After accepting the mission to help the village, it's bait operation time!?
Enjoy!
After the raging wind died down with the sunset, the night became unnervingly quiet. The moon, floating in the clear night sky, gave off a cold shine to illuminate the oasis.
Fio stood in the plaza and began singing to himself, a song that was slowly blooming in his mind:
“The winds of the desert is the song of the kingdom that disappeared among the hot sand
Voices grieving over those who were lost
At the boundary between day and night, they keep singing of the glory of days past
Where is my country?
Where are my people?
Who am I?
The thoughts of the princess who lost herself along with her country drift with the wind
The sand storm covering the desert is the home of the capital
The lost city walls, the disappeared temple
They were all blown away with the wind, trying to recover the shapes from yesteryear
Where is the temple with white walls?
And the golden palace?
Where is the capital?
All is in the sand, and without the far capital there anymore, the wind rages free”
“A lonely song.”
When he finished singing, Leina approached him, sword in hand and a men’s coat around her.
“Yeah...”
When he looked at her, he was at a loss for words.
It was an idea Leina had come up with after speaking with Lala, but it was hard to say the Vance girl looked any good crossdressing.
Her plan was simple: capturing the devil that was kidnapping the men, finding where he was taking them, and rescuing them all. To lure him out, she had to disguise herself as a man to get the devil to try kidnapping her.
It’d have been fine if it was just the clothes, but she had gone the whole nine yard and was sporting a fake mustache too, which embarrassed even him.
Mustaches may have been common for men in the area, but the disguise had a mismatched feeling on Leina.
Fio thought she was better off ditching it entirely, but he couldn’t tell her that... not with how pumped up she had gotten about it.
“Are you seriously going through with this?”
He finally managed to contain his laughter enough to speak.
“Well, how is it? Do I look like a young man?”
Leina stroked her false mustache, trying to sound slightly coarser.
“The mustache isn’t half bad.”
“I made it on my own. See, it matches my hair, doesn’t it?"
A closer look revealed that the mustache’s color did in fact match Leina’s hair color, even under the dim moonlight.
“Even if I do say so myself, I think it does the trick.”
“Yup, the way it curls looks pretty good too.”
Fio still though it sucked as a disguise, on top of not suiting her at all.
“Don’t I have to disguise myself?”
“You should be fine the way you are. From what Miss Lala said, those guys only take grown men away.”
With that, she wrapped a turban around her head, hiding her golden hair. That way, she would look like a man from the region.
“Still, Leina.”
“What?”
“Weren’t you too quick to make promises?”
Fio pouted, disgruntled.
“You didn’t agree that quickly when I asked you for help, and look at you now, actively marketing yourself.”
“Well, the circumstances this time have nothing to do with your case back then.”
She poked lightly at the forehead of her unhappy companion.
“In this case, it’s obvious who the victims are from the get go. That time with you, it wasn’t all that clear...”
“Meanie.”
“Besides, it’s extra worrisome since Echidna might be involved.”
Echidna... the Veteran Mercenary, the greatest warrior in the Continent who boasted an undefeated record.
What was her game, why did she visit the desert area... anyone would be worried about that.
“Hm~, come to think of it, Leina.”
“Yes?”
“You made sure to carry *that*, right?”
“Yeah... don’t worry, it’s hanging by my waist.”
They were talking about the extremely rare serenading blade, the Sword of Unicorn.
The sword was linked with Fio, and could heal the injuries and the fatigue of any who kissed it.
“That way, even if we get separated, we’ll be able to sense where the other is.”
“I’ll have to capture our foe so that doesn’t end up happening.”
“The Devil Setra... can you beat him?”
An evil spirit, with a cat's head and a metal body who flew in the sky...
He was the one said to appear in the desert regions, including the Rouse Oasis, to kidnap men.
“I should be able to. According to Miss Lala he's quite strong, but he’s only taken on civilians so far. I think I’ll manage.”
“I hope so, but still~”
Fio pouted, as if sulking. He might have gotten away with that promise of Sitaara’s massages for one year, but the all too eager way the blonde had offered to help—added to how she was underestimating her opponent—was getting on his nerves.
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