Zaldizko - Chapter 41 Forest Behind Marlos Mansion

“Are you okay, Sir?”

I groaned, banging my head to clear the nasty headache that soon followed my return to consciousness.

“Sir?” I frowned at the gender honorifics. Had that voice been talking to me?

“Affirmative. Your physical attributes would see you of the female type, but your chi count is of a volume belonging to the male counterpart. Therefore, I calculate that you are a male hiruda inside a female host,” said a clinical voice.

I was greeted by an animachine in a lucky blue and dragon gold full body uniform similar to the type Forneas wore. Unlike Forneas, this animachine’s head was a fox with two small round dishes for ears and a rod poking up from the top of his forehead. A gold star was pinned to his right breast; the same star as the one the Evadale Knights wore on their ties and caps.

“Um, I’m not a hiruda.” I corrected the animachine.

“Well, my analysis does calculate a probable chance of 0.5 percent of you being some other creature.” The animachine was adamant his analysis hadn’t been wrong.

“My analysis tells me you’re one hundred percent wrong,” I argued.

“Stevie, is this male creature dangerous?” said a deep, smooth voice like the one that said the spell.

The animachine paused before it returned with an answer.

“Whilst Charlese-sama is a skilled force magis. Her body’s mana has dampened tremendously, rendering her incapable of magic abilities.”

I frowned at the fox-animachine and turned my head to the sound of the other voice.

“Uncle Smithsonian?!” I accidentally blurted when I saw a grandpa version of Wilfred sporting a bushy black beard that ran the length of his round chin, so the tips was a finger span away from his collarbone.

A navy-blue Lincoln top hat added a few graces of height to him. He wore a different version of the Evadale Knight navy-blue attire being a single breasted jacket, opened to reveal his double-breasted vest with gold buttons running parallel lengths down his torso, white cotton shirt and black silk cravat with the ends tucked into his vest. I was impressed by his well-kept physique of long legs in navy-blue slacks, a lean waist and stomach (free from a pot-belly), and broad shoulders. A well-worn double belt with a gun holstered to his right and short sword sheathed to his left, was evenly balanced on his hips. It was clear he was a gentleman of action. My mind wandered to a memory of sketched men modelling various fashions in Bulldog’s Velvet Rose season catalogues.

I frowned at his steel cap boots. His soles were steel as well. Why steel?

“Boy, I do not believe we have had the pleasure.” Uncle Smithsonian frowned, rather perplexed by my outburst. “How have we met?”

I gulped. Damn my stupid mouth. “Aah, no, just something in this head.”

“Ganmo. Good, you’re alright.”

I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard Leinard’s voice. I turned my head and realised I was sitting on cold grass, underneath a bushy canopy of an ancient elm tree in full bloom.

A quick glance of the rest of my surroundings made me realised I had somehow been magically zapped from the Triuta’s Indulgence Level to a forest somewhere.

I stared at the sky and blinked at the glaring blue visage. It was a lot different to the daylight from Apocalypse’s Second District.

“Ganmo’s your name?” Uncle Smithsonian chuckled. “Let me guess, your surname is Doki, right?”

“How’d you know?” I acted surprised and cursed my growling stomach. “More importantly, do you have any because I’m starving?”

“No.” He blatantly confirmed.

“Where are we?” Leinard asked to change the subject.

“About a quarter of acres within the forest behind Marlo’s mansion. Still, within his lands, unfortunately,” Uncle Smithsonian answered.

“Thank you, Deacon.” Leinard bowed before the man. “If you hadn’t arrived when you did, our mission would’ve failed.”

Mission?

“I hope placing our fair Trix through his torture was worth it, Leinard. What did you find out?” Deacon asked.

I wobbled to my feet using the elm for my support and let out a shiver at the chills that ran up my legs. My stocking feet were drenched with moist foliage. I wrapped my arms tightly around myself and instinctively cupped my breasts to keep them warm.

“Toasty. So, this is why women have breasts,” I mumbled to myself, impressed with a fact I discovered about the opposite species.

The odd looks from the men made me flinch, feeling awkward.

It was the first time I noticed other men had surrounded us. All of them wore the familiar uniform of an Evadale Knight; the dark patchwork overcoat, navy-blue suit fitted with belts and straps to contain their weapons and small equipment and calf-length black lace-up boots. Their ties carried the single gold star emblem of the group.

“You really are a male hiruda.” Cass cringed.

I turned to the sound of his voice, realising he had been sitting next to me the whole time. I dropped my hands to my sides then wrapped them around my cold arms again.

“How many times do I have to say that I’m not a hiruda! My hands are cold! I’m bloody freezing!” I pouted, involuntarily keeping my hands snug under my breasts again.

An overcoat was draped over my shoulders to keep me warm.

“Buddha bless you!” I thanked the kind man as I pulled the coat over myself. I flinched when I saw a younger version of Colin.

“A woman’s body must be kept modest,” he signed, expecting that I’d understand what his fingers were saying. Just as well for him I did.

“Girls don’t go feeling up their own tits in front of boys. Trollops do that.” Trix’s voice crudely butted in. He poked his head out behind Cass’s back, so I could see his cheesy smirk.

“I wasn’t feeling them up.” I snarled back at him.

“Your hands were fondling them.”

“Were not, you perverted bastard!” I argued back.

“Boys, please! This matter of conversation is unbecoming. Youth!” Deacon scolded us.

He drew my attention back to him and the group of knights to his back. I roughly counted twelve strapping young men with sober expressions.

“Regardless of who or what you are, your body is still Charlese-sama’s, correct?” he asked.

“I suppose. I only remember being in this body,” I carefully answered.

How much could I trust these men with the truth of why I was here? If they knew about the impending invasion of Zyon, the Lotus Bridge being out of order and humanity in danger of becoming kaput, what would be their immediate reaction?

My mind ran through a series of likely responses and neither of them saw me avoiding heighten emotions and annoying explanations.

“Good, well let’s start with an extraction of intel from Charlese-sama, shall we?” Deacon declared with a sinister undertone to his voice.

“Hang on there a moment! Whaddyah mean by extraction?! What the heck is that?!” I shivered with fear at what Wilfred and Lita’s eccentric uncle was keen to do to me.

As I recall from that brief played memory when I was with the juxtapositioner demon, the man liked to play with machines. Bulldog had always said men who have the meddlesome mind of machines were dangerous.

“Nothing you’re not already familiar in doing.” Leinard sighed. “It won’t hurt. In fact, you tend to enjoy it.”

“I’m still scared.” I nervously gulped, securing Colin’s overcoat further around my body.

“Can we have ten minutes Deacon?” Leinard asked the man.

“Of course. Learn what you can from her body Leinard.” Deacon cheerfully agreed. His beard twitched with his smile.

“Creepy!” I shivered.

“Come on, let’s find a private place for us.” Leinard cordially offered with a smooth voice.

I cursed my pounding heart beats.

He took my hand and led me to a set of elms where their leafy canopy formed walls to make a shallow cave; away from the view of the men and hidden further within the forest. He called upon a spell to clear away unwanted bits and make it a cosy space for us.

“Um, what are you doing?” I glanced about the makeshift love nest and gulped when Leinard sat down within the cave’s center, beckoning for me to join him.

His grey eyes were relaxed; cheeks lightly flushed with arousal. This was bad, really, bad.

I closed my eyes, released a few deep breaths to calm myself and opened them again. The man before me was still the same Leinard in need of release. If what we were about to do could provide an answer to breaking him free from the primary core trunk, I had to go through with it.

I snuggled up close to his side, taking in his warmth. My heart slowed and eyes drooped as I felt relaxed by his side, especially when his arm wrapped my shoulders, pulling me closer so I could hear his racing heart beats. I met his eyes.

“My heart is racing. Is it because you’re in her body?” Leinard whispered with ragged breaths.

I answered him with a kiss.

“Ganmo.” His voiced heated my ears.

His tongue explored both familiar and new territory of my (Charlese’s) body. My clothes were tenderly stripped away, leaving me naked in his arms. I did the same for him until the only heat we felt was coming from our bodies connected in sex.

“Open your mind to me.” Leinard’s deep voice heated my ears.

I felt stars whirl about my vision, reversing the darkness, so what was dark was white with light black silhouettes and outlines. My heart panicked with a thought that shadow puppets were about to attack us.

“It’s okay Ganmo. This is normal!” Leinard reassured me and buried my fears with more of his soothing touches and kisses.

I relaxed into his embrace, feeling euphoria and my spirit unrestrained. The reversed darkness had colours of pink and purple creep into some outlines. Blurred figures moved about my vision, slowly drawing focus until I was seeing a completely different scenery.

“That’s it. Please show me.” Leinard’s voice sailed in and out of my ears.

I saw a man with a deep scar on his cheek, standing before an enormous telescope of a strange nature.