02

Many of the knights found that patrolling the Forest of Moss was, to put it nicely, a mundane, monotonous, and altogether lonely task. It was usually assigned to the troublemakers, slackers, and other types of underachievers. If they were lax in their duties, they would not endanger anyone. Kai, meanwhile, had eagerly requested it.

His supervisor was surprised by his request. “Why would you want to go there?” Kai explained he wanted something quieter after the excitement of the brothel. His supervisor eventually relented. “Fine, but I’ll make sure your next deployment has you interacting with more people.” Kai agreed to the compromise and set off for the forest.

Kai quickly adopted a new routine for his patrol in the Forest of Moss. He would pace the perimeter, breaking for stretches, before he would cross diagonally, traverse the edge, and then cross the opposite diagonal. This would repeat until his lunch break or the end of the shift. Kai still stayed vigilant, despite the land being mostly trees and greenery. Occasionally he saw a rabbit, and one time he saw a rabbit with what looked like a lizard’s tail. Other than that, it was silent and lonely, and Kai was fine with this.

It was after yet another unremarkable lunch break that Kai heard the first sign of distress. A woman’s voice broke the arboral silence, gasping and screaming, coming from the center of the forest. Something about the voice was incredibly familiar to Kai, as he rushed in to save whoever was at the other end.

Halfway through the woods he recognized the voice of Princess Ushida of the Cow Kingdom, who continued loudly screaming. Kai rushed towards the scene and drew his sword. There in a clearing was the Princess, writhing under a tree, with tendrils from an unknown monster groping and twisting around her partially-undressed body. Shocked by the obscenity caused by the foul beast, Kai sliced through the tendrils, careful to free Ushida without harming her, while shielding her from the splatter from the tendrils. The thwarted monster quickly vanished into the woods, but Kai remained vigilant. Reacting on instinct, Kai scooped the Princess from the ground, cradling her against his chest. Her small body fit easily in his arms, while he stayed perfectly calm, prepared to guard her from any dangers.

Protecting the Monarchy of the Cow was the source of Kai’s dream to become a knight, and his favorite member of that Royal Family was now in his arms. He felt a moment of divine purpose, certain that he was doing what he was made to do. He held onto Ushida tightly. Her long, soft hair draped around the entirety of her body, and Kai was careful that her hair stayed off the ground. The princess’s breasts, oversized on her small frame, naturally pressed into Kai’s torso while she was carried in his arms. While in any other scenario this close contact with the opposite sex may cause a degree of embarrassment to a less virtuous knight, Kai stayed focused and chaste. He kept moving while cradling the adorably tiny Princess Ushida against his chest as he moved through the forest. While he had no desire for his existence to end, he knew he would have died happily at this moment, feeling he had finally his purpose in this mortal life.

Once Kai ran far away enough to be safe from the monster attacker, he finally spoke. “Princess, are you alright?” He smiled gently, his face beaming down at her. It was his first time speaking to the princess whom he deeply admired, the woman who’s pro-monarchy messages to the public changed his life for the better. The sun glowed brighter, the colors seemed to be vibrant from a divine touch, all adding to Kai feeling of profound peace.

“You… absolute fool!” snapped Ushida. She pushed herself out of Kai's arms. “That monster wasn’t attacking me.”

“…What?” stammered Kai, whose mind began reeling. But she was screaming, and alone… Kai tried to mentally add up what he just witnessed. If she wasn’t being attacked, then…

She huffed. “We were fucking.”

Kai froze, as all of his knightly training provided him no ability to process this revelation.