The way home stretched on longer than expected. Tanuki and Hundredth tied the rope around their waists for safety and used the trees’ roots as handholds. It took them until sunset to climb back onto the road. They walked by each other in silence, both on the verge of tears from sore limbs and fatigue.

The sunset penetrated through the leaves and onto the clearing ahead of them. A hill of bones surrounded their path, a lone dead soldier amongst the remains.

Tanuki crouched down to observe the soldier. He shut both eyes and hissed angrily.

“Fourteen,” he whispered.

Hundredth walked to his side. She spoke but with a voice lacking emotions.

“He died doing what was asked of him. Others met a similar fate. You shouldn’t weep for them.”

“What are you talking about? He’s dead!”

“You shouldn’t weep for them,” she repeated forcefully.

Tanuki looked up. The mask revealed only her eyes, cold and unyielding. He did not speak another word, nor had she, and Hundredth walked forward.

Tanuki observed the corpse for a second longer, then raised it onto his shoulder. He thought that if Fourteen did it for the fallen guard on the nestmen-side, he should honour him by doing the same. The corpse was heavy, but the feeling of respect gave power to his steps.

By the time they finally arrived dusk lit the world. Guards patrolled the village, and upon seeing the duo, they alerted the rest of the villagers to run out and greet them. Tanuki gave them the corpse while Hundredth asked for a rundown of casualties.

Apparently, there were a total of five losses. Two disappeared after falling. One got trampled, and another went missing in action. Fourteen was also thought to be missing, but no more.

They lost a third of all guards and half of their army. Despite the numbers not looking good, the villagers celebrated their return with surprising joy. Hundredth was left unphased by it while Tanuki felt shocked and guilty.

They did not care for any of the fallen, only for him and her.

“Excuse me?!” Hundredth screamed while banging on the guard’s chest plate.

“Let me apologise in the name of all my comrades, my Princess. We could not find you after the battle, and by the time we arrived home, the King was expecting answers.”

Hundredth slumped against the guard’s legs down to her knees. Tanuki stood behind her staring at the same ruins. He would have been bewildered by the act, but part of him got used to the Yosh villagers’ hivemind approach to things, especially fallen comrades. Thinking about it, he felt horrified by the thought of where Fourteen’s corpse might have gone.

“They couldn’t wait a day to tear apart your house,” said Tanuki, looking on as the guards removed the left of Hundredth’s home. They took the roof, walls, and even the floorboards.

“The King said without proper numbers to defend ourselves, we need to build a wall.”

“Did he worry for me?” Hundredth cut him off.

The soldier remained silent for a second.

“Unfortunately, I am not the best with emotions, my Princess. I could not hear it in his voice, but nor could I tell if it was otherwise. Your father loves you very much, Princess. He loves all of us.”

“That’s enough, go away now,” Hundredth waved him away.

The two were left with only the unmovable foundation of the once-home. Mushrooms and small green grew under. Tanuki observed the remains and noticed something in there, which he grabbed and took to Hundredth.

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“Here, this much remained of your home.”

It was the expired wine. Hundredth raised her head to look at it, but this was not enough to return the life into her eyes.

Tanuki uncorked the bottle, “Let’s drink.”

“What for? It’s over. My house is gone. I am homeless.”

“That makes us two.”

She met his sombre gaze. For the first time, she lowered the pedestal and saw Tanuki as an equal. Her pain was in no way compensated by another’s, but to know company in this suffering eased her heart.

“There is a bar in our village,” she stood up, “People can rent rooms there. We don’t see many visitants around here, so they mostly remain empty. The bartender would be happy to lend us a room––if you let me accompany you.”

“Sure thing,” Tanuki gave her a thumbs up. Some light returned to her eyes.

“Then it’s settled.”

The Yoshimura village had its fair share of homes and ruins. The bartender’s home earned the crown amongst the largest, with a large open hall attached to three guest rooms and a private living area. After nightfall, only a few would visit the establishment, but today was a special day, for they celebrated two of the Pretenders’ deaths and the safe return of the hero and the princess.

Despite it being the largest celebration they have ever held, the food and drinks were astonishingly non-special, with some poorly made bread and toxic-smelling water. Some were real party animals and decided to add mushrooms to their chosen meal; though surprisingly, they put it into the water, much like how regular humans put a slice of lemonade into mineral water.

Tanuki understood the logic. The plantfolk were living creatures, they had to consume nutrients to remain healthy. Mushrooms would have a lot of those, given the way they themselves existed by consuming all the waste left by dead plants and animals. Still, seeing mushroom caps in already dirty water had Tanuki gagging for the first time. He refused to drink any water produced in this realm, and he thanked the extremist fungus connoisseurs for helping him retain his vow.

The bartender was a fat plantfolk with the mask of a regular soldier, the only difference being his smile reaching wider. He poured himself some stale water and raised a mug.

“Hear ye, hear ye,” he shouted with his raspy voice, “Not many men can say they are both righteous and powerful. There’s even less who can say they have made two of the ugliest Pretenders taste the boot. Not many can, not many dare lie, but there is only one who has been all, done all, and can say it with the truth. I salute thee, Great Hero!”

The guards raised their mugs and cheered with the bartender. As their masks had mouths, they poured the water inside, but it ran beneath their mask and scattered throughout their body. It did not mean they wasted the drink though, as their dry plant-like skin absorbed the liquid.

Tanuki awkwardly waved as they celebrated him. He was not used to attention, especially the good kind. It made him feel embarrassed and guilty to have the spotlight, which was why he tried to avoid it by sitting in the farthest corner of the room. Still, they found him even at that table.

The bartender did not stop with him, as the Princess sat right by his side. He poured himself another mug of water, then invited all for a refill.

“And hear ye! For it is not the Great Hero alone to have defeated the monsters, but with good company, the best fighter of our village, the Princess Hundredth herself! All raise ye cups to cheer on the great pair and the great soldiers they’ll nurture!”

“Aye!” the guards cheered.

“Wait, what did he just say?” Tanuki flinched in panic and turned to Hundredth. She stared into the distance and did not respond for a while.

Then suddenly, she stood up and grabbed the wine. Her voice trembled as she spoke.

“Great Hero!”

“Y-Yes?” he stuttered. Hundredth’s mask grew red with a blush.

“I don’t want to stay here anymore. Can we go to our bed?”

“Did they upset you? If you want to, I can ask them to––“

“Please!” she cut him off.

Tanuki scratched his head. The bartender’s words upset him too, he would not have guessed the guards misjudged their relationship so easily. After all, they have only known each other for a day. But then again, the plantfolk were unique creatures, no denying that.

He thought it was just another element of their weirdness and shrugged it off. After getting the keys from the bartender, he went into the private area where the rooms were hidden. Hundredth followed fast behind him, silent the whole time.

They arrived at the door and Tanuki turned. He fidgeted with the keys for a moment. Hundredth looked away, rubbing her hands in embarrassment. Finally, Tanuki found what he was looking for and handed it to her.

“There you go,” he put a key into her hands.

Hundredth nearly dropped it, her entire body trembled as she looked Tanuki in the eye. “H-Hero?”

“Call me Tanuki,” he grinned. He had no reason to, but that was his way of coping with the awkwardness of the situation.

Still, Hundredth’s heart throbbed with emotions. The pink haze fallen upon her eyes had made it all so meaningful.

“Tanuki,” she whispered gently.

“Uh, yeah. Why did you repeat my name?”

“Tanuki, is this the key to our––“

“To your room! I asked him to give you the one with the better bed, you hit your back pretty badly in the forest so you should have the better rest. Little old me will probably sleep on some haystack, but hey! For the past few days, I’ve been sleeping in my own blood in the mud. This will be like heaven, only worse, but better.”

“W-What?”

He took a separate key and unlocked a separate door. He stepped inside, waved, and reached to close the door.

“Cya!”

The door slammed shut. From the opposite side, Tanuki’s muffled voice blamed the wind.

Hundredth stood there, staring at the door. Her hands let go of the key. She looked down, then back to Tanuki’s door, quietly staring.