Ever since Ferti’nier woke up, the time I spent ‘meditating’ was on a straight trajectory upwards. Talking to her was an interesting way to kill time; from her, I managed to learn a great deal of things that I never knew about. Naturally, the usual teasing and taunting were there as well. For Ferti’nier, there really wasn’t much for her to do other than to talk to me and sleep. It went without saying that I humored her as much as possible. After all, leaving a mature beauty like her alone, wasn’t the gentlemanly thing to do.
However, as a direct result of that, Mo Na became a lot more bored… ‘so that’s why people always had trouble with their in-laws…’
While hugging onto Mo Na and Cinderel, the days went by uneventfully on the Hellhound express. Because we weren’t exactly sure how long this journey would actually last, Sinmosa’s galloping was kept at a manageable pace, neither too quick nor too slow, so as to ensure that she had enough stamina should a fight happen.
“Mama, Mo Na wants to listen to a story.” Seeing me in a daze once more, she started tugging at my arms in dissatisfaction, forcefully knocking me out of my ‘meditation’.
With no other choice, I apologized to Ferti’nier. Either way, it shouldn’t matter too much since she could hear whatever I said to Mo Na.
“Sweetie, what would you like to listen to this time?”
“Mo Na wants to listen to the Little Mermaid.”
For the most part, she loved listening to fairy tales like Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and the aforementioned, Little Mermaid; essentially those that had a witch in them. When I asked her why this was so, she answered thusly: Mo Na likes to compare with the witches in those story, Mo Na is sure she will do a better than job than those witches!
In short, she was gaining experience for her future nefarious plots…to learn from past mistakes, so to speak.
To inflict misery on other creatures was the traditional mindset of devils, in that sense, wasn’t my goody two-shoes act a disgrace then? Perhaps I really was the black sheep of the devil race…
‘Am I really doomed to walk the path least trodden, no matter which world I’m in?’
“Mama, a story, quick.”
Being badgered like that, I finally started my storytelling with a wry smile. Besider her, little Cinderel had her adorable dog ears all perked up as well, ready to listen to my tale. Unlike Mo Na however, she couldn’t speak the language of the devil so she had no way of expressing her comments.
The tale was a rather long one so instead of starting from the very beginning, I picked up from where the prince met the princess.
……
“Sweetie, what’s with that disdainful look on your face?”
“Hmph, Mama, that witch must have never had any experience ensnaring people.”
“Oh, why do you say that?”
“Simple, because all the witch offered was to slice off her tongue and for her to experience excruciating pain while walking.”
“That’s right, this is the third time you’ve listened to this story, so what’s wrong with the witch’s terms?”
“Of course there’s something wrong. She clearly has no experience being the bad guy.”
“And what makes you think so?”
“Because the terms she gave out are all so superficial. Obviously, a mix of physical and mental torture is the best way to get the results.”
Seeing Mo Na so animated and proud, I couldn’t help but laugh and ask: “Well then Sweetie, what’s your expert advice then?”
“She can keep her tongue and the legs, without the pain even, but she has to have her face disfigured.”
“…that’s a little much isn’t it…”
‘Now that’s cruel…for a woman, her face was like her second life. If she were to become ugly, it wouldn’t matter what other good traits she had, the prince would never like her…what’s worse, she would probably have to live with this face for the rest of her life, even if she failed to court the prince…every day, she would have to wash her face with her tears…
“That’s too much? You haven’t heard the rest of it…”
‘Maybe that’s enough of this storytelling for now…at least, I shouldn’t continue with Beauty and the Beast…’
(TL: I shortened this section to mostly conversations since it’s REALLY pointless. Really.)
About the time I was done retelling the tale of the Little Mermaid, trouble found us.
“Master, there are roughly 50 Warhorses ahead of us.” Came No.3’s warning yell as he sped towards us, wings flapping furiously. Upon making an emergency landing, he proceeded to report as such: “They seem to hunting down a Demon Fire Salamander.”
“Mama, should we go have a look?” Her eyes lit up at that point, clearly eager to cause some trouble after a long uneventful journey.
“There’s no need for that, let’s circle around them.” I knew Mo Na wouldn’t be happy with this decision, to be honest, I wasn’t as well. After all, those Warhorses and those two elders treated us so horribly back then; with the memories just a few days old, was there any way we would have forgotten about that sordid past? Of course not! Just because he gave us a few trinkets(giants) as an apology, was our enmity wiped clean then? Absolutely not! If someone was to slap you across the face and then toss out a hundred dollar bill right after, would you forgive him? Only the truly wretched would stoop down, pick up the money and then laugh off the grudge with a smile. What would be worse would be if he even threw in a ‘Please come again’…
This debt between us and the Warhorse had to be settled one day…that day just wasn’t today. We were still too weak. Only by becoming stronger would we be able to take our revenge one day…as for how long that would take…who knew…
Let us be clear about one thing however, I wasn’t admitting defeat or backing down. I was being Magnanimous, that’s a capital M too.
Unfortunately for us, while I might have decided to avoid the Warhorses, the other party clearly didn’t agree with me.
Just as that decision was made, the deafening sounds of a herd of horses galloping came thundering towards us. Because of the powerful stomps of their hooves, the ground itself began to shake. All around us, bits of earth and rock began to break loose from the blackened ground and dance about in the air, kept afloat by the wobbling ground that seemed more like wood than stone right now.
The galloping sounds grew louder by the second after which we spotted the first silhouette of a Warhorse. I knew who that Warhorse was…even though their faces all looked the same to me…there was no mistaking that soul aura… ‘To think it’s actually someone we knew…’
“So it’s you devils.” Warwraith came knocking on our doorstep with several dozen Warhorses. Within his eyes, I could see a hint of apprehension but for the most part, they foretold his probable troublemaking. “I heard from my kinshorse that he spotted some devils while he was out on watch, I just knew it would be you lot.” He arrogantly stated.
‘Really…what a small world we lived in…exactly why did we have to meet this horsepoop again?’
“Elder Warwraith, you’re in our way right now.” With regards to this bully of a horse who made us be his decoys, I had nothing nice to say to him. Had it not been for the fact that I couldn’t defeat him, I would have definitely rushed up to him and given him a piece of my mind, or fists rather. Then…I would slice off his head and kick it around like a football.
“I don’t remember blocking any path whatsoever, just look around you, the area is so wide and spacious, how am I blocking anything.”
“…let’s go.” Not wishing to waste more time on this moron, I signalled for Sinmosa to circle around him. Yet just as we took a turn, a portion of the Warhorses, under the discreet command of Warwraith, came trotting up to block us.
“A good…horse, doesn’t block the way!”
‘Almost said a good dog there…thank the heavens I changed it in time.’
“I’m not the one who told them to do so, they did it themselves.” At that, he gave an exasperated sigh and said: “You saw it yourselves, I had no intention of causing trouble but these youngsters…”
‘You horsepoop, don’t try and act all innocent in front of me!’ Thanks to Ferti’nier’s presence, I wasn’t as intimidated as before and my words reflected as such. “Exactly what do you want? I don’t have time to waste on your childish games, you’re too old for that as well. How about you let out whatever crap you have to say and be done with it.”
“Hmph, I’m not the one playing games here. All I want is for you to give up those giants and we’ll be on our way.
‘There it is, that foxtail of his… so he’s still after the blood of those giants…too bad I drank it all already, with not even a drop of blood left…heh heh, if he wants it so badly, maybe I should just ask him to harvest it off No.3’s poop.’
“You want the blood of those giants?” I threw a scornful look at the Warhorse as I said that. “You lot were there as well when your Grand Elder handed the corpses over to us himself. What’s the matter? Regretting that decision already? Do the words of your Grand Elder not count anymore?
