Hikari closed up her hands and bowed slightly as Ria emerged from the middle of the formation.
"Good morning Hikari! You are going to report to the scout master now aren't you. I already asked. Your schedule's clear. Would you accompany me instead?"
Ria smiled brightly as her horse approached.
"It's not safe here."
Ria rode up to Hikari's legs. She winced briefly as she approached the worn socks, taking a deep breath through her mouth. She stopped at a sufficient distance for her to get a full view of Hikari's face.
"It is with you around. In any case, I have some important news for you. Perhaps we can speak along the way."
Hikari nods.
"Good work on that cultist holdout. Other than the scout party walking into an ambush, we suffered no further casualties."
The edges of Hikari's skirt gently brushed over the top of Ria's head.
"You were amazing, Hikari. Single handedly dismantling their defense line. I don't think even Lord RazenHeir could have managed that."
Ria felt Hikari's gaze turn to her briefly. Her hands that were wider than Ria's body shifted behind her back and rested on the back of her skirt.
"It was quite shocking news. An entire territory had been secretly taken over by the cultists."
Ria stared into the mane of her horse.
"Food prices are already so high due to a recession in our neighbor and breadbasket, the kingdom of Herdial. I'm not sure how we are going to get through the year."
Ria shakes her head.
Clop. Clop.
Ria turned and looked up at Hikari. Her gaze turned and met her eyes.
"Anyways, I have a surprise for you when we get to the estate."
As they walked along the path, they marched into a crowd of refugees gathering on either side of the dirt path.
Hikari stopped as the refugees surrounded her. They threw flowers at her feet, placed their hands and foreheads in the dirt before her.
An old woman crawled up to her, kissed her dirty running flats and tried to clean it with her hair.
A surge of blood flowed to Ria's head as she watched.
"Make way" Hikari ordered. Ria flinched at the sheer force of her voice.
The refugees obeyed and returned to the sides of the road.
They neared the estate. The pristine white walls of the RazenHeir mansion up atop a hill came into view.
Woodcutters were clearing the area around the estate
They marched past a half constructed defense line.
Several laborers were digging a mote as others hauled huge chunks of wood to construct a palisade.
Then, they arrived at the estate walls. The stone was rugged and old as it had stood for generations.
The sentry opened the gate for them.
Ria nodded to her knight detail, dismissing them. There was a curious hint of blood stains just below some of their noses.
She turned her horse to Hikari.
"Follow me."
She said with a wide smile. Hikari tilted her head slightly.
Ria stopped before a rectangular stone structure comparable in size to the RazenHeir drill hall.
Hikari had seen it being assembled over the past few days.
Ria dismounted. She briefly winced as she walked into the strong stench from Hikari's morning run.
"Your new home Hikari."
She studied the structure. It was made up of huge blocks with enchantments at the seams, not dissimilar to how her outfits work.
Ria walked right next to Hikari's leg and placed one hand on the cotton on Hikari's calves for a brief moment.
She flinched, retracting her hands, placing them folded before her. A hint of embarrassment on her face.
"An assembled house. It does cost a tad bit more to build initially, but it costs way less to resize."
"Its nice"
Hikari strides forward. Ria walked briskly behind her with her tiny legs.
She walked through the two storey tall curtained doorway.
Ria bent down and squeezed through the triangle opening at the bottom of the heavy curtains.
A pristine bright yellow stone interior decor. It was furnished with all of the essentials.
A flat stone bed made large enough for her to stretch her arms a little.
Stacks of bedding nearby ready for her to move in.
The shower area, indented into the ground with a steel drain cover.
A wash basin around her hip height.
A pipe opening at the top of a pillar and a tank of nice smelling vicious liquid.
Her wardrobe, a box shelf containing stacks of cloth pieces including a pair of fresh socks.
Hikari kicked off her dirty flats and strided to the wardrobe.
She disassembled her socks, piling the pieces on the ground.
She inspected the fresh pair.
Brand new, unlike her old ones that were patched with plenty of recycled cloth.
As she was about to put them on, Ria caught up to her.
She was breathing heavily as she had to jog to keep up with her stride.
She rested herself on her knees. Hikari's massive meaty feet filled her view.
"My lady, my feet stink."
"That's fine. You are so big that there's no avoiding that anyways. In fact, I think your feet smell nice."
"Oh?" Hikari tilts her head slightly.
Ria covers her mouth with both hands, embarrassed at her tongue slip.
"Oh, I mean I really appreciate the hard work that you put in. It would be unbecoming of me to complain about such a trivial matter."
Hikari paused for a moment. A subtle bemused expression appeared on her face.
She placed the new fresh pair of socks back onto the shelf and reassembled her old pair that was reeking of sweat onto her feet.
"I'll save it then"
"Hmm…?"
Ria gave Hikari a confused look.
"Follow." A sudden order came from Hikari's lips, causing Ria to flinch.
Hikari took a stride. Ria stood rooted in place, her eyes glued to Hikari's massive back. Her silver pony tail extended down to the edge of her skirt.
The gaze of a ruby eye appeared over the shoulder. Ria's body starts moving on its own, walking itself until it is half a metre away from Hikari's calves.
Ria choked. The stench from Hikari's running feet, no longer confined in her flats, was horrendous.
"Closer"
Ria obeyed, shuffling herself until her nose was inches from the grimy cotton surface.
Hikari's leg moved. The suction force caused Ria to fall forward, taking a step to maintain balance.
Hikari stopped. Her feet remained in a staggered formation.
Without further instruction, Ria briskly shuffled herself until she was right behind the leg.
Hikari's skirt was right above her.
The other leg moved, the wind blowing Ria's hair to the side.
Her leg strides. Ria followed.
The stench from the massive socks was not getting weaker.
It was causing Ria to tear up. But she stood behind Hikari's sock. She does not know why.
Another stride. Hikari placed her feet level.
"Go to the wall."
Ria walked to the wall and stood leaning her back on the stone. She breathed.
Even at a distance, she could not escape the stench of HIkari's socks. But she could breathe.
She watched as Hikari hoisted her claymore, placing vertically on the straps installed on the wall.
Carefully, she hung her belt up and slotted her throwing daggers in one by one.
Then, she lowered her head and saw stacks of her wyvern skin armour.
Using her toes, she knocked over the stack and spread them out on the ground to inspect them.
"Ah, your wyvern skin armour. This is where-"
"Follow" Hikari interrupted her.
Ria quickly jogged towards her leg and positioned herself right before it.
Hikari took a stride. Ria followed. Another stride. Ria followed.
She felt nauseous. She had to breathe more heavily from the exertion of following the giantess's stride.
All the while, the air around her was constantly filled with the heavy stench.
They reached the middle of the house. There was a ritual circle.
Runes inscribed onto removable blocks of stone. Empty slots for mana crystals.
Hikari continued, striding towards another corner of the chamber. Ria followed.
She looked down at the stove. It was larger than the one she had in the hills. An opening on either side to insert coal and remove the ashes.
Hikari turned around carefully so as to not knock over Ria who was standing very close to her leg.
Her big toe was larger than Ria's shoe as it landed next to it.
"It's nice. Thank you my lady."
Ria's face was completely red. Her eyes were watery.
"I'm so glad you liked it. Sniff* It's quite basic for now Sniff* but I'm sure once the war is over Sniff* we could afford to fill this place with more elegant furnishings."
She was able to put together sentences in between wiping her tears.
"What's this?"
Hikari saw a mattress on the ground with a bottle beside it. She strided towards it, not waiting for Ria to catch up.
Ria took a moment to recover before replying.
"That's your exercise mat. There's a drain below it to collect your sweat. Oh And since food rationing has begun, there aren't many body builders, so I went ahead and bought up all of the body builder's herb mix for cheap."
Hikari picked up the bottle and shook it for a bit.
"Let's share it."