Brione's Hidden Longing
Brione, her face buried in her hands, stayed like that for a while without a word. No way... is she crying?
Brione was incredibly smart—far more pragmatic and materialistic than me, in fact. Compared to her, I was practically armed to the teeth with justice, common sense, and goodwill, a shining example of righteousness. In all the years we'd traveled together, I'd never once seen her cry. Even in life-or-death crises, she'd bitch and complain endlessly, sure, but she never broke down emotionally.
But no, Brione wasn't crying after all. When she lifted her head, there were no tear tracks on her face. She was just biting her lip hard to stifle the laughter bubbling up uncontrollably. Of course. Brione wasn't the type to get all teary-eyed over my words.
"Well... if you need any more help, just say the word. I'll lend a hand."
"Yeah. I was actually planning to ask one last favor anyway."
I slid the paper on the table over to her.
"What's this?"
"A flyer. Take it to the royal printing press in the capital. They're the only ones who can handle the quantity I need."
Brione scanned the flyer carefully. It was packed with details about the monster zoo, the inn, the bathhouse, and all the services we offered.
"The printer guy there—he still around? He'll know what to do if you give him that."
"The royal printing press? That's gotta be at least ten thousand copies... How the hell are you gonna distribute them all?"
"I'll handle that. Just drop it off on your way out, and bring 'em back here via dimensional gate when they're done."
Brione hesitated, still staring at the paper.
"If Her Majesty finds out about this..."
"You didn't tell Elua you were meeting up with me, did you?"
"Duh? You know her temper better than anyone."
"Hmm... fair enough. Still, please make it happen. No one else can do it."
Looking at my face, Brione folded the paper neatly with a resolute expression and tucked it deep into her inner pocket.
"Got it. I'll figure something out."
"Thanks, Brione. Speaking of Elua..."
I paused for a moment before asking quietly,
"What happened to that Grancis girl who got dragged off? She dead?"
At my question about Galia Grancis's fate, Brione flinched.
"She's not dead. But she's not exactly alive either."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"Sigh..."
Brione shuddered as if cold, her face twisting in hesitation about whether to speak. Rubbing her brow, she finally leaned in and whispered,
"You ever hear of personality extraction?"
"Yeah. The desert slavers used to do it back in the day to make slaves. But why? I smashed those bastards and—"
I shut my mouth as a dark premonition hit me. Seeing my expression, Brione nodded.
"Bingo. That's what happened."
"That crazy bitch... why the fuck would she...?"
"To break the Grancis Trading Company boss by turning his daughter into that. Her Majesty's planning to nationalize the whole operation."
From the capital's perspective, Grancis Trading Company was a massive thorn in their side. With their overwhelming capital, they'd been pulling the same stunts in Rosens across multiple direct territories, slowly gnawing away at the kingdom's economy. The previous king had been too indecisive to do anything about it. But Elua? Not a chance. So she'd gone ahead with the insane act of personality extraction without batting an eye. Dismantling Grancis while sending a brutal warning to anyone else thinking of rebelling. A politically savvy lunatic. A total psycho, really. No surprise there.
Her appetite gone, Brione poked at her spoon a bit longer before giving up on the food. Dusk was settling outside the window, and noticing it, she stood.
"Gotta head out now."
"Yeah."
I walked her out to the courtyard. As she opened the dimensional gate, Brione turned back to me.
"Bertrand. Just to be sure... hypothetically speaking."
"What?"
"What if—just what if."
Brione trailed off into silence for a moment.
"What if I ended up quitting the capital?"
"No way that'd happen. Aren't you gunning for chief mage? That's gotta be at least thirty more years."
"No, I mean if something comes up or I change my mind."
"Hmm. And?"
"Would it be too much if I came to work at the inn?"
What? Work at my inn?
"Well, a mage would be handy, but... sorry, probably not."
"Why...?"
"Can't afford the salary yet."
"Ah."
"You get it?"
"Totally. From a business standpoint, that's the big one. Mages cost a fortune. That's why they usually work for the crown or nobles. Or rich tycoons. Yeah, too pricey for an inn."
Brione rambled on with useless info I hadn't even asked for, talking a bit incoherently.
"Well, if you're cool with a bit above average pay, I'd be thrilled."
She clamped her mouth shut. Yeah... even now, clinging to me, this mage was just as materialistic as I was. Dropping from fifty gold coins to two? That reaction was natural.
Honestly, Brione didn't fit at our inn. Beyond her personality, Idi would probably drop dead from stress. That's part of why I never warmed to her. I could forgive using me as a stepping stone back then, but ignoring and looking down on Idi? No way.
Even if she fixed her attitude, Idi would still suffocate just from her presence. And for now... we had Mideronde anyway. Sure, it was just a contract for space, but she'd probably help with small requests.
"Bertrand. I'm off."
"Yeah."
I held out my hand, and after a slight hesitation, she shook it. I pulled her in lightly and patted her shoulder. Gratitude was gratitude.
"Take care. See you next time."
Brione jumped, her eyes going wide.
"Huh? See you... next time?"
"What, you planning to ghost me forever?"
"N-No! Of course we'll meet again!"
Unable to hold back her grin, her lips twitched before splitting into a beaming smile.
"Go on."
"Bye, Bertrand."
She waved as she stepped into the dimensional gate. I waved back until she was gone.
Stepping out of the dimensional gate onto the capital's main avenue, Brione hurriedly ducked into a nearby alley. Leaning against the wall, she checked that no one was around, sighed, and fumbled between her legs.
From the moment Bertrand had thanked her, the flood had started, soaking her pants damply. Time to return to the palace was closing in. But instead of hailing a carriage, she loosened her pants and slipped her hand inside.
"Bertrand..."
Her hand moved frantically, and soon a stream gushed out between her thighs.
"Hoo..."
Feeling the strength drain from her body, Brione thought: What if I ended up working at Bertrand's inn...?
Construction on the monster zoo progressed smoothly. The dwarves laid roads, erected fences, and built tourist shops at breakneck speed. Exaggerating a bit, if they lined up single-file and charged forward, a road would appear behind them. Using human laborers would've taken four times as long.
They finished the day's work by midday and spent afternoons lounging happily among the monsters. Ukun and one elder dwarf built several carriages to carry people—big ones that could hold up to twenty, roofed with sturdy bars instead.
No harnesses for horses, though. Instead, the undercarriages bristled with complex machinery. Ukun added a few drops of leftover uzarburunt to each. Miraculously, the carriages rolled forward on their own.
The roads matched the wheel width perfectly, edged with foot-high curbs to keep them on track. Watching the driverless, horseless carriages loop the zoo, Ukun bellowed a laugh.
"Hahaha! How's that, human? Dwarf engineering!"
"How do you stop it?"
Ukun hopped up to the driver's seat himself and fiddled with the brake. Pull back to stop, release to go.
"Nice. Real nice."
Ammugar and Orkog tidied their old workshop and relocated to Mideronde's backyard. They'd sculpt and sell from the new tourist shop there.
Atergar, rolling around in her room, got dragged out by the scruff of her neck. She had jobs to do.
First: control the carnivorous monsters Mideronde had brought. The first one she teleported in was an adult wyvern.
Suddenly summoned, the wyvern hooked its wingtip claws into the ground, bewildered, scanning around.
"Fucking huge."
Ukun and the elder dwarves craned their necks, muttering.
With slitted eyes flashing teeth, the wyvern snorted fiercely and slammed its tail on the ground.
"That thing looks like it won't listen for shit."
As the dwarves fretted, I turned to Atergar. Arms crossed, she acted like it was none of her business. I prodded her side with the holy sword's scabbard, and she recoiled in disgust, snapping,
"Ugh, wait! I'll do it!"
I herded the dwarves and Mideronde far from Atergar. Dragon Roar probably meant transforming to her massive true form and bellowing ear-shattering roars.
But Atergar just glared at the wyvern without moving. Once it sized up its new surroundings, the wyvern started huffing in earnest, eyeing the herbivores.
It licked its chops with a long tongue, drool stringing out. Just as it spread its wings toward them, Atergar barked,
"Hey!"
What the—?
"Hey! Suck it up! No!"
Atergar scolded the wyvern like I did with a naughty Kali—firm and no-nonsense. Doubtful it'd work, but the wyvern flinched and glanced at her. Then it slyly turned back to the herbivores.
Atergar barked sharper.
"Suuuck it up! No! Bad!"
"What the hell's that red lizard bitch doing?"
Ukun whispered skeptically. But against our doubts, the wyvern tucked its wings and tail, flattening belly to the ground.
"No snacking on your new friends, or you're in big trouble!"
"Kirrr..."
The absurd sight drew a helpless chuckle from me. Well... in a way, this proved a dragon's power even more. No need for true form, breath weapons, or brute force—just make 'em obey instinctively.
Atergar thrust her chin up smugly and snorted.
Now to set up the polar monsters' habitat. Mideronde warped a corner of the vast hills to trap the cold inside. Release the Asenaris we'd caught recently, and done.
But first, one more thing.
That night, Pelle showed up at my room carrying a large box riddled with holes.