Chapter 6.5: The Vacation of Her Holiness Begins

Nope, this was not your obligatory beach chapter. For one, Fen wasn't a town with an adjacent beach. And two, the new arrivals didn't even wear skimpy clothing—for no one dared to invent them yet, lest they earn the ire of the 'religious establishment'. It's just a chronicle of what happened to the Human Saint and her companions all the while Kuro was arrested and was thrown into the dungeons.

Well, they do wear their 'casual' clothes…

Anyway, so after the Duke officially welcomed their party, Madelaine and her group went on their separate ways. The Marquise of Monfort had earlier gone to the Nerfes' capital city to do some matters regarding their bandit encounter on the way to this place. Her deputy, the Dame Atkins, escorted the convoy to Fen itself. And upon arrival, since the maids and paladins were given back their old noble rights and titles, Dame Atkins and her paladin fellows headed straight to the town to do some shop browsing.

They are girls at heart. Just look at those frilly morning stars and battle-axes they're interested in…

"…"

M-moving on, the other maids from the palatial gardens also went to Fen separate from the paladins' party. They went to the clothing stores to look for some dress that might be in trend nowadays, since living with the Saint back at her place forced them to shed their fashionable clothing and wear the bland maid uniform. Of course, since they aimed for the latest fashion, they headed to the 'fashionable clothes' section…

"…"

"Hey, is this the famous ball-gag and whip used for…you know…"

"Shh…not too loud Countess Marie! Those clothing articles are said to increase the sexual potency of your partner, especially when you hit him with a whip with that gag on his mouth…And you also have to wear that shiny, black mask and clothing over there!"

"Oooh! You're too knowledgeable, Duchess Greta! I should take lessons from you!"

Uh, those girls giggled as they discussed those strange clothing articles…

Wait, why do they have those things in a clothing store?

Uh…anyway, in the meantime, Madelaine, Lily, and Ruro were together, and they went to the Human Saint's old bedroom in the Rubinforth manor to talk about 'somethings'…well, you know, 'girl talk'.

"Oh, hey! It's been a while since I entered this place!" the Beastman Saint commented, "I missed that old fluffy bed over there!"

"Yep, I cast a preservation spell to keep this place clean." Madelaine explained, "But well, I don't use it anyway, so I think it won't be necessary to reinforce it."

"As always, you keep your room tidy and neat, huh, Maddie?" Lily commented.

"Well, I just don't want to get an earful from Papa when I return!"

Ruro quickly went to the bed upon releasing the preservation spell. Ruro loved soft things since her cave back in her land had no such luxury. Lily and Madelaine, after dispelling her disguise, followed suit.

"So, what do you plan on doing this time, Maddie?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, Master says that you keep your schedule of strenuous tasks away." Ruro said, "So, if you have nothing to do, what do you have in mind to keep you busy?"

"Nah. I'll just laze around like usual. I miss hugging this old pillow of mine from childhood, and since I'm here, I heard that there's a food shop in Fen that sells my favorite spicy bread!"

"Well…that's a plan." Ruro laughed.

"Maddie, stop being lazy and work your legs off so that you can shed those extra fats!" Lily light scolded her friend, "You're about to get back to your old figure, you fat saint!"

"Tch. What are you, my mother?" Madelaine could feel her blood tinge upon the mention of the word 'fats', "Kuro says that this will be my break, so I'll just sit back, relax and enjoy!"

"And try to store up more fats." Lily sarcastically countered, "Way to go, Fatty Saint!"

Ruro burst out laughing; Maddie was red and her forehead had furrows.

"Hmm…" Lily then began her reflections, "Anyway, Maddie, aren't you glad you summoned that boy? I mean, his knowledge is really weird, but it works wonders! Compared to the last time I saw you, you're much slimmer now, though we still have to work more on some excess weight."

"Oh? I am?"

"Yep." Lily and Ruro agreed at the same time.

Madelaine was silent for a few moments but then gave her thoughts, "Honestly, I feel guilty when I remember that. I mean, I was bored during that time, and I just went for a random summoning—thinking that I'd summon a griffon or a dragon, and then wreak havoc at the palatial gardens while fighting the creature…"

Lily and Ruro exchanged terrified looks.

"Good thing you summoned a smart man, Maddie!" Ruro patted her friend's head.

"Well, he's a man from another world." Madelaine reiterated, "Of course, his knowledge and values will differ vastly from ours. But you know, I feel guilty to have done that to him. I mean, he's just supposed to be living his life quietly on the other side, and the next moment he's now trying to survive in this world of ours."

"But hey, at least, Mister Kuro's been a big help to us!" Lily replied, "If it hadn't for him, you would've died, and I could've been a different person."

"And I could still have been a slave to that stupid girl back in Savoy," Ruro added.

"Well, you could've pounced on that idiot, as a normal Beastman would. You're the Great White Wolf after all—the bane of my household." Maddie was sardonic.

"Che. I only hate your ancestor, JimmyN…well, just his aversion to big boobs." Ruro shrugged, "Whatever your other ancestors did to me was because they're assholes. Good thing you're the only Rubinforth that was blessed with a chest like mine, so we ended up being friends."

"Ah anyway, about Kuro, so what are your plans to do about him?" Lily brought them back to the topic.

"Well, if I won't be able to bring him back to his world, I would ask the help of the gods."

"Why not now?"

"I don't know…" Madelaine answered, "There's a part of me that wants him back there, and there's a part of me that wants him here, with us. I think I'm depending on him more and more that I don't want to lose him."

Lily and Ruro remained silent.

"Guys, do you think it's a bad thing?" Madelaine put up the question.

"Nope." Lily was quick to answer, "I understand your sentiments too, Maddie. If you'd say otherwise, I think I'd try to convince you to keep him with us, at least for the meantime."

"Yes, I wanted him to remain for a while. Maybe teach us a thing or two more…"

Ruro could only grin at the words she's hearing. The three girls went on with their talks for quite a while, ranging from random girly stuff to philosophical thoughts on life (Ruro was the one who often started it).

And then, their quality time was suddenly interrupted by a soft knock on the door. Opening it, Lily saw a Rubinforth maid standing outside.

"Yes?"

"Your Highness, Her Holiness' father wishes to see his daughter in his study to discuss an important matter."

"I see. Well, I'll get her. Please tell the duke that we're on our way."

The maid then curtsied and went back. Lily went to Madelaine and told her about the servant's message…