"Hey hey!" Corissa huddled up close to Roko with her egg in her arms, "We're back in Paramnesia again!"
"Well, a lot did happen here." Roko sighed, "It must be a nightmare trying to explain what happened to this place."
"Well it's better than getting this entire forest destroyed." Corissa nodded.
Their lesson in the wildwoods today was to find someplace that their animal companions would feel comfortable in within the forest. Get them used to the environment and maybe even find a home for them. Since this was a job that could take a while and needed them to travel to a variety of different locations, Roko's group decided it would be best to split up to complete the assignment. Some were easy such as finding a lake for Roland's sea goat and Mikado's turtle. Others might take a little more work such as Helena's falcon and Kaguya's Lavellan. Corissa, or rather, Varis' unicorn was a fleeting sort that could live pretty much anywhere in the forest so there was no real need to find a proper habitat for her. Just bring her in to get a feel for the environment was what they were told. Just keep her leashed so she wouldn't run away as the mythical animal was still young and not ready to live on her own quite yet. And since Roko had yet to hatch his egg, there was nothing he could do.
"What do you think it will hatch into?" Corissa asked as she poked his egg.
"You want me to tell you?"
"Oh wait, you know! That's right, I forgot! Well umm...what do you think mine will hatch into?!"
"You want me to tell you?"
"Wait no, that's not what I want either!" Corissa cried, "U-Ummm..."
Corissa was notably flustered. Or perhaps stressed. This whole pet raising business must be stressful for her. Especially so since Varis wasn't exactly capable of taking care of his unicorn properly so Corissa was probably the one taking care of her needs. And then there was the pressure of getting her own egg hatched.
"Did you decide on a name for the unicorn?" Roko asked.
"Oh. Uhhh..." Corissa sighed, "Since Varis can't, or rather, refuses to talk, I'm stuck being the one to name her. Varis seems to be okay with it too but I don't really know what to call her. I'm not sure anybody's ever had a pet unicorn before."
"I would be surprised if there wasn't." Roko shrugged, "There's not really a point to keeping such a flighty and selective pet like that other than just for bragging rights."
"Unicorns have healing properties." Corissa said, "Their healing magic is very powerful. They're a miracle cure."
"Really?" Roko frowned, "I thought all healing magic was gone."
"If I remember what Edea taught us, that mainly applies to human magic." Corissa said as tried her best to recall her lessons, "There are magical creatures that could use magic that technically qualifies as healing but otherwise, healing magic is gone. Despite not being naturally inclined, humans are able to use a wide variety of spells, healing magic being a stand out example of this. As it stands now, magic that can heal wounds are completely unusable by anyone."
"I'm going to need to talk to Edea about this." Roko sighed, "It feels like I keep running into this supposed fact and I keep missing details."
"For what it's worth, humans are wholly incapable of any sort of healing magic right now. And the amount of other creatures who can heal to any extent is extremely rare. Unicorns are able to purify water and cure sickness though so they're still very valuable making them one of the very few exceptions."
"I see..." Roko turned back to look at the unicorn, "That sounds pretty valuable but then there's always the handling issue. Given that they pretty much only listen to pure and innocent maidens, it's pretty much inevitable that you will just grow out of being able to interact with it so it's not going to make a great pet like a cat or dog."
"That's true." Corissa nodded, "But still, I want to give her a name. What do you suggest, Roko?"
"You want me to name it?" Roko frowned as he turned back to Corissa, "Naming is not one of my specialties."
"There's no harm in giving it a try! Come on, let's hear it!"
Roko sighed and stopped to stare the unicorn in the face, trying his best to come up with a name, "...Aglaea."
"Aglaea?"
"It means 'splendor' and 'shining one' as well as the name of a figure of good health back in my world." Roko explained, "Seems like a fitting name for a unicorn."
"Aglaea..." Corissa smiled, "How about it, horsie? Do you like Aglaea?"
The unicorn snorted in a way that Roko could somewhat interpret as approving.
"Then I'm happy to meet you, if only for a short time, Aglaea." Corissa giggled.
"It's getting harder and harder hard to believe that this unicorn doesn't belong to you." Roko said.
"Well, if Varis has a problem with that then he'll have to actually interact with his own pet." Corissa shot Varis a look who flinched from her accusatory stare, "Go on then. Try petting her."
Varis and Aglaea looked at each other. Varis reached an awkward hand out and gently brushed the unicorn's mane. The unicorn snorted, this time like she was scoffing and turned away to munch on some grass.
"You'll get through to her eventually!" Corissa called out in a hushed voice, "Keep it up!"
Varis looked at Corissa and then back to Aglaea and began petting her a bit harder.
"You know, they're kinda alike." Roko noted, "...I think."
"Hey Roko." Corissa said as they resumed walking, "Do you have a name for your pet yet?"
"Yeah."
"You do?!" Corissa cried, "Darn, I was going to suggest I give a name to your egg in exchange for naming Aglaea."
"You don't even know what it's going to hatch into."
"I could've tried!" Corissa pouted, "...So what did you name it?"
"You want me to tell you?"
"...I mean yeah..." Corissa said as she thought it over, "Should be safe right?"
"It's name is Mimi."
"Mimi?" Corissa giggled, "That's a surprisingly cute name for someone like you."
"Not all names can be as in depth as Aglaea." Roko replied.
"Why'd you name it Mimi?"
"You want me to tell you?"
"N-No?!"
"You want me to name your pet as well?"
"No, I'll come up with a name myself once it hatches!" Corissa yelped.
"Suit yourself."
"By the way, where have we been going?" Corissa asked, "Are we just wandering around the forest?"
"Well, there's one place I want to check up on."
Following a path that Roko has become very familiar with, they arrived at the ruined village of the Varin tribe. It was very much left in the same state as when Roko last visited it, in complete ruin though now bereft of monsters. Corissa looked around, unnerved as she glanced around at all the destruction around her. Roko simply made his way up to the chieftain's house, where Aida had briefly bought him to. Walking into the central chamber, he could see the same decorations and debris around but where the remains of the original flesh pillar that initially housed the book they burned there was...nothing. Not a single tendril remained, not even some weird fluid or mark.
"So these things disappeared as well?" Roko muttered, "It's really like they were never here."
"Roko, what is this place?" Corissa finally worked up the courage to ask.
"Aida's old home."
"What are we doing here?"
"Checking up on the state of the village after the incident."
Roko stood up, his curiosity sated for the moment and now he could hear the sound of dirt moving behind the house. Roko followed the noise out of a hole in the building and around to the back where he found Aida standing there with a shovel...and three baby dinosaurs gathered around her. Aida stood up, wiping the sweat from her brow as a pterodactyl handed her a cross made out of two small pieces of wood tied together. She stuck the cross onto the ground and stood back solemnly.
"Aida?"
"Oh!" Aida looked up, startled, "What are all of you doing here?"
"Checking up on the village out of curiosity." Roko explained, "Have you been here digging graves?"
"Yeah." Aida looked down, "They told me I don't need to do this but it didn't feel right to just let their bodies rot in the open like that. Oh, they managed to salvage some bodies from the spider pits. Apparently the monsters were using the grave spider's storage as their own as well. All the venom is gone so cleaning the place out was a breeze."
"I see." Roko nodded, "You know, you didn't have to do this alone."
"That's what they said as well but I didn't feel like asking some strangers for help." Aida replied, "The remains were also pretty gruesome after melting in poison for a bit. The compromise they came up with was that they dug the holes and put the bodies in while I make the cross and filled the holes back up. I'm almost done. There's a few more I have to do but I'm out of crosses."
"Did they tell you what's going to happen to this village?"
"Let it return to nature basically." Aida said, her eyes looking off into the distance, "They gave me several options but there isn't really a point to preserving this place."
"Okay but..." Corissa spoke up, "What's with those creatures around you?"
"What these little guys?" Aida said as she scratched the heads of a baby triceratops and a baby tyrannosaurus, "They're pets of that weirdo guest that Zadkiel hired to restore the forest. They can't stay in the school so they're having me watch over them while that guy does his classes or something."
"So you didn't hatch them?"
"Oh yeah, that's what you're doing isn't it?" Aida said as she noticed the eggs that Roko and Corissa were holding, "I'm not sure what kind of creatures they're trying to add but there probably isn't much that will surprise me at this point." Then Aida's eyes turned towards Varis, "Is that a unicorn?!"
"It sure is." Roko said.
"Whose is it?! Roko? Corissa?"
"Varis."
"Pull the other one."
"Did you not get an egg, Aida?" Corissa asked.
"Yeah I got one." Aida said, "Hatched it already and I've left it to roam the forest."
"Is that okay?"
"There's literally nothing around to hunt it." Aida smirked, "It can take care of itself. I told him to stay away from that fight club though."
"That what?" Roko frowned.
"Fight club." Aida looked confused, "Was that not part of your lessons?"
"No!" Corissa cried, "We're supposed to be nurturing these creatures! Some students are forcing them to fight?!"
"Yeah. I mean I think most of them were knights but some of the girls were into it."
"Where are they?" Roko asked.
"I can see where this is going." Aida sighed, as she stabbed her shovel into the ground, "I'll show you where they are."
Aida bought them to the base of a cliff, hidden by overhanging rock but cleared of trees underneath. The sounds of creatures fighting could be heard well in advance as they neared the clearing driving Corissa to rush forward ahead of them as she burst into the middle of the fight.
"Stop this at once!"
A collection of about ten people, four princesses and six knights, turned to her as a griffin and dire bear stopped fighting.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Corissa cried, "You can't force your children to fight like this! You're supposed to take care of them!"
"Tch, we got found out already?" One of the knights scowled. His body was adorned with plates and parts of armor rather than a full suit, showing off his muscular and toned body underneath his chain mail, "This doesn't concern you, little girl. Get out of here while you still can."
"I'm not going to stand by as you let these creatures who are depending on you to raise them fight each other."
"What's it matter to you?" The knight smirked, "We're not letting any of them die. And this is a good lesson for these animals. Teach them that only the strong will survive. And only the strongest can stand on the top."
"You're supposed to be taking care of them! You can't just let them fight for your own entertainment!"
"Hey, this is profitable entertainment!" The knight laughed as he pulled a sack of gold from his pocket, "This is just the bet on the current fight. I'd deal you in if you want but I don't think a runt like you who hasn't even hatched her egg would understand."
"That's some arrogant talk from a knight." Roko said as he walked into the clearing besides Corissa, "Do you even know who you're talking to?"
"What, should I be scared of some country girl from some backwater country?" The knight scoffed, "I don't even know who You are, little man. Not any knight I remember."
"I'm not a knight thanks." Roko said, "But to be fair, I don't have any idea who you are either."
"Heh. Then you've been living under a rock this entire time! I'm the great Gaurav! Strongest knight in the land!"
"I'm sorry but I recall the strongest knight wearing black." Roko sneered as Varis strode into the clearing as well.
"Ah, the black knight." Gaurav frowned, "I've heard stories about how strong you are. Then that makes you..."
Gaurav looked at Corissa again, this time with almost predatory eyes, intense enough to cause Corissa to flinch, "Oh? Not bad. Just like the rumors said."
"Eyes over here stupid." Roko called as he snapped his fingers, "Keep that up and I'll have to neuter you."
"You got quite a mouth for a nobody." Gaurav scowled.
"And you've got no manners for someone who's supposed to be a royal knight." Roko retorted, "Honestly, if you weren't wearing that thing you want to pass off as armor, I would have mistaken you for a wild animal yourself. Are you going to fighting next? Where can I put my money on the slobbering beast getting his ass beat by the giant bear?"
"Oho..." Gaurav scowled, his temper coming to a boil, "Big talk for someone who hasn't even hatched their egg yet, you idiot. You want to make good on those checks your mouth's been writing, you're going to have to step in the ring yourself, buddy. Or are you too scared?"
"V-Varis will-"
"I can punch a bear in the face." Roko cut off Corissa, "It won't be as satisfying as punching your face but at least it'll be prettier to look at."
"Roko?!" Corissa cried, "Are you insane?!"
"Hold this." Roko handed his egg over to Corissa, "I'll be right back after I play around with some animals and beat some sense into an asshole."
"You can't be serious!" Corissa protested, "You don't even have armor!"
"That's fine." Roko said as he turned towards the ring, "I hate people like him the most."
Roko stepped forward only for Varis to hold out an arm to stop him but in his hands was his sword.
"Are you letting me use this?" Roko smirked, "I can't hurt these animal too badly so I'm afraid I can't use a sword either. Besides, I don't actually know any sword techniques that aren't lethal."
Roko pushed Varis's arm away and stepped into the ring, much to the uncomfortable shuffling of many of the participants. Gaurav sneered but his confidence only hid an unnerved feeling after seeing Roko so readily accept his challenge. He waved an arm at the dire bear, "Get him."
"Hey wait a minute, he's not your p-" One of the knights began to speak up only to be interrupted by the irate ringleader,
"Shut it! The weak listen to the strong. That's how the world works."
The bear looked at Roko more curious than it was aggressive. Roko felt bad about fighting it but he wasn't naive enough to lower his guard. Contrary to how he acted, Roko wasn't quite as confident as he was portraying. There was only so much confidence one can have facing a bear, young as it was, and without a weapon to boot. Roko had thought to force this incident closed with a forceful approach that would stick in everybody's mind and further deter them from reforming their fight club elsewhere as he suspected they would if things were just peacefully dissolved. The issue was in order to do that he had to present a memorable show. The process of how to achieve this was kinda glossed over by his brain and now he has to fight mythical animals. Which was definitely harder than the monsters he's been fighting all month but there was one trick Roko was able to utilize and thankfully he had the foresight to do so before even stepping into the clearing.
Noticing that the bear wasn't quite willing to fight, Gaurav shouted out in a booming angry voice, "Kill him!"
The bear began to snarl and bare his teeth, as if finally understanding what its supposed to do as it roared at Roko. Roko steeled himself for the fight and to everyone's surprise, he charged.