"It's a nice morning for a run isn't it Hikari?"
Ria bent forward on one knee and stretched the other leg behind her.
In front of her, the giantess bent over and touched the ground with her palms.
Ria was amazed at her incredible flexibility in spite of her muscular body.
Hikari bent back up and turned her eyes at her lady.
"My lady?"
"Oh, umm.. I'm just stretching."
Ria quickly placed one arm over the other and stretched.
They stood outside the estate.
A paved road wide enough for Hikari to share with wagons ran from Herdial to the east and Moradale to the west.
The traffic had been getting busier day by day.
They stood facing northwards down an empty road.
"Our running track. We can use it since there's no traffic yet as the road is still being constructed further out north. It's a paved road so your running flats don't get so dirty everyday. Hopefully the maids will stop complaining about having to clean your massive dirty shoes."
"Don't pass out."
"He. Don't worry. I won't."
They lined up just north of the junction where the roads meet.
"The road ends much further north. Perhaps an hour by horse? I can't run that far as it would require a security detail. Not that I can anyway. I hope the distance is far enough for you."
Hikari looked. Her eyesight allows her to see the end of the road.
"It's good."
Hikari took off, striding way ahead of Ria.
Thud. Thud. Her heavy steps slamming into the road.
The gavel road could hold her weight. A dirt path would have left an imprint.
To either side of her, a town was being constructed.
She ran past a set of makeshift buildings. Blacksmiths, tanneries and bakeries.
Walls were being constructed.
A stone wall around the RazenHeir estate.
A wooden palisade marking out a temporary wall around a wider area that was to evolve into a town.
She ran further out north.
The outside was the same as every other morning.
The trees that had stood there even before she arrived at the RazenHeir estate.
Rodents scurrying away on hearing her footsteps thundering down the road.
She reached the end in about a minute.
It was her normal pace.
A pile of gavel ready to be paved onto the road marks the end
The workers will arrive later.
She turned back.
She was back in the town area. Ria was only half way to the palisade.
Hikari knocked Ria off balance as she ran past her.
"My lady? Are you alright?"
Ria stood back up and dusted herself off.
"Yes, huff* you are very intense."
Her tiny lady was visibly tired after just running a distance that she covered in a few strides.
"Continue."
"Yes, Hikari."
They continued their morning run.
Hikari sticks to her side of the road more when running past Ria.
She passed the wooden palisade again.
The estate was peaceful.
It was as though the battle with the cultists never happened.
The main battle had occurred further up north.
The only remaining sign of the wall was a broken down wagon at the side that has yet to be recovered.
It was peaceful.
After a few more rounds, she returned to the starting point.
Ria was sitting on the ground.
Her maids tending to her.
"My Lady?"
Ria was staring into the ground. Her breathing was uneven.
Suddenly, she turned to the side of the road and threw up.
Her maid gave her a cup of water, which she gurgled and spat out.
"Huff* Huff* I'm, I'm fine."
Ria was able to stand up, but she was wobbling.
"My lady, you shouldn't try to keep pace with Hikari."
"No, huff* huff* It's fine. I didn't pass out today did I?"
"Still, shall I fetch the healer?"
"No, huff* huff* I'm quite alright. huff* huff*."
"Stand still"
Ria paused, still wobbling. One of her maids offered her support.
"Breath slowly"
Breath in. Hold. Breath out. Breath in. Hold. Breath out.
Her breathing stabilized.
"Thanks Hikari. Shall we proceed to your chambers?"
Hikari nods.
Ria began walking.
Slowly. Her steps were still unstable.
Hikari escorted her, taking baby steps to match her pace.
She was able to speak.
"Peace again. I never thought my first major act would be to run a war. How was it for you guys? I heard from the scout master you faced the titan alone. That must have been terrifying."
"It was fine."
"Woah. You sure are something else. A moving fortress. Its legs are twice the height of even the Carla walls. I can't imagine myself facing such a tremendous force, you're such an amazing Hikari."
"Thank you."
"You deserve it. Although, at the end of the day, what mattered even more is that you came home. Too bad I'm not there to help. I'll train my hardest from now on so that maybe I can one day join you guys at the front."
"My lady, it's dangerous."
"I'll train harder then. Although, since you slayed the titan. The estate had become much safer. The scale of the disaster would have required the battleships of Moradale to sortie. Even that might not have been enough given how the Herdial sky fortress went down."
"The sky fortress?"
"Yes, shipping across lands is done by floating zeppelins along the leylines. Some zeppelins have armour and cannons installed which turns them into battleships. Battleships protect the sky lanes and keep them open."
"Hmm?"
"You are right to be confused as to why Herdial would send the sky fortress to siege a fortress. It makes no sense. A floating zeppelin obviously can't carry as much weight in cannons and armour to out muscle a fortress that is just stationary on the ground."
"Yes."
"It's nothing but a show. Assuming they didn't know a titan would emerge, the coalition troops on the ground is enough to win against the smaller cultists force. Given the troubles in Herdial, I imagine they needed to boost morale somehow. But I don't think anyone predicted that it would backfire like that."
They reached the estate.
They walked past a group of cultists unloading sacks of grain and carrying them into the granary, under the supervision of guards.
"Those cultists that we captured. I don't know what the jailors did. But it seemed we got them under control. We needed the hands to bring in the harvest. I just wished the harvest was bigger. We'll just about get to the next harvest on rationing. Food prices had tripled. The convoys from Herdial carrying food to us are getting mobbed."
As Hikari strided past, the cultists dropped what they were doing and bowed their heads to the ground facing her.
The sight startled Ria.
Hikari quickly strided forward past them, allowing them to get back to work.
They reached the estate grounds.
In one corner was Hikari's boot cleaning bay.
The former cultists worked there.
They bowed their heads before Hikari's boot that they just cleaned.
Ria raised her eyebrows. Her face blushed.
Hikari looked straight and continued walking.
"Those guys still give me the creeps. Slavery is illegal here in the territories. We can only keep them for now as prisoners of war."
Hikari stopped. They have arrived at the door to her home chamber.
Ria flinched. She turned around and met Hikari's gaze.
"Go in first."
Ria swallowed. Her knees started shivering.
"Yes, Hikari." Ria disappeared into the curtain door.
…
Thud. Thud. Hikari's giant shoes landed at the doorstep.
Ria crawled in front of her.
She kissed the tip of the shoe.
The shoes were not muddy.
They were just cleaned and haven't hit the country dirt.
"Good morning, my knight Hikari. How was your morning run?"
"Hmmm"
Hikari arched her foot.
A rush of steam from inside her flats.
Ria turned her head away coughing and choking.
"What's wrong?"
Hikari playfully scrunched her toes, letting out more of the smell.
"Do my feet smell?"
"No! Hikari! Your feet smell wonderful! Sniff* I missed the smell of your feet! Sniff*"
"You didn't like it?"
"Of course I liked it! Sniff* I like the smell of your hard working feet."
Ria leaned her face closer over the tip of Hikari's shoe above her sock.
She was wincing and tearing.
The stench was so strong that she could barely breathe.
"Thank you Hikari for letting your undeserving lady smell your feet. Sniff* They just smell so good. Sniff* chokes*"
"Back up."
Ria crawled backwards. The stench was still strong even.
Hikari kicks off one flat.
"Mmmm..!" Ria chokes.
She didn't realize how strong they smelled while they were outside.
The windy climate dissipated most of the stench.
"Does my feet smell?"
"No… Choke*... they smell good… Choke* … so good… Cough* Cough*"
Hikari pushes the flat to one side.
She pauses as her lady is still tearing.
"Does my feet smell?"
"Not at all… they smell good… I can smell them for days…"
"Really?"
"Yes… really really… "
"Lies."
Hikari takes off her other flat.
Ria almost blacked out from the sudden burst of stench.
Squish. Squish. The giantesses strided towards her cauldron.
The stench dissipated enough for Ria to regain consciousness.
"Come here."
"Yes! Hikari."
Ria turned and crawled towards Hikari.
Her giantess knight was preparing her breakfast.
The cauldron boiled.
Ria bowed her head.
There was sweat on the ground where Hikari stepped.
It was sticking to her face as she pressed it close to the stone.
"Follow."
She lifts her head.
Hikari began walking.
"Follow."
Ria picks up the pace.
Sweat prints on the ground the width of her shoulders.
The slippery ground makes it hard to crawl.
"My lady's not done yet."
Hikari paces around the room.
It took over a dozen steps of Ria's just to match one movement of her feet.
"Crawl."
"Yes Hikari… I'm"
"Crawl."
Ria struggled to keep up with her pace.
Squish. Squish.
"My Lady hasn't run enough."
Squish. Squish.
"How many rounds did my lady run?"
"Two rounds … "
"Two rounds?"
"Yes…"
"Pathetic."
"Mmmm….!"
"How much did I run?"
"Mmmm… many times my distance … "
"Pathetic."
"Yes… Hikari … I'm so pathetic … your long legs … are so superior to me… "
"I'm superior to you."
"You are superior to me… your lady is so weak and pathetic compared to you…"
"How does my feet smell?"
"Hikari's feet smell good … I love the smell of your feet… thank you …"
"Crawl."
"Thank you for granting me the privilege of smelling your feet after …"
"Thank me."
"... Thank you Hikari! … Thank you for letting me smell your running feet …"
"Crawl."
"Hikari is superior to me… your lady is so thankful for the privilege of crawling behind you…"
"Crawl."
"Hikari is superior to me…"