Book 2: Chapter 97 (1/2)

“Your Gloriousness!” the same dwarf from last time burst through a pair of double doors and panted as he placed his hands on his knees, taking the same posture as before. “Your Gloriousness! Terrible news!”

Vur lowered his mortar and pestle, placing it beside a pile of penguin feathers. “What is it?” he asked with a frown. “Don’t tell me you lost another fortress.”

“No, we didn’t,” the dwarf said as he straightened his back. He took in a deep breath through his nose before exhaling through his mouth. “The reinforcements we sent to Popp’s fortress…, they completely vanished! There weren’t even any signs of a struggle! They entered a valley but never came out, and distress flares weren’t sent up. Some supernatural phenomenon is taking place! Our men are being whisked away without a sound; their corpses aren’t even left behind.”

Vur’s frown deepened.

“I know what’s happening,” Sheryl said as she appeared on Vur’s shoulder. Instead of her usual formless fireball appearance, she took the shape of a phoenix with a pair of arms sticking out of her back behind her wings. “It’s definitely Zilphy. She’s a prankster.”

“Zilphy! That’s right!” the dwarf said, smacking his palm with his fist. “How come we didn’t think of her? She hasn’t been active recently, but she’s terrorized our cities for the past thirty years.”

“Didn’t I declare that names shall no longer have a Y at the end?” Vur asked while furrowing his brow. The dwarf gulped and opened his mouth to speak but closed it and hung his head.

“Zilphy’s a wind elemental,” Sheryl said, saving the dwarf. “She doesn’t fall under dwarven jurisdiction. How strong is she, Deedee? You know her best.”

“How many times must I request to not be called Deedee?” Diamant asked with a sigh. A blob of brown light appeared by Vur’s forearm, bobbing up and down as if it were being rocked by waves. “Zilphy is officially a gust elemental, but even tornado elementals recognize her as their leader. She refuses to evolve because it’d be easier for people to notice her, and all her hobbies depend on her not being noticed.”

“She’s a pervert?” Stella asked as her head popped out of Vur’s chest. She yawned and clapped her hand over her mouth a few times before blinking twice. “It’s decided then, Vur won’t contract her. I don’t need wind in my world anyway.”

“No, Zilphy’s not a pervert,” Diamant said. He paused. “Actually, she may be, but I wouldn’t know. But the hobbies of hers that I do know include stealing things, playing pranks, and eavesdropping and spreading rumors.”

“She sounds like a fairy,” Stella said. “I don’t like her.”

“But you’re a fairy,” Sheryl said, tilting her head.

Stella puffed her chest out as she flew onto Vur’s head. “Exactly, one of me is enough.”

“But you don’t steal things, spread rumors, or play pranks,” Vur said, rolling his eyes up to look at Stella.

Stella coughed and averted her gaze. “Anyway, like I was saying, don’t contract with Zilphy. Beat her up for messing with your army, but don’t contract her, got it?”

“Do you steal things?” Vur asked and scratched his head.