From her seat on the throne —still cushioned in a dangerously soft and adorable manner for someone with a tendency to fall asleep during meetings— Maple gazed at the stone calendar someone had hung on the map room wall.
"Has it been a month since we arrived?" she asked, scratching her head.
Chrome, in his role as chief guard, nodded with a slight gesture.
"The pyers call it 'Arrival Month,' though there’s no official holiday."
"We should have one!" excimed Maple, jumping up suddenly. "Something with food, games... and maybe... surprise visits to the duchies!"
The first to receive a visit from the Queen was the Northern Duchy, ruled by Mii and her guild, the Kingdom of the Emperor of Fmes. The snowy ndscape contrasted sharply with the constant presence of fmes in every corner of the domain: floating torches, open forges, and most notably, the more... uncomfortable presences of the kingdom.
"Maple! I told you there was no need to come by dragon! There's a teleport station!" Mii shouted as she watched Maple descend on Syrup, her massive flying turtle decorated with festive garnds.
Maple nded with a smile.
"I wanted Syrup to stretch her legs! Besides, I brought frozen chocote-walnut cake for everyone!"
Beside her, about five fire monsters eagerly followed, trying not to set the snow on fire.
"THE GODDESS OF FIRE HAS BROUGHT SWEET OFFERINGS!" one shouted, kneeling before Mii.
Mii, with a twitch in her eye, forced a smile.
"They're not offerings. It's just Maple."
The fire monsters adored her. Not only because of the fiery aura Mii naturally exuded —literally, wherever she walked, the snow melted— but also because of her pet phoenix, which soared through the skies as a divine sign.
"Why don’t you like them?" Maple asked while one of the fire monsters offered her a "sacred" volcanic stone as a gift.
"Because they get into the hot springs, steal food, and just burned my makeup tray!" Mii responded, a vein throbbing on her forehead.
That was when chaos erupted. One of the monsters ran off with a sacred towel from the fire temple. Another had set a historical rug on fire. And the smallest, named Bobo, was fast asleep in a giant ramen pot.
?? Guild General Announcements Thread: "What’s happening in the north?"
[Pyer_Azu456]: Does anyone know why there's a fire creature rolling down the main street with a sign that says 'Long live the Empress of Fmes'?
[Bcksmith_Caim]: One came into my workshop and melted one of my swords... just to offer it as a "ceremonial sword"!
[NoviceD3]: I think they're following me. What do I do if one calls me "cauldron with legs"?
[Wizard_MiniMoon]: Who let them loose!? This looks like an adorably terrifying invasion.
[Mii_Official]: ?? I’m working on it. Do not approach the north until further notice.
After several hours of chaos, mistaken offerings, and Bobo crying because he burned Maple’s cake by hugging it with love, everything was more or less under control. Mii, with the help of Misery and Shin, confined the worshiping monsters to a magically controlled temperate zone.
"I’m really sorry," said Maple, petting the phoenix. "Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to visit you without warning."
Mii sighed, already exhausted, with her clothes slightly singed.
"Maple... it’s not that I’m not happy to see you... but next time, send me a pigeon. Or a penguin. But not them."
"Got it!"
That night, while they dined under the northern aurora decorating the sky, Sally and Haruka —who had joined the trip— ughed as Maple recounted how one of the fire monsters had tried to clean her shield with va.
"I don’t get how you manage to get everyone to follow you," commented Haruka, carefully rexing her hands as she drank her tea.
"Neither do I..." Maple replied, looking at the sky. "But I’m gd everyone is here. Maybe ruling is confusing... but if we stick together, it could be fun!"
Mii took a long sip of her drink... and noticed that once again, her cup had been repced with one made of carved volcanic stone that read, "For the Goddess of Fire."
"I give up..."
