusting Lady Neema into your care. Please look after her this evening,” Paul said.
✦ ✦ ✦
Paul bowed deeply to Sol, and Sol surprised me by gracing him with a response.
“I imagine you have your hands full with this one. I will protect Neema, so be at ease.”
“You have my deepest gratitude.”
After Paul left, Sol nagged at me, saying that I shouldn’t put so much stress on someone who’s clearly working himself to the bone for my sake.
But if I let this chance pass me by, when will we all be able to get together like this again?!
“It’s just for one night!” I promised, then called the others’ names. “Lars, Euche, Sache, Kaideetay.”
“I see… So that was your objective, eh?” Sol chuckled, clearly deducing my plan the moment I spoke the other holy beasts’ names.
I could see the holy beasts clearly when they appeared despite the darkness.
Euche was the color of a blue summer sky, Sache was the color of the sky at sunrise, Lars was such a bright white that he seemed to almost shine, and Kaideetay was a beautiful black darker than the night.
Sache seemed worried that I was planning to sleep in a place like this.
Euche, on the other hand, seemed to find the idea appealing because he sat down right in front of me, ignoring Sol completely.
Lars and Kaideetay were growling back and forth, apparently having a conversation about something.
“Lars and Kaideetay, join us!”
I patted the ground next to me, urging them to come on over, and after looking at each other for a moment, both holy beasts gave in and made their way over to me.
“Oh, that’s right! Kai, why don’t you transform into your horse form too?!” I suggested.
Kai easily agreed to my request, transforming from a human into a horse. In that form, he was a small, almost pony-sized horse with an otherworldly coat the same color as the underground lake he called home.
Among the several forms he could take, this was one I rarely got to see.
When he’s standing next to Sache like that, they look almost like parent and child!
Haku and Gratia came out as well, and after a moment of surprise at the sight of all the holy beasts gathered around, they quickly got over it and searched for a comfortable place to sleep.
Inaho would be sleeping on Sol’s back. She was already curled up in a ball and was slowly, almost languidly waving her tails back and forth.
Seigo seemed curious about Kaideetay. After sniffing the earth tiger a few times, the little kobold snuggled right up against him and lay down.
As for Rikusei, he seemed to have taken a liking to the unique sensation of Euche’s body, which he was poking his nose into playfully over and over again. Thankfully, Euche didn’t seem particularly bothered by that and ignored Rikusei in favor of rubbing his head against my hand, begging for pets.
Sache and Kai chased each other around for a bit, then curled up next to Kaideetay, each using the other as a pillow.
While everyone was finding their preferred sleeping arrangement, one was doing something strange…
“Haku, knock that off.”
Inspired by the sight of Rikusei prodding Euche with his nose, Haku was attempting to force itself inside Euche’s body. Although it might’ve been physiologically possible, given that they were both liquid-type creatures, I had no idea what might happen. I also didn’t want to find out.
“Pew!”
Thankfully, Haku obediently followed my order to stop trying to climb inside of Euche and instead settled for climbing up onto one of the blue pegasus’s folded wings.
Of course, Haku had to choose a strange place to sleep—what else was I expecting?
Gratia, who had developed a deep love of Lars’s fur that I could totally relate to, was in the same pose he’d adopted during our flight, sunken down into the plush fur spread-eagle, using his entire body to experience the fluffiness to its full potential.
As for Shinki, he’d chosen to use Sol’s tail as a pillow and was already out cold.
Spica looked undecided for a moment but finally chose a spot between Sol and Lars where she curled up in a ball and wrapped her tails protectively around her body.
I wiggled like a worm, sliding my body into my sleeping bag.
“May you pass the night in safety and peace,” I said, wishing everyone a “good night” in the traditional manner of this world before my eyelids drifted shut.
🐎🐅🐎