❤❤❤
THE four dropped Dodo off and started heading north. Without any monsters to delay their travel, they managed to arrive at the Unicorn Checkpoint faster than expected.
“Is that really you, Seb?”
“Long time, no see, Uni.”
This time they were greeted by a group of well-kempt young men.
“I’m guessing you’re on a pretty serious mission to come all the way out here?”
“Something like that. I hope you’ll let us cross even without the king’s permission.”
“Well—”
“Well, what?” Alice interjected.
“We’d be more than happy to let you through Seb, but I should warn you that a certain monster—or rather, monsters—have been posing a threat to our checkpoint lately.”
“Monsters?”
“They try to sneak their way past by manipulating us with their foul illusions. They’re likely lurking somewhere nearby as we speak.”
All eyes were on Haigha.
“What am I supposed to do about it?” she sputtered.
“Does the Poem of Jabberwocky ring any bells?” Alice asked.
“That spellbook drains way too much energy for me to cast a protect spell on all of you,” Haigha retaliated.
“Who said anything about protecting? Just dispel whenever needed, and you’ll be fine.” Alice turned to Uni. “If we capture these illusive monsters alive, will you let us cross in peace?”
“Of course. But are you sure you can handle it, miss? If we’re being unreasonable, just let us know.”
“I think I’ll manage just fine,” Haigha smiled. “Thank you.”
She seemed genuinely pleased by the fact that someone was finally treating her like a normal human being.
Having come to an agreement, they went straight into teatime and patiently waited for the monsters to reveal themselves.
“Huh, when did these get here?”
Two large potatoes had appeared right next to Haigha, seemingly out of nowhere.
“That’s them! Move!” Uni yelled as the potato monsters shot out their sprouts, giving Haigha no time to react as they hit her.
“Ahaha! Hahaha!”
“Haigha?! Snap out of it!”
“Hahaha! Eat this!” Haigha attacked Hatta, dealing zero damage. “And this!” Haigha attacked Hatta, again dealing zero damage.
Her offensive abilities were, to put it mildly, less than ideal.
“Ahaha! How about this!” Haigha cast Attack Damage buff. Onion Boy’s attack damage increased. “And this!” Haigha cast Attack Damage buff again. Onion Boy’s attack damage increased again. “And some of this!” Haigha cried, casting Attack Damage buff again. Onion Boy’s attack damage, in a shocking turn of events, increased again.
Onion Boy was shivering even harder than he usually did.
“Quit wasting your energy, Haigha!” Hatta cried. “Alice, Seb, I’ll hold her down. You take care of the monsters.”
“On it. Seb, fire up the pan.”
“Way ahead of you.”
“How many times must I tell you two to quit your shenanigans?!”
While they were mucking about, the monsters had made it to the gate, duping many of Uni’s men with their illusions along the way.
“Not so fast!” The monsters dodged Uni’s quicksword. “Are you okay?”
“We’re fine! But, I do have to say, those are some annoying monsters you’ve got on your hands.”
“Tell me about it. They always get away at the very last second. Even my quicksword is no use against those slippery little rascals.”
“We’ll figure something out. But first,” Alice pulled the mushroom monster sandwich from her bag, “allow me to bring Haigha back to her senses.”
“Ahaha! A—” She tossed a piece inside Haigha’s mouth. “Bleurgh!”
“Snapped out of it?”
Although Haigha appeared to have returned to normal, her energy reserves were running on empty.
“There goes that plan. Seb, think of something else.”
“Understood. Uni, I’d like to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind. There’s only two of them, correct?”
“Correct.”
“Is it possible that they’re actually just messing around with you and have no real intention of sneaking past the gate?”
“Judging by the fact that they always head straight for the gate, I’m going to say no.”
“In that case, I’ll need you to procure a canvas big enough to cover the area around the gate.”
“A canvas? I suppose the one we use for our tents will do.”
Uni’s men laid out the canvas in front of the gate, just as Seb had ordered.
Is this going to stop it somehow? Or is he trying to catch it inside the canvas? Alice wondered.
“What you’ll want to do next is—”
“Oh, now I see. Very clever.”
Seb finished dishing out orders and then unwound to a nice cup of tea.
Soon after, Uni’s men removed the canvas. The ground beneath it looked the same as ever.
“All set.”
“Now all that’s left is to sit back and enjoy the show.”
Uni joined Seb. Shortly after, the potato monsters appeared again and, with no one to stop them, made a beeline for the gate, only to fall inside a trap hole.
“I certainly didn’t expect it to be this simple.”
“Once you know your enemy, it’s easy to plan accordingly.”
“I’ll try to keep that in mind.”
Meanwhile, Alice peeked down the trap hole. The two monsters laid at the bottom, unconscious.
<Alice got potato x2!> a thought bubble inside Alice’s head seemed to say.
“Those aren’t potatoes! Those are monsters, Alice. Now put them back!” Hatta ordered.
“You can have one too, jeez! Now quit shouting.”
“That’s not the issue!”
“So anyway,” Alice shifted her gaze to Uni, “mind doing the honors?”
“Right away.”
Once they got done filling in the hole, Uni and his men opened the gate.
“You’re off to the Demon Lord’s castle, aren’t you, Seb? Why else would you pass through here?”
“Caught red-handed.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep my mouth nice and shut. Also, a word of advice. On your way to the monster cave, you’ll come across a spring known as the Fountain of Life. It revitalizes anyone who drinks from its waters, or so I’ve heard. Try it, especially you, missy.”
“Who, me?” Haigha stared in confusion.
“You emanate powerful magical energy. But you abuse it so frequently, it doesn’t fully restore even after resting, does it?”
“I-I guess so, now that I think about it.”
“Go a little easy on yourself every now and then.” Uni smiled. “You deserve it.”
Lionel doesn’t compare to this man, not even close, the four all thought.
“Best of luck in your travels.” He turned around.
“One last thing,” Hatta called out to him. “Think you could spare me some gunpowder? I want to craft a new type of explosive that makes a lot of sound but doesn’t do any damage.”
“I’m not entirely sure why you’d want to do that…but yes, I think I could, but only a little.”
“It’ll do. Thanks.”
And so, having received the gunpowder, they set off north.
The ragtag party consisting of a princess, a butler, an item shop owner, and a whimsical mage were slowly but surely nearing the Demon Lord’s castle.
✦ ✦ ✦
❤❤❤
MEANWHILE…
“What a lovely garden,” Jean mused, mesmerized by the variety of beautiful flowers on display.
“I’m glad you like it.”
“It’s even better than the one we have! Can we stay just a little longer, please?”
“If you say so,” the Demon Lord complied, unable to say no to Jean’s adorable smile.
Jean went all around the garden, the Demon Lord following closely behind.
“My very own flower fairy.”
“Sorry?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
Whew, that was close. I really should avoid using such girly language; it sets a bad example for my minions.
“Jean, we’re going.”
“One last thing, real quick.” Jean gathered a bunch of flowers and sat down
“Jean?”
“Just one moment and,” he put a wreath over the Demon Lord’s head, “there, perfect.”
What is this? The Demon Lord jogged his memory. Could it be a so-called engagement ring? The one typically gifted to the love of one’s life? At least according to my books…
“It really doesn’t suit you, now does it?” Jean giggled. “A gold crown, on the other hand—”
“No, I’m keeping it. The sentimental value matters more to me.”
“I, erm, I’m glad you like it.”
The silly misunderstandings just never ended with the Demon Lord.
“May we proceed with the tour?”
“Only if you catch me first!” Jean slipped through the Demon Lord’s fingers and gunned it, smiling playfully.
“Ha! Think you can outrun me?”
He circled around Jean, placing a hand on his shoulder from the front in a feat of unparalleled agility.
“Whoa?!” Jean quickly grabbed onto his clothes in an attempt to regain balance.
In a miraculous turn of events, they both ended up on the ground with Jean on the bottom and the Demon Lord on top, with both his arms on either side of Jean.
“Are you okay?”
“I-I’m o-okay. P-Please move.”
“Of course.”
Their faces were so close together, Jean felt like he was about to pass out.
“You’re acting strange. Did you…did you get hurt?!”
“I-I’m j-just f-f-fine,” Jean stuttered through his words, unable to produce fluent speech.
“How about we find you a nice bench to rest on?”
“Yeah.”
They sat down on a bench and gazed at the clouds gently billowing across the blue sky together.
“I think I’m getting a bit,” Jean closed his eyes, “…sleepy.” He nodded off, his head conveniently landing against the Demon Lord’s shoulder in the day’s second miraculous turn of events.
Jean’s sleeping face was so adorable, the Demon Lord couldn’t move a muscle. So he just patiently waited for Jean to get up, still as a statue.