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I greeted the two knights stationed at the entrance, and then I sped off, full to bursting with energy. First, I needed to get to the south exit of the town. From there, if I headed east, it was a straight shot back to the Clematis manor.
Right now, dusk had just barely begun to fall, so they shouldn’t have sealed off the south gate for the night just yet. After I left town, they’d shut the gates when it got dark, and then it would be completely closed off so no one could enter or exit. It wouldn’t be possible to get back inside, but that didn’t matter—however I split the situation, it’d take at least a full day to return with my sisters in tow.
If I could at least have hired a carriage to take me from Lycoris to Clematis, that would’ve been great, but hilariously not a single carriage route between the two lands existed. Clematis was so remote, even the merchant Viscount Geremeigh only sent someone over once a month. So much for easy travel.
Since that wasn’t an option, I figured walking home would be the fastest way in the end. The real issue was how I was going to get Armeria and Cosmos to Lycoris. Neither of them could use magecraft, so the journey would be pretty dangerous.
Then I thought maybe the easiest way would be something like a rickshaw. It’d be nothing to cart them to Lycoris with my magecraft powering me. But, man... That was such a muscle-headed idea, even for me. Thoroughly embarrassed for myself, I dodged the gatekeeper’s warning about the dangers of leaving the city so late and hurried away from the town. In the distance, the sky had gotten quite dark.
“What will you do now, Huey? Are you planning on heading straight home from here?” asked Fouré.
“Yeah. I’m going to get home before morning! This time, I won’t be taking so many breaks.” I dashed at top speed toward the manor. Since I’d have Armeria and Cosmos with me, I could take it easy on the way back. After all, if I did end up pulling them there in a cart or a rickshaw or something, then going through the forest might make things difficult due to the terrain—and if I went too quickly, they might go flying from their seats.
“This should be good magecraft practice, then. I’ll keep watch for you, so channel a good, efficient amount of energy into your legs. Aside from that, you should make sure to fortify everything else with only a minimal amount of energy.” Aruna, who was floating above me and to my left, directly opposite Fouré, was giving me some training tips despite the situation. But Cult put a stop to that before she got too invested.
“Hold on, Aruna. It’s night now, which means it’s my turn. I think it’d be better for Hisui to practice spellcraft.”
“What are you talking about, Cult? Hisui’s sprinting as fast as he can through the forest. It would be inefficient for him to try to get home with both powers at the same time. He’ll be using magecraft either way, so he ought to train it up.”
“That’s just what you think, Aruna. Hisui can use multiple powers at once, and he’s plenty capable of using just two while running. You know that as well, don’t you? So stop acting so high and mighty.”
“Oh, now you’ve said it!”
“I won’t simply put up with anything and everything you say all the time either!”
Sparks began to fly between Cult, who was trailing behind me, and Aruna. Personally, I thought both of them sounded reasonable, but Cult did have a point about following the rules we’d set before, and I was going to support those rules.
“Sorry, Aruna, but Cult’s in the right this time. I’m going to practice spellcraft while I run, since it’s a great opportunity to turn up the training difficulty. But we have to follow the rules we set—I train in the morning with Aruna, then Fouré in the afternoon, and Cult at night.”
“Mngh... All right. Practice as you like, then. Do your best to control your magecraft while you do so, though.”
“I will. Thanks for understanding, Aruna.” She was the most mature of the three goddesses and was thus relatively reasonable. If Fouré were in her shoes, she definitely would have thrown a tantrum. I guess that was part of Fouré’s charm, but right now I was just glad for Aruna’s levelheadedness. She was a little sullen, but she’d cheer up later...probably.
I smiled awkwardly, seeing how she’d turned away in a huff. Then, just like she’d asked me to do, I focused on maintaining control of my magecraft while I started practicing spellcraft.
I knew the world was a big place, but I was probably the only person in existence who could practice magecraft and spellcraft at the same time—and while running, at that. I wondered how people might react if they saw this—I was sure they’d probably be left completely speechless.
Cult giggled. “Oh, that made me feel just wonderful. Thank you for taking my side, dear one.” She drifted up to me from behind and placed her hand on my shoulder. When she did, her two bounteous mounds pressed up against my back.
“Cult?! I don’t think hugging me while I’m in the middle of running will work out very well!”
“Worry not. It’s not as though I am putting my weight on you. You don’t feel any heavier, right?”
“That’s not the issue here...”
She was right—I didn’t feel her weight at all. But the sensation of her breasts pressing against me was flooding my brain with information overload. The spellcraft energies in my right hand began to waver; my control was weakening. Cult might not have been heavy at all, but my feelings on this situation were definitely starting to slow me down.
“Hey! Cult’s sexually harassing Huey! That’s not fair—not fair at all!” Cult’s hug instantly drew Fouré’s ire, prompting her to speak up. She even whipped her finger out, waving it in Cult’s face and yelling at her. But though she complained at Cult, it didn’t have much of an effect—Cult simply turned away and ignored her.
“Huh?! Cult’s giving me the silent treatment...” Fouré whined, then immediately changed tactics. “Let Huey go right now!” After being treated so coldly by a friend, Fouré began to tear up...but her crocodile tears dried up almost instantly.
I didn’t expect anything else from the Light Goddess, honestly. Her healing factor was through the roof—including, apparently, for psychic damage. Invigorated by her recovery, she grabbed Cult by the shoulders and attempted to pry her off me. However, Cult resisted her efforts and refused to let me go.
“Let go of me! I won’t have you disturbing my little tryst with Hisui!”
“What do you mean, ‘tryst’?! The only person who’s allowed to flirt with Huey is me!”
“You’re always being all touchy-feely with him, aren’t you? I’d like to hug him sometimes too...”
“Quit messing around, you two.” The air had turned downright frosty. Aruna had called out Fouré and Cult, stopping them in their tracks. “You can’t be giving Hisui trouble. He’s busy right now, you know? The whole point was that he’d be practicing spellcraft and magecraft at the same time. So knock it off, got it?”
Fouré pursed her lips before responding with a plaintive “Okaaay.”
“I understand,” sighed Cult.
Both Fouré and Cult sighed dejectedly, then they released me and backed off to their original distance.
“Thanks, Aruna. You’re a lifesaver.”
“Think nothing of it. They always lose their minds when it comes to you. Honestly... I wish they’d at least leave that sort of behavior for once we’ve returned to town.”
I laughed awkwardly. Did that mean she thought it’d be okay for them to flirt all they wanted when we got back? I hoped they’d at least hold back until we got to an inn or something, away from people’s prying eyes.
But there was a snowball’s chance in hell of that happening. The three of them, holding back? They didn’t know the meaning of the term.
And with that minor apprehension hanging over me, I redoubled my efforts to sprint through the woods. The night forest wasn’t the easiest place for a run, after all.