"Well, we're back here again." I said as we left the wagon, "Adam, why don't you go to your place and come back with Elaine? We'll reconvene back at Cecily's to discuss our plans from here on out."
"Sure, I don't mind." He was all too quick to agree and sort of hastily began to speed off towards his abode.
"But be back soon!" Issei reminded him, "Remember, in and out! No funny business!"
"You bet!" He gave a hearty thumbs up, "In and out, got it!"
"You're so gonna take that the wrong way! I meant just come back with the queen as soon as possible! No ecchi!" Issei made it super clear he didn't want Adam to get distracted by indulging in his wife's body.
"Oh come on!" Adam calmed down after being told this, "Surely a little bit is allowed, she's my wife after all, and we haven't seen each other in a long time!"
"So what, it can wait." I commented, "Adam, what's more important, this continent's safety or your libido?"
"My wife is the obvious answer." He turned his back on us as if he said something cool, "I will be back soon, do not worry. Just, let me at least properly greet her."
"Sure." Aru gave him the Green light, only for him to immediately start sprinting to his mansion, "O-Oi!But only a spoonful, y'hear!? Not the full dessert!"
"I'll try, but no promises!" Adam didn't at all regard us by this point, "Elaine's pregnant, after all, so I best make the most of it while I still can!"
"You damned horny bastard of a king!" Aru started shouting slurs at him, "Geez... Ed, you better not turn out like this guy. Gods despise seeing PDA, just as anyone else does, so if I catch you openly flaunting your love, you best believe that your family will face divine punishment."
"Scary..." I thought to joke, "Ah, do you hate it because you're jealous of not being able to act all lovey-dovey with Ourobo-?"
"Shut." She summoned a scarily large water ball from the palm of her hand, the ball taking the shape of a pointed spear as it froze into ice, "These topics are best left unspoken, for they often lead to unsavory results. Got that, Edward Saint?"
"Gulp. Yes, ma'am!" I then finally realized just how scary she can be at times, "T-Then, let's go back home and rest for now!"
"Home?" Bamb tilted her head as I finally freed her of that useless lead.
"Sorry, not the home you're thinking of." I shook my head, "We're going to my home, but rest assured we're gonna go visit Navi's parents' home and make sure you two get to live a happy life."
"Once again, I would like to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for helping me with my problems." Bamb sincerely bowed her head as a sign of respect, "All those years of surviving out in the dangerous forest, then sneakily listening in on the hunters' conversations to learn to understand them, for years waiting all on my own for someone to hear my pleas for help... Sorry, it's bringing me to tears..."
"Damn, for someone who learned Entropic in such a painstakingly slow and inefficient way, you sure are eloquent." Aru laughed a little.
"I write poetry in my spare time." Bamb revealed.
"Huh? You write poetry?" I cocked my head back in surprise, "But, your hoofwriting...?"
"Ah, well, I say write, but in reality I just like to observe and think about it in my head." She bashfully explained the full context, "As you said, it would be rather impossible to write any of it down as a doe, so most of it gets forgotten to time."
"Hold on, Ed, you're focusing on the wrong thing." Issei turned to us, "Bamb writes poetry? Obviously the first thing she should do now is spit some bars for us!"
"Spitting is a rather crude act..." She seemed unsure of his ideas.
"No, Bamb, he doesn't literally mean to spit on the ground." Aru explained, "He probably wants you to recite some of your poetry to us."
"That's definitely a no!" She immediately got hyper, "It's way too embarrassing! Plus, I don't even know if calling it poetry is right, since I'm just reciting what I see on my strolls around the forest!"
"No matter, I'd still be interested in hearing what an animals idea of poetry sounds like." I tried to cheer her on, "Who knows? Maybe you're a natural-born poet and your poems might get passed down for years to come!"
"That'd be so bad for me... Writing it down is definitely a no go." She looked totally unsure of herself, "I don't wanna, you'll laugh at me! See, Aru is already laughing!"
"Aru!" I yelled at the little girl desperately trying to stifle her laughter to no avail, "Come on, this is important! I want to hear Bamb's poem!"
"Yeah, but since I can't hear her, maybe writing it down for me would be a good idea, don't you agree, Ed?" Issei nudged me with a wink.
Ah, I see. He must've sympathised with Bamb on being way too embarrassed to show your friends your talents, so he realized that tricking her is the only way to get her to let us write it down. Yep, this is gonna be the first piece of art recorded that was made by an animal, so we need to document it for sure! It'll definitely serve its purpose in helping us establish a long term connection between animals and humans, which is the end goal for this entire animal problem currently going on.
"F-Fine..." Bamb took a deep breath before giving us a final warning, "But you're gonna burn that piece of paper the moment Issei reads it, right Ed?"
"Uhh..." I lied without even blinking, "Yeah, of course. We'll burn the piece of paper once Issei reads it. Now go on!"
"Okay..." She took another deep breath before looking away to clear her mind,
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"A cloudy hill, atop which stands four pillars.
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
The pillars hold hands, for their bonds remain unbreakable.
Unbreakable, yet quick to chip. No matter, they remain hip to hip.
Those are the four pillars, the friends I've made thus far."
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Friends I've made thus far... Yep, wrote it all down on a blank page of the thousands of papers Glenn gave us. Yep, it's kinda basic, but there's no doubt that it's a poem. Actually, it's rather sweet when you think about it. She said she uses what she sees around her in the moment as inspiration, so the pillars... Oof, damn, I'm not good with metaphors. What can the four pillars mean? Reading back the short poem, using numerology to figure it out... Nope, not a clue. Unless, if I look at it from her point of view, then maybe four humans are tall enough to be considered "pillars" relative to her height. As it finally clicked in my head, I once again got to the final line of the poem - The friends I've made thus far.
"Wahhh!" I immediately shoved the piece of paper into Issei's hands as I jumped to hug Bamb with all my might, "You're so precious~! This is such a sweet poem, Bamb!"
"W-Wah!" She yelped, surprised that she got such a positive reaction out of me, "N-No, you're just saying nice things..."
"Nah, he's dead serious." Aru cracked up, "Man, I knew this would happen! He's such a romantic, call him a friend and he'll erupt into tears! Bwahahaha!"
"Man, this is really nice." Issei pulled out his phone before a small flash came out the back, "There, now to burn the paper as promised. Anyone got a lighter?"
"No!" I shouted as I dashed to take the paper away from him, "Issei, this is a masterpiece! It mustn't be burned!"
"Ed, you promised me you'll burn it!" Bamb joined the scuffle, tugging me away by my clothes with her teeth, "Mnf! Woo... Pwomised...!"
"Haha, Ed!" Issei winked at me, "Don't worry about it!"
"Huh?" I immediately let go the very next moment, fearing for my life, "T-This is..."
"Haha, what's the matter?" Issei chuckled as he waved the piece of paper around, "You look like you saw a ghost. Ah."
Turning around to see what was so scary, Issei was immediately faced with an absolutely pissed Cecily who was lightly tapping on the floor with her foot as if waiting for us to explain ourselves and why we were making such a ruckus in front of her house. I imagine she also has questions regarding Bamb, but that's probably secondary.
"You think just because we live kinda far away from any neighbors you can just shout like a bunch of idiots!?" She shouted like an idiot, "Regardless of where you are, you need to learn to adjust your tone! Cene is sleeping!"
"Not anymore he's not..." Issei played with fire as he offhandedly called Cecily's hypocrisy out, "Anyways, we're back."
"Welcome back." She cracked her fingers scarily, "Where's our dear king? I can imagine that he was the one keeping you rowdy kids in check, so the moment he left you just unanimously decided to wreak havoc."
What? He was the rowdiest of us all though... He even beat up a bunch of stray wolves, so calling him the big papa pickle of the group is just plain wrong. This is of course ignoring all the times he's annoyed Glenn. Don't get me wrong, I justify all of his actions as completely called for, but I dislike being considered less serious than him, especially after we saw the real Adam Grys.
"Actually..." I went to correct her on that, but Anna showed up behind Cecily.
"Geez, they're tired, Cily." She calmed Cecily down, "Obviously they might get a little ecstatic to see their home, no? So let's first get everyone inside before we start throwing hurtful words around."
"Anna..." Cecily then gave up, heaving a long and annoyed sigh as she stormed back inside the house.
"Anna, our savior!" Aru went to hug her bosom without hesitation, "Marry me!"
"Haha, sorry, I'm faithful to another." She winked back at me.
"You calmed her down so easily." Issei was just as impressed at my beautiful wife's contagiously cheery mood, "Seriously, how'd you do that?"
"Well, I did spend my entire life working as a waitress and occasionally a manager for Arthur's, so I'm used to rowdy customers." She stuck her tongue out, "Besides, Cily and I have known each other for some time now. When you live with a person, you learn how they operate, and learn to deal with them accordingly even without trying to."
"Edward, who is this person?" Bamb nuzzled up to me, "She feels... warm, like the Sun."
"Yep, this here's my sunshine." I introduced the two girls, "Bamb, meet my beautiful wife Anna. Anna, this here is a doe we've met on our travels named Bamb. She can understand Entropic fully, so she actually understood all that you've said. We're taking her back to her home in Montes, so she'll be accompanying us for a bit."
"Is that so?" Anna ducked a bit to rub her head, "You're so smart, Bamb! And your fur is so soft! You're just so adorable! Well, if you need anything from me, be sure to ask!"
"Edward." Bamb then turned to me, "Marry this woman, she is perfection."
"Don't worry." I chuckled, "I already did, three years ago as a matter of fact."
"I appreciate the compliment, Bamb." Anna patted her once or twice more once she got up before walking inside, "Oh, but be sure to clean your hooves on the doormat before entering the house. I don't mind you staying inside, but I just cleaned the floor this morning, so I hope you understand."
And with that, she got inside the house and left the four of us completely awestruck. Anna, am I imagining it, or did she just hear what Bamb told me...?