[77.4] The Future is Coming

After dropping Koale off at the Medical Matriarch's hut, I turned to Bale cracking my knuckles.

"Now it's time for me to beat you up."

"Ahhh! Great Fairy, wait!" He held up his hands in a panic, "Can I show you something first before you kill me?"

I shrugged, "Fine. It'll be my last bit of goodwill to you."

"YES!" He quickly turned into a panther and hopped in the direction of the woods surrounding the village, "Come on Great Fairy! Follow me!"

I shrugged and followed him until he stopped at a shack made out of straw and leaves.

I looked at the poorly put-together sticks as he turned back into a demon, his tail wagging in excitement.

"This is my home!!!" He went into what he imagined to be the doorway and I followed trying to hide my disapproval.

He sat down in a corner and started rifling through the leaves that had once been a ceiling, "I want to show you something I've been working on."

"You've been working on something?"

"Yup! You know how I've been looking for the perfect ring for Lovi?"

"Yeah."

"Well, nothing I could find was worthy enough to give to Lovi. After a while, I started wondering if a perfect ring even existed. Then I thought - what if I made it!?"

I was taken aback, "You made a ring?"

He pulled out the ring and showed it off proudly, "Look! I took the skull of a mouse and put some rare gemstones into the eye hole. Do you think she'll like it?"

I tried to force a smile, "If anyone would like it, it would be Lovi."

He held it to his chest with a dreamy sigh, "I worked really hard on it. I made so many crappy rings that I thought my fingers were going to break off."

I glanced at the piles of broken rings and countless gemstones that had been ruined, "I see that."

His eyes sparkled as he stared at me, "Well? Do you permit me to marry Lovi now!?"

I looked around the small fort, "...Bale. it seems to me that there is one more issue to address before I give you my blessing."

His ears picked up, "What? What's wrong?"

I glared at him, "If you intend on marrying Lovi, where do you plan on living? I hope you don't intend for her to move in here?"

He paused and looked around, "Is there something wrong with it?"

My face twitched, "Bale. If you want to marry Lovi, you must build her a proper house. I would never let my disciple suffer in a house like this."

He pursed his lips, "It's not that bad…"

"Do you think Lovi would be satisfied in a place that doesn't even have a roof and is falling apart?"

He flinched and lowered his head, "I guess not…"

"Then that's my term. You can marry her, but you need to build a proper house."

He jumped to his feet and saluted me with glee, "Yes ma'am! I'm going to build a house in the best location! It's going to be so perfect she will cry tears of gratitude."

I let out an exhausted sigh, "I can't wait to see it."

I returned to the village to check on Koale and saw him running towards me waving an extremely small vial of ink, "I DID IT! I PASSED THE TEST!!!"

I grinned and clapped my hands for him, "Good job!"

He puffed out his chest, "It only took a few years. The doctor lady said I improved enough to try my first permanent one!" 

I rubbed his head and summoned the ice chunk, "Who will you use it on?"

"Probably Rose?"

Why am I not surprised?

After we arrived back at the Mountain, Koale wasted no time running off to find Rose.

"Rose! Let me try the permanent ink on you!!!"

She shrugged nonchalantly, "Sure."

As he started, I went to find Asmonious and the twins. I took Zephyr from him and motioned him off, "Okay, now go to sleep."

He smiled at me, "I'm not tired yet."

I pursed my lips and went to nag, but was caught off by a squeal.

Rose held up her hand which had a heart tattooed on her finger, "I LOVE IT!!!"

Koale beamed from the praise, "Do you want a bigger one? I have enough ink left over!!!"

She stood up abruptly, "YES! Let me shave part of my head!!!"

I looked at her incredulously, "Why shave your head!?"

Her eyes sparkled, blinded by love, "Because I want to see my darling's tattoo every time I look in the mirror."

"..."

I was speechless as she ran off to shave her head.

Koale glanced at Asmonious with a curious expression.

Asmonious looked back at him and tilted his head, "What is it?"

Koala asked innocently, "All the demons in the village have horns. Even Lovi who is more human than a demon has horns. So why don't you have any horns?"

Asmonious stared back without blinking, a smile frozen on his face.

I noticed his strange reaction and cut in, "Koale, there are some things you shouldn't ask about."

"What's wrong with my question? I thought all demons had horns?"

I shook my head, "No. Horns don't make the demon."

Koale felt his own, "Then what makes a demon?"

I reached out to rub his head, "You'll have to figure that out yourself."

Asmonious smiled weakly as a dark and ominous look crawled into his eyes.