Gnawin' on History's Door

Now that's in a sorry state.

It's Dad's study. Although now it's unusable. Let's try to get it all spruced up!

Sure. Let me know what I can do.

Thank you for your help, Aldo.

What was that?

I didn't say anything.

Who are you? Come out!

Wait, what?!

It's a flying book!

Was it the book talking to us before?

I think I recognize it...

You've seen it before?

No, but I've heard of it. It's supposedly one of the magical heirlooms of the Miglance royal family. Along with the Mirror of Truth, and the Sacred Blade. This looks like the Enchanted Chronicle! It's a grimoire which documents the Miglance rule and looks after the interests of the royal family.

Bravo! That's me indeed!

...?!

...?!

I'm the Enchanted Chronicle. Nice to meet you guys!

That's a very chirpy grimoire!

Taking the grim out of grimoire, that's me! Anyway, moving on! Princess Mufilleux, I have a favor to ask of you!

Let's hear it.

Oops! Err... You've got the wrong person, I'm just a traveling swordswoman called Miyu.

Nice try, but you're not fooling anyone. Anyhow, the favor! The royal family's history is at stake!

Oh, that sounds very grave!

So, know how the castle was set on fire when the Beast King attacked? Much of the archive went up in smoke, but apart from a few singed pages, I was fine owing to my magical powers! Problem is, I used up so much power that I was left weak and defenseless! You know how books get eaten by mites? Grimoires get eaten by pest monsters, which devour the stories within. You don't want all the important records within me to get gobbled up, do you?

No, of course not! Preserving historical records for future generations is one of the duties of the royal family!

Yup! If I get eaten up, the king will be held guilty for letting the ancient records get destroyed!

We can't allow that! Father is such a wonderful king, it would break his heart!

You can prevent that tragedy in two simple steps! Find the monsters eating me and slay them.

Okay! I promise you I will!

I'll lend you a hand. For King Miglance.

Whoa, whoa! Who's this gentleman? I'm a flying book, but I could fall for him♪ Ahem. So, lemme know when you're ready to kick some monster butt!

How do we get rid of the monsters that've been eating you?

They're Bibliovores, and those can be quite tricky. They sneak onto the pages of books and lurk in between lines, eating one sentence after another!

How do we fight something like that?

You need to get INSIDE the book they're infesting!

I've heard of novels so gripping you can get lost in them but...you mean, literally?

Why don't I just show you? It'll be quicker that way!

Wait a secon...

Are we...inside the Chronicle?

I expected it to be more different from the real world.

Point us to the Bibliovores and we'll take care of them for you.

Sounds like a plan. Let's see if we can spot anything out of the ordinary.

That's Miglance Castle. There's no fire damage, so this is before the Beast King's attack.

But how far back in the past is this? It would help us if we knew roughly what year it was.

You wished to speak with me? What's the matter?

Your Majesty... With your permission... I've come to ask you to free me from my duties as a knight of the Miglance Royal Order.

What's the reason you no longer wish to be in my service?

Your Majesty, as you are aware, I've lost an eye in the recent battle. With impaired vision, I am not able to fight as well as before. I fear that I would not just become a mediocre knight, but a liability.

Nonsense. Your strength and battle prowess make up for that handicap.

You do me too much honor, Your Majesty. This is the highest praise I could ever hope for.

What do you intend to do after leaving the Order?

Swordmanship is all I've ever learned. I could probably scrape a living working as a mercenary.

......

You may withdraw from the Miglance Royal Order. There is one condition, however. I have a certain job in mind for you.

What might it be, Your Majesty?

You've earned yourself the name Miglance Defender, owing to long years of loyal service. As such, you would be the ideal choice to safeguard the future of the royal house.

Forgive me, Your Majesty, I'm afraid I do not quite grasp what that would entail.

Listen, Bertrand. The lady in waiting serving my young Mufilleux has recently retired. She was of a very advanced age, and was no longer able to look after the princess.

Ah. I am to take over as Princess Mufilleux's royal guard?

It should be easy for a man with your experience. You'd be more than just a personal guard. Become her companion. She is a spirited young lady few can keep up with!

With all due respect, Your Majesty... I am a simple warrior. I might not be the best person to act as the little princess' playmate.

You will do just fine. It's another way for you to show your loyalty to the royal house!

I do, of course, want to prove my loyalty but... I suppose I can not turn down your kind offer, although I don't think myself worthy...

Might I be as bold as to ask for a court lady to assist me in this task? For the sake of the princess' comfort...

That is not unreasonable.

Felmina! Come over here.

Your Majesty.

Felmina, you will become an attendant to the young princess, alongside our Bertrand here.

Felmina is an expert spy. She's quick on her feet, in more ways than one!

You'll make the perfect team looking after that unruly princess! Hahaha!

I see... So Bertrand and Felmina were your guardians.

I see... So Bertrand was your guardian.

I see... So Felmina was your guardian.

I see... So those two were your guardians.

Yes. So this is how they were chosen for the job.

Yes, he was looking after me together with Felmina.

Yes, she was looking after me together with Bertrand.

Yes. Seeing them again brings back so many memories.

We have a point of reference in time. This happened when I was a very young girl.

That's good to know. Let's follow these two.

Waaah!

Boo hoo! Where is my nanny! I want to see my nanny!

By my cape... I'm not equipped to deal with this situation. How do you make a kid stop crying? I've never been faced with this kind of problem before.

Felmina, was it? You got any ideas?

Perfect! It's good to have you around.

No, violence to the princess' person is out of the question!

We're not going to use violence, Felmina! Even if it will shut the kid up...

What?! So you're as bad at this as I am!

Standing here twiddling our thumbs won't make this any better. Let's talk to the girl.

Hey, ki, err, Your Highness... We're your new guardians, replacing your old nanny. My name is Bertrand.

......

It is an honor indeed. Very few are so privileged as to serve the future successor to the throne.

......

I hate you! I want my nanny back! You talk difficult! Talk to me like nanny did!

Oh... I suppose I was too formal.

Felmina is scary! Her eyes are cold, like she feels nothing!

Get out of my room! I don't want you here. I'll call you if I need you.

Boo hoo...

Waaah!

Phew, they're finally gone♪

Wait for me, Nan! I'll find you. I don't want anyone else looking after me.

Your Highness!

I remember His Majesty mentioning that she would go to the royal hunting grounds where she was not allowed. She was leaving her room as she pleased, fooling her poor nanny...

Let's follow after her, Felmina! She couldn't have made it far yet.

Catch, not capture!

You climbed down from that high? As a little girl?

Ah, I get it. This is an anomaly, a sign of the monsters hiding nearby.

No, so far it is all factually correct. I used to escape from my room all the time.

You must have been a handful for your guardians...

Stop grumbling, Aldo, and let's follow them!

Hold on!

Yes?

We're not going out the window.

Why not? Come on, Aldo. I was looking forward to this.

You might have pulled it off as a little girl, but try that now and I'm sure the curtains will rip.

I'm not that heavy!

Wow, I never knew the castle had such a huge forest behind it.

It used to be the royal park, populated with monsters. Besides its main purpose for hunting, it was used as a training ground for knights and warriors.

You're kidding me, right? It's so dangerous for a little girl to go to a place like this alone!

The risk is part of the fun, you know? Forbidding a child from something only makes them want it more.

Miyu...

You were a very...unique child. Anyway, let's look for the little you. I got worried about her, you know.

I'll let you know if I spot anything that's not quite right.

Okay. I'll be counting on you!

Aldo! Over there!

What's that? Looks like fog? Miyu, is this one of the monsters you were keeping in the forest?

No... I don't remember anything like that.

What is that creature?

My lance seems useless against it!

My attacks aren't working either!

That's what we came here for. Let's do this, Miyu!

Don't be too reckless, Aldo! We have no idea of how strong this thing might be.

You have my gratitude, brave strangers. I was at a loss as to how to deal with that monstrosity.

Never before has a monster resisted my attacks. What was that thing?

Those guys um...are a very rare kind of monster, not from around here. We happen to specialize in hunting them down. As to how we do it, it's a trade secret.

Ah, in which case we ought to leave them to you. That's a relief. We can focus on getting the princess safely back to the castle.

Are you hurt?

Nope.

Thank goodness for that. Shall we make our way back, Your Highness?

......

I don't like being called that. Call me by my name!

Um, what now?

I'm Myu... Myufi...lu. Miyufilleux...

It's so difficult... I can't say it...

Why don't you have them call you the name your nanny used? Didn't she call you Miyu?

But... They will laugh at me if I can't even say my own name properly.

They won't laugh at you, so don't be shy. You can be friends, just like you were with your nanny. They're very nice people.

Will they... Will they play with me?

Of course! You'll spend lots of fun time together.

So that's the reason she shunned us. We'll have to call her Miyu to break the ice, I suppose.

That doesn't seem appropriate. She may be a little girl, but she's still a princess.

I'm also not comfortable with such an informal way of address...

A good compromise would be "Princess Miyu," I think. Not overfamiliar, but not formal either.

A splendid idea, Bertrand. I will go with "Lady Miyu" myself.

Why does it have to be different?!

Shall we go back, Princess Miyu?

Please don't run away from us again, Lady Miyu.

That went smoothly, all things considered. They bought our story like it was on sale.

Yes, that surprised me too. They seemed to have no problem with two strangers in the royal forest.

Ah, so they fall back into their narrative.

Well, Chronicle. Are we done here?

Welcome baaack!

That was a fun adventure.

I really didn't expect the book world to be so realistic.

That's what you get when you put together realistic descriptions and a dash of magic! I've done an amazing job there, wouldn't you say?

Yes, well done. Anyway, about the Bibliovores?

Straight to the point. You're my kind of guy! But yes, Bibliovores. There were in fact six of them to start with.

Which leaves five more for us to deal with.

You're excellent at basic arithmetic! Luckily, it seems the remaining ones are all in that story you just visited!

Good, that saves us time. Send us back. Let's get this over and done with.

Well then, once you're ready, come speak to me!

Okay. You ready to go?

Let me know if you want to go back.

Do you want to go back?

I know it's a bummer, but I'm still running low on juice. Can't send you to a new chapter yet. If you're bored, I can send you to one you've been to before, though. Wanna go?

You ready to go?

You ready to go?

Feeling nostalgic? I've got lovely historical landscapes for you!

Where do you wanna go?

All righty!

Laters!

Best of luck!