Chapter 32

You awoke the next morning to a loud pop and a yowl of pain. Throwing aside your sheets, your feet were tangled in the rough linens as you fell out of bed. Standing up quickly, you readied yourself to face whatever intruder had set off the ward you had placed.
The wooden door to your room was still sizzling. Faint wisps of smoke trickled out of the cracks in the wood as the thing clung to its hinges.

Looks like you put a little too much juice into that seal…

Lifting the door bar out of place, (apparently all male dorm rooms had this feature), you used your magic to flick open the door. Nothing. Glancing down the hall, you could see a few other men peeking out of their own rooms. Farther down the corridor, loud swearing emanated from the stairs. You gagged as the sharp stench of burnt fur assailed your nostrils. Slamming the door, you placed the bar back into position and made another seal.

It was barely light out, just at the crack of dawn. The sun wasn’t more than a glow in the east at this hour. If the sun rose in the east here. If that’s where the sun rose, didn’t that make it east no matter what?

Contemplating the cosmic congruencies of this world and your own, you returned to bed to get what little sleep you could before the day began.

~~~~~~

A shrill blast from a bugle roused you again. It felt like it had only been a few minutes since you had fallen back asleep. Slipping into your clothes, you stepped out of your room and headed for the cafeteria.

The other men were huddled together in their own small bands, having already found friends. Should you try and ingratiate yourself with one of the cliques? You had tried to get to know some of the guys at Admaz, but you found their personalities to be too… strange. Most of them had been born and raised in mamono territory and their ideals and habits reflected it. Sure they had dreams and aspirations, but being a husband to a monster or monsters was always their number one priority. Every conversation you had with them was centered around the idea of finding a good wife, who that would be, potential candidates, and what you would do for them. When they learned that you hadn’t decided whom you were going to marry, not even what species you were most attracted to, they were at a loss for words.
Maybe these guys would be different. This was an adventuring school after all. Surely some of these fine fellows would be here to learn how to kick ass.

“Did you see that succubus yesterday?”

“The one with the buckler?”

“Yeah! She gave me a look yesterday. I’m going to see if she’ll let me into her party. She looks like she can take care of a man.”

“Is she in the same party as that harpy with the washboard abs?”

“I think so, they sure seem to talk a lot.”

“Ooh, I think I’m going to have to come with you when you introduce yourself.”

They laughed and walked on ahead.

Guess some things never change…

No matter, there were still plenty of potential friends among the mamono. All you needed were a few lizard men or salamanders. Jinkos too, if you could find any. Just a small band of friendly mamono to stab people who tried to molest you and wouldn’t molest you either.
Rounding the corner, you entered the mess hall. A wave of silence spread outwards away from the doors. You ignored their stares and quickly moved into the line for food. Conversations steadily resumed as you turned your back.

“That’s him. Kinda funny looking though…”

“Is he an albino? Why is he so pale?”

“I hear that he’s part of some long-lost tribe. They thawed him out of a glacier up north!”

“No you idiot. He’s one of the Chief God’s angels. One of the vampires sacrificed a whole town of monsters to pull him out of heaven!”

Clearly the literature you had helped Admaz write about your world had not been Mamono Times best sellers. Put some money into your marketing department Oroba…

Your tray was heaped with slop and you looked for a place to sit. This time, you had to find a seat all by yourself. Working your way through the maze of benches, you found one that was mostly populated by other guys and a few stray monsters flirting with said guys.

Gross.

A werewolf tried to slap your ass as you passed. Her paw connected with your barrier, and she cringed in pain as you discharged a bit of static into the offending limb. Her friends snickered as she shook clenched her paw in her lap.

Taking a seat on the bench, most of the other men ignored your presence entirely. A few gawked at you unabashedly, giving you an unparalleled view of the bits of food still in their mouth. Taking a bite out of the bread lump you ate your meal as quickly as you could. No good could come of lingering in a room with this many bachelorettes. The attention would die down in a bit.

“Anon! My darling little protégé!”

You winced as Maranth’s voice boomed through the mess hall. She used her wings to jump over a few rows of benches before landing next to you.

“I see you survived the night. You’re already shattering my expectations.” She said. Reaching between her breasts, she pulled out a slim metal case and pulled one of her cigarettes out. Summoning a small jet of flame from her index finger, she torched the end of the roll and inhaled.

“Here’s your schedule.” She said blowing a cloud of smoke into your face. You coughed as she dropped a pile of papers into your lap. They slid off onto the floor.

“I’ll check up on you later today. Try not to die. Oh! That reminds me…”

Maranth stood up on the table and cleared her throat. Not that anyone was talking, all eyes were fixed on her since she entered.
“Attention students! This human has a deadly allergy to mamono mana. If you rape him, he WILL die. That is all.”

The dark valkyrie hopped back down. “Don’t say I never did nothing for ya’.” Said Maranth, tapping some of the ash from her cigarette into what your (what you assumed to be) oatmeal.

“Hey!” you protested.

Maranth giggled. “Oh? I wouldn’t eat that if I were you. Here, let me teach you a spell I think you’ll find VERY useful. It detects poison.”

She hovered her hand over your breakfast. Dark magenta light radiated from her hand, revealing splotches of the same color in your food. It looked like a black light.

“Shit…”

A demon with an entire bandolier of knives near the door unseated herself and quickly walked out of the cafeteria.

“Like I said kid, you’re gonna have to learn fast or you won’t learn at all.” Said Maranth.

With a wave over her shoulder, the headmistress departed.

The mamono watched her go, then snapped their attention back to you.

You sifted through your schedule. Shit… Some of these words were new to you… You didn’t have any choice BUT to ask someone else for directions.

Setting your paperwork down in your lap, you realized that you were at half-mast. Arousal was a constant factor here in the demon realm, but this was worse than usual. What could have…

You looked at the ash in your oats. What was in that cigarette anyways? It wasn’t tobacco, that’s for sure. It smelled like a blend of mint and sage. Smooth, and yet…

Your dick twitched a little at the memory of the fragrant fumes. That bitch! Maybe you should get a gas mask too…

~~~~~~

The sun was now low in the sky, lazily making its way towards its zenith. You were standing on one of the numerous training grounds with about two dozen other monsters and a few guys. Though you distanced yourself from the main lump of mamono, some of the more persistent ones had followed you until you were thirty feet apart from the rest. Just take a fucking hint already!

“Eyy, you’re Anon, yeah?” asked a muscular succubus.

You ignored her.

“Aww, don’t be shy~ We’re in the same class so it makes sense for us to be friends.”

She used her tail to flick a pebble at you and laughed as it bounced off your barrier.

“That’s so funny! You really do have that up all the time huh?~”

She stepped a bit closer. Slowly reaching out, she placed her hand against the translucent wall of magic. You funneled a little more energy into it, heating it up underneath her hand.

“Ooh~ How robust!” said the succubus, rapping against it with her knuckles. “But I wonder if it can handle ‘sustained punishment’~” she whispered. She humped at the ward to accentuate her point. Eww…

“Alright you degenerates, that’s enough talking. Line up!”

A minotaur swaggered out in front of the horde of mamono and cast a glare over the tepid faces of the students.

“I said LINE UP!”

The monsters scrambled to get into line. You were jostled back and forth as monsters fought for a place next to you in line. Now standing shoulder to shoulder, you awaited further instruction from the mino.

“My name is Gelvie, and I have the displeasure of being your instructor.” She began. “This Academy is known for producing the HIGHEST quality adventurers who have ever walked the planet. Hundreds of legendary wanderers can attest that it was this institution that gave them the training to accomplish their incredible feats. Even now, the elite walk these halls…”

She abruptly turned to an amazon.

“AND YOU ARE NOT ONE OF THEM.”

Taking a few steps back, she turned to address the class as a whole.

“If you are standing in this line, it is because you preformed SO FUCKING POORLY on your exams that you are now part of the LOWEST echelon of monsters in this ENTIRE ACADEMY. You are too stupid, too weak, or too incompetent to even be called terrible. I CANNOT stress how PATHETIC it is to be standing where you are now.”

She slowly began to walk up and down the line again. Oh no, should you look at her? In the army movies, you weren’t supposed to look at the sergeant. Was this the same deal?

You held your breath and kept your eyes straight ahead as the massive cow-woman passed by you. You only came up to the bottom of her breasts.

She leered down at you and kept walking.

“I can say with absolute confidence that none of you will EVER amount to anything more than average. My advice for you would be to go find a job; the chances of you even being good enough to adventure as an occupation are ZERO.”

Holy shit. She really wasn’t pulling any punches.

“BUT, if you insist on throwing away your time and money in a futile attempt to better yourself, you are more than welcome. I get paid either way.” Sneered the minotaur. “A question for you all, what’s the most important thing an adventurer can have?”

The line was silent.

“I ASKED YOU DROOLING TROGLODYTES A QUESTION!” shouted Gelvie.

“Skill!”

Gelvie turned around and powerwalked over to the trembling bunyip who had dared to speak.

“Skill? You think skill is the MOST IMPORTANT THING you can have as an adventurer?!” asked the mino. “HOW WOULD YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT SKILL LOOKED LIKE?!”

A chill ran down your spine as you heard a small sniffle. The poor ‘yip was in for it now…

“Are you crying?” asked Gelvie incredulously. “Are yo-… Did you seriously register at an ADVENTURING ACADEMY, and start CRYING on MY FIELD?!”

The bunyip let out a low groan as she started to cough and hiccup.

“Unbelievable. You don’t even deserve to be here. Tell you what, if you can get to that post…” Gelvie pointed to a wooden post on another training ground in the distance. “… and come back before I lose any more of my patience, I won’t kick you out. Deal?”
The bunyip yelped and fell forwards as Gelvie gave her a slap on the back.

“Go! Crawl! Slither! Whatever it is you freaks do!”

As the fluff-snake slithered off towards the pole as fast as she could, leaving the rest of you to the mercy of your cow-coach.

“No, it is not ‘skill’ that limits you, it’s technique.” Asserted Gelvie.

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

Gelvie marched over to the black harpy who dared open her mouth and seized the avian woman by her throat. The poor harpy squawked as she was forced into a headlock, her face swallowed up by the crook of Gelvie’s arm.

“See, if she knew a TECHNIQUE to escape a chokehold, she would understand what she needs to do to get free. Not that she could get free even if she did, because she hasn’t cultivated the SKILL to use that technique.” Explained Gelvie. The harpy’s black talons thrashed the air, desperate for leverage to free herself. The harpy was dumped unceremoniously onto the ground. Dirt caked her tear stained face as she tried to regain her breath.

“You will learn techniques here, and you will practice those techniques until your hands, wings, tentacles, or other grasping appendages bleed. In time, these abilities will become a reflex; you will not be able to forget them even in the heat of battle.” Said Gelvie.

She stopped at the center of the line and looked over all the other students. The bunyip was making her return, wheezing and gasping as she sprinted (or whatever the equivalent of snake sprinting was) back towards the line.

“You’ll also be learning the MENTAL praxes of adventuring too; brute strength alone is not sufficient for survival.” Said Gelvie looking at you.

Noted…

“But that isn’t my job. You’ll be meeting with Raigill for that portion of your training. For now, we’re going to get these sorry bodies into shape!”

Gelvie took a sprinter’s stance and looked back at the rest of you.

“We’re going to sprint to that post and back. Anyone who doesn’t beat me will have hell to pay.”

Without any countdown, the massive woman surged forwards. The other mamono in line scrambled after her. You were left in the dust, both literally and figuratively, as the hooves, claws, and feet of your much faster classmates stampeded on ahead. Hurdling over the bunyip, who has almost been trampled by the mob, you did your best to keep up with someone with legs two feet longer than your own.

~~~~~~~

You had experienced a lot of unpleasant sensations since you had arrived in this world. Mana poisoning, attempted curses, starvation, depleting all your mana and going into a coma…

And none of it compared to the searing physical pain you were experiencing now. Except maybe that time a dark elf claiming to be your “biggest fan” got past your escort in Admaz one day and kicked you in the balls saying it was a “part of her culture”. The pain flowing through every muscle of your body right now was proof that Jesus and His mercy had been left behind when you were portal’ed here.
The only reason you were able to lurch your way to the mess hall was by forming crutches with your magic. Shaping two long wards, you were able to use them like ski poles to support your weight. It did have the unfortunate side effect of making you look like a lunatic. Monsters gave you a wide berth as you hiked your way through the hall on semi-transparent poles, whimpering as you went.

Entering the cafeteria, you crept through the line using your magic to support your tray. Once it was full, you abandoned all hope of finding an isolated seat and plopped down in the first available spot you could find. Death be damned; if you were raped into the grave here and now it would be a welcome reprieve from the fire in your veins.

Clearly the ‘curriculum’ of the school was not geared towards humans. The lowest weight they had was about twenty-eight pounds, if you were converting their units of weight correctly. It would be almost impossible for you to get a passing grade when the criteria was beyond what an Olympian could ever hope to achieve. Gelvie had no sympathy for you; if you were going to be in a class of monsters, you were going to be graded like a monster.

On one hand, you appreciated the respect she was giving you. Even if it was out of spite, she wasn’t treating you like just a dick to ride.

On the other hand, fuck her. That fucking sucked!

“He’s right here! What do I do?!” hissed the werebat next to you.

“Punch him! Assert dominance!” said the ogre sitting next to her. She made no attempt to lower her voice.

The bat woman flushed with embarrassment, hushing the giant and begging her to be quiet.

“I’m going to assert dominance, but you’re not supposed to punch ‘em! You just hold them down and rape them.”

You were so intent on listening to their conversation that you didn’t notice a mouse-girl’s hand creeping towards your thigh. Too distracted by the antics of the much more conspicuous threats on one side, your barrier had faltered on the other. Your knee hit the table as you blenched at her touch.

The rodent woman gave you a cheeky grin, displaying her slight buckteeth.

“Hah! No need to worry about me big guy, just keep eating. I’m just going to help myself to some of yo-“

“Over my dead body!”

An ocelomeh stood up two benches away. Did she hear what the mouse said from that far away in a crowded cafeteria? How the hell did you ever escape the jungle…

“That mana is mine, runt. I’LL be the one to put the human in his place.” Said the ocelomeh, sneering at the rat girl.

“You? Hah!”

Heads turned to an oni, who didn’t bother standing up. “He’s not ripe yet, you heard the boss. But when he IS ready, he’s MINE. And I don’t take kindly to people threatening my property.”

She emphasized her point by chomping through a bone.

“He doesn’t need you islander; he needs someone to keep him safe. Like ME.” snarled a hellhound.

You shoveled the rest of your food into your mouth as fast as you could while the mamono were busy boasting and monologuing. There was a brawl a brewin’ and you weren’t about to be in the middle of a fight when the fists started flying. Adrenaline allowed your limbs to regain a bit of function as you hobbled away.

“Hey! He’s leaving!”

You looked back at a demon who was pointing at you. For a split second, you froze in horror. Would the girls choose to secure you before slugging it out?

An ogre next to the demon leveled the poor girl with a nasty sucker punch. The room erupted into a chorus of cheers and boos as pairs of mamono squared up and began tearing into each other. Using your magic to shove away all the monsters that were trying to carry you away, you skittered off to the classroom.

~~~~~~

Ahh… Book work. This was more your speed. Learning about this new world always proved to be exciting and interesting no matter the subject.

“Alright, this is where you’ll be getting the important half of your training.” Said the dark mage professor. “My name is Raigill. Any questions?”

Silence.

“Good. Now then, these are your textbooks, pass them back.” Said Raigill, dumping a stack of ancient books onto her desk.

You handed book after book to the mamono behind you, ignoring the attempts of the succubus behind you to touch your hand every time you handed her a new book. At last, you collected your book. A yellowed and ancient tome, replete with knowledge. Flipping the book open, you could see extensive notes in the margins of each water-damaged page. Who knows how many generations of students had used this very book?

“Try not to be too rough on them, they’re last years addition and I’d like to use them for the next year too.” Said Raigill.

Oh.

“And I see we have a special guest with us…”

You looked up from the book. Raigill was eyeing you with an aloofly.

“The rest of these churls may not know what you are, but your summoning caused quite the stir amongst the scholars.” Said the dark mage.

You stared at her from behind the mountain of a chimera in front of you. Her phrasing and attitude made it unclear what the tone of the statement was.

“I am curious, what would you say your level of education is?” asked Raigill.

“Uh… Low…” you said. It hurt to say, but it was true. By now you could read most of the common day to day words you came across on signs and sentences, but the rigorous tutelage at Tomb Haven proved that you were still nescient. A textbook full of names and places would be almost illegible.

Some of the monsters in the class snickered. Raigill herself looked slightly amused.

“Oh? How much can you write?”

“I can get by most of the time.” You said confidently.

Raigill scribbled something out on the board. The only thing you recognized was ‘going,’ but you couldn’t tell what tense it was in.

“Can you read this?”

You mulled it over for a few seconds before glowering at her. “No.”

This time your classmates made no attempt to hide their laughter.

“Eros above, how did he even figure out how to open the door to the classroom?!”

“I’ve met mamono who’ve lived in caves that can read better than he can.”

“Maybe he isn’t worth taking after all.”

You grit your teeth and silently endured the jeers of your peers. A loud pop directed everyone’s attention back to the board.

“Pipe down you lunks, you can’t read his language either. Now Anon, I see you have some interesting accessories there…” said Raigill.

You reflexively touched the inhibitor rings on each of your hands. She was more interested in your pendant.
“That’s an amulet of articulation, no? How long have you been wearing that?”

“A long time.” You admitted.

Raigill’s reticent face turned just the slightest bit red.

“I’ve heard that your language is quite… interesting to hear spoken. Perhaps you could give us a demonstration?”

“Oh, no, that’s alright. I don’t want to delay the lesson any longer. Maybe some other time.” You said.

“No, no! It’s more than alright. Learning other languages is an important skill to have for ruins exploring.” Said Raigill.

“I’d really rather not.” You said flatly. Truth be told, you were sick of mamono asking to hear you speak in English. It was fun at first in Admaz, but having to take the amulet off and talk so that some succubi could giggle became tedious after the hundredth time. And there were also some monsters who had become creepily obsessed with your language. They thought it was cute or something.

“I could converse with you, if that would make it easier.” offered Raigill.

Your classmates gasped.

“You can speak his language?”

Raigill puffed out her chest a bit. “Oh, enough to get by. I’m also literate in {Ehgish} as well.” She sniffed.

Oh no.

“I want to hear what he sounds like too.”

“Has anyone ever heard him say stuff in his own language?”

“Yeah! I heard him talk when we were exercising! It’s a bunch of grunts and wheezes.”

“That was just him dying, you idiot.”

Raigill wrote out a sentence under the Common symbols she had written earlier.

I wented to class this Day.

Not bad, actually. Better than most of the ‘English’ you had seen mamono write. She must have practiced a lot to get this far without any instruction.

“See? Just like back home. So, take off the amulet and we’ll just say a few sentences to demonstrate the importance of language.” Said Raigill.

“First of all, that ISN’T ‘just like back home’, and secondly: NO.” you said.

“What?! I’ve studied your language extensively! Stop trying to nitpick and take off the amulet!” insisted Raigill.

“Just teach the class already!” you retorted.

Raigill’s eye twitched. With a flick of her wrist, she used her magic to wrenched the amulet off your neck. What ever spell she was using, it was able to penetrate your barrier with ease.

“Hey!” you shouted, grasping at the amulet as it flew into her palm.

{Hah! What was that?}

{HeEeY}

{No, no, it was more like HeIy}

A chorus of mocking ‘heys broke out. The only thing you could do was sit there in silence. Don’t give them any more ammunition…

“Tsair! Noh, lez juus sahee a fu warhs foh da culass.” Said Raigill.

{Woah…}

{Is that what his language sounds like?}

{I don’t know. Hey!} Anon, {say something!}

{Yeah, say something!}

{Pshh, typical man. Too afraid to even talk.}

You snapped. “GIMME THE FUCKING AMULET YOU CUNT!”

Raigill’s eyes widened. The rest of the class, ignorant of the meaning of any of the words you just uttered, cheered at your compliance.

{Gima fugkamult yug cunt!}

{Fuchshik apulant cunt!}

{Cunt!}

{Cunt! Cunt! Cunt!}

The rest of your scholarly peers began to chant and stomp their feet as they bellowed the obscenity. A blood vessel pulsed in Raigill’s forehead.

“Thaz vehry eempolayt, Anon.” she said coldly.

Shit. You couldn’t just piss off your professor on the first day of class like this…

“I’m sorry, professor. I just find the reactions my language elicits from these uncouth philistines to be vexing.” You said slowly.

{What a funny language.}

{Why does it go up and down so much?}

{Hey, teach, what’d he say this time?}

Raigill grit her teeth and smiled. {Err… he said… It was an apology! Yes. He also commended my mastery of his language.} said Raigill.
Looks like you had nicked her pride by using words that weren’t published in many of the pamphlets the scholars of Admaz created.

{Well I like cunt.}

{Yeah, that has a good ring to it.}

{Just feels right sayin’ it.}

Raigill tossed the amulet back to you. {Just make sure y}ou learn Common soon, Anon.”

You grumbled out an agreement.

“Now then, before we get into the more technical aspects of adventuring, we first have to understand the history behind the tombs, crypts, dungeons, and ruins that are explored today…”

Raigill began to lecture about the various civilizations that preceded modern mamono society. You had hardly put quill to paper before a crumpled ball of paper bounced off your ward and landed on the floor beside you. Gritting your teeth, you ignored the provocation and continued to write down what Raigill was saying.

Another was of paper bounced against your barrier. And another. Finally, an impressive lob shot landed flat on your desk. There was a hiss of joy and a few muffled congratulations from the monsters behind you.

Unfurling the crumpled paper (which you quickly realized was a page of textbook) you read the note.

“Anon, the girls and I {made a bet} to see who would get to be first”

It didn’t take a genius to figure out what the note meant. In fact, you had received notes like this in the past. You folded up the paper and set it aside. Looking back to see who threw that would be suicide.

“He read it!” whispered someone near the back of the room.

An intense argument broke out, both sides angrily murmuring to each other. More voices chimed in as the rabble got progressively louder. Raigill paused her lesson. Setting her book down, she flicked her wrist and launched a small sphere of magic over your head. There was a sharp yelp of pain and the clattering of chairs as your peers righted themselves in their seats.

“…Later, in the second dynasty, the very same invaders would be turned away by…”

Raigill droned on about history. You weren’t listening now. Right now, you were racking your brain trying to guess which monster threw this note at you. All the notes, actually. Sure, every girl in this room posed a threat to you, but some were certainly worse than others. Who was in your class anyways?

Manticore, bunyip, black harpy, amazon, succubus, chimera, ocelomeh, dark elf…

The more you thought about it the worse the situation seemed. Every species in this room was the type to take tears and begging as encouragement to keep going. Maybe not the succs or the demons… Could you get them to protect you if you gave them puppy eyes? The encyclopedia said that they were the kind of mamono that doted on humans out of pity.

You snuck a glance at the demon sitting diagonally from you. She looked like some sort of rouge type; tight leather armor that left her midriff exposed and a belt full of pouches and knives. Unlike the other yahoos you were stuck with, she was diligently taking notes as Raigill lectured. What a good girl! But wasn't she the one who tried to poison you? Demons all seemed to have the same aesthetic.

The demon leaned back in her chair pensively, giving you a better view of her paper. At the top, in very ornate and elegant script was your name and what you surmised to be her name joined by a heart connecting the last character of your name and the first of hers. Her eyes lit with inspiration and she began to furiously scrawl out more clauses to her contract.

Maybe not demons…

Succubi?

You thought about the one that had dry-humped your barrier earlier while implying she planned on riding you into unconsciousness. Not her obviously, but you may be able to get some other succubi involved. The main issue would be convincing them to protect you with no incentive. ‘Hey, could you protect me from those giant scary monsters? I can’t pay you anything. Thanks.’ Yeah… That didn’t sound like it would attract to many loyal souls to your cause. Unless…

Unless you COULD give them some form of compensation.

Your eyes drifted to a chubby cleric lad in the front row. A lamia was already teasing his lower back with the tip of her tail.

If the problem with succubi was their desire to get laid, then all you had to do was satiate them first. Feed the lions before they eat you, then snuggle up with the pride to avoid being eaten.

Heads turned towards you with perplexed and fretful looks, and you realized that you had let out an unconscious maniacal laugh. Un-wringing your hands, you cleared your throat and did your best to catch up with what Raigill was saying.

Oh yes, you would survive your time at Valisias Academy. No, you would THRIVE. It was time to show these meat-heads that you were more than just their equal. But for now, all you had to do was be patient.

~~~~~~

Raigill tossed the door shut behind her as she arrived home.

“Hi honey!”

Her husband appeared from the living room to greet her. She permitted him to kiss her forehead as she put her staff in its holder.

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

“No, I’m fine.” Said Raigill wearily.

“Did you get to meet that human you were talking about?”

The mage gave a scornful tut. “Yeah…”

“And?”

She frowned. “You know how they say ‘never meet your heroes’?”

“That bad, huh?”

Raigill groaned and sat down on the couch. “He was just so rude! I don’t understand it! After all that time and effort I spent learning his language, he just humiliates me in front of my students!”

Her husband wrapped his arms around her shoulders and began to rock her. “Are you sure he wasn’t just nervous?”

“Hmph.”

“And are you sure you didn’t come on too strong? I know you were passionate about this, but he might be a bit embarrassed to speak a different language around all these monsters.”

Raigill squirmed a little as she remembered the raucous jeers of the mamono after Anon spoke.

“Give him some time. I’m sure he’ll open up if you’re fair. He may even be willing to answer some questions for you.” Said her husband.

“Mmm…”

Raigill rested her head on his shoulder. His shirt smelt of herbs.

“Have you been cooking?” she asked.

“Mmhmm. I made you something special since it’s a special day for you. Or, it was…”

She hugged him. “It’s special now.”

Adjusting their bodies so that they could lie down, they waited for their meal to cook.