Why Did You Summon Me?

Mia was startled at the question that had come seemingly out of nowhere. She turned towards Mordred and tackle the latter into an embrace and rubbed her cheeks against Mordred’s.

“Why would Mor-Mor ask something like this? Are we not sisters already?”

Mordred may be close to 30 years old in human age, but to a dragon, she was considered even younger than Mia was. Plus, she had the smallest frame of all of the girls, so they usually called her Mor-Mor out of affection.

Mordred purred out in satisfaction, and her eyes squinted into a line from Mia’s rubbing. She continued, “Tomorrow is the Harvest Festival, and there’s a legend about it, you know? On its night, those who couple up during the Flame Night would be blessed by the gods to live happily ever after...”

Mia did not expect the conversation to steer into the domain of relationships. Her flushed face belied the fact that she was not very experienced at it, either. “Where did you even hear that from, Mor-Mor?” She whispered.

“Mom told me about it! She also said if she ever found a boy she likes, she would confess to him during the Harvest Festival!” Mordred recalled what Aya had told her before.

“Oh, um... Big Sister Aya would actually say things like these to you?” Mia muttered. Her Mr. Hope would never do that. The only thing she could expect from him when it came to love would be the petrifying stares he gifted all the guys who made the mistake of meeting her.

“Well, what does the Harvest Festival have to do with us being sisters, Mor-Mor?” Mia followed up.

“In the two days, I’ve seen my mom wearing really beautiful, fancy dresses!” Mordred whispered excitedly as if she found her mother’s biggest secret. “They were all really amazing, including! Including the jewels she put on! She only wears them on really important occasions. I just thought... I just thought that they must be for Harvest Festival!”

Mia was silent as she waited.

“The thing is, Mom never attends any of Harvest Festival nightly celebrations, because she said she had never found anyone to go with... I’ve always attended it with Grandpa, but now I think... I think Mom wants to go out with Mr. Hope!” Mordred finished.

“Huh?! With... Mr.Hope?” Mia cried out incredulously.

“Yea! Ever since you guys came here, they have been together, right? Always going out together, then returning together, and everyone says, they’re gonna get married! And Mr. Hope is gonna be my dad, and...” Mordred started, “They are always together; you know, side-by-side? Maybe they’ve already kissed! Will I have a new baby sister? But Mr.Hope looks so serious; I’m kinda scared of him... Are you alright, Mia?”

She had been talking on her own rapidly that she didn’t even realize that Mia was frozen like a statue.

Mordred shook her companion’s shoulders and pinched her cheeks, trying to break her out of her trance.

“O-oh, uh, i-I-it was nothing... Just... In a daze.” Mia made a face that hopefully passed off as a smile — if not a little awkward — then lowered her gaze as her mind replayed the words Mordred had said:

They are going to get married.

Her heart felt it had been pounded by a sledgehammer, and her entire body was frozen at that moment. In her head, all that was left was a tiny whisper:

But what about me?

At that moment Baiyi had no inkling that two girls were talking about him. He was bringing Attie away with him for his most critical, and also his last, trial. Yes, bringing the other girls out a few days before was all a cover-up for what was truly important.

“Hmm, the world seemed busy today. Is it because of the Harvest Festival?” Baiyi brought along Attie and they flew, watching many skycruising rays and griffins pass by them with cargos strapped to their backs. Everyone was beaming in happiness and anticipation.

‘I better leave soon.’ Baiyi didn’t share their sentiments; in fact, he somehow felt threatened.

Subconsciously, he increased the flight speed until they reached another deserted island.

He handed the War God’s Sword over to his Kitty-cat Maid.

Attie looked visibly aghast. Her head tilted to a side, with a questioning gaze.

“Go on, see if you can sense anything,” Baiyi prompted.

“Um?” Attie scratched her head and took gripped the sword. She looked to her left and right. She raised her head side-way as if she was listening, then shook her head.

“Not like that!” Baiyi ruffled her hair, amused. “Do it the way you did when you found me. Oh, yes! This sword can create a sensing range, right?”

“Ohhh.” Attie nodded. She placed the hilt on her palm, and the hilt stood on it upright without any support. Then, like a growing mushroom, its tip suddenly burst open and fanned out into an umbrella. Then, the umbrella-like structure started spinning on its own with an unmistakable rhythm of beeps.

‘What? Is that... a radar?’ Baiyi watched the umbrella-looking War God’s Sword, perplexed.

“That direction... There’s something weird over there.” Attie pointed to the northeast — a place even farther than the safe zone.

‘That’s it!’ Baiyi’s was inwardly overjoyed, and in his eagerness, which didn’t let him patiently cast a levitation spell, he scooped Attie up by her lean waist and darted in that direction.

“Aah!” Attie cried out at the sudden bodily contact, but she seemed to have gotten used to it. With her one hand still holding onto the sword, her free hand wrapped around his waist, and she buried her head into Baiyi’s chest as her cheeks firmly pressed against his brigandine.

Her eyes were slightly closed, and an expression of contentment rose.

With Attie’s guidance, Baiyi quickly reached a space with nothing close by. Everywhere he looked was just white space, without even a single island in sight.

Yet, with Attie’s further guidance, Baiyi finally found a very small anomaly with his naked eye.

“So this is...?” Baiyi cast a levitation spell on Attie, then he proceeded to examine the small twisted space. The area of this anomaly was about the size of a bottle cap, and its distortion very minute. If Baiyi hadn’t been standing close to it, he might have missed out this great find.

That was not all. The area was emitting an unmistakable micro-vibration which Baiyi had trouble recognizing. This meant that no one, including the other Voidwalkers, had ever sensed it before.

He released a little of his psychic energy to see if it could make contact with the area.

But just as it approached the anomaly, it passed directly through it, as if the area did not exist and it was just air.

“I knew it. I can’t sense you this way,” Baiyi muttered. He lifted his finger and released a little mana, aiming it at the anomaly.

Again, it was to no avail.

“Surely this is the Law: Omnipresent, yet non-existent. Observable, verifiable, yet intangible,” The Scholar’s voice rang in the Void, “Or rather, a much more intellectually-honest description is that this is a fragment of the Law, which has not yet been specialized.”

The Law was a concept — a sort of understanding, and by that definition, it remained a theory that may or may not exist. The only way to tell for sure that the Laws existed was to see witness its manifestation or experience its effects, or else it would be completely unobservable.

The thing before them — was visible, no doubt about it. However, nothing seemed to be able to touch it. That was why the Scholar made that remark.

“I knew that the War God wasn’t just some bored old man. This is it — his ultimate prize for me. But, how do I...?”

His eyes lit up as a thought crossed his mind.

He turned to Attie. “Give me the War God’s Sword.”

The always-so-obedient Attie shook her head. She grabbed the hilt by her two hands and hid it behind her.

“H-hey, what’s wrong?” Baiyi asked. She wasn’t going rogue; she was just throwing a tantrum.

“Nuh-uh.” Came the quiet mumble. “You were so mean to me and then you spanked me.”

She turned her face to a side and pouted, as if she was waiting to be pacified.

‘She is throwing a tantrum! Now she’s even coquettish...’ Maybe it was because Attie rarely acted this way that made Baiyi find her quite adorable. He couldn’t even get mad.

He playfully pulled the girl to his side and patted her head. “Come on, we all know Attie is the loveliest. May I have your sword, please? It’s very important now.”

Attie’s head bumped on his patting palm as if pushing him away, still holding onto the sword stubbornly. She replied in a low voice, “Unless you promise to never, ever, ever bully me...O-Or spank me...”

“But what if you don’t listen to what I say?”

“No way! I will listen to you!” Attie raised her head in confidence.

“Alright, alright.. If you keep being this lovely and listen, then I’ll never punish you or bully you again. How’s that sound?” Baiyi said gently.

Attie’s face flushed and added, “A-a-and! Unless you promise me to... To... T-to not restrict the sort of clothes I wear...”

“Uh... F-fine.” This particular promise was much harder to agree.

“And... One. More. Thing!” Attie took the sword from her back and hugged it before her chest, yet she was still clutching at the hilt.

She was going for the last part of her deal. “I want... I want rub-rub. L-like how Mia and the rest...”

“Oh my, you mischievous little girl, that’s quite a lot you’re asking for,” Baiyi said with jest. He hugged the girl and with his face armor and rubbed his cheek on hers until it started turning red. Then, he tapped his face armor lightly on her forehead, like a kiss. “Is this good enough?”

“Mmm!” Attie gave one of the happiest smiles she had ever had.

From that moment on, Attie had completely turned into Baiyi’s little Kitty-Cat Maid.