Minos let out a sigh as yet another case ended in the easily guessed verdict.

He twiddled his fingers as his subordinates ushered the condemned soul out of the courtroom.

Another breath made its way out his mouth as the doors shut behind them.

‘Is it just me, or is it even more boring than usual?’ He thought to himself as he propped his feet up on his bench. 

Doing so was definitely unprofessional, but Minos felt that he deserved a break from the prim and properness that was expected from his position every once in a while. 

He also believed that he was off the clock during the intermissions between cases or when the random explorer was brought in.

It also didn’t help that his job was so boring.

‘Especially after the policy that shut down me throwing perpetrators towards their assignments with my tail came out.’ The tail flicked in what seemed to be agreement. ‘What idiot did that? Oh wait, it was me…I was getting lazy and started missing my mark…so I pushed that on my subordinates…oops.’

A puff of smoke appeared in front of the bench, shaking Minos from his internal monologue.

“I’ve returned, Lord Minos,” said his succubus secretary as she appeared out of the smoke.

“I see,” the judge replied lazily. “I assume everything went according to plan?”

The demoness assistant nodded.

“More or less, my lord. The entire group was a bit stronger than our initial estimation, so the wind spirits had to…roughen some of them up in order to successfully capture them.”

“How badly are they hurt?” the judge asked.

“I have yet to see them myself,” his secretary replied.” But if the report is to be believed, nothing major, a couple of cuts and bruises. Though one of the weaker on has a rather large gash on her face from an attempt to protect the smallest one.”

“Mhm, very well,” Minos said, seemingly unconcerned. 

‘That would’ve been concerning two hundred or so years ago…but I’m not worried. Abducting and injuring travelers was deemed illegal for the second circle, which is supposed to be a place of fair judgment, but who cares about the rules? Ever since the ruler’s appearance, the Enforcer has only left her hole in the eighth circle to check up on the ruler’s growth in the ninth.’

Dismissing the thoughts, the judicial figure asked another question.

“Well, in that case, how long until they make it back, Crete?” 

“Any min-” the succubus began.

A knock upon the courtroom’s massive doors interrupted her.

‘Ah, they’ve arrived.’

“Enter!” Minos commanded.

The overtly grand double doors slowly opened, and a group quietly ushered themselves into the courtroom.

It was a sight that Minos had seen countless times but for reasons he wasn’t certain of, it wasn’t one that he was tired of.

‘Perhaps it’s the unknown element? I never know who or what might get brought back.’ He thought idly as he watched.

The five wind spirits, beings of a scarcely corporate form held together by literal typhoons of air, slowly pranced their way into the courtroom, each holstering a large bag on their backs.

Fanning out to make a lineup in front of Minos’ Bench, the spirits deposited their bags on the floor.

Then the left-most spirit, from Minos' perspective, opened their bag, which seemed to be the largest by a small margin.

The fabric fell, revealing…a woman. It was a bit difficult to tell with the position, but she looked rather tall compared to the average mortal, or at least the ones that Minos had seen.

She had a head of luscious pink hair adorned by a pair of orange horns, which both complemented her chocolatey skin perfectly. 

She was undeniably one of the most beautiful people Minos had ever laid his eyes on.

Seeing the absolute stunner laying before him, Minos felt giddy at the prospect of the appearance of her companions.

‘The saying is trees of a seed don the same leaves, after all!’

The next wind spirit readily undid the next knot on their bag as if reading his mind. The material dropped, displaying, another lady. 

She was about the same size as the other lady.

With dark hair that shimmered with an iridescent sheen, the woman was certainly very attractive. 

In the eyes of some, her beauty might be doubled…by the addition of another face. 

Minos was surprised by the…but he didn’t think it took away any of her allure.

The next knot fell, revealing yet another stunning woman.

This one was a bit smaller than the other two, but not by that much.

If Minos had to describe her in a single word, it would be golden.

Golden horns, golden tattoos, and golden leathery wings. 

On closer observation, the lady actually shared similar features to the first one, almost leading Minos to think they were related. A notion he dismissed with the obvious different features the two possessed. 

‘Three down, two to go.’ He thought as he rubbed his hands eagerly.

The next bag dropped…and you guessed it. Another captivating lass appeared.

But in comparison to the others….she was kind of…plain. 

Not in the sense of her attractiveness, that was undeniable, and she was surely in contention with the rest. If one was to look past the gash on her face.

But that was…it. She didn’t have an extra head or another pair of arms. There were no horns on her head. 

She was surprisingly human looking. The only other distinguishing feature was the interesting pattern that spiraled on her skin. It encompassed the entirety of her body from the neck down.

A vibration reverberated through the bench as Minos unconsciously thumped this tail in excitement. 

If this time was like any of the ones before, the spirits had saved the best of the catch for last.

As the fabric fell away, Minos found himself in absolute agreement with their judgment.

In front of Minos was the most adorable being that he had ever laid eyes on and by a landslide.

Had he not been happily married, and if the girl appeared a bit older, Minos would have been satisfied pining after the girl till the end of time. 

The secretary and wind spirits let out a yelp as they noticed that the girl was awake. Minos on the other hand, was a bit too enraptured in taking in the view to catch that detail.

Interestingly enough, the girl actually seemed to share features with a lot of the rest of her group. 

She had a head full of luscious blonde hair that glimmered with an iridescent shine in the light as she took in her surroundings. 

There were two sets of horns on her head and a pair of feathery jet black wings on her back. 

Beautiful tattoos dotted her vibrant skin.

As he admired the cutie before him, Minos felt an ingrained desire to protect her.

This desire quickly changed to a feeling of need to protect himself as the girl’s eyes focused on the gash on the plainer woman.

The temperature of the room began to plummet.

Another feeling arose within Minos as the girl locked eyes with him, her beautiful rubies smoldering.

‘Oh cra-’

Lulla

Hi there....it's been a while. Sorry for the wait. I been a bit caught up with some of the suffering seasoning cooked up by life. Namely  a cup of school, a teaspoon of stress and a drop of sickness. With a dash of  no motivation for good measure. I've actually written this chapter several times but it just wasn't feeling right. If I'm being honestly, I'm still not that crazy about it now. That being said, I want to stay thank you for sticking with me and of course thank you for reading! I can't commit to a schedule right now with how hectic things are, but I'll try my best to do what I can. So see you all soon...hopefully!!!