This story happened on a full moon, a week after the battle in the capital. Just like every other day, our heroes were making camp after a day of riding through the barely maintained roads. But unlike any other day, on this day, Meclic did something absolutely unthinkable.

 

Squeeze squeeze.

 

Hm... Meclis wondered in his head at this strange sensation in his hands.

 

Squeeze squeeze.

 

Boin boin.

 

"As you going to explain this before or after I beat you to death?" Feska asked as Meclis continued to fondle her breasts.

 

Squeeze squeeze. "No... I'm just wondering... why do you have breasts?"

 

"Before, then," Feska said as she cracked her knuckles.

 

"Please have mercy on me."

 

The birds in the forest flew away at the first sound of fist meeting flesh. The sound of meat being pummeled continued to echo for another hour. As each shockwave hit the trunk and branches of the trees, the leaves fell one after another, imitating autumn. Except it wasn't autumn, it was past winter.

 

When it was done, there was a corpse-like being under one of the trees. It was covered in blood. There were words written in blood on the trunk of the tree, saying "Here lies Meclis. The enemy of all women."

 

"Did you have to hit me that hard?" Meclis asked when he regained consciousness.

 

He massaged his aching body gently, a result of being beaten half to death by Feska just a couple of hours earlier. If not for Feska's healing magic, he probably would've died for real. Feska would disagree though. After all, this wasn't the first time Feska tried to kill him and failed. Meclis's ability to survive sure death was legendary even back before he joined Feska.

 

"You were fondling my breasts!" Feska huffed in annoyance with her arms crossed under her mounds of flesh.

 

"And that's what's curious! What's with that?!!! You're not a-"

 

Meclis could not speak further as he found his mouth was covered by a sticky substance. It closed his mouth shut tight, that even with his superhuman strength, he couldn't open his mouth to speak a word. All that could be heard was his muffled voice as he tried to say something without much success.

 

"He did have a point, though," Nerys the priestess came in Meclis's defense, "Why would you have those when you're not a-"

 

Nerys also found that she couldn't speak as the same sticky substance that covered Meclis's mouth was also on her mouth. She tried to open her mouth without any luck. As she lost the ability to use magic for a month, there was nothing she could do to dispel the spell that Feska cast despite knowing how to do it.

 

Without turning her head, Feska's consciousness peered to the left, far in the bushes behind the trees. Suddenly she laughed in a way so unlike her normally taciturn personality. "Hahaha, what are you both talking about? Of course a girl would have breasts. Why is it so strange for a girl to have breasts? Hohoho."

 

But you're not a girl! Both Meclis and Nerys had the same thought.

 

And so busty! Meclis and Nerys again shared the same thought.

 

As if sensing their inner thoughts, Feska explained, "Look, it's the full moon. Things happen on a full moon."

 

Both Meclis and Nerys looked at Feska with doubt in their eyes. As far as they knew, Feska was never a werewolf. Feska could be a demon, but she was certainly not a werewolf or a werewoman in this case. They were both very sure that Feska was a boy through and through despite how she dressed.

 

"If you agree not to ask about it, I'll remove the gag, alright? Nod if you agree," Feska offered.

 

Both Meclis and Nerys nodded as one.

 

Although they both had questions, they kept quiet about it. Both felt Feska was more agitated and sensitive than usual. And an agitated and sensitive Feska was bad news. No, bad news was Feska being sweet. Horrible news was when Feska was agitated and there was no telling what Feska would do.

 

Is this the result of my bullying last time? Whichever god who governs this boy's mood, I'm sorry, okay!  Nerys thought as she felt a little guilty about bullying Feska three years ago.

 

Must be a woman thing, Meclis thought.

 

Feska flinched as she sensed that thought. She felt like beating him up again but stayed her hand. After all, her current situation was a little complicated.

 

Damn, how the hell do I use this flint? Magic, where is it when I need it? Nerys thought.

 

Feska ignored her.

 

I wonder what's for dinner... A different voice said in the darkness.

 

The veins on Feska's temple popped at hearing the thought that wasn't hers.

 

"I can't get the fire started," Nerys complained.

 

"Ha? I thought fire was your specialty, Nerusys?" Feska sneered.

 

"When I had magic! I can't use magic for at least a month because of you!"

 

"Eeeeh... you raised your voice at me, Nerusys?"

 

Nerys jumped down on her knees and prostrated before Feska in an exaggerated manner. "Please forgive this worm for speaking out of turn, my dear great goddess. Your beauty is first in Heaven and Earth and your prowess is eternal."

 

Feska squatted on the ground and patted Nerys's head. "Good that you know your place, Nerusys."

 

Meclis looked at the exchange and said, "This is all very amusing, but we still have a problem. I'm trying to start a fire now and I can't get it to work either. My tinder box is empty now. Everything is soaking wet. I'm not willing to sacrifice a blanket for this."

 

It was of course normal for both Meclis and Nerys to worry about fire.

 

Being the single most powerful creature on Earth, carrying a pair of Chaos Eyes and possessing the angelic runeblade Galtharus, Feska didn't really need fire. However, the same couldn't be said for her two companions. Despite being something that could be considered on the same rank as monsters, they were both still very much human. It had just rained and everything was wet, even themselves. So they needed fire or they would get very sick from the cold night. Especially Nerys, who had lost the magic that she was so proud of and depended on, who was now no different from a normal human.

 

Oh, Feska wasn't wet, though. She wasn't touched by the downpour. While she would normally allow drizzles to touch her, she would raise her own barrier when it rained heavily. The result was that neither she nor her royal white horse were affected by the heavy downpour earlier.

 

Without a word, Feska grabbed one of the wet branches and said, "I need fire."

 

There was a spark at the tip of the branch as soon as she said it. In the moment it took to say 'fire', the sparks at the tip turned into actual flames. The wet branch sizzled as the heat slowly dried out the water inside the branch, allowing the flame to sustain itself. Feska placed the branch under the pile of logs once she was satisfied it wouldn't be snuffed easily.

 

"You've learned fire magic?" Nerys asked, feeling like she's been left behind again by her former student.

 

"None of the reports mentioned you could use fire magic," Meclis stated with suspicion.

 

"I've never learned fire magic. My magic has always been wind. See?" Feska used her wind magic on the pile of logs, allowing the fire to burn brighter.

 

"But that..."

 

"Was one of the things you do not need to know, Meclis."

 

"I see, one of those 'it's a full moon' thing, huh?"

 

"Not really, but I suppose you can look at it that way."

 

"Can I ask about it when it's no longer the full moon?"

 

"No."

 

"Gotcha."

 

"So Feska, why exactly are we looking for that guy?" Nerys asked as she pierced some mushrooms with wooden skewers.

 

"That bastard, I will never forgive him for as long as I live!"

 

"So what exactly did he do?" Nerys asked as she added cucumbers to the skewered mushroom.

 

"It's between me and him. You wouldn't know because you left earlier than he did and I forbid you from telling her, Meclis."

 

Oh come on, you're still sore about that? Nerys rolled her eyes as she put the skewered cucumber and mushroom by the fire and started buttering corn.

 

"Yeah, about that. I don't even know what he did. I've been thinking about it all this time and I still came out with nothing."

 

"How can you forget? You were there! You were there the whole time!"

 

"Ah, that... when was this?"

 

"The assault on the demon king's castle!"

 

"But that guy wasn't even there at that time. There were only the two of us there. Well, there would've been three of us if someone didn't run away on her own," Meclis said as she glared at Nerys who was putting the corn to cook beside the fire.

 

"Hey man, how many times do you want me to say sorry? Look, there was only the four of us and you guys wanted to go defeat the demon king. There were thousands of demons between us and them. How did you expect me to feel?" Nerys replied while adding bell pepper, green beans, and tomatoes into a cast iron cookware.

 

Feska grabbed Nerys's left wrist before she could throw in some roughly cut eggplants into the stew.

 

"Not the eggplants," Feska warned.

 

"What's wrong with it?" Nerys said as she flicked her wrist, throwing the eggplants in her hand into the cookware.

 

"Noooo!!!"

 

"You need to eat your vegetables, Feska."

 

"What are you, my mother? I don't need to eat vegetables. I can get all my sustenance from my Chaos Eyes."

 

"Oh, so you'll be fine without meat, right?"

 

"No! Put the meat in, take the eggplants out!"

 

"What's wrong with eggplants?"

 

"It's soft, slimy and disgusting! What other reason would there be?"

 

Nerys suddenly felt smug as she patted Feska's head. "There, there. If you don't eat well, you won't grow up well. How will you seduce boys then, little princess?"

 

"I'll slice you, bitch!" Feska's words ended with the flashy appearance of Galtharus in her hand.

 

Understanding that she went too far, Nerys prostrated before Feska and begged for forgiveness again.

 

The chirping of birds and the crowing of the forest roosters signaled the start of the next morning. Meclis dutifully did his task of packing up their camping gear and putting it on the horses. Nerys, being someone with neither strength nor magic, acted as the cook. As for Feska, well, she was Feska. She did at least dry the camping gear with her wind magic, but that was her only contribution. Basically, just an average day in their journey.

 

After breakfast, they hopped on their horses and rode away. Behind them, at the place where the fire burned up til breakfast was a single bowl of stew. The 'stew' had less water and more meat and cabbage. It was actually piled high in beef strips and cabbage. Then it was simply left there at the campsite.

 

"Is that an offering to the gods or something? You've been doing that for days," Meclis asked, unable to keep it quiet any more.

 

"No," Feska answered while urging her horse forward.

 

"That's it? Just no?" Meclis asked again.

 

"Yes, no."

 

Meclis sighed. "I'm going to need to keep a list of what I'm not allowed to ask."

 

"You'll find out soon."

 

Meclis sighed as he thought, Why can't you just tell me?