“Spin, spin, spin, spin! Well done, you're great. You look great together.”
Sivina was holding Yu's hand with one hand and her other hand was on his shoulder. Yu's other hand was on Sivina's slim waist and they were very close to each other.
Yu let go of Sivina's waist and raised his hand. Madame Marais clapped her hands in exaggerated glee as Sivina spun around.
“Well done, fly girl!”
After Sivina turned, she didn't approach Yu again, she giggled and moved a little away from him and spread her arms wide while holding his hand. Then Yu pulled her to him and took Sivina's other hand. Sivina again pulled away from Yu and opened her arms.
After repeating the gesture one more time, Yu pulled Sivina to him and grabbed her waist again. Being so close to his face and looking into his shining purple eyes made Sivina's heart beat faster.
“Wonderful!” Madame Marais shouted as she continued to clap her hands. “You're both wonderful.”
“I'm always wonderful.”
Sivina laughed as Yu laughed. They were spinning again, but this time in an orbit around themselves and around Madame Marais.
“You know Aramish and can play the piano, but you can't dance?” Yu whispered.
“Every family with a little status teaches their children Aramaish, and I can't play the piano like you, Mr. Valarfin.”
“And why don't you know how to dance?”
“My mother taught me the piano but I didn't have enough time to learn to dance. My father took most of my free time for sword training. He even spent the time I had left after the sword.”
After a few more turns, Yu grabbed Sivina by the waist and lifted her up. Sivina had a big smile on her face as she turned and walked back to the center.
When they arrived at the center, Madame Marais had fled and the center of the hall was reserved for the two of them.
Yu put Sivina down and their dance ended.
“You are wonderful, I've never seen two people who suit each other so well! Girl, you are like a swan.”
Madame Marais took Sivina by the hand. Sivina was already dizzy, but she made her dizzy again.
“I mean, considering that the swan is the symbol of the Ecues family...”
Sivina had a smile on her face while looking at Yu, he was about to get into a difficult situation. Yurine got up from her seat and walked slowly towards Yu.
“W-well done... Well done, Yu. You've learned to dance so well...”
“Yurine, this is all for the purpose...”
“No, no, you don't need to make excuses.” Yurine lifted her frilly skirt and moved in front of Yu. “Because I'm going to do it whether you make excuses or not!”
Yurine stepped forcefully on Yu's foot, causing him to scream. Yu bent down and wiped his tear-filled eyes as he held his foot.
“Why did you do that? Madame Marais wanted us to dance...”
“Yes, and she didn't forget to praise you.”
With Sivina's heart still racing, Yurine looked at Madame Marais.
“Do you offer these compliments to all your students?”
“Only the most special ones, little lady,” dance and piano teacher Lesly Marais, bowed her head against Yurine.
“You will not offer it to Yu again.”
Madame Marais laughed and bowed her head again. “Yes.”
Sivina was waiting for her turn, but it was Ana, not Yurine, who was going to take care of her. She came up behind her and spoke into her ear.
“You made me very, very jealous, Sivina. How happy you were with Mr. Valarfin.”
“A-Ana...”
Ana had kissed her and Sivina didn't want to think about it. She forgot about that day and tried to make friends with her again, like before. Unlike Ana, Sivina didn't have that kind of tendency towards girls.
“Ana, let's see if you can be a green swan too.”
Madame Marais rescued Sivina and called Ana. Ana came quickly in front of Madame Marais and curtsied, holding her skirt.
“Mr. Valarfin, please hold your new partner's hand,” said Madame Marais.
It was Ana's turn to dance. Yu stood up and, after shaking his sore foot a little, offered Ana his hand. Ana took his hand and the next dance began.
***
“You pervert, you were so happy dancing with them, weren't you?”
When the dance training was over, Madame Marais left them and the four of them began to make the rounds in the manor garden until the next training session began.
“I danced with two extremely beautiful girls, of course I was happy. Ah! This time I dodg-AH!”
Yu had managed to dodge Yurine's first move by leaping backwards and saved his foot. He owed this to the sword training he had received from Sivina, but he had forgotten that Yurine was an ultra-strong girl.
Yurine moved too fast for Yu to react and stepped on his foot. Yu screamed again and crouched down to rub his foot. He sat down on the grass and took off his shoe and started rubbing his foot.
“And you... Why were you happy dancing with Yu? I wonder, hmm?” She didn’t get an answer. “Today, I hereby declare that Yu has an owner! Okay? I've already planned Yu's future. Don't try to seduce him, you... You are kind of girls who try to seduce boys!”
Sivina and Ana blushed but still smiled. Yu picked Yurine up, pulled her into his lap and laid her down on the grass, then lay down next to her.
“Are you planning on telling me about this future, my sweet little yandere loli catgirl?”
“Hmph, you'll see in the future!”
“Ah, so be it. Then I'll just smile.”
He believed he knew what she was planning. He was almost certain that Yurine would want him to marry her mother Rie. He would gladly accept it for her, but he would not have a long life in that world if he fail to find a way to save his life. So he couldn't do that, couldn't develop relationships that would hurt those two even more. At least until he find a way.
But it was the middle of March and the sun was out. Yu would smile to enjoy the day instead of thinking.
“And you must smile!”
He grabbed Yurine's arm, lifted her up and started tickling her armpit. Yurine was buried in laughter as she stomped her feet.
“Yu! Haha! HAHAHA! Yu! Let go! Okay, I'll smile! Yu! I say Yu! HAHAHAHA!”
“Smile all the time... I don't want to see you frown.”
When he let her go, Yurine held her aching stomach as she laughed. She had a big smile on her small mouth as she looked up at the sky with her red eyes.
Yurine climbed on top of Yu and sat on his stomach while Sivina and Ana sat next to them.
“Yu, how are you going to stop me from tickling you?”
“Don't,” he said in an overly serious tone.
He hated being tickled, but he lacked the strength to stop Yurine's mana-enhanced body.
Soon the two girls next to them would see Yu laughing for the first time, Yu had to keep his dignity. They were not supposed to see him laughing.
“I'm already doing it!”
“Yurine! YA! HAHAHA!”
Like Yurine, he stomped his feet while laughing. He tried to grab her hands and pull her away, but he didn't have the strength to do so. He was at Yurine's mercy.
Because he was Yu Valarfin, his laughter was also beautiful. Seeing him laughing for the first time, Sivina and Ana first opened their eyes wide, their eyebrows raised and their mouths open as they watched him.
“Yurine! It's okay! Ha! Haha! HAHA!”
“Promise you won't seduce girls anymore!”
“I, what? It's not in my hand-” Yu started laughing louder when Yurine started moving her fingers faster. He was almost out of breath.
“Promise me!”
“If it were up to me-”
Not liking the direction the answer was going, Yurine continued to tickle him. Realizing that he could not pull her hands away, Yu changed his strategy to avoid making such a promise. He wrapped his arms around Yurine and turned.
So he got rid of Yurine, he turned again and took Yurine under him.
He was planning to tickle Yurine in this position, but quickly realized that it was too dangerous, so he gave up.
If he tickled her, Yurine would start moving her legs again, and it would have been horrible for her to hit Yu's undercarriage in the process, especially considering her mana-powered body.
So he kissed her cheek and this time only he turned over. They were lying side by side with Yurine again.
They were both out of breath from laughing so hard, Sivina and Ana watched them with smiles on their faces as they caught their breath.
“Mr. Valarfin, for some reason I suddenly wished I was your daughter,” Ana said.
Yu grinned mischievously, this brought strange thoughts to his mind. He raised his head and looked at the girl who had said that. A polite smile had settled on her rosy lips.
“I think you were born nine years too early for this,” he said to Ana, who was watching him with her blue eyes.
If he remembers correctly, Ana would have turned nineteen in May.
“That was one of the strangest wishes I have ever heard, Ana,” Sivina said.
“Hmm? I only said that because I was jealous of Yurine. Dad didn't play with us much, so something inside me... Uh... I continued the sentence with the wrong words.”
“I feel you, Ana. Honestly, I lost my parents when I was a baby so I grew up far away from that kind of thing. Well, I had older sisters and they loved to tickle me, but you know what I mean.”
Ana nodded. “Yes, I understand.”
“I can tickle you if you want, though, I don't mind,” Yu thought, but did not voice his thoughts.
Instead he put his head down and looked at Yurine's face. Her arms were stretched out over both heads and she was smiling as she closed her eyes.
“Yu, this is like a slice of the life I want to live in the future.”
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“Yes, Yurine. I think so, too.”
He brought his hand to Yurine's face and touched her soft cheek. It was normally white, but now it was slightly flushed. As he stroked her cheek, butterflies tickled his heart.
“There's only one thing missing, and when that happens, everything will be perfect.”
“Yes, it will be.”
Yu closed his eyes too. Luckily there were no clouds in the sky today, so there was no shadow on them and they could enjoy the spring sunshine to the fullest.
“What's missing?” Sivina asked.
“I won't tell.”
Smiling slightly as she answered, Yurine took Yu's hand and brought it to her stomach. By missing, she meant Rie. He was sure that Yurine would be the happiest girl in the world if she was with her.
What would it be like if Rie was here and with them right now? With Yurine between them, they would look like a real family. Yu would like to live in a world like that. To be happy with them in a world where he wouldn't die would be his biggest dream.
“You seem to be in a good mood. Would you be interested in joining your class?”
Looking up, he saw Aramish teacher Rigal Werin standing above their heads. His arms were crossed at his waist, blocking the sun and casting a shadow over them.
“We were about to join, we apologize.”
He had no strength to stand up, but he stood up with the strength of his hands. He took Yurine's hand and helped her up too.
Yu, Yurine and Ana studied Aramish with him.
Yu did well in his class, as he had expected. Although the words were different, Aramish was very similar to English and Yu was mainly memorizing new words. He also had a good memory, so he was learning faster than he expected.
Sivina also helped them in their training and practicing with her was very helpful. Sometimes they would only speak Aramish during weapons training.
Ana was a smart girl, so she did well. Not as good as Yu, but she learned as fast as a normal person would learn.
And Yurine... It was surprising. Surprising in the truest sense of the word. Although she struggled with grammar, she knew many Aramish words from memory. She wouldn't say where they came from, but Yu assumed that Rie had taught them to her.
***
Yurine didn't need to be in a place like this. In fact, even if Yurine wanted, he wouldn't let her. Therefore when Yu was performing an autopsy on a giant in one of the mansion's cells, Yurine was accompanied by four roarons just to provide security.
“It stinks...”
But he would endure it for science.
He mean... In fact, he only wanted to satisfy himself. Since the things he did for science meant nothing in this world which was going to disappear, neither the books he wrote nor this autopsy he did served any purpose except to satisfy himself.
He was satisfying his curiosity, refreshing his knowledge and killing his free time.
After removing the two hearts of the giant, he put one on the table and examined the other. It was really big. Yu put his finger into the main artery above the heart and pushed it in. When he felt nervous, he pulled it back out.
“I still can't get used to the fact that they have two hearts. It was already known that giants have two hearts, but it's still strange.”
In front of him lay the body of a three-meter giant. It is a bit difficult to see fantastic creatures here, so when Yu heard that a giant had died, he had it brought here immediately.
“But it was a great disappointment. The giant was wounded right above its core. I wondered what the giant's core was like.”
Through an organ called the core, the creatures of this world produce mana and some of them use this mana to cast spells.
Yu didn't have a core and not having one made him more curious about cores, he wanted to see a human core.
“I wish I'd thought of that when I was cutting Bart, oops...”
The giant's core was gone and he still hadn't had a chance to examine the human core. He had slaughtered chickens and dogs and looked at their cores, but that was not satisfactory for Yu either.
In chickens, the organ called the core was one centimeter in diameter, blue, soft and oozing a yellow and green liquid. Yu touched it with his finger, but there was nothing special about it except its foul odor.
At least Yu hadn't discovered any properties. Yurine mentioned that she felt a small amount of mana in the liquid. Over the next half hour, the core and its liquid melted, vaporized and dissolved into the air.
In his experiments in dogs, the core was almost identical. The only difference was that the organ had a diameter of a little more than a centimeter, but no more than two centimeters.
“Why does it smell like this in here? Oh my God, what are you doing?!”
“M-Mr. Valarfin? What is this?”
Link and Luna had entered the cells. The reason he had called Luna here was to bring Yu a bucket of water to wash his hands. At least that's what he told her.
The real reason was to seem strange to her and to change her feelings.
“Hmm? What's the matter? I'm curious about how the bodies of different creatures work, so when I heard that a giant had died recently, I immediately brought him here to study him. Obviously, it's disgusting for me too, but my curiosity overcame my disgust. And I think… It’s actually kind a beauty.”
The giant's skin was gray and his long brown hair was greasy. Yu had to finish him off and kick him out of the mansion or he would start getting a lot of complaints about the stench.
“Please don't ruin all the good things I think of you,” Link said.
“You think good things of me? I never asked for that. But I remember Yurine said that to me once.”
Link looked at the giant's corpse with a grimace. “That's very true.”
Luna looked down to avoid seeing the giant's corpse, but there were the giant's intestines where she looked. After putting down the bucket of water, she walked away from the table where the giant was.
“I-I... If there's nothing else, I'll go.”
“No, thanks.”
Luna ran out of the cells, leaving Yu and Link alone. Link had also moved away from the giant's body. He leaned his back against the cell wall and folded his arms across his chest and spoke.
“What exactly are you doing? What is this?”
“Where I come from, there are no such creatures. So I wondered what their bodies are like, and that's why I'm here.” Yu grabbed the giant's penis with a pair of pliers and lifted it up, showing it to Link and laughing. “Disgusting, isn't it? And small. Here's to this penis going up the ass of the assholes who make those disgusting hentais.”
In the hentais he was exposed to several times, giants had absurdly large penises and tortured human girls.
“W-why are you showing me this?” Link averted his eyes from the giant penis Yu was holding. Contrary to its name, the penis wasn't giant. It was the same size as a human penis.
“It's just, wouldn't you expect giants to have big penises? They were the same size as human penises, but that shouldn't be too surprising. The human race has the biggest penis of any other primate species, why is that?”
“I don't know what to do with this information.”
“And did you know that this penis is bony? Not like normal bone, the kind that melts. Yes, there is a hammer-like bone inside the giant penis and the shape of the penis is extremely curved, a curve that makes it impossible for them to have intercourse with humans. This is information that I did not come across in my research at the Wizarding Academy. So I think we can say that female giants also have bones in their vaginas. Like a key and a lock, they complement each other and prevent interspecies mating. So giant hentais can't really be real.”
Link put his hands to his face and sighed. The information Yu was suddenly giving him was not really useful and he must think he was a weirdo right now, but Yu was okay with that. After all, Link was a man who had offered to stick a wick in each other.
“I came here to report to you. Come to my room and look at the notes I took.”
“Okay, I'm coming.”
He took off his apron, washed his hands and put on his normal clothes. After confirming to Link that there was no blood on him, he left giant’s boy here to return to later and together they began to ascend to the upper floors of the mansion.
Where is Her Eminence?” Link asked.
“She and Ana are working on magic.”
He had a fear that his days in this world would be empty, but it was not to be. He found things to do and spent most of the day studying or doing city work.
And then there was the business of building an army. Since Cornelia had taken most of the fighting men left in Virgo before leaving for the siege, the army would be made up of young men who would be taking up arms for the first time.
They were spending most of their money on building an army and would be in great trouble if the war was lost. He also needed to talk to Cornelia about trade later to cover the loss.
For security reasons, the rooms in the mansion where the members of the Virgo Cathedral stayed were close to each other. So they came to the room directly opposite the one he didn't use much. Link was staying here.
Since Yu had told them all to lock the door to their rooms when they left, Link opened the door with the key and went in. Without saying anything, Yu followed him in.
The room was very simple. In fact, it was not much different from the way it had been when they first got here. There were just some papers on the table and a few pieces of clothing thrown on the bed.
And then there was the medallion with the figure of a tree he had last seen in İlonya. It was on the table with the papers.
When Link realized that he had left the locket there, he tried to take it and put it in the drawer without Yu noticing, but Yu had already seen it. Since Rolderhelm often saw such symbols, it was not difficult for him to recognize the figure.
“I think you failed to hide it.”
That symbol belonged to a goddess not worshipped in this land, Rhea, whom some call the Goddess of Nature and others the Goddess of Earth.
“But how could you forget such an important detail? Please don't break my trust in you.”
“Is your trust in me damaged not because you saw a symbol of another deity in my room, but because I failed to hide it?”
“I mean, it's not like I have a solid foundation of trust since it came out of nowhere, but I'm not going to talk too much about it since I'm a person who comes out of nowhere.” After all, some people had found him less trustworthy than Link. Now, of course, those people weren't here.
“I don’t understand what you are saying.”
“I mean yes, that's exactly why my trust damaged. If it were me, I wouldn't have left it on the table, but if it were me, I wouldn't be believed to any deity anyway.”
He wasn't sure if Link was even believed, maybe it was just a blip.
“But maybe I can get believed to a beautiful goddess.”
“Your criteria for choosing a deity amazes me.”
Yu sat on Link's bed to talk. He wanted to talk about this before talking about the reports. He didn't care who he worshipped, but if he wasn't a Zodyanist, why was he standing in the Cathedral of Virgo?
“It's the symbol of Rhea. We used to see it a lot in Rolderhelm.”
“Yes, it is.”
He pulled the chair in front of his desk opposite Yu and sat down. He took out the medallion and held it in his hand, no longer needing to hide it.
“Is it just an ornament or are you really not a Zodyanist? If you are not, why are you in a Zodian community? Why did the Pontifex appoint you here? Are you a hypocrite?”
“It's not an ornament, I'm not a Zodyanist and as for hypocrisy...” Link looked at smiling Yu. “I don't think I'm the only one, I think everyone in Virgo Cathedral is a hypocrite except your old servants.”
“So you claim that the Cardinal of Virgo is like that? That's a word that will make you lose your tongue.”
“I don't think you really want your daughter to worship an incest god.”
“Oh, wow... That was an unexpectedly angry response.”
He didn't see Link in a very serious mood and this was the second time he saw him angry. He wasn't really angry, at least not at Yu.
“But you are right about hypocrisy.”
They did not strive for religion, they did not even believe in it. To Yu, Azer's words were nothing but nonsense.
“But why?” Yu asked. “Why do you worship another god? I don't even understand why you worship a god. I thought you were like me. I mean, godless.”
Yu was not interested in the gods of this world and did not think Link worshipped a deity. It was obvious that he belonged to a religious organization, of course, but he thought that he was here for his own interests, just as he was.
“Godless, that's what I look like from the outside.”
Yu nodded in agreement.
“I guess it's true what they say, ‘You never know who has the money and who has the faith.’”
Link was smiling, looking at the medallion in his hand. He took the medallion in his fist and held it to his chest.
“I guess all Longs worship Azer. Maybe there are a few exceptions like us, I don't know.”
“Like you?”
“Me and my brothers. I'm the only one left now, though.”
Yu understood this pain. The bitter smile on Link's face showed that he remembered good memories of them, but at the same time he was tormented by their absence.
“I'm sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.”
He stood up, put the medallion in the drawer and picked up the reports he had prepared, but only as a distraction. He sat back down and did not talk about the reports.
“My mother was not from this land, she was the daughter of an ordinary merchant. My father and mother met when my grandfather came here to trade. If they couldn't find a noble girl to marry, inbreeding is common among the Longs, to keep the blood pure. So my father's marriage to a girl of no nobility led to our estrangement from the Yachi branch and then from the Long clan.”
Link was looking at the papers in his hand, not Yu's eyes, as he told his story. He leaned back.
“When we moved away from the family, my mother convinced my father and we started secretly worshipping Rhea. I didn't see much benefit in worshipping a deity, but Rhea is the only deity who deserves people's worship, since she is the only deity who goes out of her way to save the world. At least that's what I believe.”
Link stood up and handed Yu the reports he had written. They made eye contact as Yu took the reports from Link's hand.
“Are you not with Yu Zao because you're away from the Longs?”
“No, I am not on his side because I believe that peace only can come in another way.”
“Which way?”
“I can say maybe later, much later…” Link maintained his bitter smile. “Any other questions?”
“Yes, one more...” He stood up and stood behind Link as he read the papers in his hand. “Why are you on our side even though you're not a Zodyanist? You don't think Zodyanists will bring peace, do you?”
“No, I don't. As for me I am being with you. You are very interesting.”
He squinted his eyes and placed a long smile on his face. With one palm facing him, he seemed to be demanding something, but Yu recognized it as just a casual gesture.
“Gay.”
“Ah, it is your mischief to misunderstand me.”
He stopped thinking for a while about what he was planning and focused on the report in his hand. Link seemed to know his stuff, he had prepared a very detailed report.
The report was about Leshua von Shimien. It said he was twenty-seven years old and suspected of murdering his parents. This was how he suddenly became the sole owner of a large inheritance.
He had no love life, but it was reported that he was fond of girls. According to the paper in Yu's hand, he was very intimate with the servants of the mansion.
“I wonder how he found out what he was doing with the girls here.”
Link didn't answer Yu and Yu continued reading.
“So he owns farmland, I thought he was just a merchant, but he owns a lot of land. He makes a lot of money from food trade... Wait...”
“May I ask what's on your mind?”
Link raised his eyebrows and tilted his head to understand Yu.
“We're raising an army and we need food. Why not get it from Leshua?”
“Don't be ridiculous, are you trying to make that man richer?”
Yu shook his head from side to side. “No, I want to eradicate him and the others.”
“How are you going to do that by buying from him?”
“With counterfeit money.”
He didn't know if Link took him seriously or if he was still trying to figure out what he was saying, but without giving him much time to think, he started to explain.
“Who cares if we mix copper with gold and play with its grams? I saw news like this back home. If they can't notice it where I come from, they can't notice it here. First we disguise ourselves as the enemy and buy the food he sells at a high price. You wrote here that he have traded with the crown before, so I think he won't say no, and we will pay a lot of money. Then we will arrest him and put him in jail for using counterfeit money and collaborating with the enemy.”
“You're a fraud.”
“You don't need to insult me for coming up with a great plan. We can get rid of Leshua that way and there will be three of them left. I don't think anyone would question it if the old and blind one died of old age.”
He could do to him what he had done to Leoral, or he could try to scare him enough to give him a heart attack. The second option would require some imagination, but he believed it would be easy to get rid of him.
“If the Church of Andromeda appointed him here, they must know what he's done. They can turn a blind eye to his treachery,” Link protested.
“Then we'll execute him before they get the chance and report our evidence. They may be angry, but if the public hears what Leshua did, they won't be able to say anything.”
“I understand and you...” Link put his hand on Yu's shoulder. “You're the only person who can make a demon's eyes red.”