– Hikari –
[Hearstone potency : 68 -> 100]
[Rune word Heartstone -> ?]
Tak! Tak! The sound of cairn stones stacking upwards one by one. The sounds came in pairs.
Ria was rubbing her delicate sole onto Rey's face as his body was stuck in the ground allowing his head to stick out.
On either side, an inch from his year, Ria's petite shoes with her socks folded neatly and stuffed into the openings.
"Can you get your foot off my face now" The moist warm breath brushed against Ria's soles as Rey spoke with the bore still on his forehead. The small toes clutching at his hair.
"No can do. How could I decline such a reasonable request from your sister?" Ria pressed her sole directly onto Rey's face. His nose nuzzling onto her arch in a slightly crushed state.
The young hearthstone's modest stature that matches her meant that the length of the foot extended from his forehead down to his chin.
"You lie, you're just enjoying this aren't you." The sole pressed onto his face, the heel pursing his lips together.
"A plausible conjecture that I won't deny. After all, you deserved it didn't you. How did you even get the idea of convincing my knight to put you into her socks?"
Ria lifted her heel, allowing Rey to catch his breath.
"Stop it-" Ria grinds her heel onto his mouth again, silencing him before he could protest.
"As I was saying, when I first met the honorable general, I would have never guessed that he was a foot pervert. I certainly wouldn't have guessed that I of all people would be brought in to cure him of his condition. Quite the twist of fate isn't it?"
"Muffled sounds*"
Ria lifted her heel, the bore of her foot still resting atop Rey's hair.
The sound of a pile of stones collapsing and dropping into the sand, followed by some cursing from Sheela.
"What do you want?" Rey's voice was dead. His eyes lifted up and saw Ria's face blushing. Her breathing was heavy. Her eyes were slightly teary.
She was placing one hand firmly in between her legs to keep her skirt pinned down onto the stone chair she was sitting on.
"Nothing at all. Again, I am just fulfilling a minor request from your sister until you're cured of your perverted fantasies."
Ria grabbed one of her socks from her shoes between her big and index toe. She lifted it up, resting it on her knee and put on the sock.
They weren't very sweaty as she had been sitting on Hikari's shoulders throughout her tour of the city. Unlike her giantess knight, it was not particularly difficult for her attendants to provide her with a constant supply of clean socks.
"Mmmmmm! Muffled sounds*, Uncomfortable grunting*"
Ria shoved her socked foot onto Rey's face, rubbing it all over the surface area. The feeling of the rough sock surface against his skin.
"There you have it. Feet are disgusting don't you think?" Ria lifted her foot, allowing Rey a moment to breathe.
The sound of another pile of stones collapsing and dropping into the sand, followed by more cursing from Sheela.
"Yes, I get- mmmmm!"
Rey was smothered by the sock.
"Hmm… ? What's that? Does the general think that feet and socks are disgusting? He doesn't like being near them? He certainly doesn't seem to like being abused by them?"
"Mmmmmm! Muffled sounds*, Uncomfortable grunting* mmmmm!"
Ria lifted her sock, placing it atop of Rey's head. As he catches his breath, she picks up her other sock with her toes.
"Have you had enough yet?"
Ria ignored him and just put her sock on. She took a glance at Rey's dead eyes staring up her skirt through the opening that was created by her resting her leg on her knees.
"Mmmmmm! Mmmmm! Muffled sounds*" Both socks were in his face.
The sound of a column of cairn stones collapsing.
"Nope. Not at all apparently. Especially when it seemed that the perverted general wasn't interested in just socks. I'm glad that I made the visit to your chambers. It would seem that the perverted general is in dire need of my attention."
Rey let out groans of pain as Ria forcefully rubbed both her socks on his face, putting strain on his neck as his head was getting pushed back.
Tak! Tak! The sound of cairn stones stacking on top of each other. Soon after, the sound of one of the columns collapsing. Ria could hear Hikari's teasing voice that she was so familiar with but she was too focused on Rey at the moment.
After a while, Ria could feel Rey thrashing his head, opening his mouth in an attempt to take forced breaths through cracks in the cotton.
She lifted her foot, looking down at Rey struggling to catch his breath. Her knees closed up, her fingers scratching away at the stone.
She rubbed her socks together, one over the other as she fidgeted in her seat. She couldn't help but let out a silent moan.
A loud sound as a tall column of cairn stones collapsed. Ria briefly caught a glimpse of Sheela buried in the sand up to her hips. Hikari standing tall beside her, her knee caps above the level of her head.
Deep breaths Ria took to calm her racing heart. Slowly, she re-straightened her posture. She leaned forward to check on how Rey was doing.
His expression was still blank, his eyes even more dead than before. The double dose of Hortifern he took compared to the size of his body was heavily suppressing his emotions.
"Hey how bout we talk about this a little?"
"Oh? Is the perverted general trying to negotiate his way out now? I'm not sure if the current situation is favourable for him?"
"Sheesh, you're better at this than you really should be. Where did you learn it?"
Ria flinched. She slid one foot into her shoe and slammed it down right beside Rey's head.
"Alright, alright. Let's talk about this."
"Oh? The perverted general better have something good to say if he wants to avoid an even more intense round of therapy."
"It's about the Herdial bonds."
Ria paused. She looked up and thought for a bit.
Across the room, Hikari and Sheela were stacking up another column of cairn stones. The height of the column had reached Hikari's hips. The column was getting precariously unstable due to its height.
Tak! Tak! Collapses*. Sheela's column collapse followed by more cursing. As the cursing petered out, Sheela took a deep breath and lowered herself deeper into the sand, until a third of her shoulder plates were covered under the sand.
"Hrmp, it makes sense that you would have some information. It's very valuable information in fact. Are you sure you want to give that to me just to get out of your punishment?"
"I do."
Ria leaned forward more. A bemused expression appeared on her face as she looked at Rey's pleading face inches away from the tip of her socked toes.
"Alright go on."
"Sell it. Sell it all."
Ria paused. She lifted her chin and rolled her eyes to the right, performing some calculations in her head and contemplating what she just heard.
"At the current price, my house will take substantial losses. Besides, there's heavy restrictions on selling right now. If a major holder such as the RazenHeir house makes a sale now."
"It's too late. The bonds are completely worthless. Sell it all, buy up as much grain as you can. I have some connections that can help you get around the normal restriction on the Herdial exchange."
Ria looked up and thought for a bit.
Across the room, another pair of cairn stone columns were being built. Tak! Tak! The next pairs of stones materialize from the sand and float up to the top. Tak! Sheela's column collapsed.
A few teasing words from Hikari. Ria could hear each word but her own thoughts drowned it out.
She watched absent mindedly as Sheela lowered herself further into the sand, until only her head and neck was visible above ground.
"Deal. I'll report to your sister how much you hated feet and will never want to taste socks again."
Ria slid both her feet into her shoes. She stood up, dusted herself off and straightened her shirt and skirt.
Rey heaved a sign of relief. The sand around him shifted as he pushed his shoulders above the ground. His arms that were about the same thickness as Ria's emerged from the ground, allowing him to support himself and push him out of the ground.
Across the room, there was a vertical column of cairn stones standing tall, reaching about two thirds the height of the entire chamber. On the platform next to it was a pile of collapsed cairn stones.
Sheela was nowhere to be found. Hikari was standing facing Ria and Rey in front of the platform with collapsed stones.
One foot in front of the other. The front foot was moving side by side, anchoring on the heel, rubbing a spot on the sandy ground.
"Hikari, are you finished?"
"Yes, my lady."
Within three strides, Hikari reached the solid stone platform where Rey and Ria were.
"Umm.. where's Sheela?"
A mass of sand emerged from the ground. Sheela walked towards them.
"Urk… Hikari's… feet… Stinks… Feet… Stinks… "
She was wobbling like a zombie and muttering to herself. Her face was red, making it a markedly different color from the tanned skin on her neck.
"Oh umm.. I believe we have to take our leave now if we want to be on time for the night event."
"Night event? Surely you don't mean the one where a bunch of girls dressed up in a plain dress with flowers just for the old farts to drool over?"
Ria gave Rey a punch on the shoulder.
"That's quite the off putting way to put it. But yeah, I had hoped to get some publicity. Hikari is a
hero that opened the trade routes from the wyverns and the Herdial people seemed to be just a tad bit hostile to foreigners."
Rey shrugs.
"You do you I guess."
"By the way, Sheela, do you happen to attend the event as well?"
Sheela sprung back to life.
"Huh!? Why would I? It's just gonna be a bunch of old farts drooling over my body. Makes me regret going through gigantification. I bet it's gonna be even worse for Hikari."
"Master, I don't mind. Would you join us?"
Sheela turned and looked at Hikari with an annoyed look. She glanced back at Ria's expectant expression.
"Ugh, whatever. Let me get my old dress that I haven't worn in years."