The God of Destruction and I

Bad Influence

After I carried everyone to the edge of the caldera on the back of the wurm, I returned a second time to collect the contents of the treasure trove in the wurm's gullet. The blue rose trio, while not terribly happy about the situation, were at least gracious about being rescued, and were careful to not insult the black bulls in front of us again.

When we got back, Yami was on his usual spot on the couch, smoking and reading a newspaper. He sent us out again, on a mission patrolling the southern border. After that, we hunted bandits in a ravine near Rayaka, and then we retrieved a second trove of magic items from an enchanted lake. Each time Charmy was there with a buffet to allow us to replenish our mana, and Yami was around to hand us the next mission. A couple times we passed Magna and Luck in the hallway, looking some combination of burnt and singed. We weren't doing much better- all three of us were tired, and I was covered in pondweed from the enchanted lake.

Yami was sat out on the back porch when we returned, this time polishing his katana, a cigarette in his mouth. He looked like he'd just recently got back from a mission himself, his shirt dirty and his hair more untidy than usual. "Back so soon, eh?" He looked up from the sword as he wiped down the back of the blade with a cloth, taking in our appearances. "Okay, report."

Gauche stepped forward, his tone deadpan. "We retrieved the items. Kost fell in the lake and Noelle had to fish her out because she can't swim."

"Hey!" I made a face. "I was going to get myself out."

"You just sank straight down!" objected Noelle.

"I could've walked to the shore from the bottom."

Noelle gave a skeptical harrumph.

"Sounds about right," said Yami. "Go pick another mission from the pile on the table."

Gauche looked distressed. "My designated day with Marie is tomorrow."

"Then you'd better be finished by then," said Yami, pausing to inhale smoke.

The three of us looked at each other, and Gauche and Noelle turned to go. I moved to follow them.

"Nah." Yami gestured to me with his cigarette hand. "You look like shit, Kost. Come to the capital with me instead."

I stared after the hunched shoulders of Gauche and Noelle as they disappeared inside. "Won't they want my help?" I asked, feeling more than a little useless.

Yami raised an eyebrow at me. "They'll be fine," he said. "Luck already took all the exciting missions. Besides, the wizard king wants to see you."

"The wizard king wants to see me?" I repeated. "Why?"

Yami shrugged eloquently. "Beats me. He said he wanted to see at least one of my backdoor recruits, and, well, you're here and the other guy isn't."

"The other guy?"

"I run a proactive recruitment campaign," said Yami. "He'll turn up eventually, don't worry."

In the baths I scrubbed myself clean of the slime from the lake, picking the plants out of my hair, and changed into my second set of clothes, the too-short tunic with the large sauce stain across the chest. Could I really meet the wizard king looking like this? I surveyed myself in the mirror, wrapping my magic knight cape around my shoulders. My body looked stronger than it had the night Yami had carried me here, the shadow of abs under the skin of my stomach, but I still looked like someone who'd been dragged here from the forest, and not like a magic knight at all.

I didn't even own shoes. But I did have money. I needed to go shopping.

My first thought was to look for Gordon, but he was away on a mission with Grey, no sign of him in his usual corner save for a pincushion from his sewing kit. With no chance of Gordon's return before Yami dragged me off to the capital in the afternoon, I turned to my second choice.