My castle still isn't built yet, so I'm using one of the other houses as my reading place. Dinner won't be for a little while, and nobody would be in bed before that, so I have the space to myself for now.

The first step in reading Balig’s notes is to learn to read Dwarvish. I think my language blessing gets stronger as more references are gathered. The Indigo language was challenging, so it took quite some time. Dwarvish is comparatively simple, and it only took a few minutes.

I did consider that our newest resident might not be willing to share everything with me right away. However, there’s likely magical knowledge, considered basic by the descendants, that would be new to me.

I wasn't let down. The very first thing Balig wrote was, “Of the four kinds of earth magic, I'm only familiar with three.”

Were there distinctions drawn even within the same magic element? No, maybe it makes sense for that type of thing to pop up. After all, if you just look at water magic, water is used in three different states: liquid, vapor, and solid. So then, how was earth magic divided?

“Those are stone, metal, and crystal spells.”

One word stood out to me strongly. Metal.

My versatility with earth magic is enormous, but I can only bring our civilization so far with clay and stone. For example, I could make clay armor with harden, but if it got damaged, it would shatter. Clay is a brittle substance no matter how strong I make it. Metal also has various conductive and insulative properties that I would like to make use of.

I quickly suppressed my excitement and read through the rest of the notes. Then, I couldn't resist hunting down Balig to ask some questions.

I found the Dwarf by the well, splashing water onto his sunburned face. He noticed me coming and flinched slightly.

“I was honest in my notes,” he said hesitantly.

“No, I mean, I assumed so,” I replied, blinking curiously. “Was I making a scary face or something?” The Dwarf just watched me. He deliberately opted not to respond. Well, he’s still new here, so it’s good to be cautious.

I held up the tablets he’d given me earlier, tapping them for emphasis. “Anyway, I just had some questions I was hoping you could answer.”

Balig sighed and sat with his back against the well. “Well, fine. I'm not feeling so great though, so can we keep it somewhat brief?”

Balig’s probably lived underground his whole life. It would be bad if he got heat stroke now from sun exposure. Well, the sun will dip below the wall soon, so he should be fine for tonight.

***

Apparently not taking his complaints seriously, the Orc Lord nodded absently. “In that case, first I'd like to know about the school you mentioned in your notes.”

Right, his school: Tothig’s School of Crafts, the most prestigious school in the Dwarven Empire. Did she want to know why he was no longer in a place like that?

“Please tell me about how the classes were organized. How was the student to teacher ratio? Where did the students eat and sleep? Was there a tuition, and how was it paid? What about entrance exams?”

What, she just wanted a reference for building her own school here?

“You,” he sighed and spoke plainly. “Students lived wherever they could. They rented rooms in nearby inns and workshops, or borrowed the houses of friends and relatives. Lunch and dinner were both served on school grounds, but you had to pay separately from the tuition. Speaking of it, the tuition was paid in gold and silver. It was enough for a middle-income family of four to live for three years, and that would cover a single year of schooling. There aren't any entrance exams, but you’ll be kicked out if you fail any classes. There are about a hundred students for every teacher, but each teacher has four teaching assistants. Is that much fine?”

If she wanted more detail than that, he couldn't provide it.

“Mmn, thank you. Incidentally, those gold and silver coins, do you have any? I want to see what they look like.”

“Why would someone banished to the Black Mountain Forest be allowed to keep money? It’s considered a death sentence, you know?”

No. Perhaps, to a monster, does this actually seem like a good place to live? That’s somewhat pitiful.

“Actually, how were you banished here?” The Orc Lord asked, tilting her head. “I thought that Dwarves lived in a long mountain chain far from here.”

So she noticed after all?

Balig made a complicated face and bowed his head. “I'm sorry. I won't interfere with what you do here, but I cannot tell you the way to get to my home.”

“In other words, “there’s a secret tunnel somewhere around here that leads all the way back to Dwarf territory.” Probably it’s connected to the Black Mountain, right?”

The young Dwarf felt himself break out into a cold sweat. He looked up at the Orc Lord with wide, horrified eyes. However, she broke eye contact, looking off somewhere to the side and clicking her tongue.

“Tch. Cliche.”

… It’s my mistake. Because she’s strong and erratic, I underestimated her intelligence. I thought she was just a muscle head trying to copy her betters.

But if that wasn't the case, then the Orc Lord’s primitive attempts at ingenuity, civilization, and kindness were hers alone. So there was a chance…

Balig stood up and placed his fist over his heart, bending at the waist. “Please, don't go looking for it! I won't ask anything else of you, and you can have anything else out of me, just please don't go there!”

He waited in that position while his heart thumped loudly in his ears. After a moment, he heard a stifled laugh.

“Then I'll stay away.” Balig sighed deeply and raised his head. Vyra was still locking her sharp eyes with his intensely. He found the barbaric look of tusks distracting, but managed to spot the wry smile on her lips. “Why do you hold so much loyalty to the people who banished you?”

He swallowed a mouthful of saliva and did his best to give a vague but satisfying answer. “It isn't as though I was banished collectively by the entire Dwarf race. There are good people there that don't deserve to be hurt.”

Chief, no, Lord Vyra grinned and shook her head. “Well, fine.” She created a stack of tablets with earth magic and folded her arms intimidatingly. “In exchange for keeping away from your home, you said I can have everything else, correct? Please demonstrate every spell you can cast. It’s fine to just make the Spell Pattern and stop before activating it.”

“You work people too hard,” he whimpered involuntarily.

“Oh? Are you juggling a great number of spells, then? I'm looking forward to it.”

“Demon!”

***

My isn't nearly as efficient as Fiara’s Magic eyes, but it’s much more convenient in exchange. Think about how a cassette player has limited functionality compared to a laptop. Of course, the laptop uses a lot more electricity to play a song, but it can do hundreds of other things to make up for that.

What I'm trying to say is that I wasted a lot of Magic Power copying down all of Balig’s spell patterns. He didn't activate any of the spells, so I won't know what they do until I interpret them later. It’s really great, though. He knew twenty-four spells! We were almost late to dinner because I made him show me all of them. When we arrived at the cooking fires, though, I noticed someone was missing.

Feeling a little concerned, I grabbed enough meat to fill my arms and left with it. I basically expected it, but Fiara is absorbed in her research and hasn't noticed what time it is.

“Hey, studybug, you're missing dinner,” I called out. She looked up at me with slightly unfocused eyes and grinned.

“Hey, chief. Did you bring that for me?”

“Half is for you,” I answered, dropping my butt onto a pelt beside her. “I didn't trust any to be left by the time I went back.”

I passed over the calf of a Fomor, making sure to let her to swallow a few bites before questioning her.

“So what kind of progress are we looking at?”

Fiara made a sad smile and only looked down at her food.

“I'm sorry, chief. I couldn't make it work with just one day.”

“Nobody said you had to,” I answered simply. “Half of me wanted to give you a good challenge. It feels good being stimulated, right?” Though achieving teleportation in a single day would have been great.

Fiara’s eyes became misty and she tore off a chunk of meat. “Yeah, it feels good,” she murmured with her cheeks glowing pink. She turned her eyes to timidly meet mine. “But, it feels best if I'm also being helpful to you, chief.”

I smiled to myself and continued to eat my meal. Fiara began fidgeting nervously beside me. “Ch-chief?”

“Mm hmm?” I smiled with full cheeks. I feel unreasonably happy eating with just the two of us like this. If Fiara doesn't make a move, I will for sure. No, I'll do it again anyway, even if she already does it.

“W-will you,” she blushed and brushed a lock of brown hair behind her ear. “Even though you're my chief, will you also,” she turned her yellow eyes up cutely, “be my friend?”

I reached over and wrapped my free arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. “Obviously! If even you don't qualify as my friend, then I don't have any friends in this world. Instead of friends, let's be best friends!”

“B-best friends?” Fiara curled in on herself and blushed.

“Yeah.” I loosened my hold on her and put on a serious look. “But, more than that, Fiara, I want to ask something else of you.”

“A-anything, chief! Just say it!” She bunched her fists up in front of her chest and shouted that enthusiastically.

I set down the empty bone I was gnawing on and wiped my mouth on my forearm. I changed my sitting position so I was facing Fiara directly, and I held her hands--one of which was still holding a leg of meat--in mine.

“Fiara, will you swear an oath with me under the eyes of the spirits, so that we will be sisters forever?”

“M-m-my, be my s-sister?!” She stuttered and pulled back slightly, but I nodded firmly.

“I already think of you that way, Fiara. I just want to swear an oath to make it official.”

“U-um, if it’s really okay, then,” her moist eyes seemed to tremble in the darkness, “it would make me happy.”

Ah, thank goodness. Even though I was acting like that, I was really pretty nervous inside. In that case, the only sworn siblings oath I know is where each person cuts their hand and they press the wounds together, becoming blood brothers. Is something like that good enough, I wonder? If there were some kind of spell-like ritual native to this world, that would be fantastic.

“Um, Adelai says she knows a ritual from a long time ago. Do you want to use that, chief?”

“Really? I know one from my old world, but I think it’s better to use one from here. Tell me more about it.”

Fiara nodded and straightened her hair and cap. “She says it’s a ritual used by the Noct, the ancestors of the Beast People. The creator of the Noct, Ashtante, is the god of kinship, so it’s said to carry their blessing.”

“Oh, that sounds good. How does it work?”

Fiara turned her head up, as if she was thinking. I know already that she’s actually listening to Adelai’s guidance. Instead of sharing that guidance with me, however, her face flushes red and her eyes grow moist.

“Um, is there some problem?”

***

Becoming sworn sisters under the blessing of the god of kinship. What could be more perfect? Fiara was already eager to continue, so she quickly turned her attention inward.

So, Adelai, how does that ritual work?

The imagined pair of yellow eyes in her consciousness bobbed up and down, and an image was pushed into the Wisdom Orc’s head. Overlayed with the image, was Adelai’s ephemeral voice.

The ritual requires two consenting individuals to be present.

In Fiara’s mind’s eye, she saw what must have been two of the ancient Noct race. They were mostly humanoid, but with pointed fox ears on top of their heads, vertical pupils over rich golden eyes, and a few long whiskers growing from their cheeks. Amber fur started growing past the elbows and the knees, leading to long slender fingers with sharp nails, and digitigrade legs with daintily clawed feet. They wore long, loose shirts in warm colors, and silky pants underneath. A satin sash was wrapped around their waists, and five bushy fox tails spread out behind each of them.

The ritual is the same, regardless of age, race, or gender, and all it requires is the action of the individuals.

The Nocts in Fiara’s vision appeared to both be female, with elegant hourglass figures. She watched as the two ladies brought their glossy lips closer together until--

The two consenting individuals kiss. The younger sibling bites the tongue of the older sibling and drinks the blood. Then they separate, and the older sibling starts the oath.

The two Nocts stopped kissing and pressed their foreheads together. One started to move her lips, and Adelai spoke out the words.

“As I exist in your heart and body, the distance between us becomes closer.”

The other Noct began to talk next.

“As I receive your trust and affection, my heart shares your joy and pain.”

And lastly, back to the older sibling.

“Ashtante, lord of blood and family, remember us now as siblings.”

Did you get that all, Fiara?

Without speaking, Fiara could only feel her face get hotter and hotter. Finally, her hands balled up into fists and she cried out in her head.

Adelai! Are you telling me to k-k-k-kiss the chief?! She’s the chief, you know! And we’re both girls! Th-th-that’s not okay, right?! I mean, I would do it if it’s the chief, but she’ll definitely be unhappy, right?

It’s only a ritual, Fiara, not something romantic.

Is-is that really okay?

“Um, is there some problem?” Vyra called out.

“There-there’s no problem! It’s just, um, Adelai says we have to kiss during the ritual,” Fiara glanced over timidly to gauge the chief’s reaction. Her cheeks had flushed pink and her eyes were wide, but there seemed to be nothing beyond that. “Is… is that okay?”

Vyra blinked and then spoke slowly. “Well… tell me the rest of the procedure.”

And so Fiara did. She wrote out the words they were to speak to complete the ritual in the ground in front of each of them, in case they forgot them in the moment. A minute later, she found herself mere inches away from the the chief’s face.

“More or less, I've never kissed anybody before. Sorry in advance.”

“Ah! I-I'm sorry too!”

They'd decided that Vyra should be the older sister in the ritual. Adelai had explained that it was as much about social position, power, and experience as it was age.

Although her lips were quivering slightly from nervousness, Fiara presented herself for the chief to take… No, that’s not it!

The chief’s lips settled smoothly in place. Their small tusks clicked faintly as they repelled each other. The chief tilted her head slightly toward one side, and their white fangs instead settled into place perfectly like a jigsaw puzzle. Vyra’s tongue worked its way between Fiara’s lips. The Wisdom Orc became momentarily distracted.

Her lips are soft, and her tongue tastes sweet.

She remembered the ritual though, and with some guilt, she bit down on the chief’s delicate tongue. Something warm and wet spilled out that tasted of salt and earth. It was a good, rich taste, and so Fiara swallowed it almost on instinct. After drinking like this peacefully for a moment, the chief pulled her lips away. A pink-tinted strand of saliva trailed between them.

The chief wrapped her arms over Fiara’s shoulders and pressed their foreheads together.

“As I exist in your heart and body,” she spoke clearly, “the distance between us becomes closer.”

Fiara swallowed once more and opened her lips. “As I receive your trust and affection, my heart shares your joy and pain.”

The chief’s lips turned up slightly before finishing seriously. “Ashtante, lord of blood and family, remember us now as siblings.”

There was quiet for a while before Fiara dared speak. “I wonder if it worked? Do you think a god would bless monsters?”

The chief smiled and stroked Fiara’s hair. “Don't worry. I can see it with my eyes: the family status. We’re sworn sisters now, without a doubt.”

_____________________________________________

Name: Vyra

Age: 96 days

Race: Dominance Orc; Monster

Skills (Embedded): 55/infinity skill slots.

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Skills (Learned):

None

Blessings:

Perfect Omnivore (Orc)

Gift of Tongues (Orc)

Curses:

Unending Hunger (Negated: Dominance Orc)

Status:

Body: Healthy

Heart: Happy

Mind: Stimulated

Soul: Stable (0.03% shattered)

Languages (Spoken):

English, Orcish, New Orcish, Human, Goblin, Fomor, Dwarvish

Languages (Written):

English, Orcish, New Orcish, Human, Indigo, Dwarvish

Family (Known):

Mother: Oolga

Father: Rigdam

Aunts: [Nameless]

Uncles: Durghan

Brothers: Varoon

Sisters: Fiara (Sworn Sister, blessed by Ashtante)