When I arrive at the hot spring, Nina is already soaking in the water. Seeing me arrive, she smiles excitedly, and I join her. As we're enjoying the warm water together, I'm reminded of one of Ilina's earlier comments.
"Nina, your sudden desire to abandon our plans in the city earlier and come to the hot spring alone wouldn't have been a favor to Ilina, would it?" (Mizuki)
"Fufufu…yes, but I made sure to get something in return for my generosity." (Nina)
That sounds…ominous.
"Uhm…what did you ask for in return?" (Mizuki)
Nina makes a very pleased expression, then leans towards me and reaches past my head. I hear a faint rustling behind me for several moments as she seemingly digs through her clothes.
When she pulls back, she's wearing a smug grin and holding two plain rings. One of them is silver, and one is gold. She slides the gold one on her finger, then looks back at me expectantly.
"I procured these from Ilina in exchange. Now, give me your hand Mizuki. The Dragon Bond may be better than marriage, but nobody can see it. Fufufu…I won't have anyone thinking that Ilina was your first wife later, so I expect you to wear this." (Nina)
I can't believe this dragon actually got wedding bands for us. I stifle my laughter at the obvious issue, though, and she seems to notice.
"What is so funny, Mizuki? I hope you don't think that I'm joking." (Nina)
"Fufufu…no, no. It's just that…why did you get two different colors? Normally, wedding bands would be a matching set, so I don't think these will send the message you wanted." (Mizuki)
Nina's face contorts in surprise, and then annoyance. Eventually it transitions to bitterness, and I feel bad for her.
I reach over to touch both of our rings, then use my alchemy spell to convert both rings to pure silver. After, I slip the other one onto my own finger.
Realizing what I've done, Nina's eyes go wide, and she kisses me appreciatively.
"Thank you Mizuki! Now please put one of your shiny lights up so I can look at our rings!" (Nina)
It's after sunset now, so we only have the moonlight. I roll my eyes, but I do as she asked. After the ball of light is shining on us, she holds her hand up to compare our rings together and squeals in delight.
"Fufufu…excellent, now there can be no misunderstandings." (Nina)
Yeah…I don't think that was happening regardless, but whatever.
"Well, as long as you're happy. So, should we discuss our plans for Veyron tomorrow?" (Mizuki)
I sense a twinge of fear and anger from Nina at the mention of his name. She remains quiet.
"Are you nervous about fighting him again?" (Mizuki)
Nina nods solemnly, but she turns a determined gaze towards me.
"Yes, but I'm much stronger now, and I think I'm likely to prevail. So, I plan to pay him back for all the torment he inflicted in the past. Even if I were to lose, I know you'd never let him kill me." (Nina)
"That's right, I won't let anyone cut our time together short." (Mizuki)
Nina smiles at me appreciatively, and she seems to relax some.
"Fufufu…of course. So, how should we get him to agree to our terms?" (Nina)
"I don't suppose that the dragon-kin can communicate with him instantaneously, can they?" (Mizuki)
Nina shakes her head. Damn…there goes one plan.
"No, he can just sense when they lose their magic connection to him, like when they die." (Nina)
Wait…that might work fine, though. A small smile spreads across my face.
"Alright, Nina, here's what we're going to do." (Mizuki)
I explain my plan to her, and afterwards she begins laughing hysterically.
"Fufufu…Mizuki, Veyron will be enraged by that. He'll want to lord his strength over me for sure afterwards." (Nina)
"You think so? Thanks, I'm pretty happy with that plan to." (Mizuki)
At this point, it's well after nightfall. I guess it's time to wrap this up.
"Alright, Nina, you ready to head back to the palace and get some sleep?" (Mizuki)
"Actually, could we camp out here tonight, together?" (Nina)
Hmm…there don't appear to be any bugs, and temperature control is no issue. We can always teleport into the room at the palace later, so I guess that sounds kind of nice. I smile and Nina and nod.
"Sure, let's try it." (Mizuki)
Nina smiles back at me excitedly. She quickly climbs out of the hot spring and conjures a large tent-shaped shelter from the earth. I produce a large sleeping bag from my item box, which Nina got from Zevy's at the start of our adventures, and I toss it inside the tent. Before I can produce the second sleeping bag, Nina stops me.
"Don't you even think about us sleeping separately, Mizuki. You won't need these either." (Nina)
Nina grabs our clothes near the hot spring and tosses them into my item box while it's still open.
"Nina…seriously?" (Mizuki)
"Fufufu…I promise to keep you warm." (Nina)
I shake my head at her in exasperation, but I'm suppressing a smile underneath.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
The next morning, Nina and I teleport back to the east coast of the demon continent.
We're currently flying towards the camp of non-demons located west of Dez's camp. As we get close, I apply concealment spells to us.
When we arrive, I can see several of what I assume are dragon-kin. They essentially look like red lizards that learned to stand on two legs and grew dragon wings out of their backs – they're roughly the same size as humans.
They don't have any armor or weapons, and their 'camp' doesn't seem to have any tents or shelter. It's just a collection of campfires with dragon-kin sitting around them.
[Alright, Nina, you're up!] (Mizuki)