Chapter 36 – What She Wants

Dinner and a game were on the agenda. Thinking ahead, Vyrdrun made a small spot of raised earth to act as a table and benches for the game, along with more benches for the others to rest. There was more than enough foraged food throughout the day, so only some giant owl needed to be cooked. It tasted much better than the giant boar, but still nothing amazing.

Two huts were already built, and a nod from Maria told Reina that the mansion was already made and waiting for when they turned in for the night. Aside from the first time, a hut was always constructed first before the mansion. It gave Maria a safe place to cast her spell and kept her hidden from prying eyes. If Derdir already knew about it, they were wasting little effort in keeping it hidden.

At the end of the first game, Reina beat Lola by 2 points. Despite losing, the girl had the widest smile Reina had seen on her yet.

"Finally, someone who will actually play against me! Daddy's too good for it to be fun." Lola happily said, shuffling the deck to prepare another round.

"It's hard to imagine a girl like her chasing me around a castle's labyrinth basement with a sword and murdering my first party." Reina thought with just a hint of derision.

While they played, Reina tried to think of what to ask. Lola was more aware of what not to say than Meru. This mystery person Derdir wanted dead—and failed to kill—would stick in the back of her mind for a while. The more immediate issue was finding a way to get closer to Lola and learn more about how she was with the rest of her family.

She already got a general disposition of them from Meru, coupled with her own brief interactions with a few. Getting big things out of Lola wasn't likely, so Reina opted for smaller things. What she did for fun, some of the places she'd seen, things one would ask someone they're trying to learn more about. Normal things.

That, unfortunately, led to Lola telling a story about how some templars stumbled onto a cache of magical ingredients Derdir was stockpiling. It was in Cardy Vale, which was the country a little west of here. Technically, they were already in it, according to Lola. She and Goalith were there when the place was discovered and they quickly eliminated the templars.

The way Lola told the story made it sound like a trip to an amusement park.

"Why do you hate templars so much?" Reina asked after the story was finished. She really could have done without hearing of the gruesome way Goalith crushed a man into paste.

They just finished their third game, the first one Reina lost.

"Because templars are dumb." Lola answered matter-of-factly.

"Could you be more specific?"

Lola finished shuffling the deck and placed it down, drawing the first card. "Because they think they can do whatever they want just because they know a little magic."

"Hm." Reina nodded as Lola drew another. "Wouldn't that be more like the nobles in Hascain?" They were the ones that believed only nobles should have magic. Though, since mostly nobles became templars, it was probably a shared sentiment.

"Completely different." Lola clicked her tongue, drawing another card of the same suit and sliding them all to the side. "Mages have to go out of their way to get spells. Templars are chosen, so they think they're better."

That was a fair point. Anyone could be a mage, assuming they had the aptitude for magic. Templars were more like priests who were trained for battle, if Reina's understanding was right. Someone would start as a priest or acolyte, prove themselves to their church, and be selected to undergo martial training. Unless a noble was from a prestigious family, it was unlikely to go in reverse order. That was Reina's assessment, since the churches would likely favor loyalty over sheer skill.

Reina didn't need to ask further about templars. Lola continued to complain about them as the game progressed, even into the next game. It was more or less the same, templars acting like thugs to people just because they could, so they deserved the fate they got. Reina couldn't imagine something like that happening all the time, more out of practicality than anything else. If so many members acted like that, the whole institution would be seen more negatively, and that wasn't the impression she got in Keston, where all the churches had a strong presence.

Of course, in smaller towns, that might actually be the case, but Reina still doubted it. The worst she heard was during her meeting with the high priests, something about those in the Bronze Effigy using their talents to make money selling golems. It wasn't the worst thing, those sales acting as revenue for the church, but that assumed the priests responsible weren't just pocketing the money.

Reina was sure Lola would keep playing this game forever, so they stopped with the score four to three, Reina's favor. By the end, Reina didn't have anything new to go off of, but she knew just playing with Lola would help. If she could show that she was someone who could be talked to outside of that family, that was a good first step.

"I guess it's time for sleep." Lola looked toward the setting sun. The Wave was in the morning, and both Reina and Maria needed more time to sleep.

"Yeah." Reina said as she stood. "This was fun. If you don't have to rush home, we can play some more after the Wave."

That got a bright smile on the girl's face. "There should be time. I don't know how long Sister Maphai and Brother Gau will take, but I get to play until they're done."

"I see." Reina gave her a smile. "I don't think you said what they were doing."

"Hm." Lola looked to the constructed hut that was to be hers for the night. "Well…They were making sure a bunch of evil spirits were still being guarded."

Evil spirits, just like the one Reina contracted with earlier. Just like Lola said, the power it gave didn't seem that dangerous, mostly because it couldn't be used as easily. Of course, Reina had no desire to use it on anyone in her party, so she'd remain in the dark to its abilities for now.

"I think I'll go to bed now." Lola turned to face Reina and stepped up to her. "Goodnight, Big Sis."

Arms and wings wrapped around Reina as their armors clanked together. The slightly taller girl had her head turned to the side so her horns didn't stab Reina.

"Goodnight." Reina said back, patting Lola's back below her wings.

Lola went to her hut, moving the loose stone slab Vyrdrun brought up that acted like a door and replacing it when she was inside.

Reina and her party cleared away what was left of their camp before going to their own hut, entering the mansion. Once inside, Reina picked a corner and began removing her armor. She didn't really think Lola would attack her or anything before, but it made her feel a little safer. Plus, there were still monsters in the forest, even if none had come to their camp as of yet.

"I'm disappointed in you, Boss." Maria said, coming over to help. "You didn't try to check her out at all."

Reina sighed at her girlfriend's words.

Maria continued. "She's an adorable girl. I'm actually surprised you didn't at least look at her butt, like you did her sister's~. You could have moved your hand down a little~."

"Seriously?" Reina sent a glare her way.

"She's right, Maria." Grim said, intervening. Though, the smallest of smirks on his face quickly told Reina he wasn't about to help. "The girl was wearing her armor. It's not so easy to discern body type when it's covered by hard metal, nor feel anything."

Reina could only sigh heavily as she looked at the both of them. "Well, I'm glad to see you two becoming friends."

Grim let out a chuckle. "Maria was right. This is fun."

"Come on, Boss. You need to put the moves on her~." Maria cooed in Reina's ear as she helped pull off the bulk of Reina's upper armor.

"I don't know how to seduce people, Maria. Honestly, I just stumbled into having two friends here. Maybe three." Reina said, looking Grim's way.

"I'm honored to be included." Grim gave a nod.

Reina looked back to Maria. "That said, you do hear her calling me 'Big Sis', right?"

"It's a term of endearment, Boss~." Maria whispered loud enough for all to hear. If one of the Demon Lord's children wasn't outside, that would have been more effective.

With most of her armor off, leaving Reina in the shirt and pants underneath, she had a moment to consider what had transpired this day. Or, more accurately, what Reina woke up to this morning. With Lola arriving so suddenly, Reina wasn't fully able to appreciate the new level her relationship with Maria reached.

At the same time, Maria was more than happy to continue as they had before. Meaning, she'd tease Reina about checking out girls—which she didn't do at all today, for the record.

"In all seriousness, I don't see a problem with you taking the girl as a concubine." Grim said.

"Same here." Maria added, finishing with the armor.

"Whoa, what?" Reina looked between the pair.

Grim continued. "Politically, she's mostly an unknown. You said you gave names and descriptions of that family to the high priests in Keston, but it's their word against yours should you deny it. Considering what's likely to come with your standing there, perhaps Hascain will be a better place when you decide to settle down."

"There's so much wrong with what you're saying." Reina crossed her arms. "First, she's a child."

"She's an adult." Grim corrected. "Also, you two are close enough in age that no one would blink at it." He then gave another light smile. "Though, she'll likely grow even taller than she is now."

"Please don't pour salt in that wound, and I thought you were being serious." Being shorter than a girl two years younger than her wasn't entirely new, but Reina still didn't like it. She also saw how a friendship with Grim would open her up to more height jokes.

"And as I mentioned before, her family hasn't made any noticeable moves in Hascain. Though her father is a Demon Lord, the fact that he made Savia a target will boost your standing in Hascain. And, of course, the fact that her sister killed templars in defense of you."

"You're still putting the cart before the horse…the nipeigh." Reina held up a hand. "She killed innocent people."

"Arguable." Grim crossed his arms. "Summoning the Totem Hero away from the Dragon Hourglasses and, thus, preventing her from fighting the Waves isn't going to be overlooked. I have no doubt the nobles in your party were well aware of the consequences of doing that."

Looking back, that was a pretty bad move on the prince's part. The silver-eyed mage he hired notwithstanding, it was he that ordered her summoning. He didn't even mention the Waves, and Reina wasn't sure he was going to.

"By your own recollection, she has only killed nobles associated with Savia's prince. I'd wager a fair number of templars as well." Grim added.

"You're still assuming I even want to be with Lola." Reina pointed out. The girl was still a terrifying entity, even if it was reined back significantly. More importantly, Reina would have to kill Lola's father at some point. "Ignoring her, I only just started going out with Maria."

"There's no problem there, either. Hascain doesn't consider such a thing to be adultery." Grim said.

"I don't even know how to respond to that." Reina sighed.

"It's true." Grim relaxed his arms and raised a hand slightly. "Adultery in Hascain only applies when you're with someone of the opposite sex. It's more of a noble thing, concerning bloodlines and all that, though commoners adopted similar practices. It's why children born from commoner woman aren't serfs or slaves—or even necessarily nobles—even if their father is. Though there are other reasons for that."

"That's…pragmatic?" Reina didn't really have the words, nor the political or historical background to assess it further.

"Oh? Well, that's a useful piece of information." Maria nodded. "Though I don't know if Hascain will be suitable in the future."

Reina rubbed her face. "Well, since we're entertaining this line of thought, I have to agree with Maria. Her noble status would be a problem."

"Huh? What do you mean, Boss? What do you know?" Maria asked quickly, almost looking panicked. She took a step toward Reina. "What did Grim tell you? What did he say?"

Reina took a step back, glancing at Grim for a moment—who looked confused as well—before turning back to Maria. "Um, I meant living in Hascain as a wizard. You want to keep your noble status a secret, right? To hide from your family? I mean, I assumed…"

The way Maria put it, it seemed like she didn't want anything to do with her family. Commoner mages were frowned upon in Hascain. If she revealed herself as a noble and a companion and…lover…of the Spirit Forger, they'd likely hear about it.

"O-Oh! Right. Sorry." Maria calmed down slightly, pulling at her hat.

"Are you okay?" Reina reached out her hand. Maria took it with her free one.

"Yeah." She nodded, her face slightly obscured by her hat.

That was a bit of an unexpected outburst, but Reina assumed Maria really didn't want her family to find her.

"I will concede there is one point that you might find issue with." Grim added.

"What's that?" Reina turned back to him to ask.

"You would be expected to find a husband at some point." The nonchalance of that sentence was almost disturbing. "Again, bloodlines, but also allegiances. If her nobility is revealed, others may seek Maria's hand as well for the same purpose."

Reina bit back a retort. "This was a little funny at first, but we've gone way off course. We aren't having kids—"

"QUIET!"

The sudden outburst caused all eyes to turn. What followed was the quick slap of Maria's hand covering her own mouth. Her eyes were wide as they darted around the group.

"I-I'm…sorry. I didn't mean to shout." Maria said through her hand, turning her head to the side.

The air in the room felt a bit heavier. That was the first time Reina heard and saw Maria be angry. Maybe upset or annoyed before, but never truly angry, even during both Waves.

"I should apologize as well." Grim offered. "Sometimes Duke Balta's lessons just come out, especially if it's something he's talked about often."

Maria shook her head, placing her hand back on her hat. "No apologies necessary. You didn't…" She let her words trail off, keeping her face away from Reina.

With one of her hands still held in Maria's, she gave it a soft squeeze.

"Was it something I said?" Reina asked.

Maria shook her head. "It's just…Well, I mean, it's nothing against you, Boss, but…"

"I'm not going to tell anyone you're a noble. Your secret's safe with me." Reina assured her.

"As with me." Grim voiced. "Your circumstances are your own."

"It's not…" Maria squeezed Reina's hand back. "Boss, I…one day, in the future…I was hoping…"

Reina ran her thumb over the back of Maria's hand. "What is it?"

Maria grew quiet, her hat pulled farther down on her head. Reina stepped forward, keeping their hands together while placing her other hand on Maria's shoulder.

Up this close, Reina could see under Maria's hat. The woman was biting her lip as she stared at the ground. The intensity in which she bored into the ground was unnerving. Slowly, her eyes shifted to meet Reina's.

Then, she whispered a single word. "Mother."

"Mother?" Reina asked, still looking at her. "What do you…oh. Oh!"

In a rare moment, only Maria was blushing furiously with Reina looking steady. There was one obvious drawback to the two of them being together, something they, as two women, couldn't accomplish.

"I-I'm not…" Maria stammered out. "I mean, I love you, Boss. I really do. But, well, I just assumed that, one day…"

"R-Right, right." Reina nodded.

All her joking aside, Maria still had her long-term desires. It was something Reina's parents mentioned once, seeing how she didn't have anyone she was interested in. One day, she'd find that she wanted to start a family of her own. Once they got older, many men and women would want that. It seemed like such a far-off concept that Reina rarely considered it.

Here, however, it was much more of a reality. She knew from history how rare it was for people in the time period this world resembled to not get married and have children. The way Maria was with her, the thought didn't even cross her mind before. Now, however…

"I guess this is something we should talk about in private." Reina said, assessing the new information.

"Yeah…" Maria nodded.

They had time until they needed to sleep before the Wave.

With a topic for private discussion, Reina and Maria excused themselves for the night. As they opened the door and entered, Reina turned, letting go of Maria's hand. "Are you coming, Kuromo?"

The dragon looked up from his spot in front of the fire place, snorted, and returned his head to the ground. Reina simply closed the door behind her.

"Heh." Maria chuckled as she stood with her back to Reina, arms loosely wrapped around herself. "It seems like his rebellious phase is continuing~."

Reina smiled, though she let her expression turn more serious. "We do need to talk." It was concerning how teasing directed at Reina quickly turned to such an important topic.

Maria huddled in on herself, her arms tightening. Her voice was barely above a whisper. "Are you going to break up with me?"

"What? No!" Reina quickly dashed around the taller woman, looking up at her. The beginning of tears had formed in her crimson red eyes. "We just started going out!"

"But…" Maria's lip quivered.

Reina removed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around Maria's middle. The older woman let out a small squeak as the side of Reina's head pressed into her chest.

"I just think we should talk about this." Reina restated.

Slowly, Maria relaxed her stance. Her arms slid around before eventually freeing themselves, coming around Reina. One rested on Reina's lower back while the other held the back of her head, placing it more firmly into Maria's breasts.

"I'm sorry." Maria quietly spoke. "Being with you is so nice, I just…"

"I know." Reina rubbed her back. "You don't like worrying about things so much, and like living in the moment."

Maria hummed. "You remembered."

"Of course I did." Reina turned her head up and kissed Maria's cheek.

They continued to hold one another, letting the tension that had quickly built up melt away. Reina could feel Maria's thumb making tiny circles on the back of her head.

"I didn't realize that was so important to you." Reina said, still pressed against Maria.

Her body was squeezed slightly before Maria responded. "Sorry. I had a thousand thoughts run through my head all at once when you mentioned me being a noble and I, well, panicked."

"Is it something you can talk about?" Reina asked. If it was part of her secret, she didn't know how much information she could get.

Maria hummed, but nodded. Reina pulled back, and then began leading Maria to the bed. Once there, they sat on the bed, Maria looking at Reina.

"My parents." She began, taking in a breath. "To strengthen my family's standing, I was promised to another noble as a bride when I came of age."

Reina nodded, saying nothing. Her limited experience dealing with politics aside, she knew such a thing was common with nobility. Seeing someone having to deal with it was another thing.

"I knew the noble. He was…well, not significantly older than me, but I was only 11 years old. It was hard to hear at the time."

Reina felt her eye twitch at that, but continued to listen.

"There were lots of problems I had with my parents before then. That wasn't even the last straw before I chose to run away. But it all centered around the fact that I didn't have control of my own life."

Maria's eyes looked deeply into Reina's. "I wanted to choose what I did. I wanted to fall in love and marry who I wanted. I wanted to learn—"

She cut herself off, turning away. "I wanted to live my life. Thankfully, my older brother helped me leave. Truthfully, I think he didn't want to worry about his own standing. Our eldest brother had died recently, making him the heir to the family. Even if it was for selfish reasons, I'm thankful for what he did. I was able to leave home."

"I think I understand." Reina said. She couldn't completely put herself in Maria's shoes, her parents being quite lenient with her hobbies so long as her grades were good.

"Then I got to do what I wanted. I got to go where I wanted. I could choose to do anything." Maria let a smile appear on her face, though it soon vanished. "But, then…"

She looked at Reina again, eyes wavering. "I fell in love with you. I don't regret it, I really don't, but…"

"Something else you want became harder to get." Reina could see where she was going.

Maria brought her other hand forward, clasping Reina's hand with both. "I still want to have kids one day, but I don't want to stop being with you, and I don't know how to make that work."

Reina didn't either. All of this was new to her. In her old world, there were ways a woman could have a child on her own if she really wanted to, but this world was centuries behind on the medical technology necessary. The only other option…was the direct way.

Despite that, Reina couldn't help but feeling a little happy. Maria was sharing something personal with her, something that really troubled her.

"Hey, Boss?" Maria let go of her hand and brought hers to either side of Reina's face. "Why do you love me?"

Reina's eyes widened. She wasn't expecting that. She also wasn't quite sure how to answer it. They jumped into things pretty quickly, last night being another leap. She didn't have much time now to consider things.

"I…" Not wanting to delay her response any further, Reina went with what she knew. "You're nice." Her opening statement was lackluster, but she kept going. "You're fun to be with. The way you act is so far from what I'm used to, it was strange to be around you. But once I got to know you a little more, I got more comfortable with it, even if you still say things that shouldn't be said around others."

She brought her hands up to Maria's, taking them off her face and holding them. "When I'm next to you, I feel more relaxed. When I sleep next to you, I don't worry as much about what'll happen tomorrow. I like the way I'm starting to act just by having you around."

Openly flirting wasn't always easy, but the reward of seeing Maria's flustered face made it worth the risk of embarrassment.

"And…I think I should apologize." Reina lowered her head slightly. "Last night was amazing. So much so that I hardly remember what I did. If I didn't see you next to me when I woke up, see how…passionately I acted," she threw a little shade at the Fire Spirit for its part, trying to deflect from the feeling of her face warming up, "I probably wouldn't have believed it."

"So, you don't remember saying you love me?" Maria asked, though Reina couldn't bear to look up and see her expression.

"…Yes." Reina admitted. "But I meant it when you asked this morning. I do love you, Maria."

Despite her worry, that was the right thing to say. Maria pulled her close, large breasts pressed up against her chest with Maria's arms wrapped tightly behind her.

"Okay." Maria said, her voice right next to Reina. "I believe you, Boss. Sorry for asking."

"Don't be sorry." Reina held onto Maria as well. "We're doing things way out of order. It's new to both of us."

It also didn't help that they didn't really have anyone to talk with about this. For all his big-brother-energy he was apparently giving off, Vyrdrun was more in tune with the practical side of things and not the emotional. She couldn't fault him for that; if she had to guess, it was in part due to his tribe being wiped out while he was still learning. She could never hold that against him.

Grim was a little less so, but he was still a noble. Reina warmed up to the idea, but she was aware he had a duty to his country and not just fighting the Waves. Any advice he gave would be colored by that, as was evident from their discussion.

That, however, could be a problem for tomorrow.

"I love you too, Boss." Maria said.

"I know." Reina replied. She meant it.

It was transparently clear that was the case. It was why she kept secrets; why Maria didn't want to say who her family was and why there's still another secret she's keeping hidden. It was why she was so worried Reina might want to break things off with her if having children was a prerequisite. Maria was absolutely terrified the person she loved would reject her.

Reina wanted to put her at ease.

"Hm~." Maria hummed with a slight laugh in her throat.

"What?" Reina leaned back to see Maria smiling at her.

"Well, I'm just glad you don't love me just for my body." She lifted her hand and pulled at her dress. "I know how much you love these~."

"Aaand she's back." Reina grinned, reaching up and sliding her hand under Maria's to feel that softness once more. The action also earned a light gasp from the woman in her arms. "Careful. I might pounce on you again."

"I wouldn't try to stop you~." Maria breathed out into Reina's ear.

And there it was again. As if something snapped in her, Reina was on top of Maria on their bed once more, hands held above Maria's head. She just found a way to make Maria feel better.

"Don't complain if I leave you sore in the morning." Reina told her as she sized her up.

Maria's face turned absolutely scarlet. In a moment of clarity, Reina realized what she just implied, let go of Maria, and sat straight up.

"That's not—" She wanted to say she'd never done anything like that, but she honestly didn't know. Physically, she didn't have the right equipment, but the stains on the bed this morning said she did something like that.

"I mean, it's not like I don't know how. I was curious, and so…" Doing that with another person, however, was something she didn't have experience with. Until last night, apparently.

"I'm going to need you to tell me exactly what we did last night." Reina said. "Later, though."

"S-Sure, Boss." Maria nodded nervously.

Relaxing a little, Reina lowered herself once more. "Oh, and before we get to that." She wanted to say one more thing. "We'll think of something. For the future."

She could almost hear Vyrdrun making the suggestion that they find some man they trust to do the deed. No, he would probably use the word 'male'. Maybe he wouldn't say anything, though. He didn't look like he knew what to do when the two of them turned in for the night.

The idea of someone being with Maria like she had been was distressing, but this wasn't something they could just ignore.

Besides, there was all sorts of magic in this world. Not everything was known. There could be something that, just for a little while, would allow Reina to give Maria what she wanted.

Maria smiled up at her. "Okay."

This night, however, they wouldn't worry about it. They'd just enjoy one another as much as they could. The Wave was tomorrow and anything could happen. Not that Reina would let it. Be it the Wave, the Demon Lord, her family, or something else, Reina would keep Maria safe.

Author's Notes:

Took a little longer here than anticipated, but I think it was worth it.