Land of the Blades

8. Ruler

I opened my eyes, finding myself in my room. I didn't remembered going to sleep, but when I tried to recall the last thing I had seen, the image of the giant snail appeared on my mind. I got up in one jump and tried to look for my swords and clothes, making a ruckus that brought the attention of a Lustrous that was passing by.

—Oh, you finally are up —she said, she was the so called expert on Lunarians, Alexandrite.

—Alex, was it? What happened to the snail?!

—It is Alexi! And Bort dealt with it, he kicked it into the pool and it shrunken. It ate Phos, and Dia's arm, but we managed to recover them from its shell. We got you from the bottom of the pond way before we went for the shell, but you didn't awake until now —she also mentioned that the snail had become really small after falling into the water of the Pond, and that Dia had initially believed that Phos had transformed into it.

—...That's a lot to take from after awakening.

I thanked her for putting me up to date, and I finished preparing with a bit more calm. I found Goshe and Morga in the hallway, and they told me to take the day to rest. I asked them if they had seen Phos, since I was worried about her, and they told me she was near the pond. I went there, and as I got closer, I heard an unfamiliar voice.

—I am Ventricosus, Ruler of the Admirabilis, show some respe-

It was all of what the tiny snail that Alexi had mentioned managed to say before Phos threw it into the pond. The jellyfish immediately started going towards it, almost as if they had a feud against it.

—Shirou, good morning —Phos said with a smile but looking very tired.

—Good morning, I heard you had a hectic day.

—Yeah, that slug ate me and used me to repair his shell, can you believe it?!

The creature managed to return to the edge of the pond and climbed it, huffing and puffing.

—Dang, I was hoping you would get smaller.

—Hehe, I only shrunken back to my original form because this water is very similar to the one found in my home —the snail said—. My race was captured by the Lunarians because of our beautiful shells. On the moon, we were feed sugar water and moon dust until we became gigantic and idiots. My comrades are still captured there. Isn't it sad?

—I guess I can empathize with you, if that is the case. But why I'm the only one who can-

Several gems on patrol duty passed by, saying words of concern towards Phos. Those seemed to irritate her even more.

—Why am I the only one who can understand you?! —Phos screamed very frustrated.

—What do you mean? —I interrupted her—, I can understand it fine enough.

—Eh? —Both Phos and the snail said—, EHHHHHHH?!

Phos curled in the ground.

—I was just thinking that the only explanation for why I was the only who could understand him was because he ate me, but if you can understand him that means that being eaten was totally unnecessary...

—Phos, are you okay? —Diamond said as she passed next to us.

—No, I am not.

—I'll talk to you when I come back, so cheer up! —she said and returned to her sprint.

The snail was whistling to her and calling her a beauty. Dia actually slowed down for a moment and looked back, but Bort got to where she was and pulled her forward. Ventricosus declared how great was this country, full of cute girls.