Character Introduction
Count Chrome: Beezel. Countess Chrome: Silkyne.
I was born into this world as the third daughter of a certain Baron’s house within the Demon Kingdom. Eventually, I married into another Baron’s family, but my husband’s work keeps him away from home most of the time. The three children I raised have all grown up and moved out to live their own lives.
I found myself dreadfully bored and was looking for something—anything—to occupy my time. Fortunately, I was approached by Countess Chrome and became involved in one of her business ventures. I cannot even tell my husband the specifics of what I do, but to be blunt, I am a caretaker for Meleocarns—the monsters that produce the raw materials for high-end cosmetics.
Meleocarns, or "Meleos" for short, are massive creatures over five meters long. Caring for them is, naturally, grueling physical labor. You might worry about whether a noblewoman—even one from a mere Baron’s house—could handle such a task, but I proved surprisingly capable. I suppose I simply have a knack for it. It is enjoyable work, and I have no complaints about the labor itself.
However, I did have my concerns. The breeding ground where I work had become populated entirely by females. A single-gender environment is hardly ideal for breeding, and the activity levels of the female Meleos were gradually becoming sluggish. It was likely a lack of stimulation from a male. The yield of raw materials for our cosmetics was dropping year by year. While we were managing for now, thinking ten or twenty years into the future made me feel quite gloomy.
It would have been wonderful if we could have brought in a male Meleo from somewhere, but due to past overhunting, wild Meleos are on the verge of extinction. I often worried that the ones we were raising might be the last of their kind.
But those worries belong to the past. Ever since Lady Korin-Corin—Viscountess Lousouth—brought a young male Meleo to us, the females have become incredibly active. We expected a significant increase in the raw materials we could harvest. Everything seemed to be heading in the right direction.
Or so I thought, until the female Meleos stopped listening to us and barricaded themselves inside the forest.
The reason was simple: the male Meleo was scheduled to return home. He had only been borrowed for the purpose of breeding, and once the mating season ended, he was meant to go back to his original owner. Whether he would ever visit again was undecided.
We caretakers knew this, but the female Meleos did not. We hadn't kept it from them out of malice; we just didn't want to rush them. After all, it had been so long since they had engaged in breeding that they had practically forgotten their courtship dances. If they knew there was a time limit, there was no telling how they would react. At worst, they might have turned violent toward the male.
So, we kept them in the dark. We intended to return him quietly once they were finished. That was our plan, but as the females finished their work and settled in to wait for their eggs, our guard must have dropped. One of the caretakers let the secret slip. It wasn't intentional—they had simply started preparing a farewell party because they wanted to see the hardworking male off with a proper celebration.
The moment the females realized he was leaving, they built a massive nest in the breeding ground’s forest, dragged the male inside, and began their siege.
Day 1 of the Siege One of the caretakers went to hear the female Meleos' demands. "They say, 'Do not let the male Meleo leave.'" I thought as much. Unfortunately, we were powerless to grant that request. We weren't the ones who had the authority to decide his departure.
We immediately contacted Lady Korin-Corin and Countess Chrome. We summoned every caretaker, regardless of whether they were on duty or off, and established a Countermeasures Headquarters. That was the end of the first day—or it would have been, had we not spent the night scouting the nest under the cover of darkness. They had knocked down trees to form a perimeter to keep us out. It didn't look particularly sturdy, but since the wood was still green and wet, a fire attack was out of the question. Not that we would have actually tried that, of course.
There were enough gaps that we might have been able to crawl inside, but on the other side were Meleos over five meters long who could turn invisible at will. As far as barricades went, it was a royal pain.
Day 2 of the Siege Lady Korin-Corin arrived on the scene and took command of the headquarters. She appealed to the females to release the male, but they refused to listen. Concerned for his health, we provided them with food for him. At a caretaker's suggestion, we launched Operation Lullaby. It was an attempt to trigger the Meleos' nostalgia with children’s songs, but they completely ignored us. Grrr. And to think I used to sing to them when they cried about being lonely!
Day 3 of the Siege Countess Chrome arrived. she explained to the females that if they didn't return him now, he would never be allowed to come back. Still, the Meleos refused to budge. Their unity was absolute. While the Countess kept them occupied with her speech, a seven-person rescue squad attempted a stealth mission. It was a total failure. I had no idea Meleos were capable of throwing things. How do they even manage that with those shoulder joints? It should be physically impossible! Regardless, the members of the squad who returned covered in mud and dung were sent straight to the showers.
Day 4 of the Siege Negotiations continued with no progress, but we did manage to establish formal Combat Rules. First, night actions were deemed too dangerous, so engagement was restricted to daylight hours. We would hold a truce every night from sunset to sunrise. After all, nighttime stress is the enemy of beautiful skin. Second, the battlefield was restricted to the breeding grounds. The Meleos were not to leave the perimeter under any circumstances. Third, magic attacks were strictly prohibited. We couldn't afford to have the facilities destroyed or the forest burned down. Finally, we established rules for prisoners. Even in war, cruel treatment is unacceptable. Any female Meleo we captured would simply be sent back to her own room to reflect on her behavior. We also set limits on pitfall depth and banned the use of spikes or hazards inside them. As for the stone-throwing, we had them ban the use of rocks—though I doubted they'd try it again after the rules were set.
Most importantly, we agreed that no harm would come to the male Meleo. His safety was the priority. However, since we might accidentally hurt him while trying to secure him, we had him wear a crown. If a caretaker managed to snatch the crown away, the Meleos would have to surrender and release him. It was a fair deal. We even worried he might not want to be "rescued," so snatching the crown became our win condition.
Lady Korin-Corin provided extra bedding straw for the male. Even in spring, the nights can be cold. We caretakers were issued new uniforms, trousers, sheets, and undergarments. The headquarters was settling in for a long-term conflict. However, late that night, Count Chrome visited the site. After speaking with the Countess, he made it clear he wanted a swift resolution. We felt the same way.
Day 5 of the Siege The Count and Countess made one last plea for the male’s release. They were ignored, though we saw that the male was still healthy. The Count also informed the male that the Village Head was coming. The Village Head is apparently the boss of the male's owner. Knowing an acquaintance was coming seemed to put the male at ease. Still, I wondered why the Count was so panicked. His distress was making the female Meleos nervous, so I wished he would settle down. I also wished the Countess would be more patient with her persuasion. If she lost her temper, the Meleos would realize we were desperate, and the negotiations would fall apart.
"Just break the nest," they told us. Fine. We prepared a two-pronged assault. One squad would perform a battering ram attack on the front of the nest with a heavy log. This was a decoy. The second squad would wait a moment before swinging a massive iron ball from a crane into the left side of the nest. This was the main attack. Hehehe. We had raised these Meleos for years. we knew their habits inside and out. They would surely fall for the decoy.
The log attack and the iron ball attack both failed. We were intercepted before we even reached the nest—not by the Meleos, but by Net Turtles. These were land turtle magic beasts that lived in the grounds. They were usually harmless and stayed out of the way, so we had always left them be. We were even friendly enough that caretakers would clean their shells in their spare time. It turned out the Meleos had hired the Net Turtles as mercenaries, paying them in grass. Since the Combat Rules didn't explicitly ban hiring third-party contractors, we couldn't complain. We had been considering reinforcements ourselves, after all.
Though we didn't break the nest, we did capture two females who had tried to raid the food stores during the chaos. This gave us hope. If they were leaving the nest for food, their supplies had to be low—especially after hiring the turtles. We thought we could negotiate with food.
Day 6 of the Siege We were tricked. It turned out they had moved a massive amount of food into the nest before the siege started. They made a show of eating right in front of us just to mock our efforts. Grrr.
We launched a tunnel operation. A caretaker skilled in earth magic had been digging toward the back of the nest since Day 2. Just as we were about to break through and snatch the crown, we were discovered. I never expected them to counter with a water attack, though I suppose I should be grateful they gave us a warning before they flooded the tunnel.
With the tunnel a failure, Countess Chrome ordered us to stop the clever tricks. She said glorious caretakers had no need for such things. We were going in with brute force. We were all fired up to show them what we were made of, but then the Village Head’s gifts arrived. The Count had worked himself to the bone transporting a mountain of fruit. Usually, it’s polite to wait for the guest to arrive before touching a gift, but since it was perishable and the Village Head had sent word to eat it before it spoiled, we dug in.
Countess Chrome received the gift first, and then Lady Korin-Corin distributed shares to all the caretakers. It was... delicious. Beyond delicious. Wait, was this that incredibly expensive fruit everyone in the capital was talking about? It had to be. I asked if I could take one home to my husband and sons, and they said yes. Thank goodness. The fruit was also shared with the Meleos in the nest. If we didn't share, it would only breed resentment after the siege was over.
After a short break for tea, the Brute Force Operation began. We charged the nest with a war cry, led by Lady Korin-Corin. I was positioned right behind her. It was a dangerous spot, but I didn't care. Let’s do this! We fought until sunset but only managed to capture three more females. It turned out they had built a second nest behind the first. They were more strategic than we gave them credit for. Still, their numbers were thinning. We were sure we could take the crown tomorrow.
Day 7 of the Siege The Village Head finally arrived. He seemed like a perfectly ordinary man, but one of his companions was an absolute monster. It is hard to describe exactly why she was so terrifying. At first glance, she looked like a normal woman, though the strange armored weapons on her arms were a give-away. Her aura was just... different. Despite being human-sized, her presence felt far more massive than the Meleos. My instincts screamed that this was a being you must never, ever oppose.
The Meleos and the Net Turtles clearly felt the same. They were trembling. Of course, we caretakers were trembling just as hard. "So, who am I supposed to take down?" she asked. Hearing that snapped me out of my daze. I looked at the female Meleos. We caretakers and the monsters had fought together and established rules; we were in sync. The females nodded to me and scrambled out of the nest immediately. We caretakers rushed toward the Meleos, and then... We hugged them. "See? We aren't fighting at all!" we shouted, putting on the most desperate display of friendship possible. We prayed with everything we had that she would believe us and leave us alone.