“G-Ghahaaaaah!” Boldow cried. “O-Oh no! He is hot! I can’t even hope to compete with him! But I’ll have you know, our house has its own pretty boy! Alus! Come to the door!”
“What foolishness are you yelling about now, father?” said Alus, suddenly appearing behind Boldow. He had set out for home the very first day of summer vacation, and had arrived here even before Kanata. He had been chopping wood behind the house when he heard some familiar voices in the doorway and came to look.
“Oh! Alus! Look! That hot guy was trying to hit on Leksi! You have to defeat him with the power of your good looks!”
“Seeing you right now, father, I feel more certain than ever that Kanata is indeed your daughter.” At the very least, both had a habit of running wild and refusing to listen to anything anyone else had to say. Alus’s face may have made him a worthy rival for Zag’giel, but he had no interest at all in fighting the Demon King. Instead, he shook his hand. “It is a pleasure to see you once more, Sir Zaggy.”
“Indeed, Sir Alus, the pleasure is ours,” Zag’giel said. But a moment later he did a small double take. “Wait. How is it you recognize us? We were not in this form when last we met.” They had encountered each other when the headmaster and teachers of Kanata’s school had tried to recruit Alus in a futile attempt to convince Kanata not to leave the academy immediately after becoming a Beast Tamer. Back then, Zag’giel had still been under the Goddess’s curse.
“I was present for the attack on the Royal Capital,” Alus explained. “Or at least, for the later portion. That was the form in which you set out on your journey, was it not?”
“Alus!” said Boldow, staggering forward in shock to whisper conspiratorially in his ear. “Don’t tell me you know this hot guy!”
“I really wish you would listen when people are talking, father,” said Alus. “This is Sir Zaggy. He is a magic beast serving as my sister’s companion.”
“A-A magic beast?! Him?! But if he’s a humanoid magic beast, wouldn’t that make him a demon? Like, from the Dark Continent?!” Zag’giel was not just from the Dark Continent, of course—he was the Demon King who ruled over that entire land.
“We are forever grateful for all your daughter has done for us,” said Zag’giel, shaking Boldow’s hand as he stood dumbfounded. “And we have heard many tales of her illustrious parents. This is a meeting we have long awaited, sir.”
“Stop hogging the spotlight!” Fenrir, who had been watching the whole time, quickly fused his bodies back together, reverting to his true form as the Spirit Wolf. He sat with his chest held high, towering above the humans as he glowed with divine radiance. “My name is Fen-fen, né Fenrir! I am Kanata’s number one servant! Kanata’s father! Kanata’s mother! Kanata’s younger brother! I bid you greetings!”
“Wh-Whoa, this one’s huge!” Boldow said, gawking up at the wolf. “You made a beast like this one of your companions, Kanny?”
Alus, on the other hand, was the very picture of calm. “It is a pleasure to meet you. I bid you greetings as well,” he said, shaking Fenrir’s paw in a gesture that contrasted strangely with the formality of the exchange.
“W-Wait! Is this what we are doing?” asked a flustered Elizavett. “I-In that case, I shall join as well! T-Transform! Darn you... Transform!!!” Not wanting to be left out, Elizavett focused all the power in her body, shaking with the sheer effort. It took a minute, but after an intense burst of focus, she managed to overcome the fluffy shackles placed on her by Kanata’s holy blood. She transformed back into a beautiful woman in a red dress.
“Hah...hah...” Elizavett panted. “Very good. ’Twould seem I can yet return to my original form, so long as I have not drunk Mistress’s blood in a short while...” Catching her breath, she curtsied elegantly and gave her introduction in a lilting, songlike voice. “I am Elizabat, née Elizavett! Princess of the ancient vampires, promised to Kanata for life!”
“Th-This one’s a knockout beauty!” Boldow marveled. “Beast Tamers really have it made, huh!”
“Not as such,” said Alus. “My older sister really must be considered a special case.”
“I dislike the company of males, but for Kanata’s family, I will make an exception,” Elizavett declared, daintily holding out her hand. “I will allow you to kiss the back of my hand, if you wish.”
“R-Really?!” exclaimed Boldow, his eyes practically bulging out of his head.
“Father...” Alus sighed.
“Darling?” came the suddenly chill voice of Boldow’s wife Aleksia, who had been standing there the entire time.
“E-Eek!” Boldow cried, curling up into a ball and clinging to his wife’s feet, shaking furiously. “N-No! I wasn’t gonna, Leksi! I swear!”
Boldow wasn’t the only one who was shaking either. Kanata had been eyeing her three servants with a heavy-lidded, accusing gaze.
Zag’giel and Fenrir immediately began to beg or make excuses.
“W-We are turning back! We are turning back right now! We promised it would only be for a short time, did we not? See?!”
“Please! Wait! Just give me a minute longer!”
Elizavett, however, didn’t understand what had the other two in such a frantic rush. “Wh-What? Has something happened?” As she stared in confusion, she felt something push into her mouth. A second later, she registered what it was—Kanata’s finger. “Hwah? What are you—?”
She was partway through her sentence when she felt Kanata prick her own finger on her fang, feeding her just the tiniest amount of blood. Before she knew what was happening, she was back in her furball form.
“Okay!” said Kanata, beaming with pride as she reintroduced the three her own way. “This is Zaggy, this is Fen-fen, and this is Elizabat!” she said, hugging them tight to her chest. “Aren’t they just the cutest?!”