Hostis Humani Generis

XXXIV: Blue Peter

There was a house on the bayou north of the Great Lake. Previously, it had been inhabited by a pair of twin witches and a Treant, named Zy'tl Q'ae. Two years ago, the twin witches were killed, the evil tree destroyed, and the caretaker dryad of the northern bayou was enslaved by its current resident.

Now, Ryraryus Spenia Ai Indarun shivered as he alighted before the house on the bayou. The sound of strings twanging resounded in the dim, humid atmosphere as the red-haired woman, possibly an Elf, played on strings that sounded like- like-

"You have returned."

The green-skinned Naga, known as the Demon Serpent of the West, bowed low. His upper body, which resembled that of an old man with moss-matted hair, brushed the muddy ground. "This old one greets the ruler of the Tob Forest."

"When did I ever claim to rule this forest?"

"Indeed. Yet, since you have killed the twin witches who ruled the north and the Ogre which ruled the east, in the absence of the beast who ruled the south and this old self who serves you, there is no other who is more befitting. The weak submitting to the strong is only natural. This old one will brave hell for you with no hesitation!"

"Pini, get some apple juice for our guest."

"Y- Yes, madam!" A female dryad with green skin, textured like wood-grain, ran out from within the house. The leaves on her head rustled like hair as she presented a roughly hewn tumbler of golden juice sloshing within to the old Naga.

"This old one gives his thanks," his body pressed further down.

The red-haired woman cocked her head, as if listening. "Pini, we're expecting guests today. About a half-peck would do."

The dryad bowed low and backed away wordlessly.

"That little one… Ryraryus, am I so terrifying?" Her high voice laughed.

The Naga bowed lower. He had thought the same too, until his old enemy was disembowelled and the intestines dragged out to be made into strings. There was a lute somewhere strung with Guu's innards now. And if he ever made this lady angry...

"Anyway, you guys can't hope to kill me alone," she continued. "So, whether or not a random Adventurer can manage to do so… the winds speak to me, Ryraryus."

"They must mention some unfathomable wisdom, then."

"...well. I would not know. But, she comes with the wind and the storm..." The amber eyes gave him chills. "The flag..."

"Admiral! Fleet Admiral, please wait! At least until we've formed an entourage-"

"There is no need!" The command echoed throughout the halls of Nazarick. "I must... I must go to the forest again!"

"You're going too fast, Admiral!" Despite being an Automaton, the battleship Nagato personified still had inferior speed in exchange for extreme defences, befitting of the battleship capable of surviving a nuclear bomb. "We still need to requisition that-"

"I've already sent Lumière ahead with the details to Aura," Sycorax revealed. "We'll borrow Momonga's pet to search north of the Great Lake while Momonga is handling the Lizardmen. We'll need my pet ravens and your radar. If that description of the Elf in the forest is real..."

"...but, Vice-Admiral Titania is a High Sidhe, the same as Nereus, right?" Nagato asked.

"They look about the same. In YGGDRASIL, the physical difference between Elves and Sidhe are minimal to begin with," Sycorax explained. "The ignorant might have assumed Titania-san to be a Light Elf. If that is true-"

"Sycorax-sama. May I ask why you have come here, without your escort?"

"Demiurge!" Sycorax slid to a halt, no mean feat when she had no legs to prevent her from colliding with the Floor Guardian. "Why are you here?"

"Ainz-sama notified me of the circumstances. If another person from our world has appeared, then we can gather more information on the whereabouts of our lost masters, including why have they fallen out of contact," the bespectacled Arch-Demon replied. "I believe I have some grasp on his profound schemes. Truly, they are considerations that only the ruler of this domain would have taken into account, and only another Supreme Being in residence could be trusted to investigate this matter. However, I cannot allow your noble self to proceed unaccompanied. I am aware that it may perturb you, but I hope that in your boundless compassion, you will permit one of us to escort you."

"I'm bringing Nagato," Sycorax replied. "Are you implying something about my Fleet's Quartermaster?"

"No, that was not my intention, Lady Nagato," Demiurge made a short bow to her. "However, Milady has just recently suffered an attack from one of our own. The Great Tomb of Nazarick's shame cannot be absolved unless we provide an apology."

"Then Aura will do. She's waiting outside." Sycorax's eyes narrowed. "By the way, aren't you supposed to accompany Momonga today? Doesn't he need you?"

"Then that puts me at ease. I bid you a good day, Sycorax-sama."

"The same to you, Demiurge." What's this guy thinking? Sycorax reflected as she went on her way out. I'm not good with men who are too smart. Dammit!

Aura was waiting outside. As promised, a giant Djungarian hamster with a snake tail awaited next to her. "Sycorax-sama! I've brought all the things you asked for!"

"Thank you, Aura. Are you Hamsuke?"

"T- That is indeed what my lord calls your humble servant!"

"I need you," Sycorax offered. "I have a friend in the forest. Could you take us to the north to find her?"

"I- Indeed I can! P- Please mount my back!"

Sycorax stared at it. "We'll be faster on foot."

"Taking Flat-chest Vampire Airlines would be faster," Aura pointed out.

"Flat-chest Vampire-" Sycorax broke off. "Aura, you shouldn't refer to Shalltear in that manner. Transporting people quickly is an important logistical duty that should not be insulted. Putting aside internal morale, what would outsiders think if they heard you, and knew about Nazarick's organisational structure like this?!"

"I- I'm sorry!" Aura jumped at the scolding, shifting her weight from one leg to the other in a fidget.

"In the future, watch your words," Sycorax advised. Michiru Kaiō might have spent her life on the fringes of society, but manners was still something drilled into officers regularly. I'll have to bring it up with Momonga later… first, let's get her to realise her mistake. "Then, do you know where was your mistake?"

"Um, insulting Shalltear?"

"Well… the usage implies that logistical staff are somehow less than combat staff," Sycorax corrected. "Anyway, where did you even learn the word 'airline' from?"

"Ah, Bukubukuchagama-sama mentioned it once or twice," Aura confessed. "Was it wrong?"

"An airline is a type of aerial transport company," Sycorax explained. "You can't equate it to『Gate』without misunderstanding some things. Anyway, it's an insult to Shalltear's abilities, that transporting people is all that she's good for."

"I see." Aura nodded solemnly, with the concentration of someone trying to piece it together.

"Don't ever say that to her face!"

"Yes..." Aura frowned even as she mounted her pet Fenrir, a gigantic and monstrous four-legged wolf with red eyes and a dark green pelt.

. Sycorax glared at it before she turned to Nereus.

"Nereus, could you scout ahead?"

"Aye aye, Admiral." Nereus disappeared, running over the flat lands from the Great Tomb.

"『Summon Mount: Sleipnir』!" Sycorax cast the spell twice to conjure two eight-legged horses, and Nagato and her each took one. "Set out!"

They ran over the land and the banks of the lake. On the far side, a frost crept up over the lake's surface as the Over-Rank magic『Creation』was cast. Above their heads, Eyeball Corpses floated, their message echoing about.

"How flashy. Well, theatre is also a play for power," Sycorax commented as a murder of squawking corvids took flight. "Eh? My crows… someone's chasing them away! Nagato!"

"Yes!" The radar spires on the Quartermaster's head sparked. A sound too high-pitched for normal humans to detect beeped. "The forest cover is blocking my signal. Permission to take to the skies for aerial reconnaissance?"

"Granted. Aura, take point and activate『Eagle Sight』." Sycorax lifted her hands from the reins on her Sleipnir, her tail wrapping around the horse's torso for support as her hands came together. "『Snake Hair Possession – Wdjet』!"

Nagato flew up, already listening with her advanced equipment. Sycorax's loose locks writhed, taking on a hooded shape like the silhouette of a flaring cobra. Ahead, Aura rode forward on her Fenrir, whose pelt flowed behind it like trailing mist. Trees branched and made arches over their passage, accompanied by the sounds of singing birds and the rustle of leaves in the wind.

Strings strummed, vibrated.

"Music? Sycorax-sama-!"

"Do not interfere!" Sycorax dismounted her horse and dashed forward, her hat nearly blown off of her head save for its cord. It dangled around her neck, an unheeded obstacle which was ignored, unheeded even. For despite the caution, the danger, the existence of a new world-

"You're slow."

Sycorax dropped bodily – the axe kick directed towards her instead flew to Aura, who just barely dodged in time. Nagato landed, only for the interloper to backflip past her and make a three-point landing, the neck of the shamisen directed towards Sycorax in a pointed gesture.

"Tai-chan!" Sycorax exclaimed. "I came to get you! IN THE NAME OF OUR FRIENDSHIP!"

The twang of a string echoed. Neither party moved.

The reply was understated. "Here I thought you would have made a ruckus already, that you would have appeared somewhere, anywhere… this miserable world would not have let someone like you pass unremarked. Isn't that right… Psycho-chan?"

"I just arrived here!" Sycorax brightly replied. "The Fleet came with me, and I managed to contact Momonga but none of you guys, so I had to meet him first. His dungeon came with him too, and there was a lot of foo but there was a war and a lot of things happened. So… I made you wait."

"Even in Hell, there is a single blooming flower of friendship," a voice slowly drawled, echoing throughout the forest. "It rocks, back and forth, over the waves of the sea, leaving only one petal as a memento. Someday, it will certainly bloom again. To have spent two years waiting for such an idiot captain, I must be an even bigger idiot than I thought."

The plectrum rested on her finger, as the shamisen dropped to hang around her. "The beautiful muse of Hostis Humani Generis is me and me alone! Titania answers to no other name!"

Her answering grin stretched the perfect features of the Fairy Queen, right before she tackled the Fleet Admiral and both of them hit the floor in a mess of red and white. "I missed you, Psycho-chan! The last big mess I heard was a big fire and theft at Arwintar, but fires happen all the time."

"That was us," Sycorax confessed. "We stole their Grand Library."

"I thought so, but I didn't believe it… I thought you were having a 3D2Y of your own-"

"That's impossible!" Sycorax laughed. "You know what kind of idiot I am. Nagato axed over ten plans before we got a solution that doesn't involve me throwing up a major hurricane. And there was the other time I forgot about friendly fire and nearly turned on of my own subordinates to stone..."

"That's so like you, Psycho-chan, but that's cute~"

On the sidelines, Aura side-eyed Nagato as Fleet Admiral and Vice-Admiral started to talk in a manner similar to gossipy old ladies. "Erm… they're not normal, are they?"

"The Admiralty who created us and the Fomori Fleet are amongst the most unique beings in the universe," Nagato honestly replied. "How could you say that they are normal if they exist so far above everyone?"

While the subordinates chatted, Titania had already seized onto something out of thin air. "Look, I found a Naga too!" Titania brandished the green-skinned Naga into Sycorax's face. "Isn't he old- Oi, don't turn him to stone just because!"

"He's not cute at all," Sycorax commented, but made a gesture, and the newly reanimated male Naga fell to coil himself and prostrate before the great Nagarani – queen of the Naga.

"T- This old one Ryraryus Spenia Ai Indarun apologises for sullying the great one's eyes..."

"Erm..." Aura shifted. "If you would prefer, Nazarick is only a Gate away to settle down… Titania-sama."

"Did you know?" Sycorax faux-whispered. "Nazarick actually had a spa resort built into it!"

"Huh?!" Titania complained. "We should have done more than the baths at the orlop decks! I'm so jealous~ but I'll kill for meat~ Ah, I can't leave right now."

Aura sweat-dropped. She's even more scatter-brained than Sycorax-sama…

"Why?" Sycorax smiled down to the male Naga. "This dirty old man who looks like one of the old perverts in the 21st century?"

Ryraryus clutched at his chest. "Old pervert..."

"Ah, nothing to do with him, he's someone I crushed," Titania dismissed. "More like the people from the Slane Theocracy. They have a-"

"Oh, that," Sycorax grinned, meeting her friend's eyes. "Let's go to your house to discuss it!"

Critiquez, s'il vous plaît!