In the Land of Leadale - Volume 6 - Chapter SS2

Bonus Short Story 2 - Fish and Cats

“Good morning, Mr. Roxilius.”

“Good morning. It’s another fine day.”

Roxilius greeted the hoe-wielding villagers while out on his early patrol. After they left to plow the fields in the cool dawn air, the butler made his usual rounds through the village. But although Roxilius followed the same routine, the paths he took alternated each day. After all, a set route didn’t guarantee trouble wouldn’t happen elsewhere.

“Oh my. An early bird as usual, I see.”

“Good morning.”

“You certainly keep busy, Mr. Roxilius. Here, take these. I just picked them, so they’re nice and fresh. Tell Cayna dear I said hello.”

“Ah… I can’t accept such a gift in good conscience. You gave me some just the other day.”

A familiar old woman offered him a small basket of red fruit known for their sharp acidity. Cayna saw these one day and called them “tomatoes,” so the name spread through the village and stuck.

Tomatoes were an excellent food source that complemented a wide variety of staples and salads. Nearly every farm grew them. Agriculture in the remote village was increasingly tomato-based after the pizza and processed ketchup Roxine introduced helped the fruit explode in popularity.

“Goodness, I couldn’t finish all these myself. I’d much rather share with someone than watch produce go bad,” the woman replied with a radiant smile.

Roxilius accepted out of obligation, but words of gratitude felt insufficient.

“If you ever need assistance, please call me at any time. I would be delighted to help,” he said, offering his own services in return.

In short, he was forever conscientious. This made him quite popular among the village women, and they lavished produce and food upon the werecat for the smallest tasks. Every meal in Cayna’s household soon became a colorful feast for the eyes.

Roxine initially begrudged the inclusion of any dish more elaborate than her own. She often snapped at Roxilius and nitpicked every ingredient or dish he brought home, which would, in turn, spark one of their usual squabbles. Such power could uproot the entire house if they decided to go all out.

Roxilius’s and Roxine’s fear of Cayna’s wrath as well as Luka’s mediation were the main reasons why the two conserved their strength and hadn’t yet destroyed the house. Luka was more accustomed to their spats by now and had recently learned to read the outcome of these verbal arguments. As long as the werecats’ comments didn’t escalate, she wouldn’t interject. The moment the girl stared at them in blank silence and asked “Are you fighting?” they had no choice but to reluctantly bury the hatchet.

Naturally, the Roxilius-Roxine Argument Index dropped farther after Siren became Head Maid. And soon enough, they would endure a punishment far worse than Luka’s gaze.

One incident was all it took for both to forsake violence.

Sporting an icy smile, Siren asked Opus to cast his bizarre soul-switching skill on them. Roxilius entered Roxine’s body, and Roxine entered Roxilius’s. Then, to add insult to injury, each had to follow the other’s schedule for the entire day.

This meant Roxine was forced to patrol the village, teach the children (and occasional thick-headed adult), clean the baths, and converse with the villagers. In short, it was her own special purgatory. The work didn’t fit her personality, and she didn’t have a social bone in her body. On top of that, being in Roxilius’s body really grossed her out. Roxilius felt equally uncomfortable in a woman’s body, and his stress levels were also through the roof.

Needless to say, from that day on, their fights never escalated beyond words. Thanks to this horrifying experience, the werecats finally agreed on one thing: It would never happen again.

“How should we stop these two from fighting?”

“We’ll put them through punishment not of this world.”

Opus’s ability to answer Siren in a matter of seconds was the stuff of nightmares for the Double Rs. His quick-fire decisiveness even in hostile situations was on a different level of madness compared to their master Cayna.

Which was why, despite paying careful attention to everything Cayna told them about Opus, the two failed to grasp his true nature.

On an unrelated note, Luka inevitably had more free time than ever.

The same day Roxilius received the tomatoes, he chuckled to himself as he circled the village’s perimeter to check for the presence of fiendish creatures.

I’m not even a butler anymore.

Well, although protecting their home (the entire village included) was a vital task, he couldn’t do much about his lack of stewardly duties. It would have been one thing if Cayna’s family lived in an enormous mansion, but with six people in one cozy little house, they had more than enough help. There was no room for a butler.

Cayna had initially summoned Roxilius to watch over a small child, so the constant vigilance required of his current role suited him well. If asked whether he was unsatisfied these days, Roxilius would firmly respond in the negative. For the werecat, his duty was to serve Cayna, honor his master, and provide assistance. If anything, Roxilius never wanted to return to his former prison.

Roxine and Siren felt the same way.

To be more precise, it happened shortly before Cayna summoned Roxilius to watch over Luka.

He suddenly woke to the strangest scene. In a white space that stretched as far as the eye could see, maids and butlers just like the trio were lined up at set intervals. It was a mind-bending image.

Around one hundred coworkers stood on their own podiums like figurines. Their eyes were closed, and each looked like a doll waiting for shipment. Cayna summoned Roxilius soon after that, so he wasn’t sure what fates befell the others. Nevertheless, he didn’t have the courage to break his current contract and quickly go back to check. No matter how head-scratching his duties became, he would remain by his master’s side and prove himself useful. For Roxilius, that alone was enough reason to vow loyalty to Cayna.

That same day, he monitored the village itself to make sure nothing had sneaked inside. Gargoyles set at equal intervals eliminated any foreign threat. They were transformed into adorable snow bunnies to set the villagers at ease, but their strength was nothing to sneeze at.

Since the gargoyles lacked the ability to dispose of enemy corpses themselves, Roxilius would stop by periodically to make sure the area was clear.

“……?”

Something about one of the gargoyles seemed off. He approached it and soon understood why.

The gargoyle in question was the only one facing toward the village.

The others were turned away from the entrance so there was no need to investigate them further. Even after Roxilius searched the area, he didn’t see any signs of a struggle, either. It was truly baffling.

Just as he thought to inform Cayna of the situation, a presence appeared beside him.

“It moved!”

“?!”

Roxilius swiveled around in surprise to find a fairy with light green wings floating there. He hadn’t sensed anyone moments before, so he could only assume she had materialized just then. Given his cautious nature, Roxilius nearly attacked her.

“Lady Kuu?”

“I helped!”

Kuu’s blue eyes sparkled as she chirped merrily, but he had no idea what she was talking about.

According to Cayna, this fairy who only materialized for the first time the other day had apparently been accompanying them almost the entire time. He was shocked to hear Kuu had been right by Cayna’s side even back when Roxilius was first summoned to protect Luka. After Opus joined them, the demon said Kuu had the power to bring out Cayna’s true potential. Roxilius wasn’t sure what he meant by this, but it was clear Kuu deserved the same level of respect as Cayna.

“What did you help with?”

“I helped!”

Nonetheless, the fairy’s speech was often incoherent, and holding a conversation with her felt like an exercise in futility. Just as Roxilius was starting to think it was no wonder he couldn’t understand a tenth of whatever Kuu said without Cayna’s help…

A familiar voice cried out from somewhere nearby.

“Kyaaa?!”

“Ah!”

“Lady Mimily?”

Kuu heard the yelp and zigzagged toward it like a UFO. Her flight pattern was so inscrutable it made you question whether she was a fairy at all. Roxilius raced after her but couldn’t hope to keep up. Kuu was quickly out of sight.

“How swift. Lady Kuu must be of a high level.”

As Roxilius murmured to himself irrelevantly, he passed through a cluster of trees and found Mimily. She was surrounded by some very angry chickens.

“What?”

He wasn’t sure what was going on at first. Some ten-odd chickens encircled the tub Mimily always used to travel on land. She cowered in fear as the savage fowl flapped their wings in an attempt to reach her. Fortunately, the edge of the tub was too high for them to clear in a single hop. Still, the chickens charged at the mermaid from all sides and ruthlessly terrorized her.

The footed tub was both a golem and a transportation device created by Cayna. It was most likely stuck in place because Mimily hadn’t issued any orders or considered its other possible functions.

Kuu arrived first and did her best to shoo the chickens away with her tiny body, but the livid poultry weren’t the least bit intimidated.

“Hmph!”

Kuu puffed out her cheeks and gave up on chasing the birds away. Instead, she floated over Mimily’s head imperiously as the air around her warped to produce countless red arrows.

Sensing this wouldn’t end well, Roxilius rushed in to stop her.

“Please wait, Lady Kuu! If you fire those arrows, the chickens will not stand a chance!”

“But…!”

Roxilius chided the miffed fairy for resorting to violence. Although the chickens roamed the village freely, they belonged to the community. People couldn’t just kill them at random.

“Please leave this to me.”

As Roxilius approached the flock, he whistled through his fingers and cast the skill Bird Master.

A high, sharp call rang out. The chickens’ blind rage slowly abated; soon enough, they were all happily nestled together. Astonishingly, the crimson arrows dropped immediately afterward and dissolved in twos and threes.

“Th-thank you,” Mimily said tearfully.

“Hmph! Hrrm!” Kuu pouted as if to say I did all the work!

“Now, now,” Roxilius said, consoling the fairy as he confirmed the mermaid’s well-being. “Are you unharmed?”

“Yes, thanks to you,” she answered, looking up at him through a flood of hot tears.

Roxilius questioned her about what happened.

“Um, I don’t really understand it either… But I’ve been trying to touch the chickens lately, and they suddenly attacked me…”

“Oh?”

“The chickens hate you!”

“Huh?!”

Before Roxilius had a chance to think, Kuu blindly jumped to the most outlandish conclusion and ruined his good intentions. He had planned to listen to Mimily and do his best to mend the relationship between mermaid and chicken, but that chance was long gone now.

“No, there must be some other reason. Do you remember anything else you did?”

“…Um, well… I did try to touch their tails…,” Mimily replied, one hand on her cheek as she searched her memories.

“That’s it!” Kuu shouted.

“Huh? What?”

“Lady Mimily, most animals dislike having their tails touched.”

“Eh?! Seriously?!”

Her dumbstruck expression told Roxilius there’d been some kind of misunderstanding, and he asked why she would do such a thing.

“A-actually, merpeople touch fins to show affection.”

“Doing so on land will be problematic. I suggest not testing merpeople customs on others.”

“Really?”

Beastkin were an excellent example of this. It was common knowledge that, unless you were a close friend or spouse, touching their tails was absolutely forbidden. Most dragoids were indifferent about their tails, but some liked to add lavish decoration. These were off-limits, and excessive curiosity was met with harsh retaliation. You had to be careful around a demon’s horns in the same way.

The light left Mimily’s eyes as Roxilius explained this to her, and he decided to save the rest for later.

“Let’s stop here for today and continue next time. It will be good for you to gain a general understanding of life on land.”

“Wait, you mean there’s more?!”

“Of course. You may embarrass yourself otherwise, Lady Mimily.”

“Sounds rough!”

Kuu acted like she didn’t have a care in the world, but the fairy probably needed those extra lessons more than anyone else.

Crestfallen, Mimily’s head drooped.

“Allow me to escort you home,” Roxilius offered.

“Oh, uh, right. Thank you!” she exclaimed cheerily.

Her sudden mood boost baffled the werecat, but he was too preoccupied with seeing her safely home to give it much thought. They enjoyed pleasant conversation along the way, and when the topic of how each person’s day was going came up, Roxilius realized it was Mimily who moved the gargoyle.

Or more specifically, Kuu commanded the gargoyle to rescue her when Mimily leaned forward to get a better look at the figure and nearly fell out of her tub. This must have been what she meant by “moved” and “helped.” The real question was how Kuu was able to move a gargoyle already under Cayna’s control. Even if Roxilius asked Kuu himself, her happy-go-lucky mind was an enigma. He would have to mention it to Cayna later.

Roxilius brought Mimily back to the bathhouse, and she called out as he turned to leave.

“Sir Roxilius!”

“Yes? Is something the matter?”

“Um… Will I see you again?”

“Hmm? Yes, I would imagine so. I clean the bathhouse each morning, after all.”

“Oh, that’s right. I forgot.”

“?”

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

On his way home, Roxilius ruminated over their incomprehensible parting. Overhead, Kuu shrugged as if to say You’re hopeless.