Undice the 21st of 4831 AS It was one day before the blacksmith's meeting and Azi was pounding away at a piece of blood steel on an anvil, he was sweating so much that drops form and dripped to the ground from his brow. After shaping the metal to his specification he then tempered it and looked over to his left. On a nearby table was an hourglass he had bought during his shopping spree with Shizu and Rulu days prior. The top was completely empty of sand so Azi began to put down his hammer and stowed the shaped piece of metal. He then pulled up a chair and turned over a smaller hourglass next to the larger one. Azi had bought these hourglasses as he wanted to have them as a decoration in his house. The second one was quite small and cute but was also functional. The other larger hourglass was the same and estimated to time for 2 hour intervals while the smaller one was for half an hour. Azi used these to solve his issue of not being able to keep track of time while he worked. Whi
As Azi approached, Shizu tensed as she knew that Azi was likely going to tease her. Worst of all, they were in public and she would have a little time to avoid him due to how close they were. She had once again made Azi sit in her lap as they enjoyed the hot spring but it would seem that her teasing actions and words have backfired on her. She tried to back away but Azi pursued quickly nimbly for someone walking in the water. Knowing that she could do nothing to avoid him, she closed her eyes in a panic as her imagination began to picture what he was about to do. Darkness covered her vision for a few seconds but in the next moment she felt the unexpected sensation of two hands grasping her cheeks. “Azi?” Peeking one eye open, Shizu saw Azi’s head move close and then felt his lips upon her forehead. The nearby girls blushed at the sight while the men hooted and hollered at the somewhat sweet sight. Azi then lowered himself into the water and hugged her as he rested his head on h
As a red faced Shizu complained about Council Member Jerome being a pain in her ass for the past week, Azi comforted her by laying her head onto his lap. The floor was made of wood but the futon bedding acted as a comfortable cushion for them to sit on. He scratched behind Shizu’s fluffy ear as her head was turned away from his chest, which caused a throaty purr to emanate from her throat. Azi then noticed that Shizu’s long brown colored fluff of a tail was swaying in front of him. It was quite long and looked oh so pettable, so without hesitation he moved to gently coerce Shizu’s tail into his hands. Shizu noticeably tensed up and was about to shout at him to not touch her there as it was discourteous to touch another person’s tail, but Azi’s touch felt soothing as his hands began to sink into her tail’s soft fluff. He didn’t move his hands, but instead let the natural motion’s of her tail to guide his fingers as they sunk into her tail’s fluff. Eventually, Azi had a gentle grasp
After a night of intense cuddling, Azi was the first one to wake up. After wrestling himself out of Shizu’s embrace, which was much easier as she was somewhat weakened by the grape wine they drank last night. As he inspected himself, he noticed that the top of his yukata was somewhat sliding down his shoulders and it was the same for Shizu. Sighing to himself, he pulled up his yukata and helped Shizu do the same. She was currently nursing a hangover as she laid in bed. Patting her head to placate her, Azi informed her of his plans for the day. “I need to get going to set up for the blacksmith’s meeting. So, I’ll see you later. For now, stay in bed for an hour. I’ll tell the staff to come help you get dressed.” He then attempted to get to his feet, but Shizu stopped him by tightly holding onto his arm for support while she attempted to push herself out of bed. “No I’m fine I can, ugh.” Cut off by the pounding feeling she felt in her head, she slumped back into the futon with a no
From a luxurious inn in the northern section of Shisayama, Jerome awoke near noon time. He was a late riser as his work kept him up during the nights as most of the letters he received would come in during the afternoon or during the night. This included emergency calls for aid from his businesses or from his associates around the nation of Kujyuri. His day was mostly filled with desk work and he rarely left the capital. At most, he would leave the capital for a couple days but would always endeavor to return as quick as possible. He would rather work from the comfort of his home as he had the comforts of his wives and servants at his beck and call. But now, it has already been a week since he left the capital of Kujyuri and he could feel that his stress was building. Feeling his forehead, he noticed that the bruise on his head was still throbbing which made him remember how Shizu had punched him when he suggested changes to the blacksmith’s meeting days prior. Thinking back he rem
A couple hours after dawn, the festivities began. The official part of the meeting was scheduled to start in a couple hours and Azi had already finished his checks and preparations with enough time to look around. He was walking around the festival’s stalls and booth with Rulu as she had come to help out with the event’s preparations.Earlier, she was working over a large pot of what looked like chicken soup when Azi was wandering around. She was helping to feed the workers a hot meal during their breaks since she wanted to help the villagers. Azi offered to help but was prompted by the staff to take Rulu out for a break as they argued that children like them should make sure to have some fun during a festival like this one. Azi was thankful for the staff’s words and used the moment to his advantage so he took Rulu with him before she could correct the staff about his age or to make a retort. “Why did you not tell them about your age?” Asked Rulu, a bit confused by why Azi was not
Breaking the silence, the loud noises continued to ring out but what was concerning were the cries of agony that came from beyond the wooden bleachers that now filled the once festive atmosphere. The first to react was Shizu, who prompted the nearby guards to get her a report on the situation. Yashimu then directed everyone to stay calm while Kajima and Elder Sung aided him. Azi, who was left standing at the front of the forge, quickly helped Yashimu to calm the crowd as he directed the speaker at the side to call out in his loud and affirming voice to calm and instruct the now panicking villagers. 10 minutes passed and when he felt that everything was in a somewhat orderly state, he then made his way to Shizu who was listening to a report from a guard who was attending the festival. She grimaced at what she heard which made Azi ask. “Shizu! What is happening?” “A large horde of monsters are attacking the southern entrance, we suspect that all the southern outskirts guards were
Rulu’s POV (Point of View) I was such a frail child back then, I was always in bed and needed the help of others in order to live. I was unable to give anything back as thanks as I was too weak to lift heavy loads and I was not as intelligent as my older siblings. I loved to read but I wanted to do something more with my hands. I learned to sew from the artisans when I was not sick and I learned how to cook from the hired cooks who made my meals whenever I was bedridden with a fever. When I was finally freed from my bed and was able to walk on my own two feet without fainting from a lack of energy, I began to do what I could to help the people in the capital. I learned of their struggles against the monsters and harsh winters. So I learned to nurse the wounded and cooked a warm meal to fend off the cold. I made many friends and was able to meet Kokona, my long-time mount and best friend. She was an unusually large hororon and I helped nurse her back to health when she was only a
On the 7th day of the journey, the caravan finally arrived at the gates of the Kujyuri. The welcome was quite extravagant since word had reached the capital that Rulu would be returning early. Even though she had only left the capital for a few weeks, she was very much missed by her people as the usual sight of Rulu helping the commoner had become a daily occurrence for them.This was also a special time as all of Ozen’s children would be returning. While not making any noteworthy actions during the ambush from the Uzuruans, Ozen’s 4 youngest sons had accompanied the caravan and were delegated to grunt work by Shizu to aid in the guarding of the second carriage under Touma’s command.The 4 brothers sighed in relief when they rode past the gate on their personal hororon mounts. They heard the cheers of the citizens grow loud at the front of the caravan since the people began to catch sight of Rulu, who sat on the front seat of the front carriage with Yashimu.Rulu blushed a bit, as th
Finished with situating the captured assailants, the caravan returned to its journey to the capital Kujyuri. The assailants were tied up and sat in an empty space in the supply carriage pulled along by the second carriage of the caravan. A guard took the reins at the front while at the back, Azi and Touma sat inside. Touma, who was in charge of the second carriage’s safety, was currently applying a magic binding spell on the assailants which caused them to feel sluggish and heavy. This magic spell derived its roots from colorless magic as it did not emit any elemental color when used. When Azi asked Touma about the spell, he commented that it sounded like gravity magic which sparked Touma’s natural curiosity that came from being the scholarly thaumaturge he was. A lengthy conversation about Azi’’s rudimentary knowledge about physics ensued and this was somewhat like a kind of punishment for the assailants. The constant back and forth of the two made it impossible for any of them to
After a somewhat rough awakening, Azi now stood outside of the carriage he was just sleeping in. The cold night air chilled his skin but it did little to help his situation as he could still feel the stinging heat from the red teeth marks on the side of his neck. He looked to his right and saw the offending person who had bitten him in his sleep. Noticing his gaze, Shizu turned her head away in embarrassment and coughed a bit to divert the conversation. “Let’s get going. If we don’t act quickly, the enemy will get away and we'll be left with no answers to our questions.” Azi sighed and gave a nod of agreement before running off with Shizu who was followed by a group of their caravan’s guards. Meanwhile, Kajima and Yashimu had agreed to stay near their carriage in order to keep watch over their belongings and to guard Rulu. Of the caravan’s guard detail of 50 people, 20 guards protected the first carriage, 10 guards with Ozen’s four youngest sons and Touma protected the second car
Duodecem 18th of 4831 AS During the end of winter, snow was still prevalent in the nation of Kujyuri as it was known for its year long snowfall. The caravan, while unhindered from the lessening snow, still felt the effects as the personnel still slightly shivered from the cold while in the middle of their trek through the forest and mountain paths of the snowy nation. It had been 3 days since the caravan had begun the 7 days journey to the capital and all their pace was good. It consisted of three carriages that each pulled along an additional storage carriage that was filled with the caravan’s belongings and supplies. They traveled in a line formation and were protected by the remaining group of guards that came with Rulu when she was traveling out of Kujyuri for the first time. Over half of her original guard was killed during the trek to Shisayama since they redirected their travel path to answer a distress call made by Shizu and her forces who were out on an expedition concern
Duodecem the 15th of 4382 AS On a somewhat warmer winter morning, for the first time in a while, Azi was spending time outside of his house and getting some exercise by sparring with Nosuri. As two arrows came flying at him, Azi jumped to the side in a panic. Being somewhat quick on his feet, he narrowly dodged it but was unable to retaliate against his opponent as he did not have his gauntlets equipped nor was he reinforcing his body with magic energy. In fact, Azi was purposefully not using his magic since the scrutinizing gaze that Shizu gave at the side told him to not even dare to try it. The reason for this started with Azi who, after constant protest, was able to convince Shizu to let him out of the house under the condition that he would be supervised by her at all times and that he did not use any magic. Shizu added the no magic condition as she had started to suspect that his magic energy was somewhat unusual and out of control. Recently, she deduced that a possible cau
A few days after Azi awoke from his long slumber, he felt a familiar, but overly warm sensation encapsulating him. His eyes flickered open as his usual habit of waking at the crack of dawn kicked in. He moved his head to survey his surroundings and he again felt a soft sensation brush against his cheek. Believing that it was a pillow, Azi proceeded to bury himself in its ever comfortable feeling. Unexpectedly, what caught his attention was that he felt as if the pillow was pushing him closer. It took him a couple seconds to realize that there were a pair of arms around his head that were holding him firmly while at the same time a pair of legs were wrapped around his lower waist. Waking up a bit more, Azi then realized that he was in the somewhat clingy, but unsurprising position of being hugged like a pillow by Shizu. For the past few days, Azi noticed that Shizu had become more clingy since the day he woke up. She would usually hug him from behind whenever they slept together in
On the night of the fourth day after the incident, Shizu had invited Rulu, Nosuri, and Ougi for dinner as Rulu offered to make Shizu a meal to help lift her spirits. While Shizu wanted to help cook for everyone she was not allowed into the kitchen due to Rulu’s insistence, so Shizu was relegated to setting the table. Her mind was still on Azi as he still showed no signs of waking up anytime soon, but after placing down the last of the plates Shizu caught a whiff of the food and felt her mind calm a bit. She then saw that the meal was ready as Nosuri and Ougi were walking over with plates of food in hand. Taking another whiff of the delicious smell in the air, Shizu sighed in relief and she complimented Rulu. “Your cooking always smells so good Rulu, I truly wish I could eat your food everyday.” Shizu then proceeded to rub her cheek against her younger sister’s as she gave a forceful hug charged with sisterly love. “T-Thank you Sister, but please not in front of the others. P-Ple
Shizu slumped on the couch in the living room of Azi’s house. It was a piece of furniture they had picked out on their day out due to how soft and comfy the black colored couch felt to the touch. Filled with Horonon feather, the couch felt somewhat firm but pliable like a stiff bean bag. Its outer cover was made of fur from an animal that was not local to Kujyuri which made buying it quite pricey, but the two of them chose to splurge a bit on their shopping date.It had been 3 days since the festival disaster and since then, Shizu and Yashimu were at work as they took turns throughout the day to take command of the relief efforts. One would take command of the village guard while the other would rest. It was currently Shizu's turn to sleep but she had to attend an unscheduled meeting with Jerome who demanded to see Azi.Shizu told him that he was injured during the disaster and that he would not be able to see anyone at the moment. This caused Jerome to protest and reasoned that he h
“Damnit!!” Shouted Jerome as he pounded his fist into the top of the table he sat at. He was currently inside his room at a luxurious inn. After his failed attempt to join the fight, Jerome was whisked away by his mercenary captain, Ghost.Due to Ghost’s rough handling of Jerome, the captain had inadvertently caused Jerome to pass out. While passed out, he had a continuous nightmare of his traumatic experience which eventually woke him hours after the battle ended. He was then called to meet with Shizu and Yashimu to discuss the relief efforts to combat the issues that will arise from this sudden monster attack. Jerome expected to get a tongue lashing from both of them, but he didn’t expect what was now on his table.After their meeting, Yashimu gave Jerome a packet of papers and was instructed to review them for the meeting that would take place the next day. It was already the middle of the night but Jerome, a “hard working” council member, pushed forward with his pride as his fuel