Chapter 34: "Riku's Plan!"
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Of course, jokes aside, Riku didn't push her or anything. He just casually conjured up a fresh outfit and put it on. Felt nice to be clean.
Ever since he graduated as an Archmage, his vibe had changed quite a bit too.
"Riku… you can use magic?" Feiya was stunned for a second when she saw him change clothes like that. She couldn't help but ask curiously.
When they fought, Riku had gone completely toe-to-toe with her—relying purely on strength and speed. And now he was casually using magic? Clearly, he had a lot more up his sleeve than she thought.
"What do you mean, Riku? In private, you should be calling me husband," Riku raised an eyebrow and tried to look all serious.
"Hmph." Feiya puffed up her cheeks in mock annoyance. But in the end, her face turned red and she mumbled softly, "Dummy husband…"
"Hey, leave the 'dummy' part out," Riku laughed awkwardly.
"Well yeah, I do know some magic. But this one's more like a handy little tool than actual magic," he explained casually.
Halfway through explaining, Riku suddenly remembered—he hadn't given her a proper gift yet. Even their wedding rings were prepared by the beastman chief and the elders. That made him feel kinda guilty, so he quickly added—
"Feiya, if you want, I can give one to you too."
"It's fine, my love. You should keep it. I don't really travel around as much as you do," Feiya said gently, shaking her head.
"Sorry about that. I'll make it up to you with the best gift ever, I promise," Riku said seriously, rubbing his face a little.
"Hehe, I'll hold you to that. But let's talk about that later, okay? Didn't you say you had something important to discuss with the chief and the elders?" Feiya's tail swished happily, her red eyes sparkling with joy.
"Yeah, let's head out," Riku nodded, straightening up.
A moment later, Riku and Feiya walked out of their room hand in hand. They asked one of the beastman maids standing guard outside to go notify the chief and elders, then made their way toward the meeting hall.
On the way, every beastman they passed congratulated them sincerely. No matter what their feelings were before, everything was settled now. Most of them only had genuine blessings to give. After all, this was a big day for their princess.
Soon, the beastman chief and the elders—dusty from travel—gathered in the hall and took their seats. Riku and Feiya sat at the head of the table.
"Hehe, Lord Riku, hope you had a pleasant night. I trust Feiya treated you well?" the chief said with a big smile the moment they sat down.
"Yeah," Riku scratched his nose and nodded with a slightly awkward smile.
"Stupid old man! Shut up already!" Fiya Hatsuse snapped, blushing in frustration. She was clearly annoyed with the old geezer who had practically sold her off.
"Haha, alright, I'll shut up," the Beastmen Chief replied with a grin, totally unfazed. He just nodded happily, looking super satisfied with himself.
The other Beastmen elders all let out a breath of relief.
"So, Lord Riku, may we ask why you've called us here today?" the Beastmen Chief asked seriously, and the elders quickly followed up with nods and curious glances.
"I'm about to head off to find a way to get stronger," Riku said calmly, nodding.
As soon as he said that, the mood shifted. Fiya froze in place and pressed her lips together. She'd known this was coming, but it still felt way too sudden.
"Um… Lord Riku, you're not staying a couple more days?" the chief asked hesitantly.
"No need to panic," Riku said, reaching out to pat Fiya's head. "I've got spatial abilities. If I ever wanna come back, it's easy."
"Spatial abilities?!" Everyone gasped, staring at Riku in shock. In this world, the species most known for spatial powers were the Flügel. That's what made them such a pain to deal with—crazy strong, impossible to chase, and even harder to escape from.
Who would've thought Riku not only had insane strength but also spatial abilities?
"Riku, why didn't you tell me?" Fiya looked up at him, pouting. She looked annoyed, but if you looked closely, you could see the happiness in her eyes.
…Or just look at her tail wagging like crazy.
"Alright, the reason I called you guys here is to ask you to take on a mission," Riku said, his expression turning serious.
"What mission? Please tell us, Lord Riku. If it's something we can do, we'll give it our all," the Beastmen Chief said in a deep voice, straightening up.
"I've got a rough idea of where the other races' main bases are. I want to scout them out, and for that, I need you to form an elite team to gather detailed intel," Riku said as he looked around at everyone, his tone firm.
"What?!" All the Beastmen gasped again, their faces filled with disbelief.
Knowing where the different races' strongholds were? That was a huge deal. If a race's base got exposed, it could be wiped out in one go. That's why every species kept their location super secret. And now someone was saying they knew the general locations of all of them? That was insane.
"....."