After the tribal delegation left Alex took the initiative in cleaning up. He made extra sure to feather dust anything that the barbarians touched. They smelled and were dirty. It was also hopefully a good way to raise a cleaning skill and not a developing OCD problem.

  "Refresh my memory Fufi please. Is there any reason the dungeon should be an underwater one now?" Alex asked his familiar.

  "No, I was with you the whole time when we got captured. There wasn't any time for us to do anything." Fufi answered. “If something happened, it wasn’t you or me that did it.”

  "And Merumeru met us at the meeting spot. I'm guessing she snuck out and stopped her plumbing project when she noticed trouble." Alex considered the options.

  The fmingo nodded. "I guess she didn't get a chance to finish her pipes."

  Alex shook his head. "Handverk is giving us credit for something that we didn't do."

  Fufi shrugged. "None of us knows any water magic or trap magic. Maybe there was a passing nereid that took pity on us but that doesn't seem likely."

  Ki gave Alex and Fufi a reproachful look like they were being silly. "Just from listening, shouldn't it be obvious? Merumeru was making pipes to the guild. And what were these pipes filled with?"

  Fufi wing-palmed. "With water. . . they are pipes filled with water from the dam. Oh that makes sense."

  "No wonder they couldn't figure out the magic. There isn't any magic, just gravity." Alex snickered.

  "See, that wasn't so hard to guess." Ki smiled smugly.

  "Oh" Alex and Fufi said in unison. Yet again the slime girl did something unexpected.

  "Well, should we head back and let Martha, Bob and Merumeru know that we are all alright?" Alex finished cleaning and packing up.

  "I'll fly back and let them know. It will be quicker." Fufi stood up straight and extended her wings.

  "Ah, it must be nice to fly." Alex sounded a little jealous.

  "Many magical girls can fly Alex. Don't stop dreaming. Even in your world people who were not magical girls flew every day." Fufi took to the skies.

  The first leg of the journey was mostly ft. Everyone rode on or in the carriage as it ticked along the countryside. Alex was sitting on a bench across from Ki while Kaide sat on top of the driving bench.

  "May I ask what your story is, Ki? How did you meet Sakura?" Alex looked toward the nymph.

  "It was a long time ago but we met her when we fled the city. Anyone who didn't have a combat css went into the hills to escape the demon soldiers." Ki started, a far away look on her face.

  "That must have been tough." Alex sympathized.

  "Yes, getting my memories back. . . I'm not sure it was a blessing in my case. I remember my father said he got a notification that the king swore to become a vassal to the demon queen. The lord was given the option to become a vassal as well or decre independence. He of course wouldn't bend the knee to the demon queen. As a baron, he wasn't a very high ranked noble but he still had his pride and was upset when word came that the army marched into the capital south of here and took it with no organized resistance." Ki wistfully stated, shaking her head.

  "Perhaps the king was charmed." Alex guessed, remembering the siren dolls from the dungeon.

  Ki nodded. "Most likely the demon queen's agents had pns in pce for a long time. It is a weakness of having a monarch after all. Anyway, here we are at the edges of the kingdom so it wasn't until ter that the armies came to clean up the dissenters. I don't know all of what happened because at the time we were fleeing but some of the soldiers who escaped after the fight said they had to fight demons and the kingdom's men. They were more like thralls than people."

  "Oh, hopefully a lot of your people escaped to the mountains." Alex wanted her to continue the story.

  "At first it was several thousand. A lot of refugees gathered with us fleeing the army. The town held out long enough to buy us some time to get further away. However, it was obvious that most of the people fled so we couldn't outrun them. I knew my father had died because I inherited the title of Baroness. When the fighting started that is how I met Sakura. She was able to defeat them easily with her magical girl powers. However, the fact that a magical girl was found here triggered an extreme response from the demons. Much stronger demons attacked and id waste to the forest seeking out the magical girl that had been spotted. Sakura fought them and defeated many powerful demons but they came in waves. Her domain was vast but she had not been as strong of a magical girl back then. Many people were captured, killed, or surrendered as they scoured the mountains." Ki continued her story.

  Alex shivered. "It sounds dreadful."

  "It was, we didn't stand a chance. The people who survived only did so by fleeing further and further. The people who were caught were forced to lead the demon generals to Sakura's grove. She fought bravely and killed some of them but there were just too many. She was cut down and they felled all the trees. I wasn't there but that is what Sakura told us." Ki waved off in the direction where the grove stood.

  "But she survived? How could she survive when they cut down all the trees?" Alex questioned.

  The aspen nymph expined, "Aspen trees are different from most trees. There are many trees connected with the same root system. Even with all the big trees gone there were sprouts that could grow. It took years for her to recover. The lesson that she learned was not to trust anyone and to close off her heart to people who might betray her. The handful of people who were left she collected as her nymphs."

  "She just transformed them." Alex said with a shaky voice.

  "The most terrible part was how the people became when things were at their worst. Many bmed Sakura for the second army. They said hurtful things like 'if only Sakura was gone we'd be safe right now.' When she started regrowing her grove and reestablishing her domain she didn't want to have anything to do with humans. Any that were susceptible to transformations she took."

  "So, Kyle was susceptible but Martha and Bob were not?" Alex asked.

  “Higher leveled people can resist transformatives better.” Ki nodded, "Yes, they tend to work best on younger people."

  Bob and Martha had previously mentioned that their neighbors' children had also vanished. This aligned with the current situation. Additionally, the demon army's primary target seemed to be Sakura, rather than the refugees. The refugees' isotion had inadvertently shielded them from the conflict and the demon army's attention.

  "Are there other nymphs from the group of refugees?" Alex asked Ki.

  "Yes, though they stay as far away from the ruins as possible." Ki expined.

  "Even with their memories gone?" Alex wondered.

  Ki nodded. "Even though they don't remember, that doesn't make the pces that have a connection to an unpleasant past give them a feeling of unease. Most of those nymphs stay up near the timberline Sakura doesn't force them to come down. However, she does allow them to visit if they wish."

  "Do they visit much?" Alex asked.

  "Sometimes, but usually not for long. Maybe with their memories returned they might come down from the mountains seeking answers." Ki smiled.

  "Was it because you were a baroness that you were confident in setting up a meeting with the stone ax tribe?" Alex thought Ki seemed fairly savvy in dealing with people.

  "You have to remember I never went to the temple to get a css from the gods. My parents hired a governess that educated me to become a dy. I got the title but never the css. Most people would go to town to get a css but the demons killed all the priests after they captured the town. There were a few shrines that the farmers would use to ask for csses deep in the woods but Sakura hid them. If they were gods that could give humans csses she didn't want them in her domain. Humans can be turned into thralls by a succubus. Many of the nymphs still have csses that used to be humans though depending on the css they can't do much with it." Ki answered the question. “Like being a lumberjack wouldn’t be a great css for a nymph.”

  Alex winced slightly at the mention of the lumberjack css but didn’t say anything about it. "I wonder if Luna would give you a css. Would you like to get a css?"

  "I'd like one but I've never seen a shrine or temple to Luna. For whatever reason she never had a following in this area." Ki ran a hand through her leafy green hair. “Maybe Sakura could count as a clergy member but she got her css through her familiar, not from praying at a shrine.”

  "We could make one? Though it would have to be really cute. I'm not sure what else would be needed for it to count as a shrine where someone could ask Luna for a css." Alex pictured many things from a little roadside shrine to a giant cathedral like Notre Dame.

  As the group journeyed back to the farm, they were forced to transform the carriage back into a card and continue on foot. Alexed used this opportunity to engage in conversation with the other nymphs accompanying them. These nymphs, unlike Kaide, had been nymphs for a considerable number of years. They hailed from tribes that had been banished deep within the forest. This revetion shed light on the questions Alex had been subjected to during his capture and captivity. The presence of a rger tribe in the vicinity could spell trouble for the stone ax men if they were found to be causing disturbances.

  Night bnketed the area in darkness by the time the group made it back.

  Merumeru, the slime girl, spent her day diligently working on the kitchen sink's plumbing. Upon Fufi's return, she discovered Merumeru colborating with the beavers to construct a dam. The stream was strategically obstructed with dirt and logs, while a stone pipe efficiently channeled water from the dam to the kitchen sink. Additionally, a second pipe was connected to a drain that cleverly led back to the stream. A simple turn of a valve on the metal pipe released a flow of water into the stone basin. Although Merumeru required a stool to demonstrate its operation to Martha, the impressive functionality of the system left everyone in awe.

  Alex wanted to see what the slime girl knew about a certain water trap but she was fast asleep from a busy day.

  After returning to the farm, the group dispersed. The nymph escorts departed on their own paths once the woodnd journey concluded. Kaide, though lingering for a while, eventually retired to the farmhouse for some rest. No longer a nymph and feeling hungry, Alex utilized the carriage's brazier to illuminate the area and cook up a dinner for himself and Fufi.

  "Merumeru's been really helpful." Fufi commented, obviously not expecting her to get the kitchen sink set up so quickly.

  "Yeah, I don't think we could have got that sink in without her help. Anything plumbing she is amazing with." Alex smiled. "Also, what do you think about Ki's request? Do you think Luna would give her a css?"

  Fufi hummed. "Maybe? It might not be a css she wants though. Luna is the goddess of cuteness. So any css she gives would be reted to that."

  "How would that work? If she got a baroness css she would be the kind of ruler that makes things cuter in her nd?" Alex smiled. That would be an interesting power.

  "She'd probably just use it to make the people cuter. Maybe she'd have a spell that would make the people cuter." Fufi said. “Or maybe the nd she controlled would become cuter?”

  "Or maybe the other way around. Not cute things could not be affected as well. Wouldn't that be weird?" Alex said.

  "I suppose. I mean, if you're a person that isn't cuter than the people around you, wouldn't that make them feel bad?" Fufi asked.

  "I guess so. Do you think she could become a magical girl?" Alex asked.

  "No, Ki becoming a magical girl has the same problem as Sakura being a magical girl. Nature spirits are more connected to the nd than people. Being champions of love and justice is not in their nature. It is the same reason why magical girl princesses are a bad idea. Though if Ki wants to ask Luna for a css I don't see a problem with it. Shrines to Luna exist. The main thing is that it has to be cute enough to meet her approval." Fufi expined, though her voice lowered a bit at the mention of ‘princess.’

  "I bet I could make a doll that looks like Luna and dress her up. We could make a doll house that has lots of cute stuff in it." Alex brainstormed.

  "That sounds like a lot of fun. I don't know if we have the materials though." Fufi said.

  "Yeah, it would have to be the cutest materials." Alex agreed, wheels in his head spinning. "I wish we could get back into the dungeon. I could use some of these pearls and sea shells to make a doll outfit but she'd look more like a water goddess."

  "Well, if Handverk can get the stone ax tribe to pnt those trees it should be safe to go back. I really hope their chieftain is capable of some common decency." Fufi compined. “I have a feeling like this won’t be resolved without a show of force.”

  "Me too." Alex sighed and munched on some grilled veggies. “Luna’s quest doesn’t say anything about fighting humans. They are supposed to be our allies.”

  Fufi and Alex chatted about recent events a bit more over dinner and went to bed after they had finished eating. Hopefully things will be looking up soon. It had been a rough couple of days.

  melchi