After we met with Ventuswill and explained everything that happened at the Watery Ruins, including the Rune Stone not only bringing me to my regular state as opposed to a spirit tied to Fresca and Bouquet appearing from it from a different universe, she was at a bit of a loss for words.
"Hmm... these Rune Stones really do have unfathomable power. Far greater than even mine for just one. The magic of an entire universe in a single Rune Stone, and an Earthmate being able to summon beings from them just by holding it... yet you say it was accidental for Bouquet to be summoned from it, right?" Venti asked, using her deeper voice, as she wasn't trusting of the new butleress as of yet.
"Y-Yes, it was... s-sorry if I sound concerned... I'm kind of scared of dragons..." she said, me smiling at her and for Venti to scoff in her normal voice.
"Hmph! You just hurt my feelings! Dragons in this world are quite tame, if you must know!" Venti said with her normal voice, which Bouquet looked at her in surprise.
"W-What? What's with the change of voice? She sounded all deep and menacing, now it's adorable?" Bouquet asked.
"That's another secret you need to keep, Bouquet. No one that isn't a resident of town is to know of Ventuswill's true voice or demeanor. She's a Native Dragon, one of the most powerful monsters in the world, but she doesn't really want to be relied on for every problem. Especially since she can't leave this land, or she'll end up going to the Forest of Beginnings," Volkanon explained.
"And one more. Don't tell anyone about mine or Fresca's secret identity of being the thing that starts with an E," I said, her looking at me in confusion before gawking.
"Earthmates, right? Is there a reason I shouldn't mention that?" she asked.
"Yes, there is," Nelly frowned as she formed herself from Venti's head, appearing as her spirit form. "The Sechs empire sent a spy here to try and find the Rune Stones as well as mercenaries to try and kill Fresca when they learned she had not only the Rune Stones but was an Earthmate. Until we can assure that the Rune Stones have been completely absorbed into the earth, you are to pretend that Fresca and Lenette are princesses, and that Fresca is called Princess France when speaking to tourists and traders. And don't tell anyone about there being Earthmates in this town, or we could very well be targeted by the empire for extermination."
"Um... sure... ghost girl... not the oddest thing I've witnessed so far today, honestly," she admitted. "Hard to top being sent to a different universe."
"She's actually my older sister, Nelly," I smiled, which Bouquet looked at me in confusion. "To make a long story short, I was given the same treatment as you, being sent to this world from a different one. But I was originally tied to Fresca as a spirit. But since touching that Rune Stone, I'm back on the mortal coil. If we found another Rune Stone in the future, I'd need to ask if we could do the same for my siblings as well as our neighbor in Mister Leonard... the only downside, I still don't know who he's conjoined to," I admitted.
"I know where he is," said the voice of Forte, her appearing from the front entrance. "He's... unfortunately mixed with Porcoline. I witnessed him be separated from Porco while on my lunch break, and he looked quite annoyed at Porco's antics," she admitted with a smile.
"Poor Leonard. I wouldn't want to be him right now," I smirked as me and Fresca then finally finished up with the introductions and proceeded to go fish at the lake, me managing to catch a Crucian Carp, followed by Fresca catching a Cherry Salmon, followed by me catching, get this, a Lover Snapper! And I gawked at this, as I was using a basic fishing rod! And all of a sudden, my fishing skill went all the way up to 67!
"Whoa! That's awesome! Your skills went skyrocketing!" Fresca gawked at me.
"Y-Yeah... but now I feel super tired!" I admitted as I then went and wobbled my way back to the castle and, leaving Fresca in the dust, proceeded to flop onto the bed and fall asleep instantly. I needed it after this long day.
After the lengthy sleep, I then woke up to Nelly nudging me awake as opposed to Clorica, me smiling at her as I then got off the bed and saw that Fresca was still asleep... and that it was currently nighttime.
"Why'd you wake me up at... 3 in the morning, Nelly?" I asked, her smiling at me.
"I wanted to let you know... we've been contacted by a surprise guest... or two... and they're from the mansion to the west," Nelly said, her then leading me to Venti's throne room, where I saw that the surprise guest was none other than Pico... and that there was yet another person there, but this time, it was from another universe. But I couldn't place the face...
He looked to be at least 7 in terms of age, and was dressed in a royally red, kingly cape with a shiny crown atop his head. Also, he looked much more unique than the others, mainly that his face was structured differently, with a perfect, upside-down triangle for a nose, tiny, green eyes, and a very adorable smile. He also had a scepter on his person that was shiny and had a blue egg on the top.
"Um, hello. Who may the little king be?" I asked, him smirking at me.
"I'm uh... King Corobo... and I suddenly appeared after this one guy got attacked by a big flower monster. He managed to get away, but it stole the stone I arrived in... as well as my 8 wives," he said, which made Pico look at him in shock.
"8 WIVES?! You're a little horndog!" Pico said with a laugh after.
"It's not like that! Besides, most of us aren't old enough for... that stuff," Corobo admitted.
"So... your 8 wives... where would they happen to be?" Nelly asked him.
"They're being held captive by a giant monster in the Delirium Lava Ruins, a large flower called a Raflessia. In order to rescue them, we'll need you to travel there now, with a bit of assistance from Corobo, as he has a very useful power," Nelly said.
"And what would that be?" Pico asked.
"Pico, cluck like a chicken," Corobo said, which the ghost girl then gawked as she then started to do so unwillingly. After five seconds passed by, the effects wore off.
"What did you just do to me?!" she asked.
"That's my power. This crown chose me to be the true king of my own world, and it gives me the power to command anyone I wish. If the person has a weak enough will, it can work indefinitely until I chose to stop it. But it's tougher on those that are stronger in will and strength, so it wouldn't be that strong against most of the people in this town. Not even a little ghost girl is fully affected," Corobo said.
"One more question before we head out... why have me wake up in the early morning? Why not just have me and Fresca do it together?" I asked.
"Because your magical prowess has been growing SUPER exponentially. Way further than it should be. Your skills need to be top notch before you can comfortably take on the Sechs, sould they arrive in the future," Ventuswill said, me nodding at her. "As for Ambrosia, she actually visited and said she may have deduced the location of the Rune Stone, but it's being guarded by a dangerous monster that originates from the world the stone was from, one that happens to be a mixture of Earth and Light magic. Corobo's is the one for Darkness and Love. As for the final Rune Stone, Doug told me he's keeping it safe in a secure location right under our noses, whatever that means."
"Ah, gotcha. So what might the final Rune Stone's strengths be?" I asked.
"The final stone is a mixture of Air, Spirit, Monster, Undead, and Flame," Ventuswill explained, me being surprised.
"All that from one Rune Stone? Must be an insane world!" I smirked.
"We need to head to the Autumn Road to the west in order to reach the Delirium Lava Caves. And we need to go fast. That Raflessia is very large and is most likely going to try and use them for... means," Corobo said.
"Not asking any further, let's just move out," I said, Pico then staying behind as I then went with Corobo out into the wilderness, me grabbing my staff in order to attack from a distance. We had to get through some Woolies and Orcs, then a few Cuckodoodles, and then we finally got to the bridge, which was oddly already built... wait... it wasn't before?
"I had some different monsters build this bridge in order to reach town. That's how I knew that not all the monsters were evil in this world, just territorial. That Raflessia, though? It's bad news, trust me," Corobo said as we then moved down to the Autumn Road and had to contend with some stronger enemies, which didn't stand too good against my tons of elemental spells at my disposal.
"How do you know the Raflessia is bad? What did it do?" I asked him.
"It's less 'what did it do' and more 'what's in control of it'. A nasty monster from my world in the form of the Rat King," he said, me being confused.
"Rat King? What's that?"
"It's a demonic monster that existed in another dimension in my world, where it caused my world to be plagued with an earthquake plague. One that's more unique, as the quakes not only afflicted the ground, but the entire sky," he explained.
"Scary... so it's the spirit of this Rat King that's in control of Rafflesia? How much in danger are the 8 wives?" I asked.
"Very. When I ventured to defeat him and his minions, he ATE Princess Verde whole, as me and my subjects paled in size to him! I was only able to save her by convincing God to send all of us back home... but then, after all of that happened and my many wives agreed to stay platonic and kind to each other... those bizarre lights happened and it sent myself, my wives, and the Rat King's spirit to this world," Corobo said.
"This is getting a bit too much... okay, there's the ruins! We need to go in there and find the plant beast," I frowned, us then spelunking into the caves in order to do just that. In the process, I managed to gain tons of skills for my staff, as well as the different elemental skills. And after this, I then started to test my mining might and got a lot of great stones from the minerals and ores, which included a duo of Big Crystals, 9 rubies, 12 Fire Crystals, and 3 stones that were completely invisible! How did I see them? I saw some kind of innate magic from them. Corobo almost didn't believe me when I said I found invisible stones until I poked it against his face.
"Oh wow! Invisibility ore?! That's way more advanced than some of the magic in my world!" Corobo admitted as we then moved further in and, eventually, we found the final room, where I hit a switch, allowing us an easy teleport out of the place. And then we moved forward... and gawked at how the place suddenly had tons of dark clouds with a red haze.
"Whoa... this is getting creepy now," I admitted as we then looked ahead and saw... a sight that made me shocked. The Rafflesia was giant! It was about the size of Ventuswill for just its head! And it had each of the 8 different wives trapped in a cage made of vines and flowers right in front of it! And it then hissed angrily at the shine of Corobo's crown.
"Ssssssoooo! You finally decided to come and join usssss!" the Rafflesia SPOKE! And it sounded almost like a demonic snake!
"Release them! I command it!" Corobo shouted.
"HEEHEE! Your crown does not affect me, little brat! And I was just thinking of having breakfasssst!" the Rafflesia hissed as it then picked up the cage with a large vine, me gawking as it then tried to eat the innocent women! But I didn't let that happen. What did I do? I summoned a giant flume of fire that was so hot, it completely bored through the stem of the Rafflesia, which made it shriek in pain as it then proceeded to wither and wilt, the cage falling onto the ground face-up and for the vines to untangle and shrivel to nothing.
"It's... not going to the Forest of Beginnings? Why?" I asked in confusion.
"Because it's not a monster from this universe anymore. It was possessed by the Rat King... and now that bastard is finally gone for good... I can only hope," said the voice of... a girl who looked to be four years old?
"Um... you married a toddler?" I asked him.
"Actually, Martel is 19 years old, she's just got a lot of stunted growth. She can't even walk, so she used her car to get around... but I don't think such a thing is available in this world," said the voice of a girl that looked super sweet, her having hair that was done in heart-braids. "We'll get introductions out of the way, but only after you take this stone..." I then took the Rune Stone and felt the strength within and, finally, remembered all the stuff about these characters. They were from an underrated game world called Little King's Story, where the 8 princesses were considered as his wives because they all got rescued from evil kings, with Verde being the one saved from the Rat King. "-and we'd like to request to be taken to your kingdom. We need to get accustomed to life in this world, after all."
"Uh, yeah, sure... I don't know where you'd live at, but I could find out," I smiled as we then left the ruins via Escape and, after, I then sent them to Selphia as I saw the place was starting to get the sun rising, perfect for the girls, as they smiled at the lights and sights of the Autumn Road. They then introduced themselves and their different skills, as each had a unique power to them, which I didn't expect.
Apricot was the first princess Corobo rescued and she happened to be from an age long forgotten, captured by an eternally young Onii King. She was actually a Magical Girl, able to use spells that were able to turn things into different substances, such as wood, stone, or even grass!
Bouquet was the daughter of a drunkard king, but she was an insane genius, to the point she could craft medicines and formulas so advanced, that in her world, she'd found a cure for almost every ailment... the only one that couldn't be fixed was the common cold. So she was shocked at how a single cold medicine in this world would get rid of any sickness. "A cure-all existing in another universe?! Statistics show a 100 percent chance of attempting to craft a universal portal to bring this knowledge back home! Possible success of such a task is 10 percent or lower," she said afterwards.
Meanwhile, Spumoni used to be the wife of a gluttonous king that was so fat, he was like a pinball. And though Spumoni was chubby, she apparently had lost tons of weight since the incident of the Rat King in Corobo's world and she got much healthier from it. But she still did have the appetite, as she smelled that I had some food on my person in the form of some leftovers of Bouquet's salad... wait... two Bouquets? I needed to ask the smart one a serious question.
"Can I call you something other than Bouqet, per chance? We already have a Bouquet in town, see?" I asked her, which she smiled at.
"Bouquet is my last name. Name A=Scarlet, Name B=Liquor and Name C=Bouquet. A squared + B squared /=/ C squared in this case," she smirked.
"I see... I'll call you Scarlet, then," I smirked.
As for the other princesses, Martel was a former princess of an ancient kingdom, much like Apricot. But unlike Apricot, her people were from outside the continent and were ALL small in stature and could only start learning to walk at age 22. And since Martel was 19, she still couldn't walk, so we had to resort to the tallest of the Princesses carrying her.
Said princess happened to be named Princess Ferne, who looked WAY too old to be interested in a 7-year-old boy, but she said she preferred diminutive men, but not in that way. She was very flirtatious, very hot, and had a buxom body, but she claimed she HATED people who only saw her beauty or her height. It reminded her too much of her stalker, King Long Sauvage. Luckily, I convinced her that she could probably get a different job in Selphia that didn't involve her body, such as working at the Inn or even making her own place of work, as there were at least 10 vacant houses in town (not 3, 10).
Princess Shizuka was the oddest one, mainly because she was missing one thing that was unique to her, that being her Diamond Egg. It was a specific relic she was tasked with protecting for aliens, which she claimed made it hard to think about who she used to be. Because of the issue with the Rune Stones, she was able to be severed from the egg's connection upon arrival, as the egg was left behind while she was teleported. And she claimed she used to be from my world, which she knew I came from that world, because I had the face to match it. And I knew what she meant, since she had that same facial appearance. Not too bland, but not to flashy, like most in my world looked. "I still have a slight connection to the egg even from here... I still feel its power in my head, which can allow me to speak to wildlife and monsters... as well as the flowers and the ground we tread... they fear the Sexy Empire... what empire is sexy?" she asked.
"Uh, they mean Sechs Empire, with chs not x. They're a ruthless military nation that's ruled by a genocidal emperor. If they find an Earthmate in an area, they travel there in order to kill them. And the emperor wants to rule the world with the powers that these stones hold. We need to keep them fooled for up to a month after we place these back where they came from," I said.
"I see..." she smiled.
"Oh, like, how cool! I wonder if this place has any tvs! I want to get a spot on the newest shows in this place!" said the final princess other than Verde, Princess Kokomo Pine, who insisted I called her Koko. She was the sister of a greedy television man that collected money from people who watched any tv program in the world. And if they couldn't pay him, they were kidnapped for stunt doubles and extras in his programs. But once Corobo took care of him and rescued Kokomo, she managed to find her singing voice and was able to have her own show where she conducted the news in place of her brother, who was deduced to a lowly on-location reporter.
"Um... I don't think this world has TVs, unfortunately... we're in an older time than your world was, before even radios were invented," I frowned.
"Not even radio?! Like, how am I supposed to reach the fans now?" she frowned in annoyance.
"One word. Tourism. You'd be perfect as a singer for Porcoline's kitchen, especially since you've already got a musical talent in Margaret, who plays a harp," I smiled.
"Harp music? I love harp music! So perfect to sing love songs to! I'll take a job there, please, totally!"
"I'm just relieved you stopped him in time... he said he was waiting to eat us until you showed up, since he thought you didn't have a thing that could scratch him... he was wrong," Verde frowned. We then finally got to town as it reached sunrise and approached Ventuswill's shrine, who looked at me in surprise at the many people.
"You succeeded, it seems. I'm impressed! And just in time, as Fresca just woke up and is tending the fields... so may we do introductions?" Ventuswill asked in her deep voice, which the princesses stood strong at... aside from Martel. We then exchanged names and, after, we then were given the knowledge of what to do.
"I think I'll work at that kitchen as a singer, as you said I could do. I'll put in my application immediately!" Kokomo smiled.
"I'm going to live to the west of town, in that mansion on the hill..." Shizuka said.
"Um... maybe not? The door is locked from this place and it's kind of cursed... also it's where we need to put the Rune Sphere at," Ventuswill said with her serious voice.
"Very well... I'll stay at the local Inn until then... once the Rune Stone is placed, I'll go there in order to protect it... I can speak to the monsters and animals, so if we sense evil, we will stop it, especially if the mansion is cursed," Shizuka smiled as she then literally hovered away.
"I'm going to withhold my nose from the kitchen and go to the general store instead... I hope they'll allow an extra hand," Spumoni smiled happily.
"I'm going to ask if Martel and I can make ourselves a small house on your farm, please? And then ask if we can recruit a monster to be her new wheels?" Ferne asked with a smile.
"Ooh, I'd love that! Please make it a monster I can ride easily? My feet can't move on their own yet," Martel requested.
"I'll get to finding one right away, Martel, but it may be a few hours until then," I smirked.
"Until then," she smirked back as she and Ferne then went through the door to the farm, me then doing an order to build a small hut for her and Ferne to live in where a different Monster Barn could be built, which took the same amount of lumber and material stone as a normal barn. And Volkanon got to making it immediately.
"As for the rest of us, I think we'll get some residency among the different vacant houses... so how much Bol do we need to pay for the housing?" Corobo asked.
"Bol? You mean Gold, right?" Fresca asked as she appeared from the north. "What's up with all the new faces? What'd I miss?" she asked.
"Sorry, Fresca, but Ventuswill asked me to do an emergency rescue mission for the females, and the little king here was the one who requested that," I smiled.
"Um... a child? As a king? Is he knowledgeable enough to do that?" Fresca asked.
"I know enough to have run a kingdom that spanned an entire continent. Also, the females are my wives," Corobo smirked.
"Um... the girls are princesses, then? Your wives?... How many of them are there? Isn't that... weird?"
"Not in this land, but not too many people are fond of it. Corobo is allowed to have as many wives as he wishes, just so long as he treats each of them kindly and justly," Ventuswill explained, still in her deep voice. "As for where you can live, I can have it so that you all can have homes among the different houses, one for each of you that aren't living in a different shop or pre-owned building, Ferne and Martel excluded, of course," Venti smirked.
"Could we get the tour, then? I'd love to see the sights of this beautiful town!" Apricot smiled widely.
"I agree, this town is very lavish... not as lavish as Alpoko, but lavish nonetheless," Apricot smirked.
"Um... where's Alpoko at? I don't think I've heard of that name before," said the voice of Vishnal.
"They're uh..." I said before looking at Venti. "psst. can i tell them? about the other world stuff?"
"may as well, it's not too far fetched. it's happened before in the past, surprisingly often, just in numerous places across the world," she whispered in my ear that no one else could hear... because she was sending the sound to my ear directly with wind magic.
"They're from another universe, one where this king, Corobo, was ruler of an entire continent, called Alpoko Kingdom. And all the women are his wives, there being 8 of them," I said.
"My word! That's impressive! New life goal unlocked! Be the best butler, and get a girlfriend!" Vishnal said with seriousness, me looking at him rush off to the butlery rooms and for me and the others to stand awkwardly.
"I think we caused a big problem," I chuckled. "While that's happening, how about me and Fresca show you the sights, as well as the different houses?" I smirked.
"Indubitably! I, myself, would prefer a house with chemistry sets and science. I must get to work on creating X-Portal for Y-mission. If you have any interesting materials to assist, I'd happily accept them! For starters, I may need something that's imbued with elemental magic... if you find something with that, give it to me and I'll let you know what to do next," she smirked, me then handing her something I got from the Lava Ruins, in the form of a flame crystal. "Ah! A crystal imbued with the element of fire! Happiness level up 75 percent!" she smiled widely as we then went and showed them to their new homes...
Corobo insisted on the house that was to the right of Porco's kitchen and the library, it being built underneath the observatory and inside the cliff wall. Verde wanted a house to the west of the Inn, which was a good fit, as it was very green, much like her. Apricot wished to live in a house that was built on the outskirts of town by the Dragon Lake, and Scarlet wished to live at the house due east of the Clinic, as it was filled with just a smuch science stuff as she could want, and it was where Jones went to when he wanted to test new techniques of medicine. We had to explain the situation to him and he was in agreement to her living there.
After all of this, we then proceeded to go out into the wilderness to find a proper monster for Martel to ride. And after finding a couple candidates, Fresca and I managed to tame four different candidates in the form of a Weagle, a Buffamoo, a Torta, and a Mamadoodle that we found and I managed to recruit from the Cluckadoodle Den. After doing all of this, we then used Escape to return to town. It was time to find out which of them would be best for Martel to use... and after this, then we'd be able to go and do some requests before then taking the new Rune Stone to the mansion.