"Good morning you two," Matilda greeted both Kris and Hilda as they exited the Guest Bedroom.
"Good morning~!" Kris greeted cheerily, having been awake for about an hour and doing some light exercise. Not that Kris slept well, but that was nothing new.
"Good morning ma'am," Hilda responded, a slight blush on her face still.
"I hope you don't mind us sitting in for breakfast." Kris said, already knowing the answer and knowing a way to pay them back would need to be devised with all this generosity.
"Of course not," Matilda replied. "I am almost done, how do you like your eggs done?"
"Scrambled, please."
"Sunny side up," Hilda replied.
"Good to hear," Matilda said as she went into the kitchen, making both Kris and Hilda turn their heads as she again only wore that apron of hers.
"Why only an apron?" Kris groaned under his breath.
"I believe many Mamono have what is called a… kink," Hilda said with a red face.
"Ah… oh god, this is going to be a nightmare for me…" Kris said, before pausing. "Wait, are there monsters called Nightmares?"
"Yes I believe a type of centaurs are called that," Hilda answered.
"...Centaurs." Kris repeated, the forming image of taming a nightmare as a mighty steed going up in flames
"Morning Krissy, morning feathers," Lily said as she floated towards them, dressed again in that apple-like dress of hers.
"Morning Lily~!"
"Morning miss Lily," Hilda responded politely.
"So… I hope my parents didn't keep you up all night?" Lily asked.
"Kept up?" Hilda asked in confusion, her wings raising with her eyebrows.
"Oh no, whatever gave you that impression?" Kris asked as dead-voiced and sarcastic as possible. "Was it hour one or hour three?"
Lily just giggled at that. "Well I am going to help maa with breakfast, you two take a seat."
They did so, Kris enduring a barrage of questions from Lily's sisters about… literally everything they could think of, it seemed. Like an entire classroom of hyperactive 8 year olds questioning the substitute teacher.
The breakfast itself was pretty good, and thankfully it was chicken eggs and not something weird (and the response Matilda implied if they had Harpies in the village, they would, which was…).
Afterwards, Kris had asked Lily for a tour of the village.
It was… a village.
Humans, at least 3 elves, and more than a few monster girls living in relative harmony. The monster girls seemed varied, including a minotaur (?), 2 more dairy-cow looking ones, and a centaur. And they all just seemed like medieval subsistence farmers, making enough for their village and for taxes.
Despite the fantastical appearances, by all means, they appeared to just be… people, living their lives.
And for some reason, they were mostly… ignoring his existence? Or maybe it was out of fear of Hilda, and what she represented. Kris couldn't tell.
"So yeah this is… home, little place but it's home," Lily said as she looked at both Hilda and Kris.
"Nice!" Kris said. "If I had to describe it in a word, it would be quaint."
"Yes it is very normal, even if it technically should be counted as a Lesser Demon Realm," Hilda said.
"Woah, really?" Kris said, suddenly worried about ambient corruption.
"Yes the ratio of humans to Mamono, makes it statically one, but the amount of demonic energy in the air is much, much lower than I expected from that ratio, only a little higher than normal, which is why I say technically," Hilda explained.
"Wow somebody is smarty pants," Lily said in good jest.
"It is only appropriate for one of my stations to know such things," Hilda said back.
"So why would that be the case then?" Kris asked curiously. Was it possible for Mamono and humans to live in harmony without risking the health of everyone else around?
"I… have no clue, it is curious," Hilda said. "The succubication of monsters is still relatively a new phenomenon, so it only stands to reason we do not know everything about their new demonic energy."
"Interesting. Maybe we'll run into people who are studying this who would know more." Kris said.
"There are probably many scholars across the land studying as we speak," Hilda simply said. "And speaking across the land we should probably start to move Kris."
"Already?" Kris asked, a tad disappointed.
"Yes you need to grow in strength and I need to regain my own," Hilda stated.
"Regain?" Lily asked.
"I am an angel, when we leave the heavenly realm, we have to assume a body of clay, our power diminishes a lot when done so, so we have to regain most of what we can down here as we grow accustomed to our new bodies," Hilda explained.
"...I didn't get a lot of that, but you basically have a baby body and need to grow-up?" Lily summarized.
"...I guess… you can call it that," Hilda said, her brow and wings twitching a little.
"So anyway if you're leaving then I am coming along," Lily said.
"Oh cool, be happy to have you with." Kris said, accepting that easily.
"Thank you," Lily responded.
"...Well if you're sure Kris," Hilda said.
"I mean, why not?" Kris asked. "She's nice, helpful, good to have around in a fight, and helps us look less threatening in Mamono communities like this."
"I guess those are good points," Hilda said. "Well you are the Hero."
"Wait, you're the Hero?" Lily asked Kris.
"Well," Kris's voice cracked. "Hero's a strong word, I'm just trying to help out around here until I'm able to go home, really, and if that means saving people in my path then so be it."
"Ah, that kind of hero," Lily said with a nod. "And if you're going to worry about me, don't. Maa gave me a crash course in Leanan Sidhe magic over the last month. I am a lot stronger than before!" Lily said as she did a dramatic pose with her brush.
Kris applauded the show.
"Well if she is not going to be a burden, her coming along won't hurt us," Hilda relented.
"Yay!" Kris and Lily said at the same time.
After that, it didn't take long of a conversation for them to be set along their way, Bob and Matilda apparently having been expecting this exact thing.
And so, with a bit more homecooked food and a Leanan Sidhe added to their group, they set off from the village along the way to Leodonia, which involved getting back onto the main road out of the village, and then traveling along the main road for a projected 2 weeks on horseback.
And they went along the first road where they left the farm lands and the forest behind them, now passing by small grassy and rocky hills. The dirt road slightly curving which went straight after a bit and then after half a days of travel they once again encountered the river and the stone bridge they were meant to cross.
And as they went on and passed the first fourth it. The water in the river exploded up suddenly like a geyser. And Kris saw that in front of them on the bridge, a very large Slime Girl. "You can't run away now."
"If you hurt my horse I will literally kill myself so you don't even get the chance." Kris threatened.
"Why would I hurt the horsey?" the large smile girl whose bottom half filled out the entire width of the bridge, blocking their path forward.
"I don't know, you seem desperate." Kris said, realizing there was no two ways about this as he got off of Butt Stallion. "Desperate people do stupid things."
"I only want you, my destined husband, some come and fill me up," She said as all of her mass jiggled, her enormous breasts moving all over the place like water balloons.
"You don't even know my name, bitch." Kris said as he cracked his knuckles.
"I will," She just said ignoring the last parts and her fingers transformed into pseudopods.
"Hey, she said no," Lily said as she took out her brush and quickly painted a magical symbol on both Hilda and Kris, that feeling of invigoration filling him like it had done before.
"Exactly, I'm clearly saying no here." Kris said, stretching his arms as leisurely, casually approached the slime girl. "You'd be much better off asking, there's plenty of humans in to your kind of deal."
"But I want you… your essence smells so good…" She said huskily, and Kris could very much see from his angle what looked to be… yeah he was going to ignore that.
"Well, if you can't take no for an answer…" Kris said, rolling his neck, before suddenly a burst of raw power exuded from his body in a blast of white light, as he lunged forward and punched her clean in the solar plexus in the same moment in a burst of light, and when it cleared it revealed Kris, his hair now flowing upward in the wispy white aura around his body, reeling from he where he bounced off of her body, what should have been a clean hit. "What the hell…?"
"Hehehe," The slime girl laughed.
"What the?" Hilda asked as she too ran forward and took a swing at the slime girl, almost experimentally. And her sword just boinged off as well.
"I forgot!" Lily yelled. "Don't hit too hard or stuff bounces off!"
"Hey no yelling secrets you love rival," The slime girl said.
"She's my friend you crazy bitch!" Kris said, half out of rage and half trying to make her not like him.
"Get in me!" She just yelled, as she crawled forward.
Kris quickly stepped back, easily avoiding the slow moving mass of living non-newtonian fluid, who was visibly upset but not discouraged by that fact.
"They said no!" Lily yelled from behind then and Kris saw a ball of paint fly above his head and hit the slime girl. But whatever it was meant to do, it didn't take hold. "Aww dammit."
"Hey, you want me, right?" Kris asked as he tried to punch her again, but her body hardened on the impact.
"YES! Put your dick in my core!" She yelled.
"How about no to that." Kris said, taking advantage of her hardened state to lift her up in burst of herculean effort. "Go soak your head!" He all but screamed as he dumped her off the bridge.
"Hey!" She screamed as she landed in the water about thirty or so feet below.
Kris immediately turned towards the horses and beckoned them onwards. "Come on Butt Stallion, go!"
Hilda mimicked him, but her words were just horsey instead, as she had not named hers.
Once the horses galloped past, Kris cautiously followed, keeping an eye on the slime, who was moving slowly through the water with repeated "Eh, eh, eh" of exertion, looking utterly pitiful as she sloshed and flopped around.
Easily enough they got off the bridge and quickly remounted their horses.
"Not again!" She yelled in 'despair'.
"You'll have better luck if you try dating first, dumbass!" Kris shouted back as they galloped off.
"...Tilly has always had issues," Lily said.
Kris looked back at her in shock. "Wait, you know her?"
"Yeah she and her group lives in the river near the village as Blue Slimes are also called River Slimes," Lily answered. "They probably combined for her to get that big, so that is why I didn't recognize her on the spot."
"...Oh great, so slimes can fusion dance here, noted." Kris said with a sigh.
"Oh right they can," Hilda said absentmindedly as they rode away from Tilly.
They rode in silence for a solid ten minutes after that.
"So." Kris said to break the silence. "...I Spy or music?"
"I can play music," Lily said as she reached into her bag of holding and pulled out a pan flute.
"Aw, nice."
"Praise after I get going," Lily said as she started to play.
And boy, did she play.
It was a graceful melody that spoke of years of experience with the instrument, and yeah with the music, the food, and the painting it seemed that Lily was a girl who had an extreme amount of talent for the arts.
Kris was certain she was the local equivalent to a bard.
That, or she was an artistic wunderkind.
Probably both.
And so they rode until they came to the cross of roads that would lead them to Leodonia. But by the time they had arrived the sun had started to set.
As such, they decided to make camp a little bit aways from it.
While Kris had never had to camp quite like this before, it was thankfully included in the training he'd received in Salvarision.
Which was good, because Hilda had as much experience with it as he did, which was to say none.
"I think we did well," Hilda said as they looked at the simple camp that they had made.
"Yeah, for our first camp, this is pretty okay." Kris agreed. "So, dinner, and then we can talk about our actual plan here while we eat, make sure we're all on the same page?"
"Sounds like a good plan, I get started on it," Lily said as she pulled various cooking utensils out of that bag of hers.
"Yes that is probably the best course of action for now," Hilda added.
"Oh, here, lemme help Lily." Kris offered.
—
"So what do we do?" Lily asked as they all sat around the campfire with a bowl of stew in their hands.
"You mean what are we going to do?" Kris asked.
"Yeah," Lily responded.
"Well, it's simple, really." Kris said. "Short term, we're going to Leodonia to establish a home base from which we'll be taking missions to help people and deal with monsters, girl and otherwise, making trouble."
"Cool, good thing I learned that spell if we're going to Leodonia," Lily said.
"What spell?"
Lily grinned and took an appropriately sized sketch pen, which used to draw a symbol on top of her head. "Change-o," She said and a second later, Lily looked like she was a foot taller, her insetcily wings now fluffy and feathery like Hilda's, her hat now looking like a halo.
"That is blasphemy," Hilda said with a scowl.
"Well it will keep me safe."
"I mean, do we even need to do that?" Kris asked. "Isn't that the fact we'll have an actual angel, not to mention whatever clout I might bring by existing, going to be enough? Or are mamono that hated in Leodonia?"
"No Mamono is permitted in the city at all, one day some might be vetted, but that day is not today," Hilda spoke solemnly.
"Well, obviously. We're only going to get there in like two weeks."
Both Hilda and Lily chuckled at that, the Leanan Sidhe dropping her disguise.
"Plus, c'mon, are they really in a position where they can turn down the unique opportunity of an insider in taking down the Demon Lord? It might not be as good as if we had someone from her direct inner circle or something but it's still better than if we were a party purely of 'hack and slash and do literally nothing of substance'."
"We can try and proposition that to the King and Queen," Hilda said.
"So you are going after the Demon Lord," Lily stated.
"Do you have a problem with that?" Kris asked, not defensively but openly.
"I mean if she goes down, things are going to go back to how they were, and I've heard grandma talk about the good 'old' days, they did not sound very good to me," Lily said. "And I would rather want to be horny than bloodthirsty."
"Yeah," Kris said with a sigh. "That's the problem with the whole thing. Especially since if we straight up take her out, someone else will probably just sit on the throne, take up the mantle, and make all sorts of new problems… but I don't actually have any choice in the matter."
"Why not? Everybody has a choice?" Lily asked.
"..." Kris clenched and unclenched his fists as the decision once more played out in his mind, the unfairness of it all once more getting to him. It was easier to ignore when he was training with Hilda, but in quiet moments like this, now that he'd seen Mamono could just be people...
"Kris?" Hilda asked, her voice filled with a bit of concern.
"...I'm fine." Kris said after a moment. "Just… it's not fair, you know?"
"...Yes, things are sometimes not fair," Hilda said, while Lily just looked confused at the exchange.
"It's not even like I was the best person for the job." Kris continued, mind miles away. "I mean I'm happy to help, but… there are trained combatants, leaders, engineers, people with strength of character who'd be able to help better here. The best I can do is punch whatever's in front of me… and Tilly proves I can't even do that sometimes…"
"That is just how slimes are, their bodies harden in response to physical trauma," Lily said. "Which is why those that aren't Mamono can be a threat to very strong people."
"But still… it was only me through random chance. I have a family. I had a life." Kris said. "I don't… it's that I don't want to help, but the fact I have no choice is…" His fists clenched and unclenched again, a small white glow emanating from his hands as he did.
"Well if you were forced to come here…" Lily began. "Why do you do it?"
"I want to help." Kris said. "If they'd asked, I would have gladly came here of my own free will. I can't deny it, I would have jumped at the opportunity to do this, before I learned the nuance. And now that I do know the nuance…" He exploded in a burst of radiant light, Kris not noticing, the slightly forming tears evaporating. "I don't know what the right thing to do is. Take down the Demon Lord so I can go home? Figure out another solution that leaves more people, human and otherwise, happy than either system, but risk never going home again? Ignore the long term goal and just focus on short term, leaving the decision for someone else? It's all just so much, I'm an accountant for God's sake, I'm not the kind of person who makes these kinds of decisions!"
"I think Kris," Hilda spoke. "That you should do what you think is the right thing to do, whatever that thing is." She smiled. "And I will be there right beside you always as your Guardian Angel."
"..." Kris took a deep breath and then smiled at her, the steadily forming pillar of light around him fading. "Thanks, Hilda. I really appreciate that."
"You're welcome, so for now… we just do things the short term, you want to help, so let's go to places and help out while growing in strength while figuring out how you want to deal with the Demon Lord."
"Yeah," Lily added, while giving a thumbs up. "No need to be sad, things are going to work out just fine Krissy."
"Neighehe," Butt Stallion neighed in agreement.
Kris smiled at them. "Thanks ladies. Appreciate it, really."
They finished up their dinner, and they split up the watch, which they were only doing on Kris's instenence, which proved that more than anything, somehow, Kris knew about adventuring than either of the natives.
As such, Kris took first watch, tending the fire as he kept vigilant watch.
The sky was captivating, as it had been every time he'd seen it.
Far more stars than he was used to.
The completely normal-looking crescent moon hanging overhead solidified it was still a real sky, even if he couldn't recognize any of the constellations.
It was breathtaking, really, and Kris was not ashamed to admit he spent a good amount of time just staring up at it.
After what felt like 2 or 3 hours like they'd planned, Kris went over to the tent to rouse Hilda from her slumber, but as he stood, he heard a rustling in the trees, his head immediately snapping towards it.
"...Do you want to be set on fire?" Kris asked Tilly flatly as she came from the trees. "I'm going to set on fire if you come close to my camp."
"But didn't you want me? I saw your beacon of love rise into the night sky," Tilly said, looking and sounding completely delusional to Kris's senses. Making him start to think that the Slime Girl combo was being detrimental to the mental health of the girl in charge.
"No, that was me getting so angry I wanted to die." Kris said in frustration. "Listen, Tilly, am I even talking to Tilly right now? Or are you a bunch of people all trying to jump my bones?"
"Tilly is in charge and Tilly wants your cock," She said.
"Could I maybe talk this out with just Tilly?" Kris asked. "Cause I know slighted you before, but I'm not into orgies or whatever you're going for."
"You are talking to just Tilly, they others are just making Tilly stronger," Tilly responded, his words having no effect on her. Showing that the Slime Girl was breast deep in the Nile.
"HEY GUYS TILLY'S BACK!" Kris shouted.
"Tilly take a hint!" Came Lily's shout of frustration. "I don't like to fight people, but I am going to make an exception for this!" Lily said as she flew out of her tent Hilda stumbling out of hers, just dressed in her nightgown only her shield and sword on her person.
And he saw that Lily now had a crossbow in her hands.
A very small crossbow by Kris's standards.
But a crossbow nonetheless, and one she needed two hands to use.
"Enough of this," Hilda said, as she flew forwards and charged at Tilly, her sword glowing with white energy.
In the meantime as Hilda charged, Lily aimed her crossbow at Tilly and fired, the bolt flying… rather slowly through the air as it went through the Slime Girl's gelatinous body and hit that solid mass that was in her body making her yell in small amounts of pain.
"Oww!" Tilly said she moved towards them going right past the charging Hilda who was to slow to stop her charge, coming to a stop a little bit behind Tilly.
As she did, Kris grabbed a hefty looking partially aflame stick from the fire, lifted it, and then burst into radiant light as he charged around the fire and struck with the flaming stick, striking so fast and hard he blew right through her hardening, the flames accompanied by radiant light, and the stick still aflame as he finished. "Learn to take no for an answer!"
"Yes, you Mamono must learn to take a hint," Hilda said angrily, though that was probably more from having her sleep interrupted than anything.
But sadly Kris saw her sword bounced off the Slime Girl's body, her anger making her hit too hard.
"Remember, don't hit too hard," Lily said as she pulled out another bolt from her bag and fired her crossbow again.
And once again it hit Tilly's core.
"You're preventing me from being with my husband," Tilly said as her body did a 180 turn in a split second and her pseudopod fingers lashed out at Hilda.
But the Valkyrie cut the appendages apart with her sword.
"Hey, Tilly, come on, I'm the one you want here, right? If you're gonna go this route you might
as well try to impress me." Kris taunted.
"That I will my husband," Tilly said as her body twisted around once more.
"You know what, here, gimme a hug." Kris said, holding his arms out wide.
"Yes!" She said as she reached out to him.
Kris then grabbed onto the slime once more, ignoring that this time he was grabbing directly onto- or rather, into- her ass, ignoring the moan of pleasure from the slime.
"Kris what are you?" Both Hilda and Lily asked.
"Uh, I think she got heavier, I can't lift her." Kris said, panicking as he realized his plan to suplex her into the fire was failing on the first step.
"Got a nice snack on the way," Tilly said.
"If you hurt someone, you're a ho."
"Just a few stupid monsters," Tilly answered.
"Oh okay, that's fine then." Kris said as he backed off and around the other side of the fire.
"Hey, get back," Tilly said as lazily reached with her Pseudopods, making them miss entirely as Kris had move faster than the slime expected- but in doing so, caused him to veer off his path and accidentally step into the fire.
"Motherfucking bitch tits that hurts!" Kris cursed as stomped out the fire on his shoe.
"Husband, don't hurt yourself, be safe inside of me," Tilly said.
"For fucks sake- my name is Kris, get it right!" Kris shouted angrily.
"That is a very manly name my husband Kris," Tilly responded as Hilda swung at her again from behind.
And this time she got it right.
And with a thunderous boom she unloaded lighting and divine power straight into her core, making Tilly shriek in pain as form destabilized for a second.
Becoming a puddle, which was when once again Lily fired her crossbow, though this time her arrow just nicked the core as it moved as Tilly reformed her body. Panting heavily in exhaustion, as she stared at Kris, her upper body dripping down onto her lower body, her breasts looking rather deflated now.
And she moved towards Kris, her body swallowing up the campfire extringusihgn but losing a little bit of mass as she did.
Her pseudopods swung out and smacked Kriss, and he felt a deep sting as they retracted, his body feeling more flush a second later. But it was quickly overshadowed by anger as he saw a large hole in his shirt.
"You… you…" Kris growled as he realized his shirt, one of the few things he had left of his home. "YOU BITCH!" He screamed as he slammed the stick into her core in the sternum like a home-run hitter, the light shining on the stick refracting through her body on impact. "I'LL KILL YOU!"
And now her body was starting to lose consistency. One of her arms were gone, along with her right tit.
"You shall leave us alone!" Hilda shouted as she swung her blade. And once again she hit her core.
Now she was barely shaped like a human.
Kris heard the sound of a crossbow being fired. And hit the core making her collapse into a puddle, her core floating on top.
"Finally," Lily said with a sigh.
Kris did not care in that moment as he struck the core with the stick, a burst of radiant light emanating from the blow as he did.
"Krissy, what are you doing? She is down?" Lily asked.
Kris ignored her as he struck again, the white energy around his body growing in intensity, making the whole puddle quiver in pain.
"Krissy!" Lily shouted again.
Again, Kris struck.
"Oh no his rage has consumed him," Hilda said in shock.
"Oh no." Kris said as he once more raised the stick. "I'm fully in control." He said before striking again.
"But why? She is down?" Lily asked in horror.
"She won't die from it." Kris said as he once more struck, the light only growing-
"But it still hurts her, this isn't you Krissy, you're acting like a monster!" Lily shouted.
Kris froze mid-swing, as it occurred to him what was actually occurring.
He was beating down a defenseless, seemingly-unconscious woman unable to defend herself.
"...RAGGGGHH!" Kris screamed in rage as the light that had been building exploded forth in crescendo, bursting painfully from his eyes and mouth skyward as he screamed, and when the pillar of light faded he was left panting in exertion, staring at the sky. "...What the fuck was that?" He asked breathlessly.
"The Blessing of the Berserker," Hilda said as she walked over to him and placed a hand on him, and murmured a prayer. And the adrenalin and slight amount of pain vanished from his body.
"Is that… are you sure?" Kris asked, running a hand through his hair. "That was…"
"It bolsters your rage and converts it into divine fury," Hilda answered as kneeled down besides the puddle of Slime Girl and placed a hand on the core.
And Kris saw it split into three and a second later three slime girls formed. "We told you Tilly, you were going to lose, now lets get home."
"Yes lets get home," The one on the right said as they picked up the one between them, the one Kris guessed was Tilly looked at him with horror as she was dragged away by her friends.
An expression mirrored by Kris.
"See you back home one day Lily," One of the other two said as they exited their field of view.
"Yeah see you home, Milly, Silly," Lily said back.
"...Wait, with that name scheme, are you a slime too?" Kris asked, trying to avoid what just happened with humor.
"No, that is just their group," Lily responded as she flew over to Kris. "Oh your clothes got damaged, let me fix it." At that she pressed her hands on his side and Kris saw his shirt get fixed, looking even better than new. "So you feeling better now?"
"...Somehow, the fact you can fix this makes me feel worse now…" Kris muttered as he realized he'd gotten like… that for literally no damn reason.
Kris really needed to get it through his thick skull that magic was a thing.
"...Did you get super mad, because you thought it was ruined forever?" Lily asked.
"...Yeah."
"You explained it was an important article of clothing from home right?" Hilda asked.
"Yeah." Kris said, looking down at the shirt. It's source was nothing special, it was from a gift shop in Maryland from a beach vacation, but what it meant was… "It's… it's tied really heavily to my family, and it means a lot to me."
"Well we should just get it enchanted when we arrive in Leodonia, it is there the greatest mages in the land live and study the arcane," Hilda said.
"I would… I would appreciate that." Kris said.
"Now then get some sleep, I will take my watch," Hilda said with a smile on her face.
"Okay… Thanks." Kris said, the energy of the day fading as the tiredness settled in and he lumbered into his tent, and in a matter of minutes after the quick nightly rituals was out like a light.
—
"Why, why, why did you kill me… I just wanted to love you."