In Azuri Kingdom, the way of life is quite drastically different from any other place in the world. Wherever you go, there is bound to be some sort of supernatural phenomenon waiting for you. To the densely forested North, the humans fight in a war against a race of gray brutes, and on the southern shores, pirates and crooked international navies run amok. The Eastern parts of Azuri are mountainous stretches of lands filled to the brim with nymphs and harpies, to whom many adventurers meet their demise. Then of course, there lies the swamps in the Western stretches of Azuri -- the lands where I grew up.
Unlike most of Azuri, the western swamps were almost peaceful. With the recent increase of piracy and arbitrary arrests on the waters down South, not very many merchants passed through these parts, which meant that everyone had to support themselves, and with less visitors, the locals did became quite isolated. Tradition rather than monarchy holds more power here -- which is just as well, considering that the lord’s men only comes around these parts to collect taxes, and nothing more.
However, that does not matter, for we have set up a community, a society, of our own. We are proficient in magic, and we have sufficient munitions. Our crime rate is low, and we are not struck by poverty. In fact, I could almost say that our community -- our society -- is perfect. I would, if only if it weren’t for the villain hiding out in the forest, if only he wasn’t capturing us at random, one at a time. Of course, it pains me to say that I am not part of something perfect, so as the village’s iconic hero figure, it is time for me to make the Western Swamps perfect.
“Alright men, are you ready to trek into the swamps?” I ask the small group of men that volunteered to assist on my quest. They all looked nervous, but they each nodded, confirming that they are ready for this dangerous journey. Nobody knew who the villain was — or even how he operated. All we had to go on was that he would capture civilians at random, regardless of status or power, and they would never be seen again. Of course, there had also been people who attempted to seek out the villain in the swamps — but they, too, never returned. And now, as the four of us stand at the swamp’s edge, the chances of us returning home beyond this point were slim. Regardless, with one deep breath, I marched into the swamps, and my men faithfully followed.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Ren sits at his desk, studying his notes. To anyone else, the notes would seem like a clutter of scientific nonsense, but to him, it was so much more. This clutter of scientific nonsense means so much more to him than anything else in the world, than even the most alluring of deities. Of course, it wasn’t the mad scribbles in the journal that he loved so much — no, it was the inevitable fruition of his efforts that was soon to come.
Collecting his quill and a vial of ink from his desk, Ren dips his quill and begins to write.
*Experiment 7 : Species-Conversion Module*
Ren proceeds to fill most of the page with complicated charts and tables, willing to perfect his plans. Of course, his writing is soon interrupted by the shouting of his current captive, who has somehow managed to remove her gag.
“Where am I, you crazy bastard?!” The captive screams, and with a sigh, Ren opens another drawer in his desk, pulling out a device shaped like a bell. The captive, seeing this, starts to feel dread and fear. “What is that thing? Why am I here?!” As she shouts her pointless questions, Ren walks across the room, reaching for something at the top of the shelf. Helpless, the captive watches as the man retrieves something that looks like a collar and combines it with the other device he was wearing. Despite being relatively braver than her peers, she begins to panic. “What do you want from me?! Why do you want me d-dead!” her voice catches at the final question.
“Relax, dear,” Ren assures his prisoner. “Please now, I do not believe in murder, you will be fine.” As he says this, he walks back to his open journal, where he double checks some things, pushing a few buttons on the collar-looking device. “Please, dear, tell me your name.”
The woman, fearing fer her life, answers honestly. “My name is… Netoyama.” For several seconds, Ren stares blankly ahead. Upon coming back to his senses, he mumbles something unintelligible. “W-What are you saying?” Netoyama asks, and Ren looks at her.
“I said, Experiment 7 has begun,” Ren states, “And your new name shall be, *Nekoyama.” With that, Ren begins to apply the collar to the captive — who futilely attempts to resist.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
After several perilous hours of trekking through the swamps, the four of us have become terribly sore. To make matters worse, we have not found the slightest hint as to where the villain might be. The team’s morale is in a bad enough shape, and if we do not find anything worthwhile, I fear my men would turn around and walk home. Alas, there is not much I can do, so I march onward with my men, silently wishing to find anything out of the ordinary to capture my mens’ attention.
Of course, life works in twisted ways. A couple a minutes after the thought, a throwing dagger found its way into the shoulder of one of my men, and his yelps snapped the rest of us to attention. Ready for battle, we survey our surroundings, looking for our enemies. Naturally, they are hidden in the wetlands, but I have expected that.
“Fís de réir teasa,” I mutter, and my vision is enhanced, allowing me to easily identify a person from the environment. Strangely enough, however, there is only one person hidden in the foliage around us — are there no other enemies, or do they just have superior magic? Refusing to believe the latter, I call out to my men, “There is but one opponent. This will easy!”
The ensuing battle was not easy. There was only one person, it turned out, but they were extremely fast — almost as if from enhancement magic, but they just didn’t get tired. No, they fought for a while, so quickly that I was unable to get a look at their face — let alone get a solid hit on them. My men, also unable to land a solid blow, were dealt with quickly; alive, but unconscious. Not even two minutes have passed, but I was the last one standing. I ready my blade and mutter another spell, “Luas.”
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Even though it was a boring, menial task, Nekoyama dutifully patrolled the swamp surrounding her master’s base, just like she was told to. Even though it was sounded dreadfully dull, she did not complain at her master’s orders because she had some thoughts she needed to clear out. Occasionally, she would envision a young lady that looked just like her — lacking the ears, tail, and collar, of course — doing different things in a different place. These visions were strangely vivid, almost as if they were memories, but that couldn’t be true — could it?
Luckily, her conflicting mindset was united together upon hearing heavy stomping mixed with the snapping of branches and the rustling of leaves — intruders! With no time to waste, she quickly ran to the nearest bush and dived in. The people, four in number, it seemed, looked bored and tired, easy kills by any definition. However, her master specifically told her to keep any intruder she sees alive, and she does not want to go against her master’s wishes. So picking up a throwing dagger from a special sleeve in her belt, she aimed slightly to the side of the center of mass and threw.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
With my improved speed from my previous spell, I was able to keep up with the attacker’s movements easily enough. While I have not yet been able to get a clear look on my opponent’s face, the attacker does have a feminine physique, and… does she have cat ears and a tail? I chuckle to myself at the realization that she is a completely different type of crazy cat lady, when I hear a surprised yelp. Quickly glancing at my opponent, it would seem that I have managed to grab her by the tail — in which case, I have won the battle.
With that resolution in mind, I keep a tight grasp on my attacker’s tail, and move my other hand up to her head. “Yield, or I will be forced to use lethal force!” I shout at her, ready to bark the next spell should then need arise. However — just like I planned — she accepts defeats and yields. After I am certain that she won’t run away, I release her tail, and then I see her face clearly for the first time — a face I recognize in an instant.
“Netoyama!” I gasp in shock. I do a double take, which makes me even more certain it’s my old friend — although Netoyama doesn’t have ears or a tail. Or a collar, which is looking suspicious for some strange reason.
“It is Nekoyama,” Neto defiantly responds, when she suddenly gets up — causing her collar to chime, probably because of the bell. However, you can’t shake the gut instinct that the collar is evil, and your gut has never been wrong. So you raise a dagger, and in the very next moment, you lunge at Netoyama.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Ren reads through certain pages of his journal, double checking some important data. There has been many delays and hardships, but regardless, he is euphoric. After all, he is just around the corner to recognizing his life dream — he is almost there! Still though, he wonders to himself if releasing Nekoyama into the swamps were a good idea — what if she runs into any people? Around a dozen miles to the East stands a decently sized village, which is where he gets a lot of his test subjects from. Unfortunately, a lot of assassins also come from the village, undoubtedly to recover the people Ren captured. However, he is not evil, so why must the others treat him as so?
Ren knows that kidnapping random people from the village is bad, but it isn’t as if he is doing anything bad to them. No, he makes sure his subject are absolutely safe, and he grants them things one can only get using science — eternal youth and cuteness! Ren has only good intentions, and once the village realized that, he will no longer be a feared villain, but a hero among men!
“…Eh?” Ren mutters to himself after noticing a highlighted chart in his journal. The chart illustrates the relationship between collar use time and subject obedience, but a note was made stating that if the collar was taken off before a full day of use then the subject will become disobedient! If that is the case, then releasing Nekoyama into the wild was a mistake! Desperately hoping she is okay, silently begging her to remain hidden, he grabs his finest weapon - an L-shaped wand he calls a firearm, and runs outside.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
“Do you remember now?” I ask Netoyama, who has seemed to return to her senses upon destroying the collar. She still has the cat ears and tail, which would be sad if it weren’t so adorable. I push that thought out of my head as I listen to her response.
“Yes,” Netoyama states, “I believe I was the most recent of seven captives.” If none of the other 6 victims returned, then they must be dead. What was that sick bastard planning on doing to Netoyama, anyway?
I begin to ask what happened to the other victims, but I am cut off promptly. “They aren’t dead,” Netoyama states, “Master… I mean, Ren has told me that several fled north when his devices failed, and they later returned and captured the other captives a little while after.” She looks at the ground, then sighs. “You know, Ren thinks he is doing the world a favor. I mean, he is still a deluded lunatic that probably has a cat fetish, but I don’t think he is evil.” She states, looking at me after to gauge my reaction. I still think this Ren guy should be put down, but damn, the ears and tail did not do Netoyama any injustice. My men behind me begin to groan — they are finally waking up — when one of them loudly alerts me.
“Captain! There is a man approaching us!” the man screams as the rest groggily reaches for their weapons. I quickly order my men to stand down and reach forward, ready to cast a fire bolt should the man prove to be a threat.
The man, even with no breath to spare, sprints over, proceeding to point an awkwardly shaped wand at me. “Do not move, my magic is a hell of a lot faster than your magic,” he boldly claims, then he addresses my old friend. “Nekoyama, are you alright?! Is that man from the Northern Forests? Do you…” he trails off upon realizing that Netoyama’s collar has been removed.
“Truaill,” I mutter, and the wand slips out of the man’s hands, making an impossibly loud noise upon hitting the ground. Hang on — did that man call her Nekoyama? That must be Ren! In that case, killing him will be easy. “Bolt Ti—”
I am interrupted by a kick to my stomach, and I involuntarily fall to my knees. “You know, hero,” Netoyama says, “You can kill this guy for a meager award, that won’t make your village perfect, will it?” she asks, and I recall my motivation for coming out here in the first place. If I kill him, then the villagers will be able to sleep easy, but that won’t bring back the lost! Wait — the lost…
“Hey villain — Ren, is it?” I ask the guy, who is trying but failing to pick up the explosive wand, “You created this mess, so you will help us clean up. Take us North, and help us recover the other 6 you have stolen. In exchange, we will let you live.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Ren looks up at the man. He is not someone from the North, but in that case, how did he know about the others that were captured? Probably from Nekoyama — who knows how long her collar was off. After a moment, he answers honestly. “I agree to your terms. I will help you recover the others, and I will capture no more people from your village to work my magic on them — although the latter is your loss.”
Despite the man looking like he wanted to kill Ren, he starts marching North, and everyone else follows suit. Ren quickly increases his pace to catch up — but surprisingly, the man falls back to the back of the crowd. “Hey,” the man whispered to him as the others dutifully marched onward, “I still think you are a damned creep, but… thanks.” With that, the man returns back to his quick pace, taking back his position in the front.
Ren, on the other hand, considers the words. Perhaps, he might still be able to be a hero among men after all. For the time being though, it was time to rescue the other six subjects.
