Shinatobe turned into a tiny ball of light again and disappeared by flying at high speed to Alex’s right ear. The Princess was about to explode and asked Alex:
“Who was that? I never saw or heard about such a rude Spirit! If you can’t control your Spirit, maybe you shouldn’t have made a contract!”
That was it for Sarutahiko Okami. With a quick throw, she pierced a dagger on the table, right between the Princess’s fingers and shouted to the scared girl:
“Enough! No one talks badly about my younger sister! She is the Spirit of the Wind Shinatobe, the leader of the Great Four that rules over the Magic and Spirits in this World! You will talk about her with the respect she deserves, or you will never talk again because my next dagger will go straight to your tongue, understood you stupid brat? Otto, what were you doing while she was growing up? She is so stupid and rude! Are you sure she is your daughter? Because she could fool me!”
Alex was staring at the dagger and said:
“Okami… my table…”
With a quick movement, Okami took her dagger and fixed the wood with her Magic, and made an awkward smile:
“There… all good, see?”
Alex looked at the Princess that was hugging her lady’s maid, trembling in fear:
“I already told you to be aware of your surroundings, Princess, but it seems you are unable to learn anything. No one here is as harmless as they seem, and you are a fool for thinking otherwise. It will be very difficult and troublesome to hide everything from you during our voyage, so… Ghar, please introduce yourself.”
Olive’s voice came from the necklace, and the King looked at Ghar in disbelief:
“I am Ghar, firstborn of Mightarg from the Clan Rehart, and Sukaar, Clan Leader of the mighty Clan Higahrg!”
The King kept on looking at her, and he then asked:
“Alex… what in the name of the Kami did you do…”
Alex nodded and while Ghar was taking off her turban and making the Princess and her maid scream, he explained:
“I became friends with a cute Orc. Intelligent, an amazing fighter, can use Fire and Water Magic, and since yesterday, she is a Mage Summoner because she made a contract with a powerful Spirit of the Wind. Earl Kayden asked me in his deathbed to help Ghar because she will bring hope, and I think she can be useful when dealing with another group of Orcs that might appear during our voyage.”
The King stuttered to his screaming daughter:
“S-silence, Ebell, b-behave yourself… And… Miss Olive speaks for her? How?”
Olive’s answered as if it was Ghar speaking. Ghar opened her mouth slightly as if she was about to speak, but when a low growl came out from her mouth, she went silent again and let Olive do all the talking:
“Our contract made this possible. I can hear Olive, and she can hear me. I can now understand everything and speak my mind. It was becoming difficult ever since I came from that dark thing, and I was getting scared and feeling lonely. I am not lonely anymore, because Olive is with me, and I am with her. Olive already explained this concept of Quest to me. Orcs have a similar thing in our World, but we call it Tasks of Honour. I will spend my life if necessary to protect your offspring, and when we finish, I will gain the right to put another mark on the hilt of my sword, signalling another Task completed. When my time comes, the Gods will count the marks on my swords, and if I have enough, I will be granted a place at their side, ending my life of suffering and pain.”
The King gulped and asked:
“What if… when you die, you don’t have enough marks?”
“Then, I will be born again, to suffer and to try again. That is the life of an Orc.”
The King leaned forward and continued:
“But every Orc that comes from the Magical Voids are not so honourable, they kill indiscriminately, no matter if their victims are men, women or children!”
Ghar nodded without changing her serious expression and Olive’s voice explained:
“That is also the path of an Orc. From where I came from, everyone and everything that doesn’t belong to my Clan is an enemy and must be killed so that they don’t kill me. It’s understandable that an Orc that arrives in this World tries to kill anything he sees as a threat, so that he won’t be killed. You would do the same if you suddenly went to my World through a dark circle that dragged you there, like the one that brought me here.”
“Did you tried to attack anyone when you arrived?”
Ghar made a sad look and tears piled up on her eyes:
“No, I was too occupied with my revenge. I was fighting the last survivors of the Clan that killed my lover when that dark thing dragged us all here. I was going to kill them one by one, but because of that dark circle, I got outnumbered when I arrived. Alex was so kind to come to my help, and with him by my side, the last members of that Clan disappeared, and my revenge came to an end after two long and painful years. I got a mark on my sword for that Task of Honour, and I am one step closer to the Gods.”
Ghar quickly wiped her tears, and the Princess spoke in-between her scared sobbing:
“Father… I don’t want to go with a Monster… she will kill me and eat me for sure…”
Ghar frowned and pointed a finger at Alex:
“I never tasted Humans, but that one over there is crazy about Orc’s meat! I am the one that should fear going on a long journey with him because if food runs short, he will try to roast me for sure!”
The King made a slight smile:
“Well, he is not the only one, I also enjoy a slice of Orc’s thigh every now and then. Unfortunately, after meeting you, I am now finding it difficult to eat Orc’s meat ever again!”
The Princess stared at her father with tears running down her face:
“Father! You are not considering forcing me to go with them when they have a Monster!”
The King looked at his daughter and said:
“Ebell, she may be a Monster, but I am appreciating hearing her more, than you. Every time you open your mouth it’s to say something stupid. Don’t you realize how lucky you are with Ghar joining your escort? If an Orc comes from a Magical Void, she can speak with them and prevent them from attacking! Or at least, gain some time for the others to kill them swiftly!”
The King then faced Alex with a slight frown:
“You also thought about this, I am sure, knowing you as I do…”
“Yes, my King, you are not mistaken. I intend to learn more about Ghar’s World and her society, together with every weakness of the Monsters that live there so that when I face another Monster, I know exactly what to do. If one day I found a way to send Ghar back, I will do that, unless she prefers to stay here considering how dangerous her World is.”
The Princess gulped and spoke with her faced drenched in tears and her eyes full of anger:
“She won’t be alive for long! When I tell everyone what she is, she…”
Alex immediately surrounded himself with Magic and sensing it, Suijin and Okami got up, Shinatobe appeared in her grown-up form in her battle armour with bolts of lightning for weapons, side by side with a grown-up Kagu-tsuchi in a red flaming armour with a long shield on his left arm and a spear on his right hand. Alex spoke, and the table trembled:
“You will say nothing! You and your maid will take Ghar’s identity to your grave, or you will both die the moment you try to say something to anyone! From this day until we prove to me that you are both trustworthy, a Spirit will follow you two around, and if you try to speak more than you should, you will cease to exist. Did I make myself clear? I got enough of your childish behaviour Princess, and I won’t let you shame our country with your stupid character! I will make sure that you learn how to behave like someone worthy of representing our country in Bouria, or I will die trying! Shinatobe and Kagu, take turns following these two, I don’t want them to have one second without one of you with them.”
Shinatobe and Kagu-tsuchi spoke at the same time:
“Yes, Master!”
The King was trembling, looking at the red knight in front of him:
“He is still alive… ‘The Red Menace’ still lives… Alex… Why is he here? I thought he died when your father killed his Mage Summoner…”
Alex explained without averting his gaze from the Princess:
“Shinatobe forced him to make a contract with me because she doesn’t trust him. He is now bond to me, and I won’t let him do anything like he did in the war.”
The King slowly nodded, still remembering the fear he felt so many years ago:
“I… I still have nightmares with him laughing while he was burning to a crisp our troops… You can’t trust him, Alex, you should kill him as soon as possible… I don’t know what story he told you, but he is not innocent. His Mage Summoner was crazy, but he wasn’t any good. So many that died because of him…”
Shinatobe spoke while her lightnings were cracking, scaring the Princess and her maid:
“And now look at him, he is just a pet with a short leash. He can never be too far away from me, and he can’t kill Alex. He was escaping from me and Okami since the war, but now that we caught him, he will never be able to escape again. If he tries, I will kill him immediately, rest assured. Besides, I bet I have a lot of enemies in ‘The Galtian Khaganat’, considering how many of their soldiers I slaughtered, and because of that I also have a bad reputation in the Khaganat. War is a stupid thing, even when it ends, people suffer.”
The King took one slow deep breath and looked at Alex, trying not to stare at Kagu-tsuchi:
“Alex, can you tell him to disappear? I am having a lot of trouble not to squeeze his disgusting neck until his eyes pop out.”
Kagu-tsuchi immediately turned into a tiny ball of light, and went to the tiara on the Princess’s head, disguising his light with the reflections of the precious gems in there, and Shinatobe returned to Alex’s right ear. Alex stared at the crying Princess that was still hugging her lady’s maid and said:
“Cry as much as you want, Princess, but that won’t change the fact that you will be escorted by us and Ghar. We already accepted the Quest to escort you to Bouria, and that’s what we will do even if we have to tie you up inside the carriage all the way. I do hope during our voyage you learn a few things because you won’t last long as the wife of the heir of Bouria if you keep on acting so stupidly. The court will eat you alive and spit your bones.”
Ghar fixed her turban again, and Olive reappeared in her usual form at her side and helped her. James Macdonald asked in a trembling voice:
“Mister Alex… you… you have two Spirits? How is that possible? And… Miss Okami said that Shinatobe was her sister… wait a minute, the same Shinatobe and Kagu-tsuchi that were in the Guild with us? They are not little anymore!”
Alex made an awkward smile and explained:
“I am called the Hero not only for show, you know? I replaced my father as the Hero when he retired and made a contract with Shinatobe and Okami. Suijin and Kagu-tsuchi are my newest Spirits. They are also called the Great Four because they rule over Magic and Spirits. I am still trying to understand the full length of their duties and powers.”
Bethany Mathews spoke while glancing at the serious Suijin:
“A Mage Summoner with four Spirits… and the most powerful ones, nonetheless! Amazing… Now I understand why Wenammy and Anika became so crazy about you… and why in the world no one mentioned until now that Pearl has on her hands the biggest Magical Orb I ever saw? I had a hard time following this conversation because I kept on staring at that Orb! It’s huge!”