《Opening an orphanage in another world》 Chapter 1 - Reincarnated into the world of Achalasia Ash, a 20 years old, an orphan that had been abused by his uncle and aunty for as long as he can remember one day died due to his uncle drunken behaviour, having pissed off after losing a bet in a round of poker with other fellow alcoholic, he vent out his anger towards Ash, and as Ash had enough with it, he retaliate back when his aunty hold him, while the husband, having a vase in his hand, repeatedly slam into into his face, even taking the fragments of it to stab his eyes. His aunty, tried to make him stop, not out of pity but out of greediness, so that they can have Ash''s parents inheritance (as they wanted to force Ash to give up the inheritance), so, after kicking his husband in the jaw and knock him out cold, she called an ambulance, where Ash were rush to the nearest hospital, with every minute passing by, Ash started to lose his consciousness as blood started to ooze out from his eye, as well as losing blood due to unseen internal bleeding, and just as flash of memories of the past events started to played back inside of mind, he can hear a female voice calling out his name "You have done well, hearing out my call" [?] "And you are?" [Ash] "The God of Achalasia, and this is the God of Death" [God of Achalasia] "..." [God of Death] "I see now, I have died right" [Ash] "Unfortunately yes, but I will give you a second chance, that''s if you wanted too" [God of Achalasia] "But why?" [Ash] "Well, thanks to your parents" [God of Achalasia] "Huh?" [Ash] "When I asked the both of them whether they wanted to be reincarnated into my world, they opt out the option, saying that I should give it to you" [God of Achalasia] "!" [Ash] "They know that their early death will only lead to your suffering on earth, and with how your uncle and aunty behave, they had a feeling this will happen and thus they chose to give you the second chance instead" [God of Achalasia] "I see..." [Ash] Ash cried for a while and once he have decided "Yes please, I would like to be reincarnated" [Ash] "Excellent, but I must warn you in advance" [God of Achalasia] "And that is?" [Ash] "..." [God of Death] "That reincarnation isn''t a simple process, even with the two of us here, there''s a chance that you simply won''t make it" [God of Achalasia] "I see... but it''s better than not having another chance right" [Ash] "That''s also true, and since you still choose for it, I suppose being born into a family will be nice, or I can just make you younger a bit, said around 17 years old and then had you reincarnated with your current body. And of course you still will receive our blessings regardless of your method of reincarnation" [God of Achalasia] Having heard of the two options, Ash opt for the first one "I see, any reason why? Just out of curiosity" [God of Achalasia] "Well, this second chance come to me thanks to my parents and as such, it will feel like I am betraying them if I chose the second option" [Ash] "As expected, not that I mind" [God of Achalasia] "..." [God of Death] "Well, before the reincarnation started, we will give you our blessings, and since both of your parents give up their chance, I will give you two blessings" [God of Achalasia] "I see now, thank you very much" [Ash] "My first blessings involved your physical and mental fortitude, that is you can use any magic that you want with a strong body, and let me tell you it will be way OP in my world" [God of Achalasia] "Really! But then why you gave such blessings to me then?" [Ash] "That''s because of a reason, a test if I must said and it''s up to you to find out in that world." [God of Achalasia] "I see, and the second blessings?" [Ash] "Greedy aren''t you, but it will also depend on your actions at my world, if you do good deed and become an upstanding member of society, I will tell you then, but if you misuse it..." [God of Achalasia] "I understand! I won''t do such thing!" [Ash] "..." [God of Death] Ash become afraid after seeing those scary smile "Well, with that out of the way, i wish you good luck and have a good life, don''t waste it alright!" [God of Achalasia] "Thank you God of Achalasia, God of Death!" [Ash] "You are welcome, just don''t forget what I had said" [God of Achalasia] "..." [God of death] "Yes!" [Ash] With that, the God of Death, akin to that of a grim reaper swing his scythe to end Ash life on earth, where he died before even reaching the hospital, as he close his eye on earth, he open up his eye, in the world of Achalasia Chapter 2 - World of Achalasia This is strange... As i opened up my eye, what I see instead of the ceiling of a hospital, is a bluish sky that spread across the horizon, in a wide open field fill with lush of green and strange plant straight out of a fantasy world, one could even said straight out of sci-fi world Now that I think about it, wasn''t the Goddess said something about reincarnation As I look around in frantic, one thing stood out "Ehh! My body! It''s younger and..." [Ash] I move around, trying to walk, and enjoying the feeling of my new strong body, I can''t help but started to run, while tear of joy started flowing down my cheek, I can feel that this is different from the usual crushing tear, instead it felt like my chest becoming so light that I might even ascend upward, reaching the heaven "So the god did gave me a strong body, and that mean!" [Ash] Magic, I can use magic and if im not mistaken, she gave me the power to use all type of magic, but there is a single tiny bit of problem "Dear god... how do I use my magic?" [Ash] Just as I racked my brain into it, suddenly, just like how a file being downloaded into a computer, a surge of knowledge come directly into my brain... they contain various fact and information about this world and also some instructions that I should do first "I see, random malignant chest" [Ash] Malignant chest, eventhough it sound pretty horrifying, it''s nothing but a chest that spawn outside a dungeon, and just like in every game ever made, there should be an item inside of the chest As i wonder around in the direction instructed through those download information, searching for the Apple tree (though it have a different name here but never mind that) I finally stumble across the said tree. Well, based on the information, it should be obvious, but this is just way too obvious! "How come the branch of the tree spell out it''s name! It''s weird, definitely weird!" [Ash] Well, not like I would complaint, its a huge tree to begin with and it''s the only apple tree around here, so only an idiot will not found his way. "And there''s the chest!" [Ash] Sprinting, I arrive at the front of the chest rather quickly, oh god, this feel like I''m an Olympian sprinter, well might not be at the level of Usain Bolt just yet, but since this is a magical world and I had confirmed that the standard body enhancement magic do exist, maybe I can become even faster than him (though back on earth, it will only be a pipe dream for me) Inside the chest, there''s a map, some item bag and also a weapon "A scythe! And what''s with the note, it''s a gift from God of Death itself!" [Ash] Well, not that I mind it, eventhough based on the information that I received, a scythe doesn''t even exist in this world "Does that mean I''m the first Scythe wielder?" [Ash] Well, not like I would mind it, in fact, it would be cool if I can imitate the god of death, but he (or she) or maybe even the skeleton god of death, now that I think about it, it doesn''t even utter a single word to me, the only conversation that I had was with God of Achalasia herself Well, no point of thinking too much for now, and I should scan this gift first _________________________________________________ Ash''s Scythe The first Scythe weapon on World of Achalasia, it''s a gift from God of Death to Ash, created with part of Ash parents soul after they pressure the god of death itself, it had become an intelligence weapon that will grow alongside it''s user. Can only be used by Ash or those that Ash had approved. Full potential not achieved yet _________________________________________________ Ahh... there''s the tear, flowing once more, and this time, so in short, I have receive three blessings ever since I come to this world, from the goddess Achalasia, the God of Death as well as my own parents. Well, this is only my own selfish thinking, but as I hug the Scythe, I can feel that there''s two person hugging me back, might be my parents, or might be my own subconscious mind playing a trick on me, not that it matter. No it does, it might be their way of saying, we are watching you from the heaven for once, and second, this scythe with my parents soul in it, if I ever commit any crime, it''s the same as making them committing the crime which is unacceptable As I put the weapon to the ground, I checked the contents of the item bag, well... let just said there''s quite a few gold coin as well as some changes of clothes, I will really imitate the god of death with this... It''s a set of cloth similar to that of an anime protagonist, or even antagonist and seriously it''s cool beyond any doubt, and there''s even a place to hold my Scythe with it, well better just suit up hmmm.... I wonder how I look like.... "Ice mirror!" [Ash] Ohhh!!!! It''s quite nice, and with the folded Scythe behind me, ahh... let not get too ahead of myself And lastly the map, looks like I''m not that far away from the Estel country... better head there fast Well, the world of Achalasia is basically a number of small countries that float in an unknown space-time kinda thing, it''s quite hard to imagine but based on the explanation given, we can imagine the country of USA as a single planet, connected by other country said for example Malaysia (which is like another planet by itself) and those two are connected by a mysterious space-time force akin to that of a wormhole, only the said wormhole is an ever changing dungeon and to make matter worse, somehow just somehow, without any sort of explanation given, there''s a "cinema" or "CCTV" like thing that will observe those traversing the dungeon, usually situated at the centre of the country and it''s a natural phenomena. I just can''t racked my head as I try to think of a scientific reasoning behind it... Well, atleast this country still follow the same 24/7 four season a year just like the earth, and if I''m not hurry, the gate surrounding the country will be closed! As I said that to myself, I begin to sprint toward the Estel country Chapter 3 - Meeting that will changes my life in this world With the dusk about to show itself, I barely make it in time before the gate closed, well nothing bad will happen since I have the goddess blessings with me so I''m sure I can survive that overnight, plus there are a group of people that are called as slum that doesn''t live inside the country, wandering around the dangerous open field at night trying their best to survive As it turns out, the open field are also part of the dungeon that can lead me to other countries as well (kinda, while technically it''s not a dungeon, one could said it''s the first part of the dungeon and you could find the wormhole somewhere out there), but the based on the map given in the random malignant chest, I''m sure there''s a reason they sent me to Estel country out of all the places, well maybe the only reason is that it''s the closest from my spawning point in this world and it''s their way to care for me. As I keep thinking about it, it''s my turn to be scanned by the goddess orb, it''s like an ID scanner that you will find in the airport where they will scan those who enter and those who leave, and based on what had been told to me by that download sensation this evening, I can just enter freely, since, well, it''s a goddess scanner, and Goddess Achalasia herself make it, and since she gave me the option to reincarnated into her world, I''m 100% sure she had taken care of it... and she does (well not like I doubted her, but since it''s my first time being scanned by those massive autonomous orb, I can''t help but to feel a little bit of nervous) "Oh, so you are a traveller, it''s rare to be one this day" [Guard] "Everyone said that" [Ash] Having a friendly conversation with the guard, he told me that the orb detected me as a traveller. In this world, those who are born outside of any country or those that were born in the dungeon get this title, kinda like a refugee in a sense but there''s nothing special about it, you just don''t get the special treatment as the citizen of said country said like lower tax etc but it''s the same back on earth, maybe there''s one more difference, traveler can work in any country in this world which is nice in my opinion Even the adventure Infront are actually from another country, and as I listened to their conversation, some of the confusion I had become clear, well while it''s technically true that the open field just now can be considered a dungeon, the real dungeon are inside the wormhole and that said wormhole is one of a few options to travel safely from country to country. They are currently escorting a scholar who are researching the thing CCTV thing called as The Watcher, one of the theory he proposed is that the said Watcher are kinda like the dungeon way of protecting themselves from something and that anyone that see something amiss inside the dungeon can be sent to help the dungeon, interesting, the information given to me doesn''t explain that much about the Watcher, maybe because the goddess wanted me to find it out by myself as part of a trial for me or maybe it''s a forbidden fruit that shouldn''t be touch by human, both seem plausible at this point of time so the best course of action should be me finding more information about it, but personally, I find the first option to be more plausible, if the goddess doesn''t want me to figured the mystery behind it, she would said something along "don''t go there etc" but she doesn''t, so I guess it''s a vague green light for me As the conversation with the friendly guard come to the end, he recommends me a nice inn for me to settle down for the day, in which I did. The inn were closed by so I decided to go straight into the inn. Along the way, the trace of a busy street as evidence of the merchant and stall closing down one by one become quite, in a relaxing way. And there''s appear to be one stall that sell Kebab, should try that one. Infront of me are two Children (well, kinda, my body is that of a 17 years old while my mind is that of a 20 years old, not that much of difference to be honest) begging for food and in quite some amount, amounting for ten people, and things don''t look so good "Listen here you filth, I don''t run a charity here, so just get lost!" [Stall owner] As he said that, he threw away some charcoal to them, seeing this... "I would like to buy 11 of those kebab please" [Ash] I just had to do it, no way I can just leave this "I''m warning you sir, they are not to be fed or else they will always come back and begging you for food!" [Stall owner] "That''s fine by me, so if you could" [Ash] "Sigh... Don''t said I don''t warned you" [Stall owner] Complaints as he did, he still did the job done, and quickly at that, as I paid the amount he told, the price doesn''t match up, it''s actually lower than it should be! Huh... so he is a pretty nice guy "My my, Thank you" [Ash] "Just get out of here!" [Stall owner] As I said that with a smile, I asked the two kid to lead me to their home but... "We are homeless... no parents... no home... just the ten of us" [Fox girl] "I see..." [Ash] Looks like I touch something sensitive... well crap But nevertheless, they still guided me to their home, made out of cardboard and some bricks as the bases. (Can I even called that a bricks though...) [Ash] As the two oldest children called the other, they come rushing to me, and now I''m surrounded "Hey, where are your manner!" [Human boy] At the scold of the eldest one, they stop, and this give me some space to move and gave them the kebab one by one "Thank you Brother!" [Little girl] "You are welcome!" [Ash] (...) [Ash] (Something missing... Water, I don''t buy any water for them! Wait, doesn''t my item bag came with food and water, I should gave it to them) [Ash] As I checked my item bag, something amiss (There''s eleven set of bread and water... coincidence?) [Ash] Well, what important now is that I have enough for them as well as for myself, so I should bring them out for now As I bring them out and give it to them, they smile from ear to ear, huh... such a pure smile but... they are homeless. Does the country abandoned them? There must be a reason for it. Well, I should ask them later, I mean I doesn''t even ask their name yet so "What is your name?" [Ash] As the eldest are about to answer ROAR!!! A loud roar, and the Watcher being displayed maxed out at the sky, as if a giant big screen being laid out, and it show a malignant wormhole just inside the country border, and a Behemoth cone out from it Chapter 4 - Soloing a Behemoth Random Malignant wormhole, just like how the Random Malignant chest can spawn outside the dungeon, it happen way less often as compared to the latter, and the latter can be said a rare event to begin with! And for them to occur inside a country protected with the divine blessings of Goddess Achalasia is a super rare event (I might said event but a monster attack inside a wall, at night where most have become relaxed at their home are a bad news, super bad news!) Plus (It''s coming this way, it will without a doubt injured these kid here! What do I do? What do I do!?) [Ash] My hand begin to sweat, I can feel each and every pore in my body begin to secrete out those oily substance, I can feel myself breathing faster, with my own chest feeling like it will explode any second as my heart beat increase dramatically until "Big bro... I''m scared!" [Young girl] "It''s alright! I will protect you guys!" [Eldest boy] (What are you saying, you are still a kid, skinny at that! And you''re gonna protect them! Think Think!) [Ash] As the Behemoth roar becoming louder and louder, muffling the sound of the running citizen I make up my mind (Well, the goddess did give me a blessing, no, I''m wrong! This blessings were supposed to be for my parents at first but they gave it to me! If they are here right now in my stead, they will undoubtedly go and save those kid! So right now...) [Ash] As I walk toward the Behemoth direction, the fox girl stopped me "It''s too dangerous!" [Fox girl] She held my hand tightly, with the intention of stopping me. Since I am acting on behalf of my parents now, what will they said... Well, no need to think much, I know what they will say since I''m going to said the same thing anyway "Don''t worry, everything will turn out fine. Just hide first and I promise you I will come back later" [Ash] As I said that, I pat the girl head, just like how my parents did back then, well they didn''t come back the last time they did that to me as they are met with an unfortunate accident but, with their soul currently inside my Scythe, one could said they still keep their promise, and I will do just that to this kid The girl loosen her grip, and I prepared myself, focusing all my mana on my feet and dash toward the Behemoth direction, and once I see it, I unfolded my scythe and imbued it with fire magic "HAAAAAA!!!" [Ash] With the scythe being held tightly by my grip, I swing it to his right eye, blinding the behemoth with my suprise attack "Yosh! Come at me!" [Ash] "ROAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!!" [Behemoth] (Damn it, this is scary, but not like I could back down now!) [Ash] The behemoth began to rampage, using an earth magic and throw a boulder right toward my direction, and thank god I managed to dodge it just at the last second, And I sincerely meant that, if I don''t have the goddess blessings, I''m surely dead, 1000% dead, no question asked (Still, this is a town, and there''s many people back there, I should end this quickly, can''t wait for any support) [Ash] Once again, I focus all my mana into my feet and begin dashing toward the Behemoth, it swing it front limb at me, and once again, I managed to dodge and counteract it at the same time, slicing it finger in one fell swoop. In response, it uses another limb of his to stomp me, in which case "Giant Earth Needle" [Ash] A sharp giant needle made out of earth pierce the skin,muscle and even the bone of that Behemoth, and to cause extra damage "Disperse, exploding earth needle!" [Ash] The giant needle explode! And a fine needle can be seen piercing the leg, with blood oozing out and a fragment of muscle and bone spewing out as well with the needle Seeing as to how it have been injured, it launches a kamikaze attack toward me, as it open it large mouth and bare it fang toward me, thinking that it could win by eating me! Naive! "Fireball!" "Gust!" [Ash] Combining the two magic, it become a flamethrower magic and the flame keep on burning the inside of the behemoth mouth! It quickly closes his mouth and began to struggle (Sorry, I have to do this!) [Ash] Well, I have died back on earth, with the God of Death itself swing it scythe at my neck, ending my life back then, so I did feel sorry to kill the behemoth, but it must be done Remembering how the god of death swing it scythe to end my life, I swing my scythe right at the neck of the behemoth in one swift strike and "Phew... Finally" [Ash] I don''t know whether soloing a Behemoth is considered common in Achalasia but based on the video game logic on earth, I will said that its a no, a big no unless you have max level character with max level equipment "Great job out there young man" "To think there is someone strong enough to solo a Behemoth!" "Your fight look amazing at the watcher!" "You must be a high ranking adventure! Just who are you young man!" "Plus, he could use multiple magic! At most one is born with two magic!" "Yeah, he''s strong!" And people begin to surround me just as I wanted to take a breath, well can''t be help, I just have to store this Behemoth in my item box magic As i do that, the surrounding become quite all of a sudden. (Huh, why do they become silent? I thought it''s a common thing to take your loot even in this world, or am I wrong? But that can''t be the case here since those downloaded information are from the goddess herself) [Ash] "He can use an item w magic as well!" "Seriously who are this young man" "And such capacity!" Ahh... I shouldn''t done that, oh well too late As I begin to regret my actions a little bit, I can see the kids back there, so I force my way through the crowd, saying "your welcome" each time they thanks me until I reach them "You are strong!" [Eldest boy] "Big Brother are strong!" [Little girl] "I guess I worried for nothing back then" [Fox girl] "Plus, what are those weapon, never seen them or heard of them before" [Elf girl] They begin bombarded me with all sort of questions "Out of the way you filthy brat!" [Knight] A knight can be seen pushing those ten kids, somehow it angered me so much that I lashed out "What was that for!" [Ash] Treating those kid like that, no matter what emergency situation you are in, you just shouldn''t do that to a child "Well, you are the one with the strange weapon soloing the behemoth right!" [Knight] "And what if I am!" [Ash] "Huh! I excuses your rude behaviour, but come with me to the castle!" [Knight] "And why is that!?" [Ash] "Use your brain a little will you! You soloing an A class monster, using multiple magic, of course our king will be happy to have you!" [Knight] I see, logical indeed but this knight behaviour disgust me! Still, I should do as told for now. I agree to go to the castle but before that "I''ll come back later, so wait for me ok!" [Ash] I said that to the fox girl, not wanting to break those promise Chapter 5 - Meeting with the noble and royal Well, looks like the big Watcher that displays my fight with the behemoth will still goes on recording and showing my activity... This feel like I am some kind of celebrity, but to the people of this worlds, it had become a norm for them and doesn''t find it strange at all. Well, atleast those ten children will ease up a little bit as they can see where and what I am doing, so I should just bare it for now, plus I will live in this world from now on so it''s better for me to quickly get used to it. As the knight that came and picked me up being greet by other knight, i just realized that he must be some kind of a big shot, maybe atleast the captain or vice captain of a squad in my opinion, well this is my first time seeing a knight so it''s a moving sight for me (but it''s greatly sullied by the fact that he''s rude! Seriously, if the knight is like that of a good knight from any manga or novel or TV series, I would sincerely jump over the moon right now but oh well... not everything will go according to what we want) In the castle waiting room, I was told to took a bath and cleaned myself up for which I gracefully did so. Still, I can''t help but to notice something that will leave with with a bad impression, those noble are all well excessively dressed with a fine clothes and jewelry, with the interior of the castle being decorated with nothing but expensive looking material while those ten are left to defend for themselves... Well, it does happen back on earth as well but hearing it and seeing it are two different thing, so much so that it''s kind of cold brutal wake up slap for me, as I thought that, I refuse to wear the attires given to me, instead going with the clothing that the goddess provided me with With that, they thought me some etiquette on how to greet the noble and royal alike, for which I did learn a few manner, and when they summon me to greet them, their eyes! (Tch! Remind me of Uncle and Aunty eyes) [Ash] Full of greediness and also thinking of how they are gonna exploit me, it''s sickening (Fortunately the king and one of the princess doesn''t have those kind of look), and when they asked me to greet myself, I do as I was told and greet only the king and the said Princess (you are supposed to greet the king then queen but I decided to just skip it as the queen eye just remind me of my aunty) and then stopped, doesn''t even bother to greet the other, for which the noble become pissed off "You fool! Know your manner" One of the noble shout "Oh please, I''m not a monkey to be reminded of some simple manner thing like don''t shout in this hall. I just don''t feel like greetings the other" [Ash] "!" [Other] Hearing my reply, they are stunt! The princess giggle a bit while the king show sign of amusement albeit he covered it very well that it might be my imagination "So you really don''t feel like greetings other?" [King] "No" [Ash] "Very well then, let just continue with why you are called here today" [King] "But your highness!" [Noble] "Can you tell me a little bit about yourself young man" [King] "As you wish, your highness" [Ash] Now that''s badass, he simply ignore that noble, maybe I misjudged the king a bit, well there will always be a pure gem among the stone, and maybe it wasn''t him that excessively decorate the castle, even so I don''t think I should I ask this question for now "I am Ash, I am a traveller and remain so uptill today" [Ash] "I see, don''t you wish to become apply citizenship in my country?" [King] "Hmmm..." [Ash] "Something wrong?" [King] "Sorry for my rudeness, but let be honest, you wanted to hired me to do something right?" [Ash] "Why you, know your manner!" [Noble] "That''s right, I''m glad you are quick to catch" [King] "It''s a tempting offer but as such I''m afraid I have to decline it" [Ash] "!" [Other] This time, even the king and princess make a suprise face, well I can imagine why, it''s hard to be accepted to work directly with the royalty and as such one would be a fool to reject that, well I am that fool "I''ll explain, first off I just don''t feel like giving up my status as a traveller as it bring me such freedom, and secondly, I just don''t feel like working in the same environment as those greedy and disgusting eye that I refused to greet just now" [Ash] "Hoo..." [Princess] "I see" [King] (Huh... they agreed. Somehow I feel glad) [Ash] "You rascal! You should be punished for insulting us!" [Prince] "Knight! Seize him!" [Queen] "Ohh... I wouldn''t do that If I were you" [Ash] As I said that, I bring out the behemoth corpse, which suprises the audience "Opps, my bad, I "accidentally" activate my item box magic and let out the Behemoth, forgive me for my rudeness" [Ash] "Hahahaha, My bad, I''m sorry for laughing" [Princess] The Knight stop and the noble and other royal can''t help but bite their tongue, the king even giggle in response "It''s alright, thing happen" [King] "Just make sure you don''t "accidentally" do it the next time" [Princess] "Of course, thank you for your kindness your highness, and as such I am sorry for taking your precious time only to be told such bad news" [Ash] As I said that, I don''t think there''s anything left for me to said, and it might be rude as only the king can dismissed the meeting but "As such, I would love it if you allowed me to go back home, those greedy and disgusting eyes started to get under my skin" [Ash] "Sure, but may I ask you something" [King] "I''m more than happy to answer it" [Ash] "You are a traveller, and as such I do believe you just enter this country for the first time based on the record at the gate. So where is this home you are staying?" [King] "Well, I just found them, we still doesn''t have any house to stayed but as such I believe those ten orphan and I can find ourselves a new home starting tomorrow" [Ash] "I see, well give me a minute, father, can I?" [Princess] "Yes, consider this a gift from me for saving the life of my people" [King] With that, the princess sign a letter and stamp it with the royal sign in it "Here you go, just go to the merchant guild and show them this, we will cover the expenses" [Ash] "Thank you your highness, I do believe this will be a great start for the orphanage" [Ash] "Orphanage?" [Princess] (Huh... no impossible, a princess that doesn''t know what is an orphanage... could it be this world doesn''t have such concept?) [Ash] "It''s a home where the orphanage from different race and age can come and take shelter, instead of them fending off for theirselves out there, I will provide them with shelter, food and education until they grew up and be able to take care of theirselves" [Ash] "I see, such a lovely concept! Do you want our help to start it?" [Princess] "It''s a great offer but as such I have to decline it as I don''t want them to use it as an excuse to force me to do their job" [Ash] "A pity, but you are right on that one, but this here is a gift and as such I can assure you that there will be no strings attached to it" [Princess] "Then I would gladly take it" [Ash] As I take the letter, I bid them farewell "Thank you for giving me this chance, I''m honoured your highness King Estel and Princess Diana" [Ash] As they give me the permission, I quickly leave the castle, I can hear the sound of the dissatisfied noble and knight alike as I leave the hall, well not that it matter much for me. Once I exit the castle gate, the ten orphan wait there for me! In a hurry, I rushed towards them "Is it alright for you to reject their offer?" [Fox girl] Well, the watcher still show my face and as such any action that I make being observed "Don''t worry about it" [Ash] I assured them about it and the look of relief started to appear, when suddenly "What is it little girl?" [Ash] "Brother Rean said that you might go and work for them, received a medal and will leave us so..." [Little girl] I see, she made a medal out of stone and some withered flower just to persuade me, well nice job since it does "Haha, well, how about you put those medal to my clothes" [Ash] "REALLY!" [Little girl] "Gladly" [Ash] As I kneel down towards her eye level, her clumsy hand attach the medal to my cloth, and as such I make a promise "From here on out, I will protect you guys, until the day you become an adult, and as such please call me Brother Ash" [Ash] "Yes, Brother Ash!" [Little girl] She gave me a firm hug, it''s warm... when is the last time i received such warm hug, well the answer is obvious, a day before my parents die, but now the idea of receiving it from them really make my eyes teary "Well, it''s getting late, so let find ourselves a large inn for us all" [Ash] "But the money!" [Rean] The eldest boy, Rean protest "Don''t worry, didn''t I said that I will take care of you guys from now on! Don''t worry about the money!" [Ash] "But..." [Rean] "Ah ah, like I said, don''t worry! In fact if you don''t come now, you might get lost" [Ash] I forcefully take the hand of the little girl and guided her "Well hurry up!" [Ash] As they look toward eachother, their feet started moving, and as such, we found ourselves a large inn with a master room in it Chapter 6 - The ten orphan With the morning bird chirping it song to be heard by others, I woke up in an unfamiliar ceiling (Well, of course it wouldn''t be the same ceiling, I just got reincarnated into this world) [Ash] My first day at this world and I already found myself taking care of the ten orphan, as I look at their sleeping face, I tried to recall their name The eldest, Rean, a black hair 13 years old boy, having a Japanese people look. For his age, he is quite mature, maybe because he had to be mature to take care of the other Elise, a 12 years old fox girl, she have an light orange to yellowish colour hair and tail, quite a level headed girl and as such, a big sisters figure for the other Next, the twin, Kara and Mara, the 11 years old girls are always seen together, always holding eachother hand even while they are asleep. Still, Kara is more feminine as compared to the tomboyish Mara with both having a blond hair The demon tribe boy, Zerolith, 10 years old boy, quite a rash boy, always shouting. Well not like I don''t understand as to how they are all treated, he have an ashen white hair with two ashen horn protuding out from his temporal bone The dwarf boy, Karon, 10 years old a quite boy, only speaks whenever he find it necessary to do so. Well, there will always be a quite person among our friends and I believe he is the one among the orphan, black hair similar to Rean The seventh one, the green haired elf girl, Farhah, a 9 years old girl, she have a naughty behaviour as stated by Elise, but she doesn''t seem to make ruckus like Zerolith does, well maybe she is still uncomfortable with me Next from the lion beastman tribe, 8 years old Singa, well let just said he still doesn''t trust me fully yet, as when I tried talking to him, his fur expand, like a wild animal making themselves looks bigger to fend off from threat Savel, a Dragonewt boy with scale on his cheeks, 7 years old, seems to be a happy go lucky type of boy. Well, he constantly jump at the bed last night and now just look at the way he is sleeping. Rean said he is a half Dragonewt blood as evidence of his human like face And lastly, the little girl that give me the medal, Charlotte, a blue hair girl, well let just said this 5 years old girl is a cheeky one and yet the one that have opened up the most to me (Well, let just ask for breakfast first) [Ash] As to not wake up those kid, I tried to sneak my way out but suddenly Farhah grab my hand "I want to follow you!" [Farhah] "Shh! Quiet, they will wake up!" [Ash] "Huh? Ok then, wake up everyone!!!" [Farhah] She shouted loudly, for which I punished her by flicking her forehead "Ouch!" [Farhah] "We are not the only one here you know that right!?" [Ash] "Meanie!" [Farhah] As she begin to sulk, she puffed up her cheek in protest, the other begin to wake up ""Morning..."" [Rean,Elise] "Good morning both of you, can you make sure the other clean and washed their face first" [Ash] "I will" [Elise] "Thanks, in the meantime I will ask for breakfast with Farhah here" [Ash] As I said that, I lift her up and carried her in my arm when suddenly "Carry me also!" [Charlotte] "and put me down! I''m not a kid anymore!" [Farhah] "Sure sure" [Ash] and now I carried Charlotte while Farhah is holding my left hand, as we head down, I found that we are quite early as there is no one else there beside the innkeeper wife, which is good as among the people in this world they are still someone that hate other races (typical racism if you ask me) as well as those who think twin will bring nothing but misfortune, and let just said my little brother and sister meet their shallow stupid criteria to be undeservedly hated by them. Well, I''m grateful for the King and Princess, when I mentioned the various races part last night, they remain neutral while the other... well let just forget those idiot The innkeeper family are also among the good folks and I''m thankful for that "My, My, you guys wake up quite early" [Innkeeper wife] "Early bird get the worm!" [Farhah] "That''s true!" [Innkeeper wife] As I take the seat, I help the innkeeper to clean up the table that we will use, Farhah and Charlotte do the same, and with that, the other eight come and join us where we are served with the behemoth meat. Well, the innkeeper ask me if I would like to sell to them some of the fresh behemoth meat, but I just gave them for free in exchange, they had to serve it for us for dinner and breakfast while the leftover can be used as they see fit to which they agreed "Thank you for the food" [The children] "You are welcome! Eat up and don''t waste those food got it!" [Innkeeper] "Yes" [The children] They happily eat the food, well I can''t imagine them wasting any food but it''s a good reminder nonetheless. The innkeeper and his wife look at the children and they can''t help but to smile. "Well Ash, what will you do today?" [Innkeeper wife] Since I haven''t started to eat yet, the wife ask me those questions "Good question, well the most urgent thing are to secure a house for them and as such I would leave and goes to the Merchant guild right afterwards, then I will buy them some basic necessities and finally selling the Behemoth part" [Ash] "Well, if you ask me, you should buy their basic necessities first, the merchant guild are always full early in the morning but quite lax afterward, and you could sell them the Behemoth part there itself" [Innkeeper] "I see, that''s a good idea" [Ash] "Do you have any idea as to what to buy for them?" [Innkeeper wife] "That''s..." [Ash] "I thought so, well I have made a list yesterday itself so you could use the list provided here, I even write the recommended shop for each one of them!" [Innkeeper wife] "Thank you so much! This will surely help!" [Ash] "Well, our daughter Alice can''t help you since she have to leave as her adventure guild clerking works pile up and we also can''t leave the inn behind so this is our only way of helping you" [Innkeeper wife] "No no, this is way more than enough!" [Ash] "It wasn''t! You know the hardships that will come when nurturing youngster, and what''s it called? The orphanage? You and the kids might be targeted by those stupid fanatic so be careful. If you want, we can help keep on watching them as you but the basic necessities as well as buying a house" [Innkeeper] "Well, I will buy the basic necessities with all of them, but for the merchant guild part, I will take those offer, and one more thing..." [Ash] ""Hm?"" [Innkeeper and wife] "If those idiot have a nerve to even touch the hair of my sweet brother and sister, they will find their hand to be mysteriously cut off" [Ash] "!" [Other] "Haha, well that''s the one soloing a Behemoth for you!" [Innkeeper] "Idiot Idiot!" [Charlotte] "Charlotte, that''s a bad word, don''t use it!" [Ash] "But Idiot brother Ash use it?" [Charlotte] Her innocence questions and smile leave me speechless, while Elise giving me a look that said "be careful next time!" which hurt me more than it should. Well, look like I still have a long way to go before becoming a parental or a brotherly figure for them, but let just take it one step at a time Chapter 7 - Shopping part 1 After they finish their meal, we move out and start to do the shopping For starters, the innkeeper wife told me to follow the list but there will be other things that are needed as well and as such she told me to keep my eyes wide open all the time, who knew because she said that there are things that you can only know you need it once you see it. Not only that, she also ask me to look closely at the reaction of those children as they might wanted to buy something but might be too shy to ask (Well, that''s true, even I will have difficulty to ask something from someone I just met) [Azumi] And there''s also one thing that I need to consider, and that''s my frugality, since my uncle and aunty are the one that have been controlling the inheritance from my parents, only giving me the bare minimum allowance and necessities for me while they managed to run away spending by parents fortune, I live a frugal life, not that I think it''s a bad thing bad I definitely don''t want to do that to those children! I mean, spending excessively are bad and that''s a common sense but for me, spending the normal amount of money for something aren''t something that I used to do and as such, I need to get rid of this as soon as possible (Now that I think of it, just how did the court and the children protection act in my country doesn''t smell something wrong happening to me!) [Ash] Sigh... Oh well, let just hope they reap what they sow and let my parents money be used for something beneficial rather than them spending it (Huh!) [Ash] Karon and Singa seem to be looking at the candy stall there, quite a large sugar coated apple, wait they coated it with honey! Now that''s something that even I wanted to try "Karon, Singa, you want some?" [Ash] "Umm!" [Karon] "Grr... yes..." [Singa] Not a solid yes, but I''ll take that as a yes "How about the other?" [Ash] ""But the money!?"" [Rean, Elise] "Well, I ask whether you want it or not, not the cost, am I right?" [Ash] ""..."" [Rean, Elise] "Well then, excuse me, give me eleven of those candy!" [Ash] "Ohh! You are the one taking down that Behemoth last night! Well, I''ll give you half the price since my daughter had been saved by your actions yesterday!" [Stall owner] "Is that so! Then I''ll gladly take it" [Ash] "Well, here you go!" [Stall owner] "Thank you so much! And you guys, don''t forget to thanks the handsome Brother here" [Ash] "Haha, stop it, they''re supposed to called me uncle" [Stall owner] "Thank you big brother!" [Children] "Haha, you''re welcome kid! Come again!" [Stall owner] And right now they are licking the candy in a hurried manner, well I can understand that, they must really wanted to eat those thing and even I myself think that it is a delicious candy, but it''s still a bad manner and as such I scolded them for that, saying that the candy won''t run away to which they start eating it more slowly, Except for Zerolith, gosh that kid eat really fast, he''s the first to finish the behemoth meat as well As I walk around looking for the clothing shop, some rascal men Arrive "Hey you, why are you being so saintly to those kid, they are nothing but trash and their existence bring nothing but misfortune" [Rascal] "But...!" [Rean] As Rean are about to back his little brother and sister, I intervened "Leave it to me Rean" [Ash] "Umm!" [Rean] Well, This rascal need to be thought a lesson, I mean I will talk to them first and if they changed their mind that''s good but I doubt that will happen "Do you have any problems with my sweet little brother and sister" [Ash] "You are fromn the yesterday!" [Rascal] "Baah... who care, I bet the Behemoth are on the verge of dying anyway, even I can take down that thing" [Rascal] "Well, I ask once again, do you have an..." [Ash] "Yes, Yes I do! They are just a lowlife, their existence is an eyesore don''t you get it" [Rascal] "Huh, you had the nerve to said that to my sweet little brother and sister Infront of me, I''ll give you that but I have to ask you to leave or else something bad will happen to you" [Ash] "Like what!" [Rascal] "Like this" [Ash] Yup, I knew it, these idiot won''t bulge, so they received a rope less bungie jumping ticket from me, I simply create a strong wind underneath them and make them flew upward and when they are about to hit the ground, those wind magic just make them go for another round. Well, just seeing and hearing them make me tired, so I make an earth chair for me to sit down as I listened to their plead of letting them go. Well, I comply not because of their request, but because Elise had been looking at me saying that we shouldn''t disturb the flow of traffic (huh, here I am thinking she will said what I did is wrong, but she''s more concern about the traffic, should I praise her or not) Once I put those rascal to the ground, Mara, Singa and Savel wanted to deliver a finishing blow, well I had to stop them, that''s an obvious act as I don''t want them to get unnecessarily hurt. But, I do gave them a warning "Next time, let just said it won''t be wind that will be sent towards you" [Ash] As I said that, I activate my fire and thunder magic and there they go, started running. Well, since I did congest the road, I break down back those chair and apologize to the spectators around me (well, they are enjoying that show, so I guess it''s a win-win situation, but it''s still bad to do that and as such I still apologize, not wanting those children to imitate me in the future) "..." [Rean] Rean look a little bit down, was it because I stopped him? Should ask him later. As we walk after the bungie jumping incident, we arrive at the clothing shop for children Chapter 8 - Shopping part 2 Now that we have arrive at the clothing shop listed down by the innkeeper wife, I can see that the children are excited to get themselves a new clothes, well Rean and Elise are excited but as usual they are worried about the money aspect of it (Not like I can''t understand them, I just barge in into their life and give them a bunch of thing straight away that they otherwise couldn''t afford, so of course it make them nervous just thinking about the cost), Kara in particular, eventhough shy shows a very happy face as compared to her tomboyish twin Mara. Well, this make me wanted to spent a fortune towards them but let not be greedy here, I mean the money that the goddess give can only last until who know... maybe for one week I guess? So I should save some for emergency, that being said, basic necessities for them aren''t something that I will frugal about "Welcome, so many children, are you going to buy them something?" [Clothing Aunty] "Naturally! But may I ask for help, I''m not what you called a fashion expert and as such I had no idea what will look good on these children, so can you help me?" [Ash] "Just leave it to us!" [Clothing Aunty] As she said that, her son who is there beside him come and bring a selection of cloth for them, Kara and Farhah in particular start looking through the collection of cloth available. As for me? I just take a plain simple cloth and just put it into the counter, seeing this, Singa, Savel, Zerolith and Karon imitate me and just picked up the most simple looking cloth, for which I take back those cloth and ask them "Aah! You guys should pick some nice cloth!" [Ash] """...""" [Singa, Savel, Zerolith, Karon] "Those children only do that because they are imitating you! So buy yourself some nice cloth!" [Clothing Aunty] "I see..." [Ash] Well, if that''s the case, I simply have to choose the best looking cloth here for me, and as I browse through the clothing option, Kara pick up a nice yellow colour dress as she swirl around seeing it at the mirror (If only I can take a photo... Wait a minute, actually I can!) [Ash] "Aunty, are this book and paper being used?" [Ash] "Not really, why do you ask?" [Clothing Aunty] "Can I buy it?" [Ash] "Huh?" [Clothing Aunty] "Well, let me just show you, Kara, can you please stand there and smile at me?" [Ash] "Huh?" [Kara] Shy as she might, she stand there and give me her brightest smile, and with a little bit of knowledge about light and camera, I use my light magic and engraved a picture into the blank sheet of paper and show it to Kara and the Aunty "Aww... My little sister is so pretty!" [Ash] I Compliment Kara as she does look cute, not in a wrong manner (if those pervert think so), just a genuine thought, but somehow they are stunt "Light magic!" [Rean] "Really, who are you brother Ash?" [Elise] "Are you by any chance someone from the church?" [Clothing Aunty] "Nope, I''m just a traveller with ten cute sweety pie" [Ash] As I said that, the girls group (Elise, Kara, Mara, Farhah and Charlotte) come and take a closer look at the photo that I developed, Kara in particular seems excited "Well, this is what I called as photo, basically it uses light magic to engraved the image Infront of us like a very very very talented artist drawing us a realistic looking picture so that when we grew older, we could see back in time by looking at this photo and relive those time. We will keep those pictures by putting them in a book called as Album" [Ash] "I see..." [Clothing Aunty son] "Aunty! Can I try different clothing! I wanted to take more of this photo!" [Kara] "Me.. Me too!" [Elise] "Same here, I wanted one as well!" [Mara] "Brother Ash, Please take my photo next!" [Farhah] "I''m next! I''m next" [Charlotte] Huh... girl will be girl even in different world, well atleast they are acting like their age which is nice. Even the boy group seems excited about it "Well, this book and paper aren''t mine, so..." [Ash] Well, I still haven''t buy it, and as I said that, the five girl make a puppy eyes toward the clothing Aunty, begging them to sell those paper and book "Hahaha... just take it, no way I can refuse those eyes, but do me a favour will you?" [Clothing Aunty] "And that is?" [Ash] "Can you leave a few of those children photo here? So that I could show it to other customers about how nice our clothes are" [Clothing Aunty] "No problems!" [Ash] Basically she want my sweetie to be a model, not that I mind As I said that, Kara and Elise begin searching for a cloth that not only look good on them, but also for other, so much so that Elise and Kara begin scolding Me, Rean and Zerolith for picking up an "unfashionable" cloth, well, sorry about that! But I must said, the cloth that they pick up look quite good, so much so that I don''t mind buying it And with that, one by one, they stand Infront of me and smile, trying their new clothes, I even asked them to make a pose for the pictures, Rean making the peace sign while Elise making the heart sign (after I force her just to tease her a bit) shyly while Farhah who copied her do so with a bright smile, Singa trying to show how strong he is (and compete with Savel and Zerolith for the macho man pose). Charlotte just jump in the air, and Kara and Mara with dark and bright theme for clothing. As for Karon, he just copied me and stand straight, as I try to imitate the gentleman pose. Well, all of them look good, so good that the paper that I buy disappearing at quite a rate (Crap! Am i the type of parents/brother that will spoiled their children! Well of course not... maybe) [Ash] Well, with that, I paid for the clothes, I make quite a number of purchase for them but something amiss... "Elise, why don''t you and the other don''t buy any undergarments?" [Ash] "Because we don''t need them" [Elise] "I see..." [Ash] . . . "..." [Clothing Aunty] . . . "..." [Clothing Aunty son] . . . "..." [Elise] . . . "NO! We are definitely going to buy them! Aunty can you help with the girl side! Rean let us pick for the boys!" [Ash] "Hahaha, and here I am worried whether you will notice about it or not" [Clothing Aunty] "But!" [Elise] "No but! We are going to buy it! And don''t give me a reason about not wanting to spend your money on unnecessary thing! In fact you are a lady and it''s a necessity, no it is a necessity for everyone!" [Ash] "Hmmm..." [Elise] She make a small shy cry, well let just said I am also in the wrong for shouting here... Can''t blame them fully, which bring me to another question... no never mind And with that, I paid for the second time and leave a few pictures of them inside the store, before (A group photo will be nice!) [Ash] As I think of that, I ask the clothing aunty help, we stand outside with the aunty holding the paper in horizontal plane, I even use ice mirror magic behind the clothing aunty to grasped a better image before using the photo magic and "Such a nice photo! Mind if I have one with my son?" [Clothing Aunty] "Sure, why not" [Ash] And the aunty and her son bring out their best clothes and I take the picture of the two together and give it to them for free, in which they thank me non stop Afterward, we buy a few more thing such as toothbrush, utensils, even some basic furniture and bed along the way. I just stored it in different compartment in my item box. Then, it around one hour passed noon, we head back toward the inn, so that I can dropped the children there. when I enter inside... "There you are!" [Princess Diana] It looks like I make her wait Chapter 9 - Test "There you are!" [Princess Diana] I should have guess that the carriage outside the inn belong to that of the royalty, plus it seems like I make her wait, which is bad, an important person in this country wasting her time just because she have to wait for someone to finish their shopping spree is without a doubt, bad Plus, it look like even the Innkeeper and his wife seem to be stunned, well, who could have guess a princess will suddenly visit their inn, and they appear to be in a genuine distress, not because of Princess Diana treating them harshly, but because they simply have no clue as to what to do in this situation, and needless to said my ten cutie pie are genuinely shocked as well "Sorry about that Princess Diana, it just that I have so much fun shopping with my sweet little brother and sister that I have lost track of time." [Ash] "You traveller! How dare you make Your Highness wait for such a stupid reason!" [Female guard] Stupid! Now that did get on my nerve "Well, I suppose everyone in the royal palace must have forgotten their basic manner, not that I am one to speak" [Ash] "Why you!" [Female guard] "Qis, that''s enough" [Princess Diana] "Oh boy, someone getting scold" [Ash] "Tch!" [Qis] "Ash, you shouldn''t do that to other noble or royal though... well it might be fine with me since I am also to be blame, coming here unannounced but other noble and royal won''t take this issue lightly" [Princess Diana] "Well, if other noble or royal have the nerve to said something like stupid to my cutie pie, they won''t get away lightly" [Ash] Well, let just said I have to make that statement, I''m pretty sure if those noble and royal wanted to do something to me, they will try to harm Rean and the other in the process, which is something that I won''t tolerate at all. With the statement that I declare Infront of Princess Diana, it''s my way of indirectly telling her those noble and royal better leave those orphan alone, and as expected she understands what I''m trying to convey, her guard make a "how dare you said that" face while the other become paler with my statement. "Still, did you need something from me, Princess Diana?" [Ash] "Well, I was wondering about the house or plot of land that you will buy, so I come here to assist you on that" [Princess Diana] Huh... strange, I mean a Princess going her way just to help me buying a land or house is weirs without a doubt, I mean it''s literally too menial task for her as she can just send someone to do that in her stead... I can''t think of a reason as to why she was willing to do so, so let just ask her directly "Well, I appreciate the offer, but that''s just too suspicious, you must have some other motive aren''t you?" [Ash] And their complexion become even paler and that female guard Qis looks like she will explode in a moment notice "Sharp aren''t you" [Princess Diana] "So mind telling me your true reason?" [Ash] "Well, let just said it''s the fun factor for now" [Princess Diana] "Princess, I appreciate the humour, but you''re getting too suspicious for your own good" [Ash] "Enough! You really have the nerve to said that to a royalty!" [Qis] "Yes, and do you have any problems with me suspecting something strange going on with this situation" [Ash] "Of course I do! You are dishonouring the princess by your very own barbarian act! I won''t tolerate this any further so you better apologize to Your Highness this instances" [Qis] "Well, sorry about that, but I have to make sure nothing suspicious going on around here as it involves my little brother and sister life!" [Ash] "Why you! You should die!" [Qis] "And here I am thinking of getting my way out of this problem with talk! You leave me no choice!" [Ash] As she drew her Rapier, I drew my Scythe as well in response. Rean and Elise try to stop me by holding my clothes and ask me to stop, the innkeeper protect his wife by shielding her. As I make a wind barrier around the children, the innkeeper and Princess Diana to avoid injuring them, Princess Diana stopped us "That''s enough both of you!" [Princess Diana] Just by uttering those word, It somehow send a shiver down my spine, it''s not like she shout or anything, but it just her Aura as a royalty can be felt so clearly that I abide to it instantly. The female guard also did the same "Well Ash, let me ask you one final question, what are your true motive for opening this orphanage?" [Princess Diana] "?" [Ash] Mr true motive? Should I just tell her the truth, from the very bottom of my heart. I mean I did pity those kid, they have no one to rely on and are left to fend for themselves, clinging everyday just to survive, but is that all? No, remember that time that Charlotte hug me, I can feel such warmness from my heart that I... I see, "Family" [Ash] "Hm?" [Princess Diana] "It because I can''t help but to see myself whenever I looked at them, always alone, always hoping that my parents will one day come and give me back the warmth that of a family, but they won''t and that''s a fact for me and for them!" [Ash] "!" [Children] "Well, I''m 100% sure I can''t give them the same parental love that their parents and my parents use to give, in fact I totally think that it''s downright impossible, but that doesn''t mean that I couldn''t give them a loving home, loving those ten sweetie as my own little brother and sister, well at the end of the day, it might be because of my own selfish desire, desire to fill the void of losing my family, but..." [Ash] "But?" [Princess Diana] "But I do believe that those sweetie of mine have every right to be love, every right to get the same amount of food as those of other kid, to grow up safely in a loving home, every right to hear the word welcome home whenever they come back after playing outside, but most importantly, every right as not to become how I used to be..." [Rean] I see, that''s why huh... I don''t want them to feel the dreaded life that I had gone through on earth, the hellish beating from my alcoholic uncle, the starving state that I was when aunty purposely lock me up and leave me with no food just to make me obedience to her... those hellish day, I just doesn''t want them to go through it. Maybe that''s why when Rean and Elise get a charcoal thrown towards them, I rushed to helped them and when I see the poor state they are in, I just doesn''t want them to be like me "Big Brother Ash..." [Charlotte] Charlotte suddenly hug my feet, the other quickly follow "Big bro, a grown up man like you can''t cry! It''s not manly" [Zerolith] "I''m sorry, If only we aren''t so weak, it''s been only a day and yet we only cause problem to you!" [Rean] "Sorry, I''m sorry..." [Elise] ""We don''t want you to get into trouble because of us!"" [Kara, Mara] "I''m sorry, for doubting you" [Singa] "I don''t want to lose them, and I don''t want to lose you too!" [Farhah] "I promise that I will be a good boy, so don''t cry!" [Savel] "Same here!" [Karon] "You guys... dammit don''t cry!" [Ash] "Dammit, Dammit!" [Charlotte] "Charlotte, that''s a bad word, don''t use it" [Ash] "But I''m sad, big bro is crying and that make me sad" [Charlotte] Well, dammit, I let her off this time, I mean I can''t scold her, not when her eyes and the other kids are teary and red, well I''m also the same as they are, maybe even worse... "I see now, sorry for doubting you" [Princess Diana] "!" [Other] "Well, I forgot that you are around for a moment there your highness, please forgive my rude behaviour just now" [Ash] "It''s alright, well, the truth is, I wanted to see whether or not it''s safe to leave those kid behind with you" [Princess Diana] "In other words, you are worried about my true intentions, whether I''m truly concern about them or using them to hide my true agenda isn''t it?" [Ash] "You are quick to catch, and yes, that''s correct, with someone as powerful as you are, we can''t help but to be cautious, especially if you decided to go against us and that''s why I''m here today just to make a 100% sure of your true intentions" [Princess Diana] "I see, but mind if I ask a few question?" [Ash] "Sure" [Princess Diana] "Well first, why didn''t the country act sooner and help these kid, I can see the palace being covered with nothing but expensive stuff, surely there will be a better use of the national treasury" [Ash] "Good question... I''m sorry but my father and I have tried before, helping the commoner but our system are just way too incompetent at the current moment, that''s why when you refuse to greet those noble, we are happy as we thought that if someone like you working with us, we can change the current situation around" [Princess Diana] "I see... then second question, is there any other orphan around here? Rean and Elise said there wasn''t but I''m sure even they will miss some" [Ash] "As far as I know, there should be none INSIDE the city, but inside the dungeon and the open field however..." [Princess Diana] "Understood... thanks Diana" [Ash] "!" [Other] Well, crap, that really was an honest mistake! I really doesn''t mean that, well I should apologize this instances! "I''m..." [Ash] "You are welcome Ash, and don''t worry, I don''t mind it, in fact, please call me Diana from now on" [Diana] Well, if she said so... "Well, onto the second reason I come here! The fun factor part" [Diana] "Seriously... when you said the fun factor part, that wasn''t even a joke huh..." [Ash] "You sure are quick to change your tone, well I''ll be straight this time, can you sell me the magic core of the behemoth!" [Diana] Chapter 10 - Merchant guild master, Gizzere So she wanted me to sell her the behemoth magic core, well I can falter a guess as to why she wanted it and that reason must be the same as mine. Well, I can''t sell her the magic core eventhough she offered some ridiculous amount of money, so let just be polite and tell her the reason as to why I don''t want to sell her the magic core "I''m sorry, but I can''t sell you the Behemoth magic core, since I wanted to use it to fortify the house later on" [Ash] "What? Are you serious! Do you even know how to use the fortress defense magic!" [Diana] Well, she raised her voice, not that I don''t understand the reason behind it, it''s a difficult magic sure but I''m pretty confident with the blessings given by The Goddess Achalasia, I can make it "Naturally" [Ash] "You, you are joking right?" [Diana] "Nope, I''m 100% serious" [Ash] Hearing my word, she scratch her head for a while before deciding "Fine, but let me see how you do it!" [Diana] "And what if I don''t want to show it to you?" [Ash] In a jokingly manner, I said that to her, I will let her see how I will use the magic of course, but she misunderstood my joke and... "Oh you will...!" [Diana] "aha..ha..." [Ash] Her scary smile and eyes instantly make me said yes, let just set a reminder in my subconscious mind to never make a joke Infront of her when she''s that serious As we are about to goes back out, Charlotte cling once again to my leg, saying that she wanted to follow me as well, not that I mind but she''s obviously tired from the shopping, even having a black panda eyes, well let just persuade her a little "Charlotte, how about you and the other decorate the album and photo" [Ash] ""Decorate the album and photo?"" [Diana, Charlotte] As I said that, even Diana can''t help but to ask what''s the meaning behind those word of mine, well instead of explaining it, I just showed it to them. I bring out the album, the photo and some stationary such as glue and colour pencils, and using Charlotte photo as an example, I glued the photo into the first page of a book (I buy a bigger book when we are out there shopping for stationery) and then draw some wave motif just beside Charlotte photo as her blue hair and clothes remind of them, and add some note just beside it saying "Charlotte first time shopping" "So pretty!" [Charlotte] and now it have everybody attention, from the kid, to Diana to the innkeeper and his wife. Diana ask me what''s all this (the photo and the album) as she thought that I simply drew each one of them, well it''s easier to show her rather than explaining it to her, so I ask her to smile at me, in which she does while Qis explode in anger! Well, let just said that the both of us ignore her for a while, and when I''m about to take the photo, Kara ask me whether she can have a photo with Diana. Diana simply agreed to it while Qis, well as usual said "know your place you commoner!", but once she sees the results, she became instantly quite while Diana and Kara, well let just said they became an instant photo buddy, and thank god I make two copies of the photo if not, who knew what will happen. With the kid distracted, We leave the inn while I explained to Diana about the photo magic once we are inside the carriage, she seems to be thinking of something before asking me "Can you make a device with similar function?" [Diana] "I''m not sure of that, well I can try but don''t hope for any quick result" [Ash] "It''s fine, really, just develop a prototype of it and show it to the guild master, ask her to patent those device so that you can have a constant fund to run the orphanage" [Diana] Ahh... I see now, what a great idea, if I show the guild master the photo and develop a prototype device and patent it, I can have some fund for the orphanage, and if that''s the case, I shouldn''t have to worried much about the orphanage if something happen to me, well first, how about I showed the guild master about the photo magic and tell her that I will develop a prototype device of it,surely the guild master must be delighted about it. As I am about to said that Idea to Diana, she told me her idea as well, which is basically the same as mine, well that settle it then. She then tell me about the old lady that run the Estel Merchant guild, Gizzere, a sweet but analytical grandmother just so that I can better prepared myself. Once inside the merchant guild, the staff instantly greet Diana and let her meet with Gizzere straight away... Princess sure are amazing "Mrs Gizzere, it has been a while" [Diana] "It is, I''m delighted to see you once again Princess Diana, and the gentleman here, I do believe he is the one that solo the Behemoth, welcome to the merchant guild, my name is Gizzere" [Gizzere] "It''s a pleasure to meet you, I''m Ash, and I have come here today for a few reasons" [Ash] "Well, let just take a seat first shall we" [Gizzere] As we sit down in a very comfy sofa, we begin to discuss about a few things, first regarding a plot of land or a house that can be use for an orphanage, I wanted one with a nice open field at the back so that I can teach those kid magic as well as having some land to farm something (well, farming in this world is almost none existence as they can simply get all their need in the dungeon which is quite a shock for me). As we discussed about the plot of land that meet my criteria, I decided the one in the periphery of the city, having a mansion with a large field with it, it just that... "It''s haunted! Well that explains the low price" [Diana] "Are you really sure about this? Don''t you worry about those kid?" [Gizzere] "Let just said I have trick on my sleeves to solve this problem" [Ash] As I said that, Diana eyes and mouth once again shows the same scary smile, yes I will show it to you as well! Don''t worry! The second thing that we discussed is about the photo magic and as I show her the photo magic (by using Diana as my model), well, I swear I can see her calm expression turned into that of a dropped jaw! How can she hide it so well! "You learn how to hide your emotions once you are in the field for so long, and no I don''t read your mind" [Gizzere] What the... if that wasn''t a magic than kudo to her, I can''t even begin to imagine how she do that, heck, I wanted to ask her did she just read my mind but she just answer it straight away "Still, they are a few things that I wanted to clarify, I still doesn''t have the faintest of idea how I''m about to make a device capable of emulating the photo magic, and even if I managed to do so, I hope that my involvement to be kept a secret!" [Ash] "Of course, it''s not logical for you to straight away make such a device, and even if you does, the initial product will be pricey and as such I believe we should target the noble and the merchant as our potential customers, and as for the secrecy part, I understand as to why you wanted that, you do have a bad relationship with the noble in this country, so if they found out about the person behind this device, they might decide to boycott the product or even worse, harm those children so that they can force you to work with them or even worse the right to your products can be taken away from you" [Gizzere] "Glad you understand that" [Ash] Well usually those who patent a product that''s so good and beneficial will wanted their hard work to be recognised, in hope that the noble or royal will hired them to be part of their working force, well that''s usual case but Diana knows that wouldn''t happen in my case and as such had warned me beforehand "Well then, that just leave me with the third and final one then" [Ash] "Well, let me see the Behemoth corpse at the warehouse" [Gizzere] "Are you really sure you can''t read someone''s mind" [Ash] And I make quite a profit, the corpse are still fresh as time stopped inside the item box magic, but they have to cut down the final profit for dismantling charge, as well as the poor condition of the Behemoth right food and the fact that I just straight out tell her I did give some of the meat to the innkeeper (well, I don''t want those children to use the money that I got in such a dishonouring way, it just doesn''t stand right with me) "Well, that''s good then, I hope those children will follow your example and become an honest adult in the future" [Gizzere] I swear to god, she can read my mind... Well with that, Diana and I head back to the inn, Charlotte, Savel, Singa and Farhah are fast asleep while Kara and Mara came running toward us once they saw we are back, showing Diana (instead of me first... well no, I''m not sulking... maybe a little...) the album they decorate "This is nice and pretty!" [Diana] ""Right!!"" [Kara, Mara] "And whose hand writing is this, it''s so pretty" [Ash] "It''s Sis Alice handwriting... all of us asked her as we doesn''t know how to read and write" [Rean] Rean and Elise joined in from behind, well it looks like I just have to teach them that. Well, it come to no suprise as the literacy rate In this world is poor "Don''t worry, once we head to our new house, I will start teaching you guys" [Ash] "Really!?" [Elise] "Leave it to me" [Ash] Chapter 11 - Grandpa Claude "No, I can''t possibly do that!" [Ash] "It''s alright, just think of it as my way of helping those kids, plus you guys might even just sleep in your new house tonight" [Innkeeper] "Well, it''s only been a day but come and see us again, I''ll make something delicious" [Innkeeper wife] "We will!" [Zerolith, Savel, Charlotte] "Ash, at times like this, you should just accept those kindness, otherwise you will be putting the innkeeper good intentions to waste, plus don''t you think you set a bad example by doing this" [Diana] "Well... if you said so. Thank you and we will gladly accept your offer" [Ash] "Now that''s what we wanted to hear, well take care and make sure you take good care of them, not that you wouldn''t" [Innkeeper] "Naturally" [Ash] With that, we secured a room for us tonight just in case we couldn''t properly cleanse up the mansion. Going to the mansion, at first I thought we will take the public horse carriage to move around, but Diana insist that we uses her carriage, and at this point Qis just show a give up face, The older children as usual try to refuse but Singa, Savel and Charlotte charge straight away to the carriage, with Rean and Elise unable to stop them, well, standing around here won''t solve anything so I followed those three kid, and the other follow suit The carriage is quite big, well Savel and Charlotte have to sit in my lap to make some space while Singa on Rean''s lap, but it''s still comfortable. While on the Carriage, the kid become excited as they never had an opportunity to ride a carriage, well this is my first time as well (third if you count going to and fro from the merchant guild) but I just hide it well since I have my pride as a big brother to them and once we arrive "Well, this isn''t what I imagined when the guild master said a mansion" [Ash] How to say... it''s quite smaller then what I imagined (not like I ever see one before with my very two eyes, even back on earth). Even Diana said it''s quite small, but atleast the open field that I requested are big, so I will take it (plus it''s free, I just need to pay for the yearly tax, so I get myself a bargain), Though I must reconsider some repairs cost Well, once we head inside the house "WHO ARE YOU! GET OUT FROM MY MASTER HOUSE" [Ghost] A mysterious voice shout at us, while a dark aura fill the living room, I must admit I get scared for a little but it only took me a second to calm down and shield all of us with light mana shield "Come out Mr Ghost, I just wanted to talk to you" [Ash] Well, the other become pale when I ask the ghost to come out, except for Elise, she seems oddly calm "Brother, it won''t come out, since there are still strong sunlight outside, plus, your light mana shield is working" [Elise] "Well, I just thought that it might be a strong ghost as there are reports of the ghost harassing the buyer at noon, but if that''s the case, I''ll just surround the mansion with my dark magic for him to come out" [Ash] "Dark magic! You can even use that!" [Diana] Huh... I thought that item box magic is a combination of dark and space magic, so she should already knew that I''m capable of such, huh interesting... so they doesn''t know that, well nevermind that "Dark terrain" [Ash] And my dark magic mana surround the mansion, with the surrounding area filled with dark mana, an old ghost with a nice trim silver sideburns in a butler clothing show itself "My, what a gentleman look, I must said I''m impressed" [Ash] "Fool! If you think that will be enough to convince me to let you stay here, then you are wrong, so get out of here right now or else..." [Ghost] as he said that, multiple white clothing run around us with an eerie and scary laugh, well the kid and Diana are pale as snow right now, but Elise still show a calm face, interesting "Mr Ghost, I have seen far more scarier illusion, this is nothing, you know what, Diana, Rean and the other, please close your eyes or you guys might pee yourself" [Ash] And with my illusion magic, I just show all the ghost, zombie and various creepypasta monster from my previous life, and now, Infront of me is a pale ghost and a calm Elise telling the other to open their eyes. Well, since this ghost never harm people, I''m reluctant to kill it with light magic (which is my tricked of sleeve that I mentioned) plus it''s quite hard to do so until "Mr Ghost, can I have a moment?" [Elise] "?" [Ash, Mr Ghost] "Do you wish to go to the other side?" [Elise] "!" [Ash] "No, I don''t want that" [Mr Ghost] "And why is that?" [Elise] "Because I love this mansion, and also my master who used to leave here, if possible I wanted to continue to preserve this mansion until the day my master come back" [Mr Ghost] "But it has been a hundred year since this mansion was last occupied" [Diana] "My master is an elf who become an awakener of the holy light when the devil attack us, killing his entire family in the process, including me, I know this might sound irrational but I just wanted to believe that he will come back one day..." [Mr Ghost] Devil attack? Holy light awakener? There hardly any info given to me by the goddess, so is this one of the test Goddess Achalasia mentioned? Well for now let just settle this ghostly problem, plus this ghost right here, he is quite similar to me, wanting the warmth of a family, so I would rather settle this peacefully and if it''s still not working, well let just find ourselves a new home "I see, I''m sorry Mr Ghost, I know what it feels like to lost somebody, and this kid also know it very well, so can I propose something?" [Ash] "and that is?" [Mr Ghost] "How about you live together with us from now on? You can become the grandfather to this cutie pie here" [Ash] "Are you serious, you aren''t joking right?" [Mr Ghost] "I am serious here, while I don''t want to kill you with my light magic, or safely send you off to the other side with Elise help before you meet your previous master, I also doesn''t want this children to live in constant fear in this mansion, that''s why I''m asking you to live with us as a family" [Ash] Well, there you have it, a win-win situation if you ask me and now it all depends on the ghost answer "Claude" [Mr Ghost] "huh?" [Ash] "Call me Granpa Claude from now on" [Claude] "Now that''s what I wanted to hear, I am Ash, the eldest of this ten brother and sister of mine, it''s a pleasure to meet you" [Ash] "Same here, but I must said while I am happy, I can''t help to feel disappointed as I can only interact with you only through voice and illusion magic in the morning, and those kid will be asleep at night..." [Claude] "Well, I have a solution for that as well" [Ash] "!" [Other] I have considered that of course, he is a ghost after all, and while he can manifest himself shortly during sunlight, it will still cost so much burden to his soul and mana, even just by using his magic and shouting at us loudly when we first enter, I can sense a ridiculous amount of mana being spent, something that can be fixed with this "That''s the Behemoth magic core, wait don''t tell me!" [Diana] "That''s right, I will use the magic core of the behemoth for the fortress defense magic and set a favourable conditions for Grandpa Claude here" [Ash] Chapter 12 - Housey "Don''t lie to the Princess, Fortress defense magic required atleast four of the court magician, chanting various spell and inserting various magic equipment to works, even if you just wanted to the fortress defense magic to a small mansion like this, it''s just plain impossible!" [Qis] Geez... atleast let me explain first, you can doubt me all you want later after I explained to them but no, you have to spoil it. Well you know what, change of plan, I will just use the fortress defense magic first and then explain it to them, that will show her Now then, first, I just need to reactivate the core of the magic core, and since this Behemoth is having an earth type magic core, I should imbued it with such, and since it was only a day after I kill the behemoth, this is an easy part as I only need a small amount of mana to do so. There''s the glow! So the first process is a success Now, come the tricky and hard part, installation of functions. Here lies the uniqueness of the fortress defense magic, it uses a "live" magic core to be applied to a structure, making it akin to a living being, and since it''s usually applied to a fortress for enhancing it defense, hence it got its name from there. To install the function, I''ll have to give the live magic core a command and the appropriate amount of mana for it to start activating the said function and also the energy to do so at first. (Let see... here are my command!) [Ash] 1. Integrate yourself into the mansion and the surrounding area (a basic commands so that the magic core knew its new "body")... success 2. Protect those living inside here, protect me, Rean, Elise, Kara, Mara, Zerolith, Karon, Farhah, Singa, Savel, Charlotte and also Claude by any mean possible... Success (Whoa! The amount of mana taken, is phenomenal... if I haven''t received the goddess blessings, I will be death) 3. Self recovery to destroy part... success (That sure take a lot of my healing mana) [Ash] 4. Darkness aptitude, make it so that Claude can freely transverse your body even when the brightest light magic are thrown... Success (and now my darkness magic, such an amount, no wonder it requires number of magician) [Ash] Last but not least 5. Just be here with us through rain and sunshine Well, Fortress defense magic aren''t actually a living things, it''s more akin to that of an AI, but nonetheless I felt so wrong if I didn''t said that. (Phew... I''m tired, the second command itself take more than half of my mana, but somehow I feel like I forgot something) [Ash] As I''m about to just sit down on the floor to rest for a while, a chair just appeared itself, "Well, thank you... Crap, I forgot to give it a name!" [Ash] "Crap!" [Charlotte] "Charlotte!" [Ash] "Ouch, it hurt! Housey ask brother Ash to stop!" [Charlotte] As I pinch Charlotte cheeks for imitating my rudeness, Charlotte ask Housey to stop me... just who is this Housey, well it''s not long until I get the answer, literally only a second after Charlotte ask Housey to stop me, the now glowing and floating magic core bump itself lightly towards my finger until I release my pinching finger "Thank you Housey!" [Charlotte] ".-- . .-.. -.-. --- -- ." [Housey] "Housey huh, well since it looks happy then why not" [Ash] I mean, just look at it, it glowing even brighter when Charlotte begin to pat it as a thanks. "Ash... you better explain to me what just happened!" [Diana] "I, I will, just stop with those scary smile! And Housey no, she isn''t a threat, neither are the female guard beside her as well as those 12 guard!" [Ash] "!" [Qis] "And explain that as well!" [Diana] "I get it, I get it, just stop smiling like that, it''s even scarier than a ghost, look, even Elise become frightened!" [Ash] Well, it''s true, the calmed Elise from a moment ago just became pale when Diana have those look that said "I won''t leave without any explanation", and such a determined look, and yet scary at the same time For the 12 guard, it''s not that of a big deal for me, I just detect them the moment we set out to go to the merchant guild, and to further confirm it, I saw that Qis have make a unique hand movement, signalling those guard from time to time everything is alright As for the Fortress defense magic "First, who said that you need to chant a spell to activate Fortress defense magic" [Ash] "But, chanting is the basic of magic!" [Qis] "Well, you''re wrong there Miss, you don''t even required to chant to perform a magic, sure chanting have it benefits but in this case, where I have to install all the necessary command towards Housey, it''s far better for me to just tell Housey through my mind" [Ash] "Huh?" [Diana] "Well, I''ll leave the long explanation for the other time, but to use a magic you don''t necessarily required a chant, I mean you don''t chant something every time you walk or breath right" [Ash] "Then how about the required magic equipment? How do you compensate that?" [Diana] "Those things aren''t unnecessary in Housey case, First the scale of Housey new body and the scale for which this magic are usually applied is different, so most magician required a number of magical equipment for two things, one is to supply constant amount of mana and two is to supply them with mana of required element for it to perform what has been command to it, but for me, I have a large mana pool and I can also use all the magic element so I don''t required such equipment" [Ash] "Can I also use all the magic element?" [Zerolith] "Technically, all creature are able to do so, it''s just that your body aren''t used to it, I''ll explain to all of you later" [Ash] "I can guess your answer, but let me just ask this final question, the magic circle aren''t necessary also, am I right?" [Diana] "Precisely, but it will help if there is one" [Ash] ""..."" [Diana, Qis] "you sure are one genius magician..." [Claude] "Brother Ash, my common sense are crumbling" [Elise] "Same here" [Rean] "I don''t know whether I should take those as compliment or not" [Ash] "Ash, won''t you considered once again to work with us? I promise you that we will pay you quite a good amount of money and if you don''t want to work with other noble and royal, Father and I will find a way!" [Diana] "It''s a tempting offer, but I still have to refuse it, I''m sure you have ton of thing to ask me to do once I started working and that will only reduce the amount of time I will spend with these little brother and sister of mine" [Ash] For one, I still have to teach them the basic thing like letter, number and mathematics as this world only have school for the rich one, plus they are still weak, unable to defend themselves properly, and with how some stupid people behave, I just can''t fathom what they will do to them, especially to the non human Elise, Karon, Zerolith, Farhah Savel and Singa and by extension the other four since they are always together. I mean we do have Housey and Claude now but what happen if they are attacked outside the house "..-. .. -. .. ... .... / .-. . .--. .- .. .-. .. -. --. / - .... . / -- .- -. ... .. --- -." [Housey] "I see, thank you Housey" [Ash] "Hm?" [Farhah] "I ask Housey to repair the gate, and also to repair any damages structure in the mansion, and looks like Housey have finish it job" [Ash] "How come you understand Housey?" [Karon] "Good question, even I don''t know that" [Ash] To be honest, I really don''t and it''s hurts me as the usually silent Karon ask such questions with enthusiasm only to be turned down like that, but Karon face said otherwise "I''ll find it one day!" [Karon] "I''ll help!" [Farhah] "I''m sure you will" [Ash] Kara and Mara then look at Claude and Housey "Can we start decorating the mansion?" [Kara] "Can we, Can we?" [Mara] "Sure, why not" [Claude] ""Yay!"" [Kara Mara] "But first we have to cleanse the mansion" [Claude] "I''ll do it quickly!" [Singa] "I won''t lose!" [Savel] Well, since we will start clean the mansion "Diana, let me escort you back to the castle" [Ash] "Don''t mind me, I have Qis and the other" [Diana] "Well, I do believe they can perform their job very well, but can''t just leave behind a lady walk without any protection when dusk coming" [Ash] "Show off" [Qis] "Wel, kinda, since I need to teach the boys how to became a gentleman, plus I can buy some ingredients later on, and let''s not forget that I have to tell the innkeeper that we will not be coming tonight" [Ash] "Well, if you said so, but somehow I still have a feeling that there are one more reason you haven''t tell us yet" [Diana] "Nonsense" [Ash] That''s a princess intuition alright... I am quite lazy to clean the mansion right now after using most of my mana just now, but let not tell her that shall we. With that, I ask them to prioritize the bathroom as well as the two bedroom to be cleaned up first. I then escort Diana until the gate of the Castle Chapter 13 - Training part 1 _________________________________________________ In a meeting room at a castle, King Estel and Princess Diana talk about Ash "I see, such a powerful magician" [King Estel] "Right! I still can''t believe my eyes when he successfully used the fortress defense magic without even chanting!" [Diana] "Still, it''s unfortunate that we couldn''t get him to work with us" [King Estel] "I agree, still just having him in our country is beneficial, but we have to make sure that other noble doesn''t pissed him off" [Diana] "I''ll do what I can, but their greediness knows no bound. Diana, just continue to be friends with him, you don''t have to persuade him, just make sure he won''t turned his back from us" [King Estel] "Sure, he do regards me as a friend so the feeling is mutual, plus it doesn''t looks like wanted to be friends with me just to take advantage of my position, which is nice!" [Diana] "I see" [King Estel] _________________________________________________ It have been three day since we move in to our new home, most of the room have been thoroughly cleaned, as expected of Claude, that''s one dedicated butler. Eventhough he loves the mansion, he have to make it looks inhabitable to ward off potential buyer, until now. While I have my own room, the boys and the girls decided to stay together in one big room, for which both Claude and I disagree, and so we make the two largest room as the boys and girls room. They aren''t that happy as this is the first time they are separated but they''ll appreciate it when they get older The kids and I then visit our neighbors, bringing sweet along to introduce ourselves, most of them are happy to have us, saying that they feel safe as someone who can solo a Behemoth are among them (what am I , a security guard! Joking Joking) but a small minority of them show a clear disgust toward the non human kid, even slamming their doors while asking us to leave (how rude! I wanted to scorn them so bad but I don''t want my reputation as a good neighbor to drain down, so let just take it one step at a time to win their heart. How? I''ll think of it later) And for the fourth day after moving out, I decided to train those kid some magic and fighting style that suit them, well I can do just fine with magic but for those with weapon, I''ll be in trouble as I myself used a scythe and I never fought a monster before, only the freaking behemoth that show out of nowhere. We enter the dungeon at the centre of the city. There, the entrance of the dungeon is buzzing with activities as merchant, stall and adventure doing transaction after transaction. Even the Adventure Guild quarter are here as well. Seeing the headquarters, I can''t help but to be reminded how Alice, the Innkeeper daughter give me the guild recommendations letter. They asked me to join their ranks and I can start working as an A rank adventure, but I just refused it since being a high ranking adventure means I have to take a job outside the country as well, and for now I don''t want that. As I enter the dungeon with all of them, we see three different path taking us to three different kind of dungeon, while the entrance and exit remain constant, the other layer of dungeon weren''t. As per advise by Alice, I decided to take the one that goes to an open field since I just wanted to train them, it''s the safest one according to Alice There, the lush green grass with the sweet aroma smell of the fruit being carried by the wind are really soothing, and we haven''t begin to properly descend downward yet, this is still the fixed part of a dungeon. As I am about to descend, something strike my eyes, a young noble lady, sitting by herself at a public seat, looking down at the other children playing there, wanted to join but something preventing her from doing so, well, if I met her again, I will ask her why. For now, I have to focus on training the kids As we enter the first floor of the dungeon, the same scenery greets my eyes, the kids become excited for which I understand, even I can''t help but to feel excited. As we walk down the road, a group of zombies appear. Perfect for our target practice "Well, remember what I have thought you about magic?" [Ash] "Yes!" [Farhah] "Well, let just applied it straight away" [Ash] Magic, the phenomena that happen when one transfer their mana from one body parts to the outside or from one body part to another, all of us in Achalasia can use magic and as such in theory all of us can use all type of magic, but this is where the individual differences come in. While the Goddess Achalasia did tell me that I can use all kind of magic, she make it so by modifying my body, so that I am compatible with all magic, let said the baseline of it is 100. For some people, for example Rean, his baseline mana for Fire Magic are 250, while his darkness magic are 70, and the rest were around 10 to 30, thus he is highly compatible with fire magic as compared to other magic. So he can dished out strong fire magic with ease but let said if I ask him to use water magic, his body just wasn''t compatible with it, and so try as he might, he can only produce a tearful of water. But that''s all more than enough as he can still operate the bathroom which uses the water magic equipment So basically 1. In theory, all living being can use all type of magic, it''s just their body aren''t designed to do so 2. This theory is supported by the fact that all of them able to operate a magical equipment even one that they are not compatible with (For example Rean operating the bathroom, Zerolith with poor light mana compatibility can switch on the light) Well, that''s the basic theory of it. Still, those ten kid sure are hesitating so much, well let just give them an example shall we "Listen up, I''ll show you again how to imbued your mana into your weapon without chanting, so remember the theory and look at me carefully" [Ash] As I said that, I unfolded my scythe, imbued it with wind mana and throw the scythe towards the horde of zombies, gosh they sure are slow, maybe because it''s still daytime As I do that, well, let just said I should ask the little one to stay back at home, as the head of the zombie one by one, detached from their body, their limbs as well, but to my suprise Charlotte and Savel were actually clapping, showering me with praise. Once the scythe come back to me, there''s around 30 zombie left, well I have killed around 90% of it, so let just make them take out the remaining zombie shall we "I''ll start first" [Rean] Seeing my performance, Rean fired up "Good luck!" [Ash] Chapter 14 - Training part 2 "Now that there aren''t that many zombies, we can finally take them down!" [Elise] With the mana cards on her hand, she shows a determined face as Rean dashes towards those zombies. I see now, no wonder they are hesitating moments ago, well if you think logically, 300 zombies are way too much for a beginner, screw that, that amount of zombies aren''t something that you wanted to face even in video game as your ammunition and health item will be wasted quickly, so the same applies here. Me and my common sense, forgive me Rean and others, for asking you guys to do the impossible just now Still, Rean are pretty good, he quickly applied fire mana toward his katana and slice the zombie neck in one smooth cut, and there''s the triumph look at his face, good job. Elise, by throwing her mana card begin to support Rean, her most compatible element is that of the Fire and light, so when she threw the mana card, it became imbued with such element, still I haven''t taught her how to combine the two elements but she succeeded in doing so after a few try and error, Splendid! Kara, having a healer staff, try to support the other by healing them, and quite a unique way of doing so, since she and Mara having affinities towards wind and light, Kara simply throw healing ball towards them, healing the fighter group Infront (Rean, Mara, Karon, Singa, Savel) and if by chance the healing ball hit those zombies, it purify them! Mara on the other hand, uses dual knives, her agility is impressive as she tear apart the zombie limbs before finishing them, the zombie, as slow as they are couldn''t even touch her. Zerolith, also a staff user, uses his dark magic from afar and shoot out darkness arrow to support frontline fighter, there''s a lack of power in each one of the arrow but the barrage of arrow that he produces is nothing to laugh at, his precise control also meant that none of his arrow hit his allies Karon uses a large hammer, that kid sure got some good upper body strength, with the earth mana imbued in his hammer, he slammed those zombies into pieces, and when the zombies are about to surround him, he simply make a 360 turn and that''s one gruesome scene (if you''re a zombie that is) Farhah, good at wood magic uses bow and arrow from afar, since her aim is still bad, she compensate by using her wood magic to restrain her opponent, and honestly speaking, she could just squeeze those zombies to kill them but she refused as she wanted to kill them with the arrow, well not that I would scold her for that, it''s always good to have multiple skill, plus I like how she uses her wood magic to bring back usable arrow. She also experiment on using a refined wood magic to make an arrow (interesting, I can help her create a magic spell so that way she can save some money in the future) Singa and Savel, they make a pretty badass duo, both are using claymore and longsword respectively and I have to said, just what kind of weapon shop have a weapon for a 8 and 7 years old children! Still, Singa love to teleport towards his enemy back by using space magic and proceed to stab their spine while Savel, having the same affinity as Claude that is mirage magic make an illusion of himself with blood spouting out from his stomach as to lure the zombie before finishing them off (well, that illusion sincerely scared me for a moment, if they really are injured, who knew how I will react) Lastly, the last staff user, Charlotte, and oh boy... her water magic affinity are nothing to joke at, I mean I can said without a doubt her affinities towards water magic are atleast 500, and that''s why she is the first to successfully use chantless magic after I taught them and after a few hours I can see her playing with her water magic as if it was nothing, such talent. Now though, her water magic still lack power so all she can do is trapped those zombies from afar and let the other finish them off, not bad And with that, all zombies are annihilated. They come back to me after I tell them to do so since I wanted to point out what they did right and wrong (haha, sorry Karon, Savel and Singa you have to wait for a while to collect those loot). Overall, their teamwork are superb! There are room for improvement of course but this is their first time so I can give them an A+ grade for the teamwork but sadly for them their fire power are weak (not that it''s a bad thing, it''s still their first time fighting plus it can be improved by training) "And that it''s for toda...!" [Ash] As I detected a large amount of mana being directed toward us, I use my dark shield spell as quickly as I could and the light arrow mana aren''t that strong to pierce the darkness shield. I can see the look of terror from each one of my little brother and sister face, how dare them for attacking us, this really make my blood boil Since I can''t sense them firing off any more spell, I went out to "greet" those foolish enough to attack us, "Hmph, still alive" [?] "Well, let just finish those non human and twin shall we, we are in the dungeon after all, what can they do?" [?] "But the saint and saintess will scold us!" [?] "Screw them, spouting those nonsense thing plus we are in a dungeon, any country rule doesn''t applied here so what''s there to be afraid of?" [?] "Someone coming" [?] A group of five people, and from the look of it, it''s someone from the church as evidence of their white attire with the symbol of Goddess Achalasia. Now, what should I do Chapter 15 - Training part 3 "You there, unless the information that I received was wrong, wasn''t the saint and saintess forbid the baseless hatred towards non human and twin" [Ash] Wow, I''m surprised as to how calmed I am right now, sincerely speaking, I just wanted to tear and ripped them apart but nonetheless I hold back, knowing that if I lashes out now, it will nothing but trouble, plus I sincerely doesn''t want to ruined the teaching of both the saint and saintess, they are trying their best to advocate their teaching, so that human and non human can walk together in peace and that any old believe such as twin bring nothing but bad luck to be disposed off "So what, we are in a dungeon now, so we could do all that we want" [Follower C] Such a retarded reason, almost enough to actually make me snapped. Well, any country rules doesn''t applied once you are inside a dungeon, there''s no clear cut reason for that, it just that they believe the dungeon, or more specifically the wormhole that covered the dungeon are a neutral area where one shouldn''t interfere with, and those stupid thought do cause a fair share of problem. Assassination, ****, slavery, you name it there will always be a case of crime inside the dungeon and yet the country couldn''t do anything! Even if there''s evidence of it, that is the watcher, the surviving victims couldn''t even get the justice that they are supposed to get. Honestly speaking, it''s a shocking thing for me and yet nothing have been done to change them "Sigh... who am I kidding, I forgot most of the old follower are retarded, so it only make sense that you do such barbaric act" [Ash] "What did you say!" [Follower A] "Not only a retard, but also deaf, I see. Such pitiable follower" [Ash] "Why you, by the name of the Goddess Achalasia, we should purge you and those kids" [Follower E] "Goddess Achalasia huh..." [Ash] Nonsense, Goddess Achalasia doesn''t tell me to hate those non human, instead, she is a sweet and kind hearted goddess, hearing them spouting nonsense by using the goddess name really irk me to no end "What are those weapon?" [Follower B] "Who knew, it strangely shape" [Follower D] I bring out my Scythe, and in an instant "My, my arm!" [Follower C] "Shit!" [Follower A] I ripped their arm by using the scythe, I could just go for the head, but I sincerely doesn''t want to make things worse, it''s not for their sake but rather for the sake of saint and saintess as I don''t want any of their effort to goes down the drain with my act and once all of them become armless, I simply burn their detached arm right Infront of them "Now go or else!" [Ash] As I said that, I unleash large amount of light magic, light sword, light arrow, light mace, light golem, you name it, there''s enough variant of spell with various sizes all surrounding them and each one of them ready to shred them apart "Such powerful light magic" [Follower B] "His power can even rival the saint!" [Follower D] "But I thought he uses dark magic just now, so how?" [Follower E] "Still babbling around huh..." [Ash] and one of the light sword magic pierce the toes of one of them, aaaaand they all run away, toward the dungeon entrance, I swear to god these people are so... sigh... With that, I dispel the dark shield barrier surrounding those cutie pie "That''s awesome! As expected of you brother Ash!" [Zerolith] "If only I can become as strong as you are..." [Rean] "Rean..." [Elise] Rean once again, feeling down, just like the other day... well he was the one protecting the other before I came and now that he see how effortlessly I bring those rascal down, he must be feeling powerless. Well, time to act like a good big brother "Rean, it''s alright. I know how you feel like, feeling helpless, only relying on other to protect you but for now it''s alright" [Ash] "?" [Rean] "Right now, Claude, Housey and I are here, just to protect you, to nurture all of you to become strong and useful member of society, so that''s why rely on us when you still can. Once you become strong enough, it''s your turn to protect other" [Ash] "Just like what you did?" [Rean] "Exactly" [Ash] Well, I am weak back on earth, but Goddess Achalasia and God of Death gave me their blessings to help me, and now it''s my turn to help them, and once they are all ready to leave the nest, it''s their turn to do the same (and when that day come, Claude, Housey and I will be lonely...) [Ash] Well, it''s inevitable, but that''s still a long way to go "Brother Ash, what is this?" [Zerolith] Zerolith, just when did you, nevermind, well he is asking about all the loot that were spawned when we defeat the zombies, there are weapon, ore and various other loots, as expected of human like monster, the variety of drop they gave can really filled the pocket of an adventure with money As we collect all the drop, I stumbled upon two things, first is that there appear to be a spawning block for those zombie, a rare item (well, let just said it''s rarity is that of an S class) that spawn zombies as long as there are enough mana being supply (I bet Diana, Gizzere and Ram will approach me later to buy this thing) [Ash] and secondly, well that thing is the one that stumble upon me "A light baby Behemoth?" [Farhah] "So cute!" [Kara] "Why did an S rank monster appear in the first floor?" [Rean] "Soon to be S rank monster, right now it''s a C rank monster and good question" [Ash] Well, I can falter a guess, and that is because it''s attracted by my light magic just now, light baby Behemoth only feed the mana light from their parents, and as such rarely if not never separate from their parents which mean... "Brother Ash, can we take Behe home?" [Charlotte] "Can we, Can we?" [Savel] "Please" [Mara] And Charlotte already gave it a name, but can we? "Meow" [Behe] "Alright there, you won my heart with that cute meow" [Ash] "What about food?" [Singa] "Light baby Behemoth feed on light mana, so Elise, Kara, Mara and I can feed Behe" [Ash] "Can I?" [Elise] "Sure" [Ash] Elise make a number of light ball magic and Behe started to feed on them and gosh Behe must be starving... "Still, where are Behe''s parents?" [Rean] "Good question... I should discuss it with the adventure guild master and Diana" [Ash] Something that can separate an S rank monster from it child, this could spell trouble. Well, this might be rude but this isn''t a laughing matter so... "Diana, Guild Master Ram, can you please come to our home around 600pm to discuss this thing?" [Ash] "Brother, such rude behaviour!" [Elise] "Well, it''s an emergency so..." [Ash] "Look, Zerolith, Singa and Savel are copying you!" [Elise] I looked at the now shouting trio... well I shouted so that Diana and Ram or atleast someone can relay those message toward them, barbarian act of course (and crap, I should address her as Princess just now... well too late) but one that should be done "I''m sorry Elise..." [Ash] "Don''t do it next time!" [Elise] "Yes..." [Ash] "Haha" [Rean] Chapter 16 - The meeting "That was such an uncivilized act you displayed young Ash!" [Claude] "Sorry..." [Ash] "Just don''t do it again!" [Claude] "Yes..." [Ash] Apparently, due to the number of zombies spawned during our training session, as well as the amount of mana that I used to fight those church follower, the watcher in the sky became big, like it suddenly decided that our action should be highlighted and thus, when I shouted Diana and Ram named, let just said I make the most embarrassing act in my life. I sincerely thought that only a few people will hear it as the watcher usually would be small as it usually does, but apparently Claude told me that there is few factors that can make them big. To put is simple, it''s just like a TV show highlighting an interesting program by replaying the same program, only in this case, it became bigger as opposed to the TV show on earth As Claude lecturing session come to an end (thank god), Farhah bring me a glass of water to console me, such a sweet little sister, that''s before she decided to join back the other, playing with Behe. No matter how I see it, Behe act just like a cat, playing with the ball of thread that we buy along the way. Singa, don''t imitate Behe! I knew you come from a feline bloodline, but you''re not a cat, and Housey, not you too! You are a ferocious Behemoth before, what happen to the Behemoth that sends shiver down to my spine. Well, since they are having fun, let us not ruined the mood (Oh, there''s the bell) [Ash] Well, since they are playing with Behe, Claude and I decided to greet our guests, there is Ram, Gizzere (what are you doing here?) Qis and Diana, and my god, Diana face, that scary face make me reflexively closed the door "Open up Ash, you are the one inviting us, right!" [Diana] "Claude, if I die, please take care of them" [Ash] "Well, you reap what you sow" [Claude] And there''s another scolding from Diana, at least take a seat first will you! As Diana barrage of lectures see no sign of ending, an angel descend to help me "Princess Diana, will you play with us afterward?" [Kara] As Kara said that, she hug Diana. Kara seriously have taken a liking toward Diana, and Diana stopped with her lecture, saying that she might do just that, (Kara, thank you so much!) [Ash] As I look at my saviour, Gizzere and Ram approach me, which make me wonder "Well, something that can kill an S ranked monster are no joke by any mean, plus it will disturb Estel''s Economies, so that''s why I am here as well" [Gizzere] "You are the same as ever sweetie, reading someone else mind so easily" [Ram] "Eh?" [Ash] "What, don''t you know, she is my wife" [Ram] "Ehhhhhh!!!!" [Ash] Well, obviously I don''t! I am not like Gizzere who can read someone minds! Still, the adventure guild master Ram look younger than Gizzere, so "Well, our age gap are quite large, around 15 years so that''s why I look much older" [Gizzere] "I see" [Ash] "Let us not waste any more time shall we?" [Ram] "Agree" [Gizzere] "Before that, can these three joins as well?" [Ash] As I said that, I point my finger toward Claude, Rean, and Elise. Claude is pretty obvious, he can give an opinion as someone who has lived (lived huh... well-kinda) for 100 years, as for Rean and Elise, I just wanted them to be there, even if they remain silent during the whole meeting, It''s fine, as I''m sure they can learn a few things with this meeting, from manner to conducting a formal meeting, I''m sure of that. Diana, Ram and Gizzere approved, even telling them to do their best and learn something as they see the conflicting face of those two (pretty sure they wanted to observe the meeting but too scared to do so. Understandable, the three of them are an important people) As Claude guide those three to our last minute meeting with, he prepared a nice dessert for us, it looks just like the Gulab Jamoon, and Indian sweet that I once taste on earth. Round and sweet, but this time, the syrup used were replaced with honey, and the three becomes delighted over it. As expected of Claude! With that "Sorry for calling all of you in such a manner, and in a short notice as well, but I had a solid reason to do so" [Ash] "Well, manner aside, I just wanted to confirm, is it really a Light Behemoth?" [Diana] "Yes it is, I had my friend, a clerk from the adventure guild name Alice to double confirm it, and she said the same" [Ash] "Well, those adventure sure make a ruckus afterward" [Ram] "Some merchant and noble had approached me as well, asking the merchant guild to buy the light Behemoth from Ash" [Gizzere] "Well, that''s because I rejected them" [Ash] Seriously, they approached us as soon as we came out from the dungeon, going as far as stalking us along the way. Well, I just gave them a good glared as a warning and thank god it works "A random malignant wormhole which spawn Behemoth inside the city, and the appearance of a baby light behemoth on the first floor of the dungeon, surely it can''t be a coincidence" [Diana] "I thought the same, plus something that can kill an S rank monster, separating Behe from it parents, I can''t help but to shudder a bit at that time. Still, I can''t even falter a guess at this point" [Ash] "How about you Mr Claude? Do you have any idea?" [Ram] "Well, this is just my speculation, but don''t you think this have something to do with the old church follower?" [Claude] "And why is that?" [Gizzere] "100 years ago, there''s this movement among those church people that actually talks about controlling the dungeon, believing that they can use the dungeon to access world beyond Achalasia" [Claude] "Something wrong brother Ash?" [Elise] "Nothing..." [Ash] "?" [Rean] "But I thought those teaching were banned and all of their followers were caught?" [Gizzere] "Well, not all of it, my master had met a few of them, obviously my master and I tried to catch and interrogate them, but they simply chose suicide as a way out" [Claude] "That''s gruesome" [Diana] "If they managed to survive up till these days, surely some of their researches had at least bore some fruit" [Claude] "And you''re saying they are responsible for opening a random malignant wormhole?" [Qis] "Precisely" [Claude] "Then how do you explain about that Baby Behemoth?" [Qis] "Surely, if they can control the dungeon, they had a mean of controlling what inside the dungeon as well" [Claude] "!" [Other] Now this is serious, if they really have the mean to so, it no exaggeration to say they can control the whole world of Achalasia "Diana, old man, what do you guys think?" [Ash] "It certainly plausible, but we simply have no prove" [Diana] "Agree" [Ram] "Like I said, this is just my speculation" [Claude] "But it''s not too far stretched" [Gizzere] "Can you explain?" [Diana] "During the recent uprising, the saint and saintess asked the merchant guild to investigate some suspicious activities involving the R&D of the church, at first we thought of nothing strange going on until..." [Gizzere] "Until?" [Ash] "Let just said they managed to get some rare item from the dungeon and sold it to the merchant guild through various merchant, and here lies the problem, when we asked them to explain how they managed to get those items, they simply said that it was the goddess blessings for supporting the saint and saintess and when we further inquired about it, all we can find was that they really do obtained it from the dungeon, even the dungeon from faraway" [Gizzere] "Did Father knew about it?" [Diana] "I had told King Estel about it, but alas we couldn''t do anything and thus shrugged it off as the goddess blessings" [Gizzere] "Still, was the money really used to support the saint and saintess? As I recall, they were constantly running low on funds" [Ram] "No, I don''t think so" [Gizzere] "Well, setting aside that speculation, we do have a bigger threat to deal with" [Ash] "Yes, and that is to hunt down the monster that can kill a light Behemoth" [Diana] "Before that, how about a tea break" [Claude] Nice timing Claude, we are starting to get tired. As Claude serve us the tea, I can hear those kid still playing with Behe, and look like Kara and Mara are trying to use photo magic to take pictures of Behe, well hope they succeed "Well, shall we continue?" [Ash] "Mr Ram, do you have any idea about the monster that can kill a light Behemoth?" [Diana] "A few, but let just wait for the scout that I send to give me their report" [Ram] "I see, in the meantime I think it''s better for us to close the fixed part of the dungeon for a while, until this issue resolved" [Diana] "Won''t that hurt the economy?" [Ash] "Well, it sure will, but the risk outweigh the benefits, so I''m inclined to agree" [Gizzere] "I''ll propose it to Father afterward, and Ash" [Diana] "Yes?" [Ash] "Can you tracked down the monster as well?" [Diana] "!" [Ash] Chapter 17 - Lesson learned Me, scouting the S rank monster that can Kill a light Behemoth? It''s a dangerous job and I sincerely wanted to decline it because I never done it before, not on earth and neither in this world, so where should I start and how do I begin to search for it? Blindly? That being said, it''s a bad idea to just leave such a dangerous monster roaming around, the monster might attack these children should they decide to train in the dungeon once again and if that were to happen... "Right, I''ll accept the job, but can I start tomorrow?" [Ash] "Brother Ash!" [Rean] "It''s dangerous!" [Elise] "Yup, it is, but so does letting that monster roaming around freely, plus, I accepted this job because of you guys as well" [Ash] ""Huh?"" [Rean, Elise] "Well, there''s no way I can let you guys enter the dungeon knowing such a dangerous creature roaming around freely, it feels like I am sending you guys to meet the god of death if I do so. That''s why I decided to take this job so that you can train in a safer environment" [Ash] Well, that''s my main reason, nothing else matter for me. Rean and Elise still feel reluctant to let me go, so "Instead of worrying too much, how about all of you send him properly the next morning. I''m sure Ash will be more delighted that way" [Claude] "Nice one Claude. Well, Grandpa did tell the truth, rather than your sour face like now, I would like to be send off with a bright smile, that way I can focus more on this job" [Ash] "Fine... but you better explain it to the other properly!" [Elise] "Don''t worry, I''ll do just that" [Ash] "Thank you Ash, both of you as well" [Diana] "No problem" [Ash] With that said, we end our meeting. Once we head out of the meeting room, those kids started to swarm us once again. This is bad, no wonder Elise ask me to explain the job myself, I mean who can said something like "I will search for a dangerous monster that has killed another dangerous monster and I''ll depart tomorrow morning itself". What should I do... "Claude, can you prepare some sweet dish for dinner?" [Ash] "Understood" [Claude] Thank god, Claude seems to know what I am thinking now, when you wanted to please someone, please their stomach first, especially true for kids. Since it is this late already, I asked Diana and the other to have dinner with us, but they politely declined it since they have other things to do, too bad since Claude really are an expert on making sweet dishes. Once we finish our dinner, the kid seems satisfied, this should be a good time "Listen up all of you, I''ll be out for tomorrow for a job, so can you please be a good boy and girl and seat quietly in the house?" [Ash] What am I, an idiot? That wasn''t even enough to be called an explanation. Look at their face, full of confusion since their idiot big brother can''t even explain such thing "Well, I''ll be investigating some dungeon abnormalities starting tomorrow morning, so instead of training in the dungeon with me, you guys should have a study session with Claude tomorrow" [Ash] There, that''s better, well I am not lying to them, just withholding some important facts, yup just withholding them for now "Is it about the S rank monster that kill Behe parents?" [Mara] Mara, why are you so sharp. Usually I''ll be happy but not now. "Is it?" [Kara] Crap, they are looking at me, begging me not to go, now how should I explained this "Brother Ash..." [Farhah] "Please tell us you are Joking" [Zerolith] Well, what should I do, they are on a verge to cry. What should I do, What should I do. Mother, Father, what should I say... "Basically yes" [Ash] "!" [Kids] "Sorry, but I have to take that job, it''s for your own good. Otherwise, I will be reluctant to train you guys in the dungeon, but I promise you I will come back safely" [Ash] Well, that''s the only thing I can do, I had promised them the same thing when I fought the Behemoth last time, so I guess this should be enough? "Idiot!" [Kara] Kara runs off back to her room, Charlotte also started to cry, she might not understand the full scope of the job, but even she knew I am about to do something dangerous. God, this is stressing, here I thought the same tactic can be applied just like the last time. The other doesn''t even want to see me in the face right now, not that they are hating me, but they are probably to sad to mutter a word. And just like that, Mara brings Farhah and Charlotte back to the girls room. Zerolith and Karon seem to understand the reasoning behind it but couldn''t bring themselves to accept it, while Singa "Isn''t there anyone else well-suited for the job!" [Singa] Well, he and Savel are on the same boat with the other as well, and my dumb ass brain decided to just mutter the same word again, of course they will be disappointed! And there they go, going back to their room "Sigh..." [Ash] "Sorry, Elise and I will properly explain it to them afterwards" [Rean] "Please do, and sorry" [Ash] "It''s alright, you have done your best" [Elise] Rean and Elise joined them shortly afterwards, Claude told them to just go and leave washing the plate to both of us where we strike a conversation "I''m an idiot... expecting them to understand it just like Rean and Elise, no I''m sure both of them feel the same" [Ash] "Well, this must be your first time having to explain something to your family member" [Claude] "I''m an orphan, just like them, and my uncle and aunt, let just said they weren''t the best guardian around so..." [Ash] "I can guess what happen, but that''s fine" [Claude] "?" [Ash] "Do you think us parents know everything?" [Claude] "..." [Ash] "At the end of the day, we are all mortal, bound by feeling, we can''t help but to made a mistake. My master and I, both of us had make a mistake when raising a child, having so much conflicting feeling afterward, so that''s why..." [Claude] as the advice come to an end, so does the plate and glasses to be washed "Learn from those mistake, at the end of the day, both my master and I wanted the best for our children, and I''m sure you feel the same toward your little brother and sister as well. That''s why apologize to them tomorrow, and just like I said, make them send you off with a smile" [Claude] "I see... thank you, Claude. Boy am I glad not vanishing you that day" [Ash] "Such dark humour" [Claude] "You''ll have to get used to it" [Ash] And when the morning came, just when I am about to leave... "You guys..." [Ash] "Sorry Brother Ash... for yesterday" [Kara] Well, I am the one at fault here, so... "It''s alright, I''m sure you guys are worried about me, and that make me glad" [Ash] "..." [Zerolith] "But at the same time, I also feel the same, like I said, I can''t just leave that monster behind, knowing it can hurt any one of you here" [Ash] "Promise us you will come back safely!" [Charlotte] "Promise" [Ash] It''s the same thing, I just repeat the same promise once again, but this time around, both parties can empathize with one another as compared to last night "Rean, Elise, thank you" [Ash] They did a wonderful job, seriously thank you so much, "Someone become beet red already" [Ash] "Am not!" [Elise] "If you said so" [Ash] Well, I''m glad things turn out alright and with that, they send me off with a smile. Lesson learned Chapter 18 - Finding the cause Since it still early in the morning, I decided to greet some friendly neighbour first, telling them the job that Diana asked me to do yesterday. Their reaction were predictable, worrying about me as well as asking me to be extra careful, for which I am glad they do that. Even the clothing shop aunty as well as the innkeeper and his wife said the same thing. This really gives me the extra boost in motivation department in my brain, and finally once I reach the centre of the city, Alice as well as Guild Master Ram were there, briefing the adventure about the scope of their job. Well, since I am not part of the adventure guild, I just went ahead and enter the dungeon, or at least that''s the plan but "Ash, bring you ass here right now" [Ram] "How long have you been planning to say that " [Ash] Well, since I had nothing better to do, I just joined the adventure briefing. Ram and Alice introduce me to some adventure, they are mostly veteran and expert on scouting. Well, they do look strong but "Ram, aren''t there any soldier dispatch from the Kingdom?" [Ash] "Well, Princess Diana and the Ministry of Defense were still on it, it just that the head of the department refuse to let Princess Diana used the soldiers for some "trivial" matter" [Ram] I see, plus I also heard some of the gossiping adventure saying that they are some internal conflict between Diana and the noble, I wonder what happen, hope that it wasn''t because of my rude behaviour. With that said, Ram and Alice begin to assign us the area to be scout, and they assigned me to the third floor of open space dungeon, with few other adventure, and from there, it was left to our discretion on how to proceed Well, the third floor of the open field dungeon are still what they called as a newbie dungeon, so much so even a kid can enter and remain safe so long as they don''t stray far away like I did when training those kids. As for the layout, since most of the dungeon is what connecting two different countries, the middle part of the dungeon are the hardest in term of difficulty. Let take this open field dungeon for example, they connect Estel to the neighbouring country Mas, as you begin moving from Estel toward the middle part of the dungeon, the difficulty level increases, but afterwards, from the middle part of the dungeon to the Mas, the difficulty will reverse. There are dungeons however that follows the traditional dungeon system in game back on earth but that''s few in number. Still, as long as you stay on the road, nothing bad will happen (mostly and hopefully) As I reach the third level of the dungeon, we begin to split up, and then "Huh?" [Ash] The horn that Behe spit out and gave it to me yesterday, it started to glow. Could it be... Let try some experiment shall we. As I point the horn toward a particular direction, it started to glow brighter, but point it out in different direction, it became dim. Well, since I have absolutely no idea how to scout, it''s far better to rely on this as compared to scouting blindly. The horn guided me to a spacious cave and once I enter, all of my intuition point to one thing "It''s here" [Ash] I don''t know why, maybe because of the atmosphere, or maybe because of the sudden palpitation that I felt on my chest. Whatever it was, I can somehow tell that the monster is inside of this cave (Should I go back and tell Ram? No, I should confirm it with my two eyes first, plus my actions were being monitored through the watcher, so Ram and Alice should notify other in case anything happens" [Ash] Slowly and quietly, I transverse the cave, and once I''m at the depth of the cave (That''s a King Behemoth! Just what on Achalasia is happening) [Ash] King Behemoth, an S class Behemoth that is said govern the other behemoth, it''s usually use darkness magic and boast itself with unparalleled strength as compared to other behemoth, but something amiss. Why is it injured, could it be because, huh (That is, an adult light behemoth head lying around. No doubt about it, that might be Behe parent and it''s fight had injured the king behemoth) [Ash] Should I go back and wait for the other adventure as well as the soldier and fight that thing together. On one hand, it will be a wiser and safer option to do so, but on the other hand, I can see that the deep wound of the king behemoth showing sign of healing and by the time the soldier and adventure are dispatched, the king behemoth will be fully healed and regain its true strength. . . . Safer option? . . . Reckless option? . . . It''s decided, I will fight the king behemoth first, I could always run away afterward, plus I have the advantage of surprise attack here as well as enough time to lay out a few traps. Let set the trap first, from the entrance inward 1. With my earth magic, I dug a large hole near the entrance of the cave and filled it with hydrochloric acid through my water magic. Since I don''t even have a litmus paper, I just go with my gut feeling telling me when to stop, plus I also add a little extra ingredient, that''s light magic to further damage the king behemoth 2. I will set up some ground trap, using my earth and fire magic, a mini explosion will occur when the behemoth steps on it, blasting out multiple spikes toward the behemoth. I just hope it will get into his wound and prevent the wound from healing normally 3. Ice floor as the first trap, just make it slippery hoping that I can deal extra attack if the king behemoth fall for this trap With the trap being set, let us hope for the best Chapter 19 - Ash vs King Behemoth With the trap being laid out, I will first launch a surprise attack to the behemoth, if possible slicing his neck in one go, but I sincerely doubt it will happen as behemoth in general are a cautious monster and a king behemoth, I''m pretty sure it awareness toward it surrounding is high so my surprise attack might end up failing. After the surprise attack, I''ll draw him out, toward the acid pit that is near the entrance hoping to dish out the maximum amount of damage there. With that said, I unsheathed my Scythe and imbued it in wind, light and thunder mana. As the king behemoth are now in my sight, I''ll activate my stealth mode magic as well, a spell under illusion magic. Slowly approaching the sleeping behemoth, this is it, as I''m about to land the surprise attack, his forefoot attack me! Looks like it manage to sense my presence even while sleeping, plus I''m using stealth mode magic, as expected of the S Rank monster, but not that this will hamper my plan. (You are still drowsy, so here you go!) [Ash] With one strike, the Scythe land right In front of the behemoth eye, making the behemoth roar in pain, but I''m not done yet! With the thunder mana, I''ll shoot all of my thunder magic right into it eye, before gouging the behemoth eye out. The Behemoth entered into an epileptic like state for a second but quickly recover afterward, so much so that it manage to block my second attack with it claw, and oh god, the claw is tough as hell! I can see that there are wound in it claw but I''m convinced it doesn''t even suffer minor damage from it. The King Behemoth begins to launch series of attack by using both of it forefoot, such strength, if I keep fighting inside the cave, it will end up in disaster so let just bait it outside With the acceleration magic, I lure the king behemoth while shooting light arrow magic, focusing on the wound to maximize the damage output, but it enormous strength and defense just shrugged it off like it was nothing. Not to mention it can keep up with my acceleration magic in such wounded state, this really is scary. (No doubt it pissed off right now, and it target is obviously me) [Ash] And there''s the first trap, with the momentum from the acceleration magic, I make a large leap forward, not even touching the icy layer and as for the behemoth, are you kidding me, it simply stomps the ground hard enough to shatter those ice floor! I do know that this trap will be useless to begin with but oh boy, it''s disappointing alright seeing the trap that you set not serving its purpose, I mean the king behemoth doesn''t even show sign of slowing down. The second trap however, (It''s working!) [Ash] The king behemoth steps on the ground trap, the explosion per said doesn''t cause that much damage but the spikes that hurl toward it at high velocity sure does. The spikes get stuck in between the foot as well as the wound, it even managed to damage the other eye as well. As we move toward the last trap, I noticed that there is many spikes laying around on the ground just behind the king behemoth (must be the spike that does not hit the target), and since those spike were part of my own magic, I control the spike as a group and attack the behemoth from behind, it works! But this just make the king behemoth become angrier And onto the last trap, just like the ice floor, i make a big leap thanks to the momentum, and so does the behemoth (This is bad!) [Ash] Did the behemoth sense the trap underneath, or was it just copying me, either way this is bad! "Earth palm!" [Ash] I make a massive palm using the cave ceiling just above the behemoth, putting massive amount of mana into it. The leaping behemoth do notice this attack, but there is nothing it can do now since it''s in midair BOOM The King Behemoth are pushed down toward the acidic pit, struggling to get out but I''m not that nice . Light arrow, light sword, light bomb, all kind of light magic spell were thrown at it, and to maximize the effectiveness of the acidic pit, I even use mini tornado magic, so that the acid will cover the whole body of king behemoth. The King Behemoth, having enough of this, gather around a beam of darkness magic, and in an instance "!" [Ash] The blue sky? And that''s the cave? Sigh... thank god I managed to use high grade light shield dome magic, even coating myself with earth metal magic to brace myself. Even that wasn''t enough since I actually sustain quite some damage, and before I can even get myself up, that giant black of death leap upward, ignoring the cave ceiling and stand right In front of me, with darkness mana surrounding it body "ROOAAARRRR!!!" [King Behemoth] Such deafening roar, and it once again uses it claws to attack me, I can''t dodge, not enough time. The direct hit from the enraged king behemoth sure make the right side of my body goes fully numb. Plus, I was tossed around 100 meters, it felt like getting hit by a truck (This is bad, have to retreat) [Ash] But my stamina and mana are at it low, even my knees are giving out. Is this it? No there have to be a way, come on, think! "Roar!!!" [King Behemoth] It is rushing towards me once again, just think, think, think, think, think! (Huh?) [Ash] A powerful beam of wind magic attack the king behemoth from behind, and "You gotta be kidding me!" [Ash] I mean, how come the two of us doesn''t even detect those four? There are now four behemoths just behind the king behemoth, this is an awful news! But, the wind behemoth and the two fire behemoth keep on attacking the king behemoth, while the water behemoth approach me before using a healing spell on me. Water magic do have a healing properties, not as strong as light, but still get the job done. The water behemoth seems docile, plus I have a feeling it is trying to tell me something "Are you telling me to join the fight as well" [Ash] "Roar!" [Water Behemoth] I just take that as a yes, still with the remaining mana, what can I do... well, just calm down and think... (That''s the only way) [Ash] As the four behemoth begin to attack the king behemoth one after another, I take this chance to imbued almost all of my remaining mana with light magic, hoping to take down the king behemoth in one strike (come on, come on, come on!) [Ash] I just need an opening! Please make it happen! The four behemoth, try as they might, can''t seem to turn the tide of battle around, they are all an A rank monster, strong without a doubt, but up against the S rank monster, even if the said monster were injured prove to be a difficult task. In fact, one of the fire behemoths have it jaw crush by the powerful impact of the king behemoth as it were trying to launch a fireball attack. Things look bad, I can''t depend on them to create an opening, in that case, I''ll create one myself With all my strength being put to my lower half, I make a huge leap up to the sky, and once the target in my sight, "EXPLOSION!" [Ash] A large explosion magic, explode just behind me, creating a high wave pressure that propel me toward the now startle king behemoth, thank god it works as intended. The water and wind behemoth sees the opportunity and ram the king behemoth with all their might, flipping it over! The king behemoth tries to regain it postures, but it was too late! "HAAAAA!!!!" [Ash] With the scythe piercing the muscle, bone, organ of the king behemoth in an instant, I can see the magic core of the king behemoth just beside it heart. Too bad, I have to destroy such valuable magic core, but right now, my life are more valuable, doesn''t want to get a romantic dinner with god of death once again, but I can send you to the god of death with this slice! As the light imbued scythe slice the magic core, the king behemoth make the last ditch effort, it uses dark mana from its magic core to propel me outward, but too weak, I''ll just have to create another explosion magic and BOOM The magic core destroy! Now time to get out from the thorax... Ughhh... I''ll appreciate a shower and thank you water behemoth, seriously thank you. Why do I feel like this water behemoth have more common sense than most people And once I''m out, the two fire behemoth spew out high grade fire magic, burning the corpse of the king behemoth, reducing it to ash. Too bad but understandable, even I am reluctant to sell the corpse of king behemoth, sure it will fetch a high price but if someone with bad intention get ahold of it, who knew what they will use it for. Necromancy? Drug? Endless possibility are there and I don''t want to be responsible for it After they are done, the wind and water behemoth keep on pointing their claw towards the cave, I see... they are asking me to come along. Well, they are docile, and I have the feeling the reason behind it are because of the claw that Behe spit out. Once again, I enter the cave, going back to the depth of the cave to find a portal, with some strange magic stone underneath it. The four behemoth simply pass through the portal... I have a feeling I shouldn''t do that, instead with the last bit of mana I have, I put the magic stone into my item box, instantly deactivate the portal. Thank god or else who knew what will come out next. And lastly "Sorry, just like the king behemoth, I''ll have to do it" [Ash] As I burn the head of the light behemoth, I offer my prayer to the light behemoth, promising to take good care of Behe. It''s a one sided promise, but should be good enough and now (I''m too tired...) [Ash] I have to use the scythe as a walking aid, dragging myself, putting so much effort just to go back to the cave entrance... fuuhhh.... this sure is tiring and I don''t even have any food inside my item box. Should make a note to myself for that, but thank god the adventure that were exploring the third floor came. For now, I''ll explain what happen as one of the adventure carries me on his back Chapter 20 - Imitating This might come out strange, coming from a guy like me, but god, the back of the adventure that carries me sure feel comfortable, I''m sleepy right now... NO! Get ahold of yourself, resist those sleeping temptation, you are being watch by other through that watcher thing! And you, nice Mr Adventure please pick up your pace or else, I will be the laughingstock of the entire country! (Dear Goddess Achalasia, just why do this watcher thing exist in the first place! Sincerely Ash) [Ash] Speaking of the mystery of watcher, there are still many things that I couldn''t comprehend in this world, well as mentioned before, the watcher that enables those outside the dungeon to watch event happening in a dungeon is one thing, but the dungeon itself? Just how in the goddess name did a blue sky exist inside a dungeon? And if I''m not mistaken, Claude had said about the devil invasion, just what are they? Are all of this connected... well, my drowsy head can''t think straight right now, so let just sleep shall we? . . . "No!" [Ash] "What happen?" [Mr Nice adventure] "Haha... nothing" [Ash] Gosh... that was embarrassing Still, with that shout, I can now see the center of the city, as well as the guild master Ram and Charlotte over there, wait a minute "You guys! What are you doing here?" [Ash] "We thought of waiting for you here, can''t we?" [Charlotte] "I see, sure you can" [Ash] "Are you alright?" [Rean] "Mostly, no need to worry much" [Ash] That''s sweet of them, can''t scold them for that, in fact I think this must be how a father felt like when their kid greets them back home "We make lunch for you as well!" [Farhah] "Thank you! I am starving right now" [Ash] "Well, before anything, just get yourself treated first! The water behemoth might have healed those wound of you but let the guild healer see your condition first" [Ram] "But I''m hungry..." [Ash] "Just take a sandwich there and go!" [Ram] "If you said so..." [Ash] Wait a minute, "You guys, have you guys eat anything?" [Ash] "..." [Kids] "I knew it!" [Ash] They must have waited so long for me, not even bothered to eat anything, "Don''t do it again alright!" [Ash] "Yes..." [Kids] "Ram, I will eat first and get the treatment later, doesn''t want to delay their lunch" [Ash] "How about all of you went ahead to the guild and get yourself treated there first, as for the kids lunch, I will buy some food from the stall right now" [Mr Nice adventure] "Really? Thank you so much, here are some money for their food" [Ash] "It''s alright, this time its on me, just think of it as our token of friendship" [Mr Nice adventure] "You really are nice guys, Kids, said thank you to this Mr Nice adventure and his party, be sure to be like them when you grow up" [Ash] "Thank you!" [Kids] "Don''t worry, and you''re welcome" [Mr Nice adventure] Well, they are nice people, as they make their way to buy food from nearby stall, a familiar face finally decided to show up "Move it!" [Rude Captain] And yup, that''s him alright, the same knight that picked me up the last time when I was summoned by King Estel summon, If I''m not mistaken his name is... what was his name again? Diana had told me before, but I couldn''t really remember it. You know what, let just called him Rude Captain "You there! Come to the castle right now" [Rude Captain] "Negative" [Ash] I just doesn''t want to meet those greedy eyes once again, plus couldn''t they send someone nice for once! "Why you! You can''t do that" [Rude Captain] "Well, I''m sure can" [Ash] "This is a royal order!" [Rude Captain] "Oh please, King Estel and Diana knows how much I hated those greedy eyes, plus there''s no way they will send you to pick me up" [Ash] They wouldn''t, I''m pretty sure of it, both of them knew my repulsive feeling toward those noble, and I had file a complained directly to Diana about this knight, so she wouldn''t send him once more "Kid, we are leaving" [Ash] "Hey wait!" [Rude Captain] "Don''t bully brother Ash!" [Mara] "Yeah!" [Singa] "Brother Ash still haven''t eaten anything, let him eat first!" [Farhah] "Out of my way!" [Rude Captain] "No!" [Charlotte] "Why!!!" [Rude Captain] As the rude Captain about to hit and push Charlotte away, my body reacted on its own, gripping the hand of that rude Captain "Just what do you think you are doing, get your filthy hand off me!" [Rude Captain] "..." [Ash] "OUCH!!!" [Rude Captain] "!" [Ash] "Stop it, I command you to release me!" [Rude Captain] "Ehhh... can''t a captain of a knight do something as simple as shrugging this worn outs young man off. I see, with your strength, the best you can do is just hitting a young child, how pitiable, in fact laughable. I wonder how you get this post, oh let me guess, handed down to you, like a baby getting hand-feed by his mother" [Ash] "Enough of this!" [Rude Captain] Wow, his boiling point sure is low, not that I''m one to speak but yeah, that sure is low. He is about to reach for his sword, but I simply grab it first and store his sword inside of my item box, petty move? Maybe but those kid are still around, they might get hurt "That is enough both of you!" [Diana] And here come the princess, nice timing "But Princess Diana! I can''t do that, he is dishonouring my family as well as the royal!" [Rude Captain] "Just leave it to me, you can go now" [Diana] "No, I can''t accept this!" [Rude Captain] And his feet landed directly to my stomach, and god that hurts alright. Well, this call for a fight! "Both of you, STOP!" [Ram] This time, it''s Ram turn to do so, and (Huh? He actually listened to Ram? What the?) [Ash] "Tch!" [Rude Captain] And he left "Don''t come back!" [Zerolith] "Yeah!" [Savel] "That''s my little brother for you!" [Ash] "Ash! You shouldn''t do that, god they are slowly imitating you now" [Diana] "Agree" [Ram] "Listen here, instead of imitating Ash "bad" behaviour, how about you imitate the that nice adventure there" [Diana] Oh, the nice adventure just come back with the food and plus, I do agree with Diana, not the "bad" part, but the one about imitating the nice adventure "Ehh..." [Kids] "Did I hear anything just now?" [Diana] "..." [Kids] "Good" [Diana] Yup, she just shut them with her scary smile... "Ash, just be careful next time, those kids are slowly imitating you, in a bad way" [Gizzere] "And just when did you arrive!" [Ash] "Sigh... let just get yourself treated first, then we will proceed with the meeting inside the guild" [Ram] "Sound good" [Diana] Chapter 21 - Achalasia Externa Since Ram offer me to be checked by the guild''s healer, I would gladly take the offer. As he said, the water behemoth might have healed me, but that was just a quick healing spell, so it''s better to be checked by the professional, but can I really use the adventure guild services even though I am not one? "Don''t worry, Ram do so as a way to express his gratitude towards you, with the threat being eliminated, that mean the adventure, especially the new adventure can explore the dungeon without any unnecessary risk. So, just get yourself treated without worrying much" [Gizzere] "I see" [Ash] Well, that''s sweet of him, but putting that aside, I''m surprised because Gizzere sudden mind reading doesn''t surprise me anymore (but in a way, this still consider a surprise isn''t? Well, no use thinking too much into it) "Rean, and you guys, how about eating your lunch with me and Syah''s party?" [Alice] Alice, who is working behind the counter approach those kids, good call, that way I can get my treatment and discuss some important issue with the other, plus (I see, so that Mr Nice adventure is Syah, better start remember his name, as for his party member, let just ask Rean later on) [Ash] "Go on, eat first. Alice must be lonely, since you guys haven''t come visiting her in the inn" [Ash] I said that to encourage the younger group, the older group (Rean, Elise, Kara and Mara) seems to catch our intention and quickly persuade the other, they make a small dissatisfied voice, but they agreed to it in the end "I''ll eat with you afterwards, don''t worry, see I''m still not hungry!" [Ash] Just have to give them one final push, as I said that, I hit my stomach area lightly to emphasize my word when suddenly ~Groooowllll~ "Goddammit! Not now! Shu shu growling sound" [Ash] "Godamit! Shu shu" [Charlotte] "Ash!" [Diana] "Sorry, and Charlotte that''s a bad word, so once again please don''t copy it" [Ash] "Ok damit!" [Charlotte] "Brother Ash! She still remembers those bad word!" [Elise] "CHARLOTTE!" [Ash] "Ouchhh! Sorry Sorry!" [Charlotte] "Sigh... slowly becoming you" [Diana] Well, after the pinch to the cheek, they eat together with Alice and Syah party, while I get myself treated, still, I remember the watcher will display your actions even after you are out of the dungeon for some time, so before having to striped to be examined, I look outside the window and thank goodness the watcher stop displaying me or else the whole country will see me naked. There are few fractures and organ damage but the healing spell from the water behemoth are still working, so the guild''s healer decided to just accelerate those process before discharging me with a smile. Her smile kinda reminds me of my mother, who is a doctor. It''s a nostalgic feeling... And since there are no other injuries left, I am guided by one of the staff members to enter the guild master room, where the other three are waiting for me "Sorry, I''m late" [Ash] "Everything fine?" [Diana] "Mostly, I''m pretty tough" [Ash] "That''s good to hear" [Diana] "Oh yeah, where is Qis?" [Ash] "Oh, someone interested with her" [Diana] "Diana, I might be a walking angry bomb myself, but that doesn''t mean I will be attracted to another walking angry bomb" [Ash] "You are no fun, still to answer your question, she''s having a fever and I forced her to rest" [Diana] "That just leave those 12 hiding people then... ohh they aren''t the same one as last time" [Ash] "I''m impressed, still take care of those kids, they are a number of people getting this endemic seasonal disease" [Diana] "I will, thanks" [Ash] (An endemic disease, that''s worrisome, wouldn''t want those cutie pie to get one) [Ash] With those light chat and the tea been served with some sweet, the four of us begin our discussion, with me bringing out the strange magic stone that I found inside the cave, explaining to them that those behemoth most likely use the portal created by this strange magic stone to go in and out from their den "A behemoth den, if I''m not mistaken, there''s a challenge dungeon in country of Az, it''s on the bottom floor of the dungeon, so it''s the most difficult part of the dungeon" [Ram] (I see, so the traditional dungeon feature on game back on earth are called challenge dungeon here) [Ash] "Still, if they really are connected, then what purpose do they have to connect the behemoth den to our country dungeon? I can guess a few reasons but I just can''t follow their train of thought" [Gizzere] "Well, that''s if we are considering the old movement of the church responsible for it" [Ram] "I checked some old documents regarding those group, there are not much information regarding them, but what I do know is that they are called as Achalasia Externa as they believe traveling beyond Achalasia is the only way to meet the goddess" [Diana] "I see, but with not much information, what can we do?" [Ash] "Well, both of us can ask the guild master of other countries, and Princess Diana can use her influence to gather information from noble and royal of other country for now" [Gizzere] "Basically I am the useless one right now" [Ash] "Don''t you have any traveller friends who might know about this kind off thing?" [Ram] "Nope" [Ash] "I see, for now how about you ask Mr Claude more about this group, and if we find anything useful or if we need an extra help, we will called you for that" [Diana] "Works fine for me" [Ash] Since I just need to ask Claude, there''s nothing much I can do, plus seeing those three doing their best when I had nothing to do is plain disheartening. Even though I just know them for only couple of days, I can confidently say that they are good people with good intentions, just make me want to support them. If only the three of them can become a direct mentor for those kids And since we have nothing better to do, I should just excuse myself for now, "Wait Ash, can you sell me the Zombie Spawning Block that you find the other day?" [Ram] ""A what!!"" [Diana, Gizzere] "First, just how did you know about it, and secondly, no, I wanted to use it to train those kids" [Ash] "I see, a pity but may I know how will you use it?" [Ram] "You know that my house was fortify by Fortress defense magic right?" [Ash] "Sorry come again?" [Ram] "You know that my house was fortify by Fortress defense magic right?" [Ash] ""..."" [Ram, Gizzere] "That is how father react when I tell him" [Diana] "Sigh... basically I will integrate the Zombie Spawning Block to the Fortress defense magic, that way whenever those kids wanted to practice their magic and weapon skill, they can freely adjust the difficulty level so that the zombie spawn will be something that they can handle, and to top it off, they don''t even need to spend their mana to adjust it since Housey will take care of those thing" [Ash] """...""" [Diana, Gizzere, Ram] "What?" [Ash] "You really are a genius magician, if only you agree to work with us" [Diana] "Agree, plus the guild would love to have someone like you" [Ram] "Still, can I see how you do it?" [Diana] "Of course not, haha" [Ash] "Oh, really....." [Diana] "Joking, joking... please don''t make that scary smile" [Ash] "Well, this seems interesting, can we go as well?" [Gizzere] "Sure" [Ash] and we finally closed our meeting, since I don''t have anything better to do, I just when ahead and excuse myself, so that I can finally eat something, plus those kid are probably sulking right now... or so I thought, but it seems like the adventure are gathering around them, teaching them something. Such a nice scene, if only they are treated like this before I came, seriously, they are smiling and laughing to a stranger, far different from when I first met them. Oh, looks like they notice me "Brother Ash..." [Rean] "What is it Rean?" [Ash] "Can I, become an adventure?" [Rean] "!" [Ash] Chapter 22 - Condition to become an adventure _________________________________________________ [Rean Point of View] Since we have finished our study session with Grandpa Claude for today, we decided to wait for Brother Ash in the center of the city, with lunch made by Grandpa Claude. As we walk toward the city center, most of the friendly neighborhood greets us, telling us to be careful, I have to agree since the public horse carriage do tend to go beyond the speed limit, that''s why as usual, I reminded them, especially Zerolith and Singa to be careful and don''t run on the street, and nothing happened which is good. As we watch the watcher that display Brother Ash action inside the dungeon, the innkeeper daughter, Alice come and greet us. We have a little chat before she asked us to come visit her parents for dinner, I should tell Brother Ash about it, and then "Isn''t that the King Behemoth!" [Ram] The adventure guild master said that out loud, as all of us including the adventure look at the watcher he point at, and no... it''s brother Ash, and he is all alone. Please come back Brother Ash, don''t do any unnecessary thing... but my prayer were left unanswered, as I can see Brother Ash setting up few traps, and there he goes, challenging the King Behemoth The guild master then asked the nearby adventure to go and help Brother Ash, even he himself are ready to go but they were all stopped by some important looking person, saying that if they go now rashly, the number of injured and casualties will unnecessary increase, so the best course of action is to request the soldier and knight support. That''s nonsense! Brother Ash in trouble, but our plead fall on deaf ear, the important looking person didn''t even bother hearing us out "Do your best Brother Ash!" [Zerolith] "Hmm!!" [Karon] "Please god, help brother Ash" [Elise] I did the same, praying hard for his safety. For a moment, thing look good as Brother Ash manage to trap the King Behemoth inside a pit before things took a sharp turn and now Brother Ash been hit by the king behemoth, please just run! "Huh?" [Mara] All of us have the same reaction as Mara, why are there four behemoths showing up all of a sudden? And they are helping Brother Ash! And after all of the fighting scene between all those behemoths, Brother Ash manage to strike the king behemoth magic core! "That kid really is good!" "If only he is an adventure then I can ask him to join our party" "Slaying an A rank monster all by his own, and now an S rank monster!" "Well, that King Behemoth was injured but damned!" The adventure and some of the merchants is praising him, even we can''t help but to feel proud as well. After a while " Look, there he is" [Adventure] Brother Ash, with the help of an adventure party made it out from the dungeon, and after talking to the guild master, Brother Ash will be treated first, but suddenly "Move it" [Rude Captain] Isn''t that the knight from last time? The one that hit and push Charlotte before, and Brother Ash, what are you doing, please don''t fight with him, you are still injured! Or so I thought, but Brother Ash as usual became angry when the knight about to push Charlotte away... I should support Brother Ash "That''s enough both of you!" [Princess Diana] It''s Princess Diana! Thank god! But, the knight seems reluctant to settle this nicely, even kicking Brother Ash, thing once again heated up! "Both of you, STOP!" [Ram] Guild master? And this time both of them really stop, thank goodness, or else who knew what will happen, Elise for once are on a verge of tear just by seeing Brother Ash getting kick by the knight when he is in terrible state And now, Brother Ash can finally get some treatment, ohh... looks like the other are quite reluctant. No good! Have to persuade them "Well, Sister Alice did miss us all, wouldn''t it be nice to eat with her" [Rean] "Rean''s right, or could it be none of you miss her?" [Elise] ""Both of us miss you Sister Alice"" [Kara, Mara] We manage to persuade them! As we are about to eat, the adventure party that help Brother Ash, come and eat with us as well, and soon after, most of the adventure joins as well. "You guys must be the orphan that Ash take care of, my name is Syah, the leader of this adventure party, this is my little sister, Mimi and those two are our childhood friend, Borg and Lin, they are married now with four children" [Syah] "Nice to meet you!" [Farhah] "How about you introduce yourself" [Alice] "Well we are..." [Rean] As we introduce ourselves, the surrounding adventure decide to join the conversation, it became lively, and "Sword! Mr, can you please teach me swordplay?" [Savel] "Well, I can show you some basic style right now" [Adventure] "And you little elf, you seem interested in my bow, you wouldn''t happen to use one?" [Elf adventure] "I am, can you please teach me? Brother Ash is genius magician but he can''t teach us about weapon" [Farhah] "Now that you mention it, that is one strange weapon he wielded, just what is it?" [Borg] "Brother Ash said it''s a weapon call as scythe, he found it inside a random malignant chest" [Singa] "I see, well everyone, how about you teach them some basic tips regarding their weapon?" [Alice] "Alright, you better take a note kids, for I will one day become a saga!" [Adventure] "Pfft, defeat a behemoth like that guy first then you can talk" [Adventure] "Can you even defeat a goblin?" [Adventure] "Shut it!" [Adventure] They are nice people, and they look strong, I can''t compare them to Brother Ash but what if I become and adventure, can I become as strong as Brother Ash? "Come boy, I will teach you how to use katana" [Samurai Jacks] "Yes!" [Rean] As those adventure keep on teaching us, Brother Ash, Princess Diana and the two Guild Masters have concluded their meeting and they are walking toward us, this seems like a perfect opportunity "Brother Ash..." [Rean] "What is it Rean?" [Ash] "Can I, become an adventure?" [Rean] "!" [Ash] Looks like Brother Ash are surprised by my question, and he seems to be thinking of something. I wonder what Brother Ash think of _________________________________________________ Hmm... this is bad, I never think this far. I thought they will slowly grow up and decided on their career later, but this is too fast, but if you think of it, this is normal, especially for someone Rean age, but the problem is he is dead serious about it, what should I do . . . (Rean are still weak, so I''m quite reluctant to give him the permission now but) [Ash] . . . (His eyes, yup, he is dead serious. Well, he might be weak now but that doesn''t mean he will stay weak forever, but I have to think of some test for him, a test to see whether he got what it takes to become an adventure... Got it!) [Ash] "You seem serious" [Diana] "Well, I am, since I don''t want Rean to become an adventure..." [Ash] "!" [Rean] "Why!" [Elise] "Any reason?" [Ram] "Hey come on now dude!" [Adventure] "Ash, Rean seems dead serious now, I don''t think it''s a good idea to stop him, not without giving any explanation" [Alice] "I was about to give an explanation when little Elise decided to shout" [Ash] "Sorry..." [Elise] "It''s alright, just don''t do it again" [Ash] "The reason is?" [Karon] "Well-first, Alice, can you explain to me the ranking of the adventure guild once again" [Ash] "Are you serious, well not that I mind" [Alice] Alice then explain to me the ranking of adventure SS - Saga, only one person can hold the title at one time S - legend A - Expert B - veteran C - Experience D - average E - learned F - novice G - learner H, I - newbies "I see, thanks, and can I ask few more questions?" [Ash] "I''ll be happy to answer" [Alice] "Well, can you tell me about the typical zombies subjugation request, like how many zombies in single group usually and the rank of the subjugation, and what rank can an adventure tackle the subjugation" [Ash] "Well, the typical one involved a group of 30-80 zombies, a typical zombies with no variant, usually it is an E rank request but some strong F ranked adventure can handle it solos, provided he or she is strong and prepared extensively for it" [Alice] "I see, then Rean if you want to become an adventure, you have to defeat a group of 50 typical zombies all by your own" [Ash] "But how can I find that group of zombies?" [Rean] "Well, you can find them tomorrow in the field behind our house" [Ash] "Ehh?" [Other] "Explain it properly will you" [Ram] "I love how all of them are equally confused" [Diana] "Hmmm, Ash, can you allowed some of the adventure to come as well? I just got a brilliant idea and it will be beneficial for the orphanage" [Gizzere] "Well, if you said so, Syah, can you and your party come tomorrow, and Alice, can you select a few more parties?" [Ash] "Leave it to me" [Alice] Well, I can guess what Gizzere is thinking right now, because I have the same idea as her(maybe) Chapter 23 - Rumia, Vincent&Maria _________________________________________________ At the treatment room inside the castle Qis can be seen lying down, having a fever and diarrhea, albeit that, she still gives her brightest smile when Diana enter the room, even though other forbid such action "Your highness... you shouldn''t" [Qis] "It''s alright, you know that I have been blessed by the Goddess Achalasia herself right" [Diana] "You, shouldn''t, speak of that..." [Qis] "It''s just the two of us right now so its fine" [Diana] Diana then tell Qis what happen past few days, since Qis is sick and can''t move around freely, Diana been the one telling her what happen outside "I see, he is..." [Qis] "My, my, someone interested in him" [Diana] "AM NOT!" [Qis] "haha" [Diana] Diana laugh, or at least try to laugh "Sorry Princess, because of me..." [Qis] "It''s alright, I will find another way, just hang in there!" [Diana] "Thank you" [Qis] Qis fall asleep, seeing her best friend as well as her guard falling asleep due to tiredness, Diana call it a day and went back to her room. There, she''s thinking about her current problems (The Highest Healer of the church is the old follower of the religious teaching, and as such he doesn''t even bothered hearing our request to heal Qis. Should I just declare my support to him for a while then take back those statements?) [Diana] . . . "No! Of course not! Plus if I do that, Saintess Rumia will be upset!" [Diana] . . . (and then there''s Ash action the other day, ripping apart the old follower arm, plus how dare those old follower complain it to us! They themselves try to kill those kids saying that any country rule doesn''t apply inside of a dungeon and when things turn bad for them!!! Urgghhhh!!!) [Diana] ~sigh...~ (I wonder how many lives will be lost to this endemic disease this year? Oh Goddess Achalasia, please help us) [Diana] _________________________________________________ And that''s it, "You really are a genius magician" [Claude] "Oh come on, anybody with a good earth magic control can make this" [Ash] "-.-. .- -. / .-- . / ... - .- .-. - / -. --- .-- ..--.." [Housey] "Yup, we should start now" [Ash] Inside of the newly made small training hall that I made by using earth magic, with some knowledge of the building back on earth, I used my earth magic and make a cement like materials before assembling them all through once again, with earth magic. Inside, I make a few changing room, separate it by gender, then a large training hall, with line being resembling that of martial arts floor. And now, to integrate the Zombie Spawning Block function to the training hall through Housey "Ready Housey?" [Ash] " -.-- . ..." [Housey] "Alright, let start" [Ash] With that, Claude put the Zombie Spawning Block at one end of training hall, with the idea that the zombie will spawn from one end of the hall and move toward the other end. When everything readies, I use the Fortress defense magic to Housey once more, this time giving mana of each element to Housey as to increase the variants of zombies spawn. In my mind, I wanted to make at least a normal zombie, a magic zombie of each type, healer zombie, tank zombie, runner zombie, giant zombie and more. I also give Housey a control mana so that Housey can adjust the difficulty as well as the variants of zombies spawn. And once done, Claude ask me whether he can be the first to test it out "Sure, do your best" [Ash] "--. --- --- -.. .-.. ..- -.-. -.-" [Housey] "Housey, just give me the usual zombies group first, then we increase it afterwards" [Claude] "--- -.-" [Housey] And with that, we spend the night testing out the spawning block, and the results are quite impressive Later that night, as I''m about to fall asleep, I can feel there''s change happening to my Scythe, might be a good idea to scan it _________________________________________________ Ash''s Scythe The first Scythe weapon on World of Achalasia, it''s a gift from God of Death to Ash, created with part of Ash parents soul after they pressure the god of death itself, it had become an intelligence weapon that will grow alongside its user. Can only be used by Ash or those that Ash had approved. Potential release 5% of Vincent and Maria soul _________________________________________________ "Huh?" [Ash] Mom and dad soul? 5% release, what is the meaning of this. No good, should try it now . . . . . . (NOTHING HAPPEN!) [Ash] I try everything, saying my mother''s name, chanting a spell then use their name, everything that I can think of bore no fruit... "Let just go to sleep" [Ash] I''m tired... Morning come, it''s the girls group turn to help around the kitchen alongside Claude while the boys group are tasked to clean the mansion with me. Claude, being a super butler can actually handle all of the task himself but it won''t be a good idea, if those cutie pie don''t learn their house responsibilities from now itself, then who knew what they will become in the future. Claude himself agree with this, saying that a good education always starts from home We cook some extra food today as the clothing Aunty as well as Alice and the innkeeper wife will come and visit us. The bell ring, they arrive just in time! "Zerolith, Savel, Singa! Don''t run in the hallway!" [Rean] Rean scold them as those three rush to open the door. Well, I should scold them later as well. As the three of them guide our guests to the dining room, the girls, Rean, Karon and I have already set the table, the food smell nice, as expected of Claude, though... (That burned up toast, it must be them) [Ash] Well, can''t disappoint the girls group, but it''s not nice for the guests to eat them. So let me sacrifice myself, before that, photo magic! Why? So that when they become older, I can show them how "good" they are at cooking "So you can use photo magic to take photos of food as well" [Kara] "Whatever that catches your eyes, just use photo magic to preserve the memory" [Ash] As I take the toast, their eyes begin to shine, hahaha... well what do expect from a burned toasted! But they have tried their best, so let praise them "Good, but there''s room for improvement" [Ash] "Yaaay!" [Charlotte] "I told you Brother Ash will like it!" [Mara] "Here I thought he wouldn''t" [Elise] "How about the other, you want some?" [Kara] "Please try some!" [Farhah] "Actually, those toast are really nice, so I''ll take it all!" [Ash] "Brother Ash, don''t do that, leave some for the guests!" [Elise] "Hahahaha, you guys sure are lively" [Clothing Aunty] "Well, it will be bad manner if I don''t try those interesting toast, so Ash, just give me one" [Alice] "Same here" [Innkeeper wife] "If you insist" [Ash] Well, they save me from choking, thats for sure After we finish our breakfast, Diana arrive, and this time Kara and I go and greet her. Kara straight away hug Diana, (Diana...?) [Ash] Somehow she look sad, something happen? I mean, she do smile when Kara hug her but it''s not her usual smile "Something happen?" [Ash] "It''s nothing, just work related stuff" [Diana] "..." [Ash] "It''s fine, really, unless you wanted to work with us, then I will share my problems with you" [Diana] "Well, I can''t do that, but..." [Ash] "But?" [Diana] "I can lend a hand as friend at least" [Ash] "That''s sweet, but you don''t have to, we all have our own share of problem" [Diana] "If you insist" [Ash] And right after that, she gives me the payment for the job that I accepted, and holy moly, "Diana?" [Ash] "What, you did realize that you have slayed an S rank monster, without any casualties to top it off, and let not forget if it wasn''t for you, the dungeon might be closed for a longer duration of time, so this much is appropriate" [Diana] "I see" [Ash] Well, in that case, I will gladly accept it Not long afterward, Syah party, Samurai Jacks and another adventure party come. The last to arrive is Guild Master Ram and Gizzere with their daughter and son who works as staff members at the adventure guild as well as merchant guild respectively. Claude then guide all of them towards the newly build training hall Chapter 24 - The new training hall "Brother Ash, since when did we have a training hall?" [Elise] "Since last night" [Ash] "Just how!" [Rean] "Can you tell me more about it Brother Ash! How do you build this training hall?" [Karon] While the other are bewildered by the fact that we have a new training hall, Karon on the other hand, seems excited, not because of the training hall itself, but more towards how the building were made "Short answer: Earth magic, long answer, I have come across some unique materials during my time as a traveller, those materials are used to make a pretty sturdy building, so I studied it for a while, and by applying this knowledge I make this building" [Ash] A total lie, but I can''t just answer them that I got interested in so many things as a child and so I searched the internet for the answer, there''s no way I can say that "Please teach me!" [Karon] "Sure, but after you become proficient in earth magic, and also after you have a large mana pool like I am" [Ash] "I''ll train hard!" [Karon] It rare for the quiet Karon to show much enthusiasm, so let support him with everything that I have Claude then begins a mini tour inside the training hall, yup just a brief and short tour, showing the changing room, the bathroom as well as the training place "To think that this hall itself have toilet!" [Adventure] "?" [Ash] (What''s he talking about? Even the inn that we stay the other day has one, so surely their house have one as well, or could it be that I am the ignorance one? I mean even back on earth, some part of the world still don''t have access to toilet) [Ash] Well, after the brief tour by Claude, it''s time for the main event, well, let just show them what this training hall is capable of! Let just go and demonstrate it to them "Housey, give me a hundred of normal zombies" [Ash] "..- -. -.. . .-. ... - --- --- -.." [Housey] As Housey begin to glow in light, the spawning block react to Housey mana, and in no time, a hundred zombies instantly pop out near the spawning block "That is!" [Ram] "So many zombies" [Samurai Jacks] And since it is just a normal zombie, there''s really nothing much to it, so "He massacred them all in an instant!" [Mimi] "Brother Ash are strong!" [Charlotte] "And next, how about give me 10 fire zombies, 10 water zombies, and 5 giant zombies" [Ash] "..- -. -.. . .-. ... - --- --- -.." [Housey] Ans once again, those zombies spawn from the Spawning Block before once again being massacre and turn into loot for me "..." [Everyone] (Now Claude!) [Ash] "As you can see, the training hall have been integrated as part of the fortress defense magic, meaning that Housey here can control the difficulty level of the training, as well as providing safe measure should those who train here find themselves in a pinch situation. Unfortunately as of now, Housey only managed to simulate a horde of B rank zombies subjugation request on his own, and if he wanted to simulate an A rank subjugation request, Ash needs to be there to help, but it will cause unnecessary stress to Housey so we wouldn''t want that to happen. And again, unfortunately, for now we only have the Zombie Spawning Block, but we planned on expanding it in the near future" [Claude] "..." [Everyone] (Nice follow up Claude!) [Ash] They really are speechless, so let us move on to the second phase of our short tour "Syah, how about you go next?" [Ash] "Wait, actually, can I be the one testing it?" [Samurai Jacks] "Sure Mr Samurai, it''s all yours, but first, Housey, can you collect the loot?" [Ash] ".-.. . .- ...- . / .. - / - --- / -- ." [Housey] And with that, all the loot are instantly translocated into one of the many loot corners of the hall, well, I will explain to them later, maybe Claude will be the one doing the explanation "Housey right? Can you give me 10 giant zombies, and is there any healer zombie? If there are please give me 10 of those as well" [Samurai Jacks] "..- -. -.. . .-. ... - --- --- -.." [Housey] And at the samurai request, 10 giants and healers zombies were spawn, the samurai took some time to clear them out, mainly because the healers zombie started to learn which zombies need to be prioritized for healing, so they corporate among themselves (and honestly I didn''t even know they are capable of such feat). Still, I can tell that the samurai is actually strong. "What rank is he?" [Ash] "Jacks? He''s a B rank adventure" [Alice] "I see" [Rean] And once he''s done, the loot were once again, translocated to the loot corner, and "What is this detail drawings?" [Samurai Jacks] Housey handed over the photos it took during Jacks training session "Let me explain, those are called photos, being made by using light magic, Housey will take those photos during the training session whenever it felt that the trainer make some mistake. That way, they can reflect on their training session even more" [Claude] "I see, such wonderful item" [Samurai Jacks] Well then, onto the last part of this tour "I thought of opening this training hall for everyone, I will of course charge some small fee as to cover the mainteinance cost as well as the cost of paper for the photo magic. After the payment, they can freely use the facilities available here for an hour, and here come the good parts" [Ash] "!?" [Everyone] (Oh, looks like I managed to attract their attention even more, good!) [Ash] "See those loots over there? They are all yours if you manage to defeat the zombie, however, we will take a very small percentage of the cash, around 5% of the total cash should they decide to sell it to any merchant, or directly to the merchant guild or adventure guild" [Ash] "Ho... looks like we have the same idea" [Gizzere] "What happen if we decided not to sell it, like can we use the potion drop by those zombies?" [Lin] "Feel free to do that" [Ash] "Ash, just a question, how do you plan on collecting the 5% cash? And what if someone decides not to pay those 5%" [Diana] "I believe that''s where this logo came into play, when Housey translocated the loot, Housey also put the orphanage logo into the loot, that way any merchant will know it''s a product from the orphanage. Since every transaction needed to be submitted to the merchant guild at the end of each month, the merchant guild will then notify either Claude or me, and we can then collect the 5% cash. Lastly, should they decide not to pay us those 5%, then I will simply ban them from using the training hall" [Ash] "Interesting, well there are few finer details to discuss, but I like the rough idea of it" [Gizzere] "Are you free now, we can discuss them straight away while Claude will handle the training session for the other adventure" [Ash] "Sure" [Gizzere] "Can I join the both of you, this seems interesting?" [Diana] "Why not?" [Ash] And with that, the three of discuss the usage of the training hall. At the end of the day, we decided to charge the loot based on how much the adventure made and accordingly applying the rate of either 1%, 3% or 5% since there might be a case where the adventure simply make too little out of the loot. Diana also ask whether the soldier and knight of Estel country can use this facility. Well, as long as they doesn''t cause any problems and respect those children of mine, I don''t see why not, though the Rude Captain and those who behave like him are total no. There are also some issues that we can think of that may arise in the future, but for now, Gizzere advice me to just wait and see "Still, I didn''t even know the orphanage had their own logo" [Diana] "Well, it just the pictures of all of us together, it''s actually a last minute idea" [Ash] The logo? Picture of those children with me, Claude, Behe and Housey. Who knows, maybe I will change it in the future Chapter 25 - Opening of the training hall Gizzere then makes me registered as part of the merchant in the merchant guild, for few reasons, first because of the fact that I''m charging those who visited the training hall, as well as taking small percentage of their loot sales, so that were considered enough to brand me as merchant. Second, to make my life (as well as the merchant guild life) easier when collecting the loot percentage, this way, each transaction can be handled and recorded properly. Lastly, merchant in this world use the merchant guild to store their money, basically treating the merchant guild similar to that of a bank, so if anything happens to me in the future, the orphanage will still have proper funding. As for the merchant name/company name, I''m to lazy to think so I just put it as Ash, even using the same logo. As for the marketing part, I just hope Ram, Alice as well as the adventure that comes to test the training hall will spread the word, hoping the power of mouth-to-mouth marketing will work since my primary target is the adventure. As for the maintenance cost, well there aren''t that much maintenance to be made, since Housey can just repair everything to near perfection, so even if no one came, it wouldn''t put too much of a burden on me, plus those kids can still use it for their training. Next day . . . "So many people!" [Ash] "Brother Ash, what should we do?" [Rean] "Well..." [Ash] Just why? While I am happy that the training hall receive much attention, it''s sincerely congested in here, so I make Rean and Elise tend the counter while I makes sure that the adventure make a straight line (and since they all know about my strength, let just said none of them make any unnecessary ruckus). Claude then guides them about the facilities in the training hall and told them about the rules and regulations of the training hall. "Break them and the behemoth slayer will break you!" [Claude] And with that, the hectic morning went on until dust, where the line gradually getting shorter until it''s 830pm, when both Ram and Gizzere visit us "Ash, we need to talk" [Ram] "I can guess what you want to say..." [Ash] Claude prepare us some tea and cake, while those kids have their dinner first "None of the adventures are taking any requests today!" [Ram] "Yup, as expected, I mean I can see sea of adventure from morning till just now" [Ash] "Well, they are profiting a lot just by grinding the loot from the zombies, and as such which idiot will take the risk to explore the dungeon when stack of gold are easily available here" [Gizzere] "Yeah, plus they also have to wait for long queue, so most of their time are wasted here instead of taking on a request" [Ash] "Well sweetie, you have any idea how to tackle this?" [Ram] "I do, Ash can you just open the training hall usage starting in the evening, those adventure won''t have nothing much to do during that time so it won''t affect the guild productivity, plus you should also decrease the time they can use the training hall so that it won''t be congested here afterward" [Gizzere] "Yeah, I''m thinking of cutting short the time, maybe to 20 minutes for each session, that way they can then go on doing whatever adventure are usually doing" [Ash] "Is that fine with you? Won''t your profit plummet?" [Ram] "It''s alright, I guess the reason why they all rush to come here today is simply because they wanted to see what all the buzz are about, so I''m sure as time passed by, they will stop bombarding us at once, instead coming at their own leisure. Plus, I noticed that most of them tired themselves out even before 20 minutes mark, so that''s why I decided to cut down the session to 20 minutes" [Ash] "I see, good call" [Gizzere] "Well, I will tell them about your new operating hour then, as well as the change in session" [Ram] "Please do" [Ash] And with that come the second day, since Ram already told them about the new operating hour, the morning rush that we experienced yesterday was no more, thank god! However, some of the adventure (or should I say most of them) didn''t hear about it, so I have to tell them to come back around 100pm. During the opening time, the number of adventure that come to use the training hall are lesser than what I would imagine, probably because of most of the adventure is busy out there, completing their request, that''s good then since it won''t be as congested as yesterday. They also don''t mind much about me cutting down the number of minute in each session (and here I am drenching in sweat thinking what should I do if they react negatively to it) And when night come, both Ram and Gizzere comes visit us once again, this time around the reception of the training hall are much better, but some of the merchants begin to file their complaints, like the number of potion sell reduced, or there are way too many adventure selling them scrap sword (which incidentally are one of the commonest drop item by zombies). Well, Gizzere said not to mind them much, the reduced number of potion sell might be temporary and the scrap sword can actually be used in other way, so even if the merchant doesn''t want to buy it, other will do so as they can just recycled the materials to make better one at much cheaper price "Well, I do hope things will be more stabilize afterward" [Ash] "Let just hope so" [Gizzere] and it does, for the next three day, nothing significant happen, those adventure just come as usual, pay as usual, train as usual and leave as usual, but I just realized a problem for which I decided to consult Ram and Gizzere about it "Employee? I thought you are running the training hall all by yourself right now" [Ram] "Well, for one it''s tiring, but the most important problem here is that both Claude and I don''t have enough hand, and even if we both can handle the work, I myself haven''t even go outside for almost a week" [Ash] "Well, here I am thinking that you will realize it sooner, guess you''re a greenhorn in this field" [Gizzere] "Greenhorn are too much of a praise here, in fact wouldn''t the first logical step is to hire a worker. Now I feel dumb" [Ash] "Well, just keep on learning then" [Gizzere] "Well, tomorrow is your day off, so how about come and visit the merchant guild, my wife can help you find some reliable worker" [Ram] "Yeah, I will" [Ash] I''m grateful that I had decided from the very beginning, weekend is our day off! Seeing the both of them off, I decided to go to sleep early for today Chapter 26 - Helping Alice part 1 It''s morning currently, and as for today, its time for the boys to cook today breakfast with Claude while the girls group are cleaning the mansion. Well, first have to make sure the bedroom are all tidy up. Claude and I have told them that the first thing that they should do after waking up in the morning is to tidy up their own bed, so far they have done exactly that and today is no exception. Good. Afterward, it''s time to sweep the floor and clean away any accumulated dust. Eventhough this mansion is smaller than usual, it''s still a mansion and thus, dust tend to gather. Well, with how responsible Elise and Kara were, we quickly done it. As for the other three, they sure are taking their sweet leisure time to clean. And there Charlotte goes, using her water magic to quickly dry off the window, then playing around with those water, making a bunny shape. Well, since it is dirty, I quickly dispel her control, for which she started to sulk. Sorry Charlotte, your health come first. Next up is the training hall, since it''s relatively smaller than the mansion, we quickly finish cleaning it. Plus, I always clean up the training hall each day after those adventure start using it, so there''s not much there to clean "Breakfast ready!" [Zerolith] "Lets go go go" [Mara] "Mara, Zerolith, Farhah and Charlotte, don''t run!" [Elise] And this time around its Elise turn to scold them. I guess Rean and Elise really are a good elder brother and sister for the other, well time to step up my game as big brother "Listen to Elise, or else I''ll increase the amount of homework for you guys" [Ash] "Ehh!!!" [Mara, Zerolith, Farhah, Charlotte] "You guys better stop running!" [Kara] Huh, even Kara panic a bit, plus she''s copying my speech style, should I be happy? As for today breakfast, it''s once again a burned toasted! Well, time for another photo magic, and once again time to sacrifice my stomach for the greater good "I bet our burned toast are better than yours!" [Zerolith] "True!" [Singa, Savel] "That''s not true!" [Mara] "Yeah" [Farhah] (Both of the group are equally bad, plus don''t compete whose burned toast are the best!) [Ash] I wanted to tell them, but let just keep them for myself, plus they are slowly learning and improving, so a little lie won''t hurt much, on fact will further motivate them "Brother Ash, what time will you go and meet the merchant guild?" [Rean] "Right after this" [Ash] "Can I use the training hall?" [Rean] "Sure, just make sure Grandpa Claude are there with you" [Ash] "Don''t worry, I''ll oversee his training" [Claude] "I wanted to join as well" [Karon] "Charlotte too, Charlotte too!" [Charlotte] "Well, its looks like all of you are fired up for today, so how about we have a little competition, I''ll be dividing you to two different group randomly, and let see who manage to clear out the training first" [Claude] "That sound fun" [Singa] After breakfast, they straight away go to the training hall. That''s no good, they should at least rest for a while, but Claude say it''s alright, he will make sure they rest first before training. Well, if he said so. With some light clothing, I went ahead towards the merchant guild direction. Along the way... "Did you hear what happen last night, the duke''s son did it again" "Poor girl, getting constantly harassed by him" "Still, we are only a commoner, what can we do" This seems ominous, all the passerby keep on talking about the duke''s son and the poor girl, I wonder what happen, let ask the kebab stall owner since he is nearby "You again huh... are those orphans alright?" [Kebab stall owner] (Ohh, is this what they called tsundere...) [Ash] "They are fine, plus they started to act like their age, which make me happy" [Ash] "I see, that''s good to hear" [Kebab stall owner] "By the way, I keep hearing about the duke''s son and some poor girl, so what happen?" [Ash] "Huh? You don''t know?" [Kebab stall owner] "Well, I am a traveller" [Ash] "I see, well to make it short there''s this stupid son of a duke who is interested in a girl staff from the adventure guild, constantly asking her hand for marriage. But, its clear as day as to what his true intentions was, so the girl, making the right choice refuse the proposal. Angered by her act, he keeps on harassing both the girl and her family, and last night, it seems the harassment is more intense than usual" [Kebab stall owner] "What happen?" [Ash] "Well, I don''t know much about what happen, not really a fan of gossiping around" [Kebab stall owner] "I see, well thank you for the info. Oh, and 3 pieces of kebab please" [Ash] "Sure, and come again this afternoon, I''ll give some for those orphans as well" [Kebab stall owner] "Sweet!" [Ash] Well, let make a mental reminder to come here tonight. Still, an adventure guild stuff, should I go and ask anyone in the guild right now? (No, bad idea, I mean I just started knowing them, so it would be bad if I enter and straight away asking such a sensitive topic. Plus... why do I suddenly care so much about this topic, and this feeling... I should ask the innkeeper and his wife, Alice might have told them something) [Ash] With the next destination decided, I picked up the pace and went straight ahead to the inn, somehow, I get the feeling that all the neighbours around here are gossiping about the duke''s son and the poor girl, and this might be me, but these people, they are also moving towards the inn. This ominous feeling, this is bad, somehow I don''t like this feeling, I started running myself. . . . My intuition was right! People gather around here, well I don''t know what happen, for now let just enter the inn "Excuse me, coming through!" [Ash] And once I managed to get through "What, what happened here!?" [Ash] The figure of the innkeeper wife crying nonstop while holding his injured husband, the innkeeper still conscious, that''s good "Save... please help and save Alice" [Innkeeper] Chapter 27 - Helping Alice part 2 _________________________________________________ [Alice point of view] There he is again, constantly harassing me even after I refused his proposal politely. It''s obvious what he''s after, that eye, I see nothing but lust, my whole body shiver just thinking about what will happen I do accept his proposal. "Come now Alice, you are smart and beautiful lady, you don''t belong to this shit hole here. The fact that you still live here just broke my heart to million of pieces" [Duke''s son] "Thank you for your concern, but I''m perfectly fine by living in this "shit hole" here, now if you excuse me, I have works to do" [Alice] "Why you, know your place, you''re only a commoner here, shouldn''t you abide to us!" [Duke''s son] (There he goes again, with his two faces. The other adventure as usual are concerned and wanted to plunge him somewhere else, but they couldn''t because of his status. Well, just stay silent and he will go away) [Alice] ROAR!!! "Hey, what was that just now?" "Isn''t that a Behemoth? Why does a Behemoth suddenly appearing inside the city wall?" "Could it be, the divine blessings of Goddess Achalasia is..." "No way!" "Is this because of Princess Diana supporting the saint and saintess" "No, there''s a random malignant wormhole appearing" "We must defeat the Behemoth quickly" And with that, the adventure started to respond, as for Duke''s son, he fled back to safety. Oh, how I wish the behemoth trample him... (Still, a behemoth appearing inside a city...) [Alice] "Wow, did you see that?" "That kid, who is he?" As the adventure make a ruckus while watching the watcher, my eyes become attracted to the same watcher that they watched as well. Just what is that strange weapon? And he, he managed to solo a behemoth! That''s insane "Alice, you have any idea who is he?" [Ram] "No, no I don''t" [Alice] His strength, it must be that of an S rank adventure, but us in the guild will memorize the face of an A rank adventure and above, but he is definitely not one of them Now, he is being escorted to the castle, and looks like the watcher still display his action after defeating the behemoth, so just like the others, I join in watching "You fool! Know your manner" [Duke''s son] So, he is there... quite ironic as he himself doesn''t have any sort of manner "Oh please, I''m not a monkey to be reminded of some simple manner thing like don''t shout in this hall. I just don''t feel like greetings the other" [Ash] "!" [Other] "Haha, that kid got some gut!" "Truly" "That Duke''s son can go to hell" "Agree" [Samurai Jacks] Even Jacks agree, that just show how much the adventure hate the duke''s son. Only the Eldest''s son of the Duke''s household are reliable, the rest however... but sadly the duke''s eldest son are on a trip to other country, thus that guy started harassing me once more even after his eldest brother punished him... such coward "So he is a traveller" "Hey, his speech, he will be executed if he keeps on saying with that tone" [Borg] . . . "Eh?!" [Syah] "He refused..." [Mimi] "He does..." [Lin] . . . "Did he just bring out the behemoth corpse In front of the royal and noble" "He sure does..." [Alice] What a sight to behold, to think that a traveller like him can defy the noble and royal, and here I am, stuck because of my own weaknesses. "From here on out, I will protect you guys, until the day you become an adult, and as such please call me Brother Ash" [Ash] "Yes, Brother Ash!" [Charlotte] I recognize those ten, they are the orphans! The eldest boy, he keeps on peeking at the adventure guild every so often, and the fox girls, I can see that she had to constantly begging others for food, even searching the dumpster to feed the other. Is he really going to take care of them? As they begin to search for an inn, the watcher that displays those kids disappear. Sigh... I should go back home. My shift already finished long back. . . . "Ohh, Alice, you won''t believe who just checked in!" [Alice''s mom] "Who?" [Alice] "It''s the young man that defeat the behemoth just now, he really did come with those ten orphans" "What!" [Alice] "Quiet, they are sleeping" [Alice''s dad] "Sorry" [Alice] I see, so he decided to stay here for now, sigh... should tell the guild master Ram for now. "Just wait until tomorrow" [Alice''s mom] "Yes" [Alice] Should follow mom advice, plus, who knew what will happen if that idiot duke''s son suddenly decide to show up. . . . "Ash wasn''t it?" [Alice] "Oh, you must be the Innkeeper''s daughter, Alice, nice to meet you" [Ash] "Pleasure is mine, thank you for staying at our inn" [Alice] "Well, those kids are starting to have panda eyes last night, and your parents decided to call me when I was searching for an inn, so that''s why I chose this inn" [Ash] "I see. Ash, can I ask you a question?" [Alice] "Sure" [Ash] "Would you like to be an adventure, with your strength, you can start straight away as an A rank adventure" [Alice] "?" [Ash] (Is he confused, no he is thinking about it. I should explain to him about the benefits of high ranking adventure) [Alice] . . . "Well, I''m sorry but I have to refuse" [Ash] "!" [Alice] "You look surprise, well I''ll just explain why, basically the same reason why I decided not to work under King Estel, freedom. Plus, I have ten siblings to take care right now, so I can''t just leave them alone when traveling to another country" [Ash] "Understood, it''s a pity but you are more than welcome to join us if you have a change in mind" [Alice] "I''ll consider it" [Ash] . . . While helping those orphan to decorate what Ash called as an album, mom suddenly tell me something unbelievable "What, you told about that duke''s son to Princess Diana! Wait, Princess Diana came just now? To our inn?" [Alice] "I did, and she said she will investigate this matter" [Alice''s mom] "That''s, unbelievable..." [Alice] But I''m glad. Ever since that day, there isn''t a single instances where Duke''s son came and start harassing me. . . . The day of finding the S ranked monster that manage to kill a light behemoth, we gather In front of the adventure guild. Ash join us as well when Guild Master Ram told him to do so. As for grouping, Syah''s party will do. They are a C rank party with good attitude, so I believe Ash wouldn''t mind cooperating with them. 30 minutes after Ash enter the dungeon, I can see Rean and the other, looks like they bring him some food. "How lucky he is to have such thoughtful siblings" [Ram] "No, we are the lucky one" [Rean] "Agree" [Elise] They are smiling brightly. Usually, all I can see in their face is sadness and starvation, but right now, they really do act like their age. Cheerful and playful. Charlotte and Farhah seem like they wanted to talk and play with me, and since the guild master doesn''t mind it, I decided to join them. Things are calm, the watcher doesn''t display any sort of abnormalities. So far, none of the adventure have met the monster. Those orphans, they are now bored after waiting for so long, haha, how cute. Since there''s still nothing peculiar happening, I should teach them the alphabet and number, Ash did teach them but it doesn''t hurt just to revise the basic. As I bring out a piece of paper, their eyes started to shine, brimming with enthusiasm when suddenly "Tchh, you''re with those filthy kid?" [Duke''s son] "Filthy?" [Charlotte] "What do you want?" [Alice] "You should just stop coming here, don''t you see that Alice isn''t interested in you" [Ram] "Silent! A fallen noble shouldn''t speak like that to me" [Duke''s son] "Tch!" [Ram] (This is bad, Guild Master Ram might be an ex noble but even he himself was just a Marquis before. Plus, how dare he belittle our guild master!) [Alice] "Leave Sister Alice alone!" [Mara] "Yeah!" [Zerolith] "Silence!" [Duke''s son] As he is about to push Zerolith away "Let just talk somewhere else" [Alice] I can''t let them be involved "Ohh, you care much more about them than me?" [Duke''s son] ~Gulp...~ such malice...[Alice] "Hey, isn''t tha..." [Adventure] "Isn''t that the king behemoth!" [Ram] That line catches all of our attention, Guild Master Ram decided to send some support "Are you crazy! You will just send them to their grave! Wait here while I called the soldier!" [Duke''s son] A total lie, it''s obvious from his face. Could he be one of the reasons why the ministry of defence decided not to send any soldier? Still, he does bring a logical argument here, and as such, Guild Master Ram decided to send someone instead to the castle instead of waiting. He himself will get ready to charge in if things look bad, but thank goodness, Ash manage to defeat the king behemoth. While I was looking around, smiling while seeing the reaction of the adventure surrounding us, I caught the glimpse of Duke''s son, unhappy. . . . [Last night] "You sure are closed to that filthy traveler" [Duke''s son] "And what if she does" [Alice''s dad] (Dad!) [Alice] "Ohh, did I talked to you?" [Duke''s son] "Just go, stop bothering Alice!" [Alice''s mom] (Mom!) [Alice] "Hey, Alice, you shoul..." [Duke''s son] "JUST STAY OUT OF MY SIGHT!" [Alice] "Tch!" [Duke''s son] . . . "I''m sorry, I''m sorry mom, I''m sorry dad, if only I listen to you guys, not studying with other noble, not befriending Linda, if only..." [Alice] "What are you saying Alice! You are our pride, plus we wouldn''t blame you for becoming friend with her" [Alice''s mom] "Your mom''s right. Just wipe that tear and go to sleep for now" [Alice''s dad] "Dear, you should wipe the tear and snort in your face before saying that" [Alice''s mom] "No... this is sweat!" [Alice''s dad] "Haha..." [Alice] Sorry mom, sorry dad, and thank you. And Linda, I''m sorry for uttering those words just now . . . [This morning] As I am about to leave the inn, I can see the duke''s son usual carriage accompanied by group of soldiers. This is bad, just what is he planning. An important looking person, most likely a judge is with him right now, and he seems like those lazy adventure, faking an injury "Alice, by the law, you''re under arrest for assaulting a noble. Knight, arrest her!" [Judge] "Wha... What!" [Alice] "You can''t do that!" [Alice dad] "Silence!" [Knight] "Dad" "Dear" [Alice, Alice mom] "Just keep quiet, or we can settle this inside the dungeon if you would" [Duke''s son] (Tch! Coward! He is obviously planning to do something inside the dungeon and get away with it afterwards) [Alice] "Oh knight, the dad are still resisting, you know what to do" [Duke''s son] "Understood" [Knight] "No, please stop it!" [Alice] "Oh, you''re begging me. How sweet of you, but you do know what I want, we can settle this the nice way, you should just signed this inside the dungeon" [Duke''s son] (That''s the marriage contract... I see, while a country rule doesn''t apply inside the dungeon, there are some grays area. It seems like he wanted me to sign the contract by force inside the dungeon, and once outside, he will use this judge to make it valid) [Alice] "Please, stop hitting my husband, please!" [Alice''s mom] "Understood! Let just go!" [Alice] ""Alice, No!!"" [Alice''s parent] "Good decision, my lovely wife" [Duke''s son] (Sorry mom, sorry dad. Oh Goddess Achalasia, please help me) [Alice] . . . _________________________________________________ "That''s what happens just now" [Innkeeper wife] What the, I did hear that right. To think that someone have been stalking Alice, and now Alice will be signing a marriage contract inside the dungeon? Just what in the goddess name is happening! No, Why is this happening! "Tch, Understood, I''ll do something, so old man..." [Ash] I used my healing magic once more to make sure the innkeeper wound won''t open "Just leave it to me" [Ash] Chapter 28 - Helping Alice part 3 According to the bystander, Alice went to the dungeon at the city center, being dragged against her will, she took the carriage together with that guy, crying while hoping for someone to save her. (I don''t know how much time have passed since she was taken away, so should move ASAP) [Ash] Without bothering about the amount of mana spend, I use my acceleration magic to the max, and as to avoid any unwanted accident to both the bystander and myself, I hop up the roof and begin jumping from rooftop to rooftop. While flying magic do exist in this world, my proficiency toward space or wind magic aren''t that good, so I''m afraid of wasting more time if I activate the flying magic. (Should train my wind or space magic later on. If things like this happen again, I can just rush and save more time) [Ash] While closings in to the city center, I stumbled upon two familiar figures, and they also seem to be rushing towards the city center, better approach them first "Mimi, Lin. By any chance do you.." [Ash] "Yes, we have informed Princess Diana, and she is currently rushing towards the dungeon with Jacks" [Mimi] "Don''t bother about us, just go straight to the dungeon!" [Lin] "Understood, thanks" [Ash] Diana and Jacks, they are both level-headed people, at least better than I am. And, if Diana can sort it out nicely and legally, then I would let her do just that, but I doubt that will happen. (And here I am teaching them to use force as last resort) [Ash] Well, no time to bother the small details. Let just hope they can understand the reasoning behind it And here I am, at the city center. As expected, there''s a commotion happening, some of the adventure and soldiers are injured "Hoii kid, if you''re interested in what happen, I''ll tell you quick but just rush towards the princess and the samurai towards the rock and sea dungeon afterward" "Let me guess, you adventure tries to stop that idiot noble, fight with the knight and.." [Ash] "Yeah, now go!" I look at the watcher for a moment, I can see Alice and the knight on one watcher as well as Diana and Jacks on another watcher. Just like what the adventure had told, they are at the middle entrance of the dungeon, the rock and sea dungeon. (Let just catch up to both of them first) [Ash] _________________________________________________ [Inside the rock and sea dungeon] The rock and sea dungeon, a fairly straightforward dungeon. The dungeon comprise of a straight path in the centre made out of sea rocks surrounded by the sea. To get from one level to another, one just have to follow the straight path. It''s only a short distance walking for a dungeon floor, around a kilometer to get from one end to the other end of a floor. As long as they are use the straight path, they should be safe from any sort of hazard made by the dungeon. While the dungeon shy in its length, it''s width and depth however, shouldn''t be underestimated. There are different numbers of path, branching from the centre to the periphery, and if one felt like using this path, then get ready to be attack by monster or stumble upon trap. And should they managed to overcome those things, they get rewarded with random chest or treasure at the end of the path, not to mention the loot dropped by the monster. ~Punch~ On the third floor of the rock and sea dungeon "Goddammit Alice! Why, just why do you have to do such idiotic things!" [Duke''s son] Alice, currently lying on the ground, even after shielding her stomach area with earth magic, the punch from Duke''s son still hurt her . . . As soon as the Duke''s carriage arrived at the city center, Alice instantly jumped out and shout for help. The adventure, act by their instinct, rushed to rescue their favourite guild staff. They all knew the bad relationship between Duke''s son and Alice, and seeing Alice how Alice shouted for help, all of them instantly figured out what had happened. This causes havoc in the city center as the adventure who tried to rescue Alice confronted with the soldier and knight performing their duty. The adventure manages to stall some time, in fact enough time for them to inform the castle about the incident happening. This prompted Diana to rushed towards the scene and with Jacks by her side, they pursuit Duke''s son. The Duke''s son, in response, when further into the dungeon, ordering his underling to stop Diana and Jacks from pursuing them. But, it''s an easy win for Jacks who is dead serious about rescuing Alice vs the knight who were afraid of hurting the princess, even when they are inside the dungeon. Jacks special katana imbued with his own wind mana just need a swing or two to defeat the hesitate knight. Seeing his power, the knight become agitated and start fighting back, worthy of their title and managed to buy their lord, the time needed "Still, those knight of yours did a wonderful job, now you just have to force her to sign this contract, and then we are done" [Judge] "Very well, Alice, if you would?" [Duke''s son] The Duke''s son, take out his pen, and give it to groaning Alice. Alice, in desperation, try her best to push him away, only to once again, getting beaten up. Her earth magic shield slowly fading away with each stomp from Duke''s son. When her mana ran out, Duke''s son stop his assault, just grab Alice''s hand and try to force her to sign the contract "No!" [Alice] "Ohh... please struggle as much as you like, only make it sweeter for me once you become my wife" [Duke''s son] "Why you!" [Alice] In anger, Alice grab the pen, stab the Duke''s son left ear. This causes her to be slap by Duke''s son, the Duke''s son choke Alice due to his anger "Oh dear, strug..." ~Spit~ Alice action causes her to be thrown. The raging Duke''s son drew out his sable "Now then, this should be a good lesson for a filthy commoner. Since you are going to be my wife, I let you choose, which leg do you love more, right or left?" [Duke''s son] "Go to hell!" [Alice] "Both it is then" [Duke''s son] An earth wall suddenly emerge, protecting Alice from the incoming sable "Ohh, I''m impressed, you still have some fight left in you" [Duke''s son] (That wasn''t me...) [Alice] ""What do you think you are doing to Alice!!"" [Ash, Samurai Jacks] _________________________________________________ [Few minutes ago, on the second floor of rock and sea dungeon] "That''s!" [Ash] Jacks can be seen, struggling to get past a group of knight. He is supported by Diana, who is constantly healing and invigorating his stamina as well as shielding him from any incoming attack by her light magic. "Diana, Jacks, get away from them!" [Ash] ""!!"" [Diana, Samurai Jacks] Upon hearing this, both of them take a few steps backward. Perfect! Now, they won''t get swept away by the sea current. Since this dungeon is surrounded by sea, I should just use water magic as much as possible, and there goes the soldier and Knight, getting swept away by the raging sea under my control "That was quick" [Samurai Jacks] "Just leave the incoming soldiers and Knights to me, I''ll just swept them away" [Ash] "Understood, now let us hurry and save the kidnapped maiden" [Diana] ""Yes"" [Ash, Samurai Jacks] We started to run once more, but Diana are quite slow. Don''t get me wrong, she is trying to keet up with a B rank adventure as well someone with the goddess blessings but at this rate, who knew what will happen. "Diana, Jacks, I''ll use my acceleration magic and apply it to both of you as well, so get ready" [Ash] And with that, we transverse the dungeon with ease, and if those knight try to stop us, just swept them away with sea current magic. Midway at the third floor, we can see Alice, lying on the ground, about to be stab by a sable "Oh no you don''t! Earth wall!" [Ash] "Nicely done Ash" [Diana] in anger, Both Jacks and I shout ""What do you think you are doing to Alice!!"" [Ash, Samurai Jacks] Chapter 29 - Helping Alice part 4 "Princess Diana! Jacks! Ash!" [Alice] "Tch, a nuisance have come" [Duke''s son] "Get away from her!" [Samurai Jacks] "Guards, get them!" [Judge] "Ye..." [Knights] And there goes the remaining knights, getting a free trip to the ocean depth with my raging sea current magic. Let just hope they don''t drown. With the opening I have created, Jacks instantly rush towards Alice. That idiot noble try to stop him, only to get his sable slice by Jacks wind katana before getting thrown to the sea just beside him by Jacks. "Jacks, Jacks!" [Alice] "Thank goodness you are safe!" [Samurai Jacks] "Jacks, Jacks!" [Alice] "Alice..." [Samurai Jacks] "Diana, is it just me or are those two really, really really close" [Ash] Yeah, couldn''t emphasize the really part enough "They sure are" [Diana] So it wasn''t just my imagination then. "I should let Jacks become her knight in shining armor just now" [Ash] "Well, that will be a nice story to tell their children in the future" [Diana] Oh, the idiot son try to get back up, and that old man looking like a judge try to help him, well-then, how about I give both of you free lift "Whaat?!" [Duke''s son] "This water magic?" [Judge] Getting inspired by Charlotte''s water ball magic, I try to do the same, entrapping both of them in a giant sphere made out of sea water from the dungeon, only leaving the head free for them to breath while keeping the rest of the body submerged. As an extra protection so that they wouldn''t do anything stupid, I freeze the water surrounding their bodies so that they wouldn''t move. Seeing this, Diana takes a step and move towards both of them, and naturally I follow suit "Now then, where should I start" [Diana] Her royal aura radiates once more. The two of them try to think of an answer "Well, how about we begin by asking the judge there, why do you agree to do such a thing" [Diana] "That''s..." [Judge] So he couldn''t think of any answer, should threaten him a bit "Answer her quickly or else you will be sleeping inside a Megalodon stomach!" [Ash] And there he goes, getting dragged down quickly towards the ocean depth by my magic before quickly emerge back after a short 200-meter dive. He is now gasping for air, looking at his pathetic state, Diana then proceeds to ask the idiot son some questions "Now, if I recall, your brother Ceanu Reaves had told you not to lay your hand towards Alice, and here you are, trying to stab her, do you have any good excuse for that?" [Diana] (Wait, his brother name, mehh... I must be overthinking, I mean it''s just a coincidence, yup, a coincidence for his brother name resembling a certain famous artist) [Ash] "That''s because she wouldn''t accept my proposal, she should be grateful and yet!" [Duke''s son] "Such petty reason, and here I am, looking up to your older brother, but look at his younger brother now..." [Diana] "Why does it always have to be him! Just why!" [Duke''s son] "Maybe because Sir Ceanu Reaves isn''t someone like you, a sissy that only knows how to lay his hand towards children and women" [Samurai Jacks] "Jacks, can I just said that is probably one of the sickest burn I have ever heard in my life" [Ash] Yup, Jacks sure is angry there, well, who wouldn''t when. His (girlfriend? Maybe...) are constantly getting harassed by this sissy idiot and just now, about to get stabbed... Still, there''s something that I just don''t understand "Diana, I just don''t understand, why can''t a country rules being implement inside a dungeon, It just doesn''t make any sense to me" [Ash] "Sincerely speaking, even I don''t understand the reasoning behind it. Sure, I can understand the dungeon, being part of a wormhole are being governed by the Goddess Achalasia own will and as such any sort of interference will lead to us contaminating her good will. Still, looking at the current situation, I can''t help but to wonder is it really fine to let these kinds of things to keep on happening. And those higher up at the church, especially the old follower keep on insisting that we shouldn''t implement any sort of rules!" [Diana] (That sure is honest, well-even I don''t understand that, and the strange part is, the knowledge given to me by Goddess Achalasia doesn''t forbid any sort of interference inside a dungeon, so could it be that the old follower or more specifically the Achalasia Externa group try to keep it that way, so that they can carry out their plans without any interference?) [Ash] As our conversation about the strange rule come to an end, three figures can be seen, coming from the 4th floor entrance walking toward us. An old male dwarf and male elf, both looking around their forties and a female scholar around her twenty, no nearly thirty. They seem to be traveling from another country, and if I''m not mistaken, this dungeon connect Estel to Malsia, could the three of them be from there? "My my, what do we have here?" [Scholar lady] "I''m sorry, did we interrupt something important?" [Mid life elf] "And that lady over there, is she injured?" [Mid life dwarf] "Crap! I forgot to heal Alice!" [Ash] "I see, allow me to heal her then" [Mid life elf] "Thank, thank you" [Alice] "Please do so" [Samurai Jacks] Just one question, are the three of you really going to ignore the two giant sea sphere that entrapping two live persons? Well, the dwarf and the elf seems pretty strong, not as strong as Jacks but I wouldn''t want to mess around with them. While the elf used some medication to treat Alice, Diana explain to the scholar lady about what happened, and after getting her treatment, we decided to just went back outside the dungeon together with the three of them. As for the soldiers and Knights... "You have three choice, one, surrender yourself peacefully, two, if you still try to resist, Ash here will beat you up and entrapped you just like the two of them, or lastly, you can try to run away but I warned you, I will ask Ash to pursuit those who try to run!" [Diana] Diana, please don''t use my name to threaten them. And surprisingly it works wonder. What am I, a gangster? With that, we went back to the dungeon entrance. The three of them seems to be filling up something, kinda like how we have to fill up the form when traveling to other foreign country. As for Alice, her parent are waiting for her together with Ram and Gizzere. Oh crap! I forgot about my meeting with Gizzere "Don''t worry, I am not angry, in fact, I will be angrier should you decide to ignore her" [Gizzere] "Well, I will meet you later, for now I will escort Diana back to her castle" [Ash] "Please do so" [Gizzere] As we are about to leave, Alice and her parents come to thank us "Thank you so much all of you for saving our daughter!" [Innkeeper''s wife] "Don''t worry, in fact, you should thank Diana and Jack more" [Ash] "Thank you Princess, we are really grateful for what you have done" [Innkeeper] "It''s fine, plus I do remember Alice befriending Linda which happen to be one of my close friends, so it''s just one friend helping each other" [Diana] "Still, thank you so much Princess Diana and Ash, who knew what will happen if he is..." [Alice] "Don''t worry, it''s fine, why don''t you go and hug your boyfriend Jacks there" [Ash] "He isn''t!" [Alice] "Say what!!!" [Innkeeper] ""Ehh...?"" [Ash, Diana] Wait a minute, wait what? I mean, even Diana said that the two of them are close, so why did Alice have to deny it? And the innkeeper, he looks like he wouldn''t let me go anywhere without any sort of explanation, and Jacks... Jacks! Don''t be disheartened! I will ship your relationship with Alice so hang in there. And Alice''s mom, please help us, don''t just stand there giggling "Umm, we should take our leave" [Diana] "Yeah, if you excuse us" [Ash] . . . Nice save Diana... Chapter 30 - Meeting with the noble and royal once again With the commotion happening right now, you will think that the castle will at least send someone to back us up, at least to escort Diana back. But no, there isn''t even a single soul there from the castle to help her sort out this messed. No, King Estel must have sent somebody, but the other might have done something to prevent any help from reaching Diana. Sigh... it''s obvious, with the gossip that I heard from the adventure the other day and how kind Diana is to the commoner like us, she must have little to almost no power in the castle, and yet here she is, still thriving. I must say, I''m impressed, which lead me to another question "Diana, suppose I do take your offer and works under you, will your condition in the castle change?" [Ash] "Suppose huh... maybe, who knew" [Diana] "Sigh... and here I am hoping for an answer" [Ash] Well, I am still a traveller, so she does made the right choice to remain silence. Well, time to take the carriage, and as for the other that we have caught, I use my earth magic to make a mobile prison carriage, resembling that of a cage you find in a circus that store and transport any wild animal they have. I purposely made it like that, why? Because I felt like it, in worse case scenario, should the Duke''s son escape from any sort of punishment, at least he will be humiliated by this experience, a petty move but not that I care. The Duke''s son and the judge refuse to be carried in such manner, that is to be expected, so... "Look, I don''t have the time nor the patient to entertain your request, so either you get your ass there by yourself or I will break every joint in your body before throwing you inside it" [Ash] "You can''t do that, that is a sin!" [Duke''s son] "My, so stabbing a woman isn''t a sin then?" [Diana] Diana took the word straight out of my mouth, and convey it in much more menacing manner. Well, at least it gets the job done. Before the horse pulled the carriage, I reinforced and give the horse some of my mana, so that it wouldn''t get hurt, since it have to suddenly pull the weight of my earth carriage and those inside it, poor horse. Lastly, with my illusion magic, I create a magic, functioning similar to that of a loudspeaker, placing one of it above the earth carriage and another one with me, and as we start moving "Greeting everyone, as you can see, this is all the face responsible for hurting a single lady. Can you imagine? An army fulls of knights and soldiers being used by an irresponsible noble just to hurt a single lady" [Ash] And done, now I just have to use my control mana and put it on auto play. Done Oh look, the bystander, they are all laughing and looking disgustingly at the idiot Duke''s son, good! "Ash!" [Diana] "What?" [Ash] "Ohh, don''t ''what'' me, you do know what you are doing are wrong!" [Diana] "Maybe, but I just felt like it" [Ash] "Unbelievable" [Diana] "Well, I''m not that great of a person all of you think I am, so sorry for letting you down" [Ash] She looks disappointed "Sorry, you might be thinking of settling this down peacefully, and sincerely speaking, so do I, but I''m sure even you know what he have been doing is clear abuse of power, from threatening to mishandling the soldier" [Ash] "I do, but I''m worried about you, the rules of the country favour the noble and royal more than that of a commoner, so please, just mentioned that this is all my idea" [Diana] "Negative, I can''t do that" [Ash] "Ash!" [Diana] "Diana, you are too nice, and while I don''t know much about the political situation inside the castle, I do know they''re all looking down at you, its plain obvious. Even the Rude Captain wasn''t listening to your command the other day, and he is just a knight!" [Ash] "..." [Diana] "Well, I''m no genius, so I don''t know much about how to handle all this political stuff, so I''ll leave that matter to you, but just know one thing, as long as you keep on working hard for the benefit of others, I will gladly support you" [Ash] "Haha, you sure know your way with words" [Diana] "Say the princess" [Ash] And shortly afterwards, we arrive at the castle gate, ughh... now I am reminded by those eyes. As Diana and I get off from the carriage, the Rude Captain (sigh... why does it have to be him) come "You there! Just released those inside the carriage, don''t you know what you are doing are wrong?" [Rude Captain] "Well, Diana?" [Ash] "No, they will all meet my father in this state" [Diana] "But, Princess..." [Rude Captain] "Ohh..." [Ash] Truthfully, I thought she will ask me to release them, but she herself insist on not letting them go. Well, I don''t know what she''s thinking so let just play along with her plan Since the castle door are large, the earth carriage that I made passed through it without any problems. Once we are inside, the noble and royal eyes (except King Estel and Diana), they can''t believe what they have seen "Oii you commoner, release my son right now!" [Duke] "How there you lay your hand to a noble" [Duke''s wife] "..." [Ash] "What are you, deaf? Or maybe you are scared right now?" [Duke] "Ash, I now permit you to speak" [King Estel] "Thank you your highness, I do believe mannerisms make a man, and as such I hope you will forgive those two for speaking and shouting before getting their permission to do so" [Ash] "Very well, I''ll consider it" [King Estel] ""!!"" [Duke, Duke''s wife] With that, let the trial begin! "Your highness, I present to you, the son of Duke... something, he is here today after Princess Diana and I with the help of other brave adventure caught him trying to harm the daughter of an innkeeper to whom I''m indebted." [Ash] "Not only that, he clearly abused his authority, using the castle and his brother asset as his please. Now, most of the soldiers are injured due to his reckless action. Not only that, he clearly defies any order given to him, Sir Ceanu as well as myself had prohibited him from making any move to the lady involved, and yet here he is, going against the order" [Diana] "..." [Duke''s son] "Your highness, my son, as reckless as he is, he''s still young and as such he has a bright future ahead, so please spare him. Instead, why don''t you punished this traveller as well as those adventure, who dare to hurt our soldiers" [Duke] "Please your highness, I''m regretting my reckless action, I promise you I will do better in the future" [Duke''s son] And there goes the noble inside the hall, trying to lick each other wound so that they can save the Duke''s son. Sincerely speaking, I''m impressed by how low they are right now. Still, there are few new faces that I don''t remember. Not only that, they''re not uttering a single word to help the Duke''s son. Should remember their faces for now. . . . As they become louder and louder, "Silence!" [King Estel] . . . (That''s king for you!) [Ash] "I have decided, he should be punished for his actions" [King Estel] "But your highness!" [Duke] "Silence, I will not stand the degradation of our system, his actions bring nothing but shame to us noble, if I did not punished him now, the citizen will lose their trust to us and that''s the last thing that I want. Plus, I don''t want our country to be a laughingstock to others, have you had no shame to proclaim yourself as a noble, letting other noble do as his pleased, breaking the law of this country as he please. Unfitting, he is without a doubt unfitting to become a noble" [King Estel] "..." [Others] "His trial will be conducted at later date, and for now, they will be placed inside the prison" [King Estel] "But your highn..." [Duke''s wife] "That''s all. You are all dismissed, Diana and Ash, you are to meet me afterwards" [King Estel] ""!!"" [Diana, Ash] Chapter 31 - Abyss Yeah, getting scold by a king is no joke, I can''t even utter a single word to defend myself. Even Diana remains silent the whole time. Both of us are getting scolded for acting too hastily, and as for me, the king also scold me for the inappropriate act of shaming the idiot Duke''s son "Just don''t do it again next time!" [King Estel] ""Yes"" [Ash, Diana] At the end of the day, I''m lucky for not getting any sort of punishment, plus I do understand his scolding is for our own benefits, just like how Claude and I scold those kids when doing something wrong. King Estel dismiss me, and when I went out of the room, I can hear Diana sad voice, on verge of crying, and King Estel fatherly voice consulting her. Thank goodness It''s almost dusk, and I still haven''t visited Gizzere yet, not to mention Rean''s training for today as well as looking at Alice condition. Should pick up my pace for now "You there, stop!" [Duke] Nope, to tired to argue, so let just get going "I said stop!" [Duke] Well, no, bye "If you don''t stop, who knew what will happen to those children" [Duke] "..." [Ash] "Ohh, finally sto... urgghhhh!" [Duke] With me choking him and lifting him up, the terror look he has, begging for mercy begin to appear. Using my darkness magic, I planted a seed inside his mind so that his terror will grow exponentially "You, I can''t pretend I didn''t hear that, so let me just said this, you might know how to play in the dark, but never set your eyes into the abyss" [Ash] And with that threat, I release the now pale Duke. It''s an empty threat that I hope won''t happen, but should he decided to mess with me, then I''m well-prepared to do just that. (It''s a good thing that he decided to meet in empty hallway) [Ash] Across the hallway, I can feel Qis mana signature. There are few young healers treating her. Must be due to the endemic disease but just what is it? Still, I''m no doctor like my mother so the best that I can do is pray for her (Get well soon) [Ash] (Release me, Ash) [Maria] (!) [Ash] Mother? But where? I can''t sense her... I must be tired . . . Well, time to meet Gizzere, or so I thought. Gizzere seems to be dealing with merchant from other countries, from the conversation I have with her son who is working as an apprentice at the merchant guild, its look as though they are preparing for the usual endemic disease. Such terrifying thing. The endemic kinda resemble that of a Typhoid Mary case, or maybe even the Cholera outbreak that John Snow solved that my mother use to tell, only at a larger scale, plus since this world have magic, that should also be put into consideration. Let just hope they managed to solve this endemic. At the end of the day, I can''t find any good worker, even with her son''s help. If only Alice can work with me "Let just go back home" [Ash] I''m tired. Today have been one hell of a roller coaster ride for me. Even the Kebab stall owner, who hate gossiping, bombarded me with question after question, especially why I have been summoned by King Estel together with Diana. No, its have nothing to do with romance, so stop making that face, and you the bystander there, what do you mean I should just go for it! "Come again" [Kebab stall owner] I buy 30 mini kebab from that stall, as well as some banana cake from nearby store so that we can all eat together. The usual dusk greet us, and with me opening the front door, Savel is currently trying to activate his Dragonewt blood, rush to slam me "Careful, I almost spill the food!" [Ash] "Welcome back!" [Savel] "Yes, I''m back" [Ash] That sure give me a boost of energy. "Brother Ash, give me that!" [Zerolith] "Hey Zerolith, don''t just take those Kebabs away! And wash your hand first!" [Ash] "I want this" [Farhah] "Farhah, don''t copy Zerolith! And give me back that banana cake!" [Ash] As for Rean and Elise, they already scold Zerolith and Farhah. Kara and Mara are playing with Behe, even though Behe looks almost like a cat, even meowing like one, they are currently playing fetch with Behe, throwing a yellow ball for Behe to catch. Karon and Singa right now are playing restaurant with Charlotte, and that fake dinner of them sound amazing alright. I''ll give it 5 star based on description alone "You look exhausted" [Claude] "Yeah, to many things happen today, ohh and here are some mini kebab and banana cake for dinner tonight" [Ash] At dinner table, "So, how does today training session go?" [Ash] "I must say, all of them are making good progress, they are on par with children receiving formal education, maybe even better" [Claude] "Yeah!!!" [Charlotte] "I see, that''s good to hear, so which group won?" [Ash] "It''s our group, Zerolith and Charlotte combination are no joke, we quickly finish the zombies off thanks to their teamwork" [Elise] Elise group, with Mara, Zerolith, Singa and Charlotte. Charlotte as usual, entrapped all the zombie inside a giant sphere made out of her own water magic, and Zerolith fast darkness arrow magic wipe out the struggling zombies. As for the other group, based on what Claude told me, their coordination is a bit off today, mainly because Farhah wanted to practice using her arrow while Savel trying to use dragonewt blood dragon technique while the other three just let them do so. Seeing those tens laughing at the dinner table just wash away today fatigue, let just hope the Duke''s family didn''t try to do something funny _________________________________________________ [At Borg and Lin house] "What should we do?" [?] "I, I don''t know" [?] "We should call uncle Syah and aunt Mimi first!" [?] "You guys, take care of mom and dad, I''ll go and get some help" [?] . . . The eldest son, now in grieve. The church healer, the money, their life. All of it are now running through his head "Oh Goddess Achalasia, please help us" [?] _________________________________________________ Chapter 32 - Testing the bus golem For today, let us take those kids to dungeon once again. Only fighting generated zombies in safe environment is a good practice but too much of it will only dull their learning process, making their critical thinking goes down the drain as time passed, so variation are often needed. Plus, it''s not good for kid of their age to just sit inside the house doing nothing "Alright then, let us go to the open field dungeon, the rock and sea dungeon as well as the icy dungeon are still too much for you guys to handle" [Ash] "Yes!" [Kids] "Be careful out there" [Claude] "Can Behe come?" [Singa] "Sure" [Ash] And we''re off, taking the leftover kebab from yesterday and storing it inside my item box, as well as some fresh lunch being made by Claude. "Brother Ash, you''re not going to the merchant guild today?" [Rean] "No, they tell me not to" [Ash] At first, I thought of going to the merchant guild once again to search for workers, but Gizzere''s son already told me that they are currently busy and that they are still searching for suitable candidates. I don''t mind any inexperienced worker since this paid training hall concept is still new but the problem lies when they show sign of discomfort, knowing that I live together with non-human and twin, plus Housey still can''t differentiate between friends and foes and if they come to our mansion with such negative feelings towards those kids, then I''m afraid Housey will start attacking name in order to protect my siblings. Well, can''t blame them much since they''re all still adhering to the old teaching, instead of the new one being spread by the Saint and Saintess "Brother Ash, can we not take the carriage?" [Kara] "Sure..." [Ash] Sigh, I should have known it, one of the reason whys they are all still quite reluctant to go out is because of the nasty eyes they get when taking the carriage, only when I am there or some other nice adventure are with them will they feel safe. Those people who give them a nasty looks are still in minority (maybe around 20% roughly speaking), still quite a number. But, what other options do we have, I don''t want them to walk as they usually do "If only I knew golem magic, then I can transport us all" [Mara] "How?" [Elise] "I mean like the autonomous carriage the rich always use, wouldn''t it be nice?" [Mara] "Mara..." [Ash] "Huh?" [Mara] "Nice idea!" [Ash] "Ehh?" [Mara] Well, since I can use fortress defense magic, then golem magic should be easy since golem magic in a sense is one grade below fortress defense magic. Fortress defense magic is more toward defense whereas golem magic is more towards transportation and offense. The name golem magic came from, well... golem, and golem are known for defending treasure (through attacking those who dare robb the treasure) or transportation, especially weaponry during wartime Now, what image should I use . . . No need to think much, since there''s 11 of us, car shape golem won''t do so (Imagine a school bus, school bus) [Ash] As I put my hand into the ground, a rectangular shape bus started to appear In front of us. It''s a crude product since the hardening of earth do leave some crumbles like line, but its sturdy so that''s what important. There are magic that can transform earth into steel but it''s a high level magic that are still far within my reach. Maybe a legendary smith can do that but not me, yet. As for the seat, I use wood magic and place number of seat inside the school bus golem, and made one nice chair for the driver seat. "Hop on" [Ash] "Yeah carrsy!" [Charlotte] " No, its name is bus golem" [Ash] "Bussy?" [Charlotte] "Bus golem" [Ash] "Goley?" [Charlotte] "Bus golem, final" [Ash] "Hmph" [Charlotte] "Hah! Serve you right Charlotte" [Ash] "Hmpphhhhh!!!" [Charlotte] "Brother!" [Elise] Elise now try to cheer the now sulking Charlotte since she can''t give the bus golem a name, but I''m not going to make it easy, so I continue to tease Charlotte. "I will not talk to brother Ash!" [Charlotte] "Oh really, too bad, guess this banana cake is all mine" [Ash] "!" [Charlotte] "So delicious" [Ash] "I want one!" [Charlotte] "Ehh, I thought you don''t want to talk to me?" [Ash] "!" [Charlotte] "Brother Ash!" [Elise] "Fine, fine" [Ash] As an apology, I give Charlotte the privilege to seat beside me (I make another seat beside me) and her mood quickly elevated, but now the other are jealous of her, so I promise them that they will get their turn later on. "How do you run this golem?" [Karon] "Good question, first the autonomous carriage that Mara spoke of have a special magic stone imbued with control magic and golem magic at minimum to be functional, but I have no good magic stone at my disposal right now, instead, I''ll keep on supplying my own mana so that the bus golem can move" [Ash] "Sound hard" [Karon] "It is, plus it''s not efficient for human to do that, but for now, let just do it that way, once I get some good Magic stone or core, I''ll make a proper bus golem" [Ash] Well, time to start the engine (by supplying my mana) and "It hurts!" [Farhah] "It is" [Savel] "My bad" Yeah, better buy some cushion for them, with how bad the road conditions are, it came to no suprise this will happen. Plus, the tyre are also made up of earth, should use my wood magic to make a rubbery like substance to cover it for now "There, now we are set for another ride" [Ash] ""..."" [Farhah, Savel] "It won''t hurt to have a little trust you know" [Ash] "".."" [Rean, Elise] "Just get in!" [Ash] And there goes the second problem, the traffic, since this bus golem are something new, kid from the neighborhood surround my bus golem, so with my illusion magic "Roar! I will eat you all!" [Bus golem] "Kyahhh!!!" [Kids] And there they go, running for their safety, poor kids "Hahahaha!" [Ash] "That''s so immature of you Brother Ash" [Elise] "Maybe, but its funny" [Ash] I should bring them to a ride one day, but to do that, Rean and the other need to befriend them first, and I''ll do everything that I can to make it happen The road is still large enough for my bus golem to pass through, other carriage and the passerby look in awe at what kind of transportation did I make. Farhah, Singa, Savel and Charlotte start to wave their hand outside. ""Its hot"" [Kara, Mara] "Hold on" [Ash] And there''s our third problem, but the solution is quite easy, just use ice and wind magic to circulate chill air inside the bus golem, basically air conditioning, and the look on their face, well photo magic it is then ""Brother Ash"" [Kara, Mara] "Hahaha, such funny faces" [Ash] ""Discard it"" [Kara, Mara] "No" [Ash] "Sigh... why are you acting so immature today" [Elise] "What was that, you want one funny pictures of you as well Elise?" [Ash] "No!" [Elise] After some attempt, Mara manages to snatch the photo and shred it to pieces with her wind magic, but unknown to her, I actually took two photos just now and one of it is already inside my item box, which I''ll put inside an album later on "And there''s the shop, so.. Zerolith, don''t run inside the bus!" [Ash] "Too late!" [Zerolith] "Meow!" [Behe] and there goes the two of them, rushing to buy the comfiest cushion that they can get on. Still, his action just now are dangerous, not only to himself but others as well "Zerolith, do that again and I''ll not let you inside the bus ever again, you got that!" [Ash] "Ehh, come on..." [Zerolith] "No, that''s final! I won''t tolerate that action, and that''s goes for each and every one of you, Behe include" [Ash] "Meow..." [Behe] "Understand!" [Ash] "Yes..." [Zerolith] For now, let just buy them some cushion, and let''s not forget the neighborhood kids, should buy extra one so that the neighborhood kids will feel comfortable. For now, let just buy three cushion for each sit. The money from King Behemoth subjugation are still plenty, so I don''t think it will cause any dent into my wallet. Once outside, come the next problem, parking space. Yup, the golem bus cause traffic to be halt, and this is entirely my fault, the public carriage here only stop in their designated place, and even if they stop somewhere else, the time they do so isn''t as long as I did just now, so I just went and apologize to the carriage driver behind me. And finally, we arrive in the city center, where the adventure and the merchant who sees the golem bus have a surprise face, well, they are seeing bus for the first time so it''s understandable, but once they can clearly see who''s the driver "So it was him" "no wonder" "Well, he is out of the norm" "How rude, I can hear that!" [Ash] "Well, try not to break our common sense so often then" "Agree" [Rean] "Rean!" [Ash] And now, for the final problem of our first test drive, where should I park my bus, I mean I kinda reluctant to just leave the bus behind, plus it''s larger than the usual carriage so people might complaint. "Well, only one thing to do" [Ash] I just park the golem bus inside my item box, making a large entrance, I just drive straight inside, and once I come out "There he goes again, breaking our common sense" "And we literally told him not to do so just a minute ago" "You guys, would you like to taste my shoes?" [Ash] "Hahaha, spare us" "Well, to tell you the truth, I kinda want to ride that thing as well" "Same here" "Maybe one day" [Ash] And that''s for our first test drive, there are couples of issues but I can give a passing mark this time. If only father is here, he can point out to me room of improvement to be made all at once, he is an engineer at NASA after all. Still (This must be how a car enthusiasts feel like) [Ash] I can''t wait to improve this golem bus of mine, but for now, I should train them inside the dungeon Chapter 33 - Making new friends part 1 _________________________________________________ [Inside the open field dungeon, third floor] A group of four children can be seen, two boys and girls, trying to collect herbs, quite a distance from the safe road "Big Brother, is this really alright?" [?] "Yeah, we have to do this, it will help to lessen mom and dad''s burden" [?] "But, Uncle Syah and Aunt Mimi said not to enter the dungeon" [?] "Still, we can''t just keep on burdening both of them as well can we!" [?] "..." [?] "Sorry, my bad" [?] "It''s alright, I know you''re thinking about what best for all of us" [?] "We have to hurry, mom and dad will be worried about us if we come home late, plus its dangerous for us to stay here long" [?] "Remember, keep this as our secret, don''t tell anyone about it!" [?] "!" [?] "What''s wrong?" [?] "I can hear something coming!" [?] _________________________________________________ (Is it just my imagination, no probably not but somehow, one of the watcher just show figure of four children inside the open field dungeon before quickly disappearing...) [Ash] "Brother Ash, let''s go!" [Singa] "Hurry!" [Savel] "Uhm, ok" [Ash] Woah, slow down there both of you, don''t drag me like a ragged bag, the dungeon won''t go anywhere, and we have plenty of time to explore it today as well. "Rean, can you observe the boys, Elise, you observe the girls" [Ash] ""Yes!"" [Rean, Elise] Taking care of all ten of them simultaneously are near impossible task for someone like me, I am after all the only child back on earth, so better safe than sorry in this case. Let just slowly learn to become a good elder sibling like Rean and Elise there, look, they already get them under control. As for Behe, he uses weight and size manipulation magic, or maybe that is skill for light behemoth, I''m not sure but the point is right now Behe become smaller and lighter and happily take a nap by using my head as his resting station. Not that I mind, plus it felt like I am wearing a hat which is nice As we''re about to enter the dungeon, a familiar figure strike my eyes, she uses the seat inside the park just before entering the dungeon, fidgeting around (Isn''t that the noble kid that I saw the other day? So she is all alone today as well, I see, she might find it difficult to approach others...) [Ash] Poor kid, I don''t know what or why she act like that, but I do know from her body language she is trying to approach someone to make friends with them, oh looms like Elise also notice her. (Hmm... she and Elise looks the same age, plus Elise also doesn''t have any friends yet) [Ash] The neighborhood kids are to shy to approach the mansion, while this siblings of mine felt the same, they''re orphan and homeless before this, so parents must have warned their kids not to approach them, as such I believe they couldn''t interact much with other kids of their age due to that reason... "Brother Ash!" [Elise] As I approached the noble kid, Elise follows suit (and the other follow the both of us as well), she is shy but at the same time interested in making new friends, so let help her. Ohh look, the noble kid eyes become widen, and she looks happy, but her guards on the other hand... "Stop approaching Lady Liyana you.. You''re the behemoth slayer!" [Guard] "Get called that a lot recently, and her name is Liyana huh, nice to meet you, I''m Ash and this girl here is my little sister, Elise" [Ash] "Nic.., Nice to meet you, I''m Liyana from the Baron house" [Liyana] "I''m Elise, Nic.., nice to meet you Lady Liyana" [Elise] "Lady Liyana, there''s no need for you to befriend them, come, let us go" [Guards] "Why are you the one making the decision, let her decide by herself" [Ash] "Tch, don''t be conceited you traveler" [Guards] "Whatever, Liyana, would you like to befriend Elise?" [Ash] ""!!"" [Elise, Liyana] (Maybe I''m too direct here, we just met each other plus shouldn''t Liyana or Elise started the conversation first. Oh well, to late) [Ash] "But, but..." [Liyana] "Something wrong?" [Ash] "Of course! A commoner like you couldn''t possibly befriend a noble, plus that filthy girl there is a non-human, shouldn''t that be a reason enough!" [Guard] "..." [Elise] "You have a lot of nerve saying that right In front of my face, but I''ll let it slide this time for the sake of both of them" [Ash] I''m furious, but I don''t want to ruin their chance of becoming friend just because of some stupid comment, plus both party look interested "Can we? I might be from the fox tribe but, can we become friend...?" [Elise] "Are you fine, with me becoming your friend?" [Liyana] "Why, why do say so?" [Elise] "I, I mean, the other noble didn''t even bother to approach me, saying I''m a..." [Liyana] "?" [Elise] Looks like thing are going down the hill, both sides are hesitating, Elise because of her status and Liyana because of some unknown reason, but I can see that they''re genuinely interested to become friends. Hmm... what should I do "I know, we are going to train our magic today inside the dungeon, why don''t you come with us" [Ash] "Huh? No, no, it''s dangerous for me to do so" [Liyana] "Huh, why not, you have a large mana pool, and your affinity toward Ice magic is high" [Ash] "Huh? How, how do you know that?" [Liyana] "Let just said that''s my expertise" [Ash] I can actually felt her mana clearly, even without scanning her abilities, she has good affinity toward ice magic, and since Ice and water magic are closely related, it comes to no surprise her water magic affinity are high as well, but not as high as Charlotte "..." [Liyana] "Still hesitate, then how about this!" [Ash] I use my ice magic to make a sculpture of her size. Yup, I created a sculpture using Liyana herself as a model, it only took me a moment to do it, so the end product isn''t that polished, but "How, how did you do that! Plus, you can use non chanting magic as well!" [Liyana] "Hoho, interested aren''t you" [Ash] "If only I can do that as well..." [Liyana] She seems down, so her reason not to befriend Elise just now is because of this? No, maybe this is just one of the many reasons why she doesn''t want to, plus, I have a feeling there are bigger reason than that. "Brother Ash will train us today, so if you don''t mind, you can join us as well!" [Elise] "Yes, we will be happy to have you" [Rean] The other also agree, good, but there are some people that disagree "Lady Liyana, you shouldn''t bother befriending them, so let us go home now" [Guard] "..." [Liyana] "Lady Liyana?" [Guards] "Can I really join you?" [Liyana] "Sure you can, I will be more than happy to teach my little sister''s friend magic" [Ash] "Really!?" [Liyana] "Absolutely!" [Ash] Success! Look at the shine at her eyes, brimming with happiness "But Lady Liyana, its dangerous!" [Guard] "Its fine, I''ll protect her since the best her guards can do is just shouting around" [Ash] "What did you say!" [Guard] "Well, unless you are incompetent, there''s no way you can''t protect a single girl right? Or am I wrong here?" [Ash] Payback to what they said just now, they are furious right now but I''m pretty sure they can''t just dragged Liyana back, and if they suddenly lashed out, they''re not that strong, so I can take them down in non-lethal way that wouldn''t hurt Liyana feeling, like tripping their leg when they''re charging at me for instance "Please treat me well, umm... Mr Ash?" [Liyana] "Just Ash is fine" [Ash] "Let us get going then, Lady Liyana" [Elise] "Umm..." [Liyana] "?" [Elise] "Just Liyana is fine" [Liyana] "Really!?" [Elise] She nodded. "You guys, make sure to introduce yourself as well" [Ash] "Yes" [Kids] Friends? Check Chapter 34 - Making new friends part 2 _________________________________________________ [Diana, Gizzere and Ram at the merchant guild office] With Ram himself having just arrived, his son pours him some coffee into a large cup, a strange choice considering that it''s 2 minutes away from noon, but considering that he was working nonstop from last night, a coffee is what he need right now "Sorry Princess Diana, I''m late" [Ram] "It''s fine, really, must be due to yesterday incident" [Diana] "Sure does" [Ram] "Is Alice fine?" [Diana] "She''s fine, but I force her to get some rest for now, as she''s quite reluctant to do so" [Ram] "I see, hope she will not be traumatized after this experience" [Diana] "Same here" [Ram] "Well, shall we move on to our agenda for today" [Gizzere] The two nodded in unison, they''re currently discussing the endemic disease that keeps on happening each year. With no identifiable causes, all they can do now is to take measures to treat the increasingly infected victim "This must have been the worst endemic thus far, it just started one week ago and yet, look at the number of people affected" [Ram] "Agree, and with how the merchant and the neighbouring countries taking opportunities to raise the medication prices, the number of infected will continue to rise" [Gizzere] "To make matter worse, the highest healer who is an old follower purposely ignore the country request to help us this year, honestly..." [Diana] Diana releases a breath of sigh, since she and her father decided to make a statement to support the new saint and saintess, the old follower of the church decided to withdraw their support towards Estel, this causes some uneasiness among citizen, plus the merchants, nobles and some of the royals decided to use this opportunity to gain the old follower trust and support. They pour their resources to gain trust, and in return the old follower will convince the masses to follow or trust their sponsor. This, couple with the fact that the church purposely made the treatment inaccessible to the masses by increasing the cost of treatment (and thus blaming Diana for it) causes more and more problem to those who support the new saint and saintess "How about the new young healer from the new follower? Are they reliable?" [Gizzere] "Sadly, not yer. The endemic spread like wildfire and couple with their inexperienced, I don''t think we can rely on them yet" [Diana] "That''s discouraging" [Ram] And thus, they continue to discuss measures to limit the number of people becoming infected this year _________________________________________________ Last time, Rean and the other only get to experience the first floor, so let us descend further downward, third floor should be fine. With me using the bus golem to get around between the floors, only storing it when necessary, we arrive on the third floor quite fast. Liyana, as expected become excited when she get the chance to ride a "strange transportation" (according to her), she sits just beside Elise while her guards are forced by me to sit at the back most at first, of course they''re reluctant to do so "If you guys wanted to seat close next to your lady, you better not disturb any one of them, or else..." [Ash] They''re annoyed alright, guess Diana method of threatening smile only works wonder for her, but they''re not a total idiot, they do know what I''m capable of, so they just sit there nicely, not bothering a soul On the third floor, I park back the bus golem inside the item box magic, and now, is time to look for an easy monster to practice their magic, and it sure doesn''t take us long to do that "Rean, show me the result of your training!" [Ash] "Right!" [Rean] With seven normal goblins and three lesser goblins in sight, Rean unsheathed his weapon and imbued it with his fire mana. His stand is now proper as compared to last time, I have to thank Jacks for that. I wonder if I can hire Jacks to further teach Rean. Rean, without making any noise, dash toward those goblins. The goblins react by swinging their club but "Too slow!" [Rean] Rean simply sliced each one of them, not even giving them a chance to fight back "Excellent!" [Ash] "Thanks" [Rean] I guess his training started to bore fruit, maybe he is on par with G rank adventure. With some more training, I''m sure he can fulfill the requirement that I set. Now, onto the next one "Elise, Liyana, how about both of you go next" [Ash] ""Yes!!"'' [Elise, Liyana] I have explained to Liyana how to properly use her magic to her. As it turns out, one of the reason she is reluctant to join us in the first place is because of her improper control over her own mana pool. Her mana pool is large for her age and thus causing her to lose control over it, and with her family not supporting her properly, Liyana confidence in magic goes down. Poor girl. Still, explaining alone isn''t enough, so I have to gave her some of my control mana for now, this will help her to access her own power more safely and better control it. If she plan to come and train with us next time, I''ll slowly decrease the amount of control mana I gave her so that she wouldn''t become reliance on it There''s five normal goblins hunting a rabbit, looking at the five goblins, Elise and Liyana begin to fire their magic. Elise manages to hit 3 goblins right into their face, and as for Liyana, her ice arrow magic miss the target, you think she would become sad but "I did it, I manage to fire my ice magic!" [Liyana] "!" [Guards] "Great job!" [Ash] The guards who don''t even bother hearing to my explanation just now are surprised, still they look genuinely happy "How about you try to shoot the last goblin" [Ash] "I will!" [Liyana] Elise already killed the fourth goblin, as for the remaining goblin, it tries to escape, running in a straight line, making things easier for Liyana "I did it!" [Liyana] "Great job" [Elise] "Thanks" [Liyana] And now, we move on to the next group, Kara, Mara, and Zerolith. Seeing a group of 7 zombies, they quickly went into position, with Mara dashing ahead while the other two support her. Two of the zombies are runner zombies, known for it speed, and they charge straight to Mara, but "Take this!" [Mara] Mara quickly uses her knives and cut the legs of the runner zombies, letting Kara and Zerolith finish them off afterward. The remaining five zombies were quickly dealt with "I believe this is the first time you deal with runner zombies, you guys did great" [Ash] """Yes!""" [Kara, Mara, Zerolith] Next, a group of five goblins, Karon and Farhah volunteer to take care of it. Karon and Farhah combine their magic, making large boulders with multiple small sharp thorn in between, the goblins get squeeze in between the boulders. Even I can feel the pain just by watching, it''s a good show but "Karon, Farhah, don''t do that. I know that both of you are trying to improve your mana pool as well as your magic proficiency, but doing so in real life will drain you quickly, leaving you susceptible to attack afterward" [Ash] ""Yes..."" [Karon, Farhah] They look down, I should praise them "But your combine magic just now is excellent, good job!" [Ash] ""Yes!!!"" [Karon, Farhah] Haha, kids sure are easy "Alright Singa, Savel and Charlotte, the three of you are next. See that three goblins there?" [Ash] """Right!!!""" [Singa, Savel, Charlotte] And that''s their target, still I just realized one of it is a lesser hobgoblin, you think that will be difficult for them but no "Bye bye Mr Goblin" [Charlotte] She just straight away drown the hobgoblin by water sphere magic, and "Huh?" [Ash] Are you kidding me, I''m sure Claude and I still haven''t taught her ice magic, but she instantly freezes the sphere and lift it above the ground to quite a height before releasing the now ice sphere, shattering the sphere and killing the hobgoblin. Such talent, does she learn just by observing Liyana just now? No, that still doesn''t fully explain it, or she could be gifted in magic. As for Singa and Savel, they follow their favourite technique, with Savel making an illusion of herd of fatty rabbit, the goblins chased them down while they make a sneak attack from behind, killing the goblins "Nicely done the three of you! Charlotte, great job on that Ice magic just now" [Ash] """Yes!!!""" [Singa, Savel, Charlotte] Owww, here I thought Singa and Savel will become jealous, but they felt happy for Charlotte as well. Even Liyana is clapping, impressed by Charlotte''s ice magic "Alright then, there''s still some time left before 600pm, so let us..." [Ash] "MEOW!" [Behe] "Yeah, I sense it as well Behe, Rean, protect the other" [Ash] "!" [Rean] Direction, around 4 o clock, and there! Four children being hunted down by an orc. The orc looks happy, treating the kids as play things, plus (Those four, aren''t they!) [Ash] No time to think By using my fire magic, I make a fire wall and surround the orc "Ray, Mile, Kat and Blanc, go there first and wait for me" [Ash] I pointed out towards Rean direction, they can see Rean''s group, just as they started running "Meow!" [Behe] Behe quickly shot a beam of light magic and "Head shot! Nice job Behe!" [Ash] "Meow!" [Behe] And now Behe is wagging his tail, how cute. Better put out the fire first before treating him some nice orc meat. Now then, "Ray, just what are you doing here?" [Ash] Chapter 35 - Making new friends part 3 "Ray, just what are you doing here?" [Ash] Ray, the eldest son''s of Borg and Lin, He''s around Rean''s age, and he follows his father blonde hair with blue eyes "That..." [Ray] "Answer me" [Ash] "Please don''t scold him, we are all to be blamed as well" [Mile] Mile, the second child, she''s 11 years old, the same age as the twin. Mile also follows her father in term of hair and eyes colour, basically blonde version of Lin who have southern Asian looks "That still didn''t answer my question" [Ash] As for the other two, Kat, the third child follow her mother appearance, but she is smaller than Farhah despite both beings 9 years old. Lastly Blanc, having the same hair and eyes like his mother, 5 years old, same height with Charlotte. "Sigh..." [Ash] They still didn''t answer my question, maybe I am being too harsh here but that''s because I am worried "Look, I promise I won''t scold you. So please just tell me, I can''t just ignored the four of you, not when your parents are one of my friends" [Ash] "Promise?" [Blanc] "Promise" [Ash] As they''re looking at each other, I can see their pouch are full of Pitchy flower, and based on the knowledge blessed to me, it''s used to treat diarrhoea... "Something happen to your parent?" [Ash] "Mother and father, both of them contracted the endemic disease, and they''re both in dire state" [Ray] "Ehh? Your mother was alright yesterday" [Ash] "She had been taking care of father who contracted the disease earlier, plus..." [Mile] "The endemic this year are lethal as compared to previous year, and with how the church racking up the price of medicine and healing services..." [Liyana] "I see, so that''s what happens" [Ash] Basically, they''re desperate for cure. Their parent were on dire state, and they couldn''t afford any sort of treatment, so the only thing left is to make the medication itself and hope for the best. That''s admirable, still... "Sigh... tell me, did your parents know you are here" [Ash] They shake their head "Did you at least tell Syah or Mimi?" [Ash] As expected, same response "Sigh... don''t worry, I promise I won''t tell them about what you did" [Ash] "Really!" [Kat] "Yes, I''ll say I accompanied all of you today to enter the dungeon, but do me a favour next time will you?" [Ash] "?" [Ray] "Next time, don''t do something so reckless, Ray, Mile, you did realize what you are doing are dangerous. If I wasn''t there, all four of you will be death, guarantee." [Ash] ""Yes..."" [Ray, Mile] "And next time you want to enter the dungeon, tell me, I''ll make time to accompany all of you" [Ash] "Really!" [Ray] "I will" [Ash] They look happy, I did promise that I wouldn''t scold them, but that doesn''t mean I should praise their actions just now. They''re literally being treated as hunting material by the orc, and the orc treated it like some kind of sport. Well, I should postpone our training session for now, don''t want to make Borg and Lin, and by extension Syah and Mimi worries about them. I bring out the bus golem back and let all of them enter. Rean and Zerolith seem to be having a chat with Ray, while the girls are chatting with Liyana, Mile, and Kat. As for the younger group, they''re playing with Blanc and Behe. Oh, better bring out some food for them, they must be hungry and thank god there are enough foods for everyone, "..." [Ray] "What''s wrong?" [Rean] "Can I, bring some of it back home?" [Ray] "I see..." [Zerolith] Judging by the conversation, I can guess what happen. They have no food left in the house, no good, I''m sure Syah and Mimi help them though, maybe they themselves are having problems and yet still lend a helping hand. Yup, that''s most likely the case, I should do the same "Don''t worry just eat them, I''ll treat all of you for dinnering tonight, and the Pitchy flower as well, I''ll buy extra for you guys later" [Ash] "But the cost!" [Mile] "Did I ask about the cost? Don''t worry, it''s the adults job to worried about this kind of thing" [Ash] ~giggle~ [Rean, Elise] "You''ll get used to it" [Kara] "?" [Ray, Liyana, Mile] Even Liyana seems confused by Rean and Elise''s reaction just now. Well, that nostalgic line sure bring back memories. (Hmph, I guess that traveler isn''t as conceited as I thought) [Guards] (Mehh, he''s just faking it) [Guards] I can hear you, but let not spoil the mood. Plus, they''re enjoying Claude''s homemade cooking, and those grandpa baked bread should be enjoyed in harmonious environment. As for Behe, I just sliced some meat from the orc, grilled it with my fire magic and feed him that along with water treated with my light magic. (Better take some photos) [Ash] "Brother Ash, how rude!" [Elise] "Don''t take our photos when we are eating!" [Kara] "Don''t worry, you guys look great, except for Elise and Kara of course" [Ash] "Let me see!" [Mara] ""Don''t!!"" [Elise, Kara] "Photos?" [Others] "Well..." [Rean] Since Liyana, Ray, Mile, Kat and Blanc doesn''t know what photo is, Rean explain it to them. I just listen quietly as Rean explain about light principle, I still haven''t explained to them fully as since I want to teach them basic alphabet and numbers first, so it came to no surprise that none of them fully understood, especially when Rean himself explain it poorly, until Kara explain it to them "I see!" [Liyana] "That''s easier to understand" [Ray] "It does" [Mile] "You sure are bad at explaining thing" [Kat] "I''m sorry" [Rean] ""Sis Kara is a good teacher!"" [Charlotte, Blanc] "Thank you" [Kara] She sure is, if they were in same classroom, Rean would be your average student at academic while Kara will be the smart one, maybe even the topper . . . After exiting the dungeon "Can I, come again and practice with you next time?" [Liyana] "Of course, isn''t that right Brother Ash" [Elise] "It might be hard if you wait for us here, instead how about you come to our home the next time" [Ash] "Sure, please teach me more about Ice magic Teacher Ash!" [Liyana] "Just Ash is fine, but teacher sure have a nice ring to it" [Ash] Well, if she insist on calling me teacher, I won''t mind it And there she goes, taking her carriage back to her home (after I tell her where our home is of course). Next stop, Borg and Lin''s house, but before that, have to buy some Pitchy flower as well as dinner for all of them. Chapter 36 - Visiting the sick "That much!" [Ray] Yup, that much, sincerely speaking, I love to drill a hole right into the skull of those merchants and peek inside their rotten greedy brain, just to see for myself how greedy their thoughts were. To think that they''re people that will increase the price of medicines during an endemic just to make profits. Then again, there''s similar cases happening back on earth, so I guess human greed do know no bound. "Come again" [Merchant] Yup, if only I can drill their skull right now "Is this really alright?" [Mile] "Like I said, just leave about worrying these kinds of things to us adults" [Ash] Have to keep smiling, keep smiling or else those four will feel they''re only a burden (This must be how parents feels like, having to hide their pain In front of their children) [Ash] One step to adulthood I guess, and a bitter one at that, still... "With this, mom and dad will be cured!" [Blanc] "They sure will!" [Kara] It''s worth it, rather than seeing them suffering. As for dinner, there''s stand that sell food similar to that of Nasi Lemak, staple food for those who originate from Southeast Asia. Similar that is, but the taste is a bit off. I guess it''s ok? I have only tries it few times back on earth, so I''m not one to judge. "I have always wanted to try food here" [Mile] "Guess it''s your lucky day" [Ash] Well, that Nasi Lemak are for us (I buy extra as well, just in case if we happen to meet with Syah and Mimi), as for Borg and Lin''s dinner, I buy them a chicken soup alongside with plain water which I planned to add with sugar and salt afterward to improve their hydration status Time to ride the bus golem once again, but it''s getting late, should I send Rean and others back home first or should I have them visit Borg and Lin''s house. On one hand, they''re tired after the training session and on the other hand, it''s just doesn''t feel right, in fact, it felt rude to do that. Still, they can be expose to the disease... "Rean, Elise, come here for a second" [Ash] ""Yes"" [Rean, Elise] Should whispers to Rean for now (I''ll bring all of you to their house but make sure you guys don''t enter the house, just stay inside the bus) [Ash] (But, why?) [Rean] (Few reasons, first, I don''t want any of you to get the disease. Second, Borg and Lin are a nice person, should they see all of you visiting them, they will force themselves to welcome you properly, I don''t want that to happen since sick people should get more rest and lastly, they might not be in condition that allow us to visit them) [Ash] (Understood, and you want us to take care of the other, right?) [Elise] (That''s my little sister! Quick to catch) [Ash] (We''ll do our best!) [Rean] (I''m counting on you) [Ash] "Have you guys finish whispering to each other?" [Farhah] "Yup" [Ash] "Sorry..." [Kat] "No. No. No. No, we don''t talk anything bad about you guys, trust us!" [Ash] "Yes, please forgive us if we hurt your feelings unintentionally!" [Rean] "Hey Kat! That''s not nice!" [Ray] "Sorry!" [Kat] "Yeah, same here..." [Ash] Goddammit, me and my common sense, I really wish I can rewind back time and do it again! I mean, Ash! There''s four kid here whose parents are sick and you can''t even... sigh... and here I was thinking I''m slowly ascending to adulthood few minutes back, I''m such an idiot "How about we start moving? It''s going to be dark soon" [Elise] "Agree" [Mile] "Yeah, give me a second, I''ll bring out the bus golem" [Ash] And there you go, perfect! I''m slowly getting better at driving this bus golem. Along the way, I can see both Syah and Mimi, heading toward the same direction, so naturally I give them a lift "You guys! What are you doing here!" [Syah] "And where have you guys been? All of us are dead worry!" [Mimi] "Well..." [Ray] "They''re with me all this time, they asked me to accompany them to pick some Pitchy flower inside the dungeon, to which I agree" [Ash] ""Really?"" [Syah, Mimi] "Yup" [Ash] "Sigh... If that''s what ''really'' happening, then I guess it''s fine, but tell us first the next time!" [Mimi] "Yes, we will" [Mile] "And thank you for ''accompanying'' them Ash" [Syah] "You are welcome..." [Ash] I guess we can''t completely fool them, should I come clean... no, better not. . . . And we have arrived. "You guys stay here inside of this golem!" [Mimi] "Don''t want you guys to get infected" [Syah] "Yes!" [Kids] "I see, that must be what you had told Rean and Elise just now" [Ray] "Yup, sorry for making it looks suspicious" [Ash] "Guess even someone as strong as you have their own shortcomings" [Mile] "Naturally, we are human after all" [Ash] "Agree" [Syah] Glad they can understand my true intention. They''re grown up after all, so I should treat them as one. Maybe I should have been honest with them from the very beginning, I guess that''s another lesson that I learn today As soon as I enter the house... it smells, just like how the washroom smell like after someone with diarrhea use it. I sincerely wanted to vomit. Just endure it, endure it for now. (Fishy diarrhea smell, differential diagnosis, Cholera) [Maria] (Cholera huh, wait! Mom''s voice, again. Just where is it coming from? Don''t tell me, it''s from the scythe!) [Ash] The smell aside, the house is in such a horrible state, that just show how weak they are, unable to properly clean the house. (Improper drainage system, share toilet, easier for cholera to transmit) [Vincent] (Poor sanitisation, fever, secondary infection to be ruled out) [Maria] (Just now, that''s dad voice. Plus, share toilet?) [Ash] "Ray, you guys have toilet here?" [Ash] "Inside the house? No, we don''t have one" [Ray] "There''s a public toilet outside if you want to use it" [Syah] Oh, there they are, lying down, they''re obviously weak and yet "Welcome..." [Borg] "Sorry, we can''t properly welcome you Ash" [Lin] "That''s alright, you guys are sick after all" [Ash] Just like I guessed, they will try to properly greet us. "Ray, where have you guys been?" [Borg] "They''re with Ash "the whole day" inside the dungeon, looking for Pitchy flower" [Mimi] "Is that so?" [Lin] "It is!" [Kat] "I see, thank you" [Lin] Ray and Mile eyes, they''re in conflict, between being honest vs lying to their own parents. Plus, I''m sure what I had told them before just sinks in. What would happen if we didn''t meet brother Ash, what will mom and dad''s feels like when receiving such bad news. All of that must be running in their mind right now "Here, Ash brought you some food, so we should all eat together" [Syah] "Let us do just that, you must be hungry" [Mimi] "STOP!" [Ash] Chapter 37 - Marias soul Are you kidding me, even if someone doesn''t have much of medical knowledge, they should know the danger of eating in such an environment. Doesn''t it bother them a bit. Well, In the past, Vikings who are stereotypically portrayed as dirty people were actually the total opposites, they are described as clean freak by those around them during that time, as they practice good hygiene and would take bath once a week, something that''s consider dangerous at that time as they believe prolonged contact with water will cause such harm to body. Then, there''s the Arab who travel to Europe long back, who emphasize the concept of cleanliness and from there, they formed the basis of medical knowledge on earth modern era. But this situation right now, just a glance and I could tell why the endemic have been spreading like wildfire every year "What''s wrong Ash?" [Syah] "What''s wrong you say? Everything! [Ash] "!?" [Mimi] "First, just how in Goddess Achalasia name can you eat right now when, sorry for being blunt here, when this place reeks with fecal matter! No wonder Borg and Lin contract the disease!" [Ash] "What!?" [Ray] "Seriously..." [Mile] "So, do me a favour will you?" [Ash] "Do what?" [Kat] "If you want your parents to be healthy, clean this place up! I''ll do something about your parents" [Ash] "You promise?" [Blanc] "I''ll try my best" [Ash] There''s no going back now when I have said that. Looks, the six of them started to take all necessary tools to cleanse the house, and as for the water. "We have to use this water?" [Syah] "Yes, and I''ll constantly supply the water through my magic" [Ash] "Well, if you insist, your mana pool is enormous to begin with" [Mimi] "Glad you understand" [Ash] I just make three large buckets and fill it with water with my water magic. Then, they''re to dispose of the water somewhere far once they used it, preferably the toilet outside and come back afterwards. Before they can enter the house once again, I''ll ask Rean and the other to inspect them, and in case they come back dirty, Charlotte will shower them with her water magic. This might be overkill, but who cares. Now, to make some ORS (oral rehydration solutions), and... (Let me do it, Ash) [Maria] (But how?) [Ash] (Release me) [Maria] (Again, how... the Scythe!) [Ash] As I begin to touch the scythe, I can feel something, something entering my body and (Mom!) [Ash] But, she doesn''t reply. Far from it, she looks serious. Her long red hair and green eyes, I can''t help but to call her multiple times, until (Thank you Ash, but your power are still lacking, so let us focus treating your friends first) [Maria] (Ye, yes!) [Ash] It sucks, but I am happy to be able to see her, plus I can just consider this mother and son bonding time. Mom quickly put around 1 litre of boiled water (we just boil it with our fire magic), then put 6 teaspoons of sugar and half teaspoon of salt and quickly dissolved it. She tells me that since Borg and Lin''s are seriously dehydrated from constant diarrhoea, we should treat their hydration status first. "Ash?" [Borg] "Somehow, somehow you''re different" [Lin] "Is that so? I would love to chat with you more, but please drink this first, it will hydrate you better as compared to plain water" [Ash?] "Yes..." [Lin] (Is that, really Ash?) [Syah] (I don''t know, he''s somewhat different? Like he suddenly became a lot softer?) [Mimi] They slowly gulp down the water. "Thank you" [Borg] "You''re welcome, and please eat some of this chicken soup, they''re properly cooked, plus this should give you more energy and help you heal faster" [Ash?] "Su, sure" [Lin] And there they go, taking the chicken soup and eating it. "Brother Ash, can you please fill this bucket once again" [Blanc] "Sure Blanc, and thank you for working hard, I promise you I''ll treat your parents with utmost care" [Ash?] "Ok!" [Blanc] And while we are waiting for them to eat, mom explain to me what she will do (Ash, this time I''ll use my scan magic and see which organism is responsible for causing the endemic. So, once they done eating, we will scan their whole body, emphasizing the intestinal tract and see for other causative agent) [Maria] (Sure... wait, what do you mean your scan magic?) [Ash] (If I''m not mistaken, Goddess Achalasia did ask you to find out about this world. Please do your homework properly) [Maria] (That doesn''t even make any sense!) [Ash] (Oh look, they''ve finish, let us continue) [Maria] (Yes!) [Ash] Borg and Lin gave put the bowl just beside them, to which I simply store inside my item box. Have to properly cleanse it afterwards "Both of you, did you feel better?" [Ash?] "We are!" [Borg] "Thank you, Ash!" [Lin] "That''s good to hear, please continue to drink those water until you''re completely cure" [Ash?] And now, time to examine them "Please, allow me to scan your entire body with my magic, particularly around your abdomen. I have to do this as to identify the causative agent responsible for your illness, and thus, treating you better" [Ash?] "Yes, please do so" [Borg] "If that help, then we don''t mind" [Lin] (Mom, that was quick) [Ash] (Well, I have been building rapport with them since starting the treatment) [Maria] And with that, mom channel her mana into my body, somehow, it''s quite different. I can''t properly explain this, but her mana, it''s like transcended? A higher form of mana is the best description that I can use right now. (Finish) [Maria] (That was quick!) [Ash] (Practice make perfect) [Maria] "Such warm mana" [Lin] "It feel, soothing" [Borg] "Why thank you. Please hold on for a while, I have identified the agent responsible for it, so I''ll use my cure magic to destroy it" [Ash?] "You can use that?" [Borg] "Please do so!" [Lin] (Ash, remember how I do it. You''ll have to teach the others afterward) [Maria] (Yes!) [Ash] Others? Who? Oh well, let just do it as mom told me. Moms cure magic, it''s phenomenal. Cure magic is a step above healing magic, I can use it of course but mom''s cure magic, it''s like a work of art. She explained to me how her cure magic are use to treat the patient, the amount of mana needed to be spent, where, when to start, when to stop, what should I do if the organism is different. And by the time she finished telling me all that "There you go. I have eliminated the responsible agent, so please get yourself some good rest. Hydrate yourself properly with those water or soup like food. I''ll come back tomorrow to see your condition along with some yogurt to help your gut immunity, and should your fever rise once again, please tell me, I''ll see it" [Ash?] "Thank, thank you Ash!" [Borg] "Borg, Lin, are you guys? Really cure?" [Syah] "It, it doesn''t hurt anymore. Plus, that cure magic revitalize me back!" [Lin] """"Mom! Dad!"""" [Ray, Mile, Kat, Blanc] And there they go, running and hugging their mother, I should do the same to mom (How sweet, but my time here has run out) [Maria] (...) [Ash] (Ash, take care of those ten. You will face a lot of hardship in the future, but I know you can do it) [Maria] (I, I will...) [Ash] (Don''t be like that, my soul is inside the scythe, who knew, with the power of God of Death, we might meet once again) [Maria] (!) [Ash] (Goodbye, take care of yourself and be a good big brother) [Maria] A kiss to my forehead, it sure is warm . . . "Well, I don''t want to disturb such lovely moments, so if you excuse me" [Ash] "Su. sure..." [Syah] ((((((He''s back!!!!!!)))))) [Syah, Mimi, Borg, Lin, Ray, Mile] Oh, is it just me, or do the house looks cleaner right now. Good, it doesn''t reek anymore Plus, I should clean myself as well after this "Everything fine?" [Elise] "Yes it is!" [Ash] "What did you do inside?" [Rean] "Well, I cure them, with certain someone helps" [Ash] "ehh!?" [Kids] "Haha, I''m serious now. Plus, let just go home. You must be tired" [Ash] They simply nodded, come on, at least give me a response "You sure love to break our common sense" [Kara] "Not the kind of response I want, but I''ll take it" [Ash] Let just go home . . . (Take care of them huh... I will) [Ash] Chapter 38 - Meeting the goddess once again I''m tired, but that shouldn''t be made an excuse to clean myself. The kids are reluctant to go to the bath, but "Just go! If you don''t want to get the endemic disease this year, just go!" [Ash] I just have to say it, don''t want them to get the disease. I mean, mom did teach me how to heal those people, but prevention is better than cure. Plus, just imagining either one of them getting the disease... no, let stop imagining it. "Claude, can you help me make some yogurt, I''ll need it as part of the treatment" [Ash] "Understood, I''ll make it and freeze it inside the ice box" [Claude] "Thanks" [Ash] And after making sure they had cleaned themselves, it''s time to sleep . . . _________________________________________________ This sensation, it feels familiar... "Long time no see, Ash" [Goddess Achalasia] "!" [Ash] "..." [God of Death] Eh, wait a minute, this, just wait a minute "Am I dead!?" [Ash] No way, I just started enjoying my new life, taking care of those ten sweetie pie, getting along with my new friends, and even met my mother for a brief moment, this, this can''t be happening! "Calm down, you aren''t dead, we are visiting you inside of your dream" [Goddess Achalasia] "I see, haha... sorry for making such a ruckus" [Ash] "..." [God of Death] Well, that sure is embarrassing "Judging by your reaction just now, it''s safe to say you have been enjoying your new life on Achalasia" [Goddess Achalasia] "I am, thank you very, very, very much for giving me this chance" [Ash] "You are welcome, though that gratitude should also be directed to both of your parents, you do remember they''re the one giving you the chance" [Goddess Achalasia] "How could I ever forget" [Ash] "Good" [Goddess Achalasia] "..." [God of Death] Still, both Goddess Achalasia as well as the God of Death themselves come and visit me, just why? "Well then Ash, can I ask what you have learned from this world so far?" [Goddess Achalasia] Ahh... I see, Goddess Achalasia did tell me to find out what''s happening in this world all by myself, well so far what I have learned are... "First, there''s the dungeon which connects all the countries that have been floating around in the space. This dungeon which is covered by a wormhole have their own ecosystem exist inside of them, but one thing they all have in common is the Watcher. This interconnection between dungeon and the floating countries are known as Achalasia, and beyond this world of Achalasia, lies the nothingness, in which it''s said that even the goddess have no control over it, and that''s where the fallen god and his followers, the devil clan reside." [Ash] That''s one of the most important things that I have learned so far in this world, and that''s all thanks to Claude. "Still, I just don''t get it, just why do this Watcher exist, for what purpose they display our activities inside the dungeon to the masses, and just how did each dungeon have their own unique ecosystem" [Ash] "You will learn it later, you still have time" [Goddess Achalasia] "..." [God of Death] Time? Did she mean... "Well, onto the second one, there''s this group that called themselves as Achalasia Externa, a faction among the old follower of Achalasia religion, and their belief is that one can met the goddess should they manage to control the dungeon, which will open the path to world beyond Achalasia, but, I get this feeling that what they will find is nothing but trouble" [Ash] Well, I might jinx it now, but... "Going by logic, wouldn''t that mean they will end up into the nothingness?" [Ash] "You get that right, sort of!" [Goddess Achalasia] "Huh?" [Ash] "..." [God of death] "Well, how about we continue first" [Goddess Achalasia] "Right, next up, I do learn about the existence of those that can fight with said fallen god as well as the devil clan. The first of their kind are said to be a group of ten people, with your blessings, manages to chased out the fallen god into the nothingness. Their leader at that time are said to be a saint and a saintess who are both in love with each other but sadly die before they can get married alongside with others" [Ash] They go by multiple name, but sadly, I can''t confirm their real name. Even Claude themselves don''t know that "Then, there''s the matter of the devil clan invasion into this world, the last episode happened 100 years ago, and once again, the group of people with your blessings manages to drove them back into the nothingness, as usual, it started with an appearance of group of ten people which grew in number as well as the number of those receiving your blessing. Still, I can''t find their pattern, neither did the scholar in this world" [Ash] Well, that''s about it I guess... still, they''re something that been lingering inside my mind, this is nothing more than a speculation, a mere thought that I wish would not happen "Well, how about you just said it out, I can read your mind but it will be more interesting if you said it" [Goddess Achalasia] "..." [God of Death] "Well, if you said so... those kids, just, just what are they? I mean, could it be..." [Ash] No, please don''t tell me, it couldn''t be, those people all die, just please, please tell me it''s a joke "No, no it isn''t" [Goddess Achalasia] "..." [God of Death] "JUST WHY!" [Ash] Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? JUST WHY!!! Reasons? "The day I met them, there''s already eleven set of bread, inside my item box, I thought it was mere coincidence, or maybe it''s your way of helping them but, the series of good luck that I get afterward, I can''t help but to felt something off. The sudden behemoth attack inside the city protected by the goddess blessings, it might be Achalasia Externa doing, but somehow I get the feeling that''s also part of your plan. They also have such excellent skills and magic, which Claude described to as similar to his old master, not only that, even Mom herself told me to take care of them with such sad and yet hopeful voices, so why!" [Ash] Why, I just wish they wouldn''t be involved in this things. When Claude told me about the devil clan and the fallen god, there''s this feeling inside of me, a voice that tells me those ten, it might be them "You did well, figuring it out" [Goddess Achalasia] "It''s just my intuition, a mere thought, I don''t even have any concrete evidence and yet, just why this this stupid intuition of mine turned out to be true..." [Ash] Plus, I''m pretty sure one of the tests the Goddess tell me before is to train them "You are wrong" [Goddess Achalasia] "!" [Ash] "I want you, to make them happy. To let them enjoy their childhood, to let them learn about this world, and I want you to save them!" [Goddess Achalasia] "Huh? But the previous, they are all dead!" [Ash] "That''s true, but some of them do reincarnated. Plus, you have met them" [Goddess Achalasia] "Huh? Who?" [Ash] "..." [God of Death] "Well, you still have much more to learn then" [Goddess Achalasia] "..." [God of Death] "Sigh... is there, really a way to save them?" [Ash] "There is, but that''s a talk in the future, for now, you still haven''t learned much regarding this world, so let us take it one step at a time" [Goddess Achalasia] "If you said so..." [Ash] And another thing, "Regarding your mother, why she could use magic and seems to know about this world? That''s one of the thing you should find out" [Goddess Achalasia] "I will!" [Ash] "..." [God of Death] Goddess Achalasia sure love to test me out, but It''s logical if you think about it, god give us mortal a test to make us grow. She wouldn''t want to put her trust onto someone weak like me, I mean, I got killed by my drunk uncle whose abused me for years, such weakness if you ask me. If I were to be in her place, I wouldn''t put my hope to such a weak kid, but she still did and that''s all thanks to my parents . . . "Goddess Achalasia, God of Death, can I make an oath?" "You may" [Goddess Achalasia] "..." [God of Death] "I, Ash, son of Vincent and Maria, will make this oath. With the Goddess Achalasia and God of Death as witnesses, I''ll make sure those ten kids, and those who will fight the devil as well as the fallen god alongside them, safe and happy! I''ll promise in name of both of my parents, I''ll find a way to save them! Most importantly, I''ll make sure that they will be happy!" [Ash] "Very well, I, The Goddess of this world, received your oath" [Goddess Achalasia] The goddess smile, she had approved my oath, as for the God of Death, with his skeletal hand, he simply taps my left shoulder, before moving his hand inside my body, stopping his hand right inside my heart. It''s nerve-wrecking. Once he pulled back his hand outside without harming me "I approved your oath" [God of Death] "Thank you! Thank you Goddess Achalasia, thank you God of Death" [Ash] This is the first time I heard him speak. "Very well Ash, this should do it for our first meeting. Please, uphold that oath, and please grow strong enough for us to give you the second blessing. It''s an important blessings after all" [Goddess Achalasia] "..." [God of Death] "I will" [Ash] Rean Elise Kara Mara Zerolith Karon Farhah Singa Savel Charlotte "I''ll become strong enough, strong enough to protect all of you!" [Ash] _________________________________________________ Someone is jumping up and down, it hurts. As I open up my eye, I can see Charlotte trying her best to wakes me up by jumping into my body "Charlotte, please stop" [Ash] "The Princess, the princess wanted to meet you right now!" [Charlotte] "Right, I will, tell her I will get ready in five minutes" [Ash] Well, should wash my face, brush my teeth and changed my clothes at least . . . And done, perfect! As I went downstairs, I can see her face. Just why did she have to make those face? Have something happened to her? "Ash! Please, help Qis!" [Diana] Chapter 39 - Helping Qis part 1 _________________________________________________ [Morning, at the adventure guild] "What! Is that true!" [Alice] Alice shout, it''s deafening, so much so that the adventures that are busy seeing the request in the board stop and look at her. Noticing it, she quickly blushed before quickly asking Syah and Mimi for details "Ash, did he really cure both Borg and Lin?" [Alice] "No doubt about it, their conditions are becoming better" [Syah] "That''s why we thought of informing Guild Master Ram on this matter" [Mimi] "Understood, I''ll quickly tell him about it, can you please wait here for a while" [Alice] Alice quickly went to the guild master room, and... "What! Is that true!" [Ram] Another deafening shout can be heard. Now the whole guild can''t help but to press Syah and Mimi for answer "Something happened?" [Samurai Jacks] "Well, good news! Borg and Lin, they''re both cured of the endemic disease!" [Mimi] "What! Is that true!" [Adventure] "I swear to god, plus, just how many times had I heard those sentences!" [Mimi] "Well, three times" [Elf adventure] "My my, thank you for your valuable insight!" [Mimi] "Mimi, calm down" [Syah] While the adventure are talking about it, Ram came out from his office and quickly ask Syah and Mimi for details, before "I see, Alice, you come with us. We are going to see those two conditions first." [Ram] "Understood, but why me?" [Alice] "I''ll just throw Ash related matter to you from now on" [Ram] "What!" [Alice] "Guild master, someone is jealous" [Mimi] "Oh, don''t worry Jacks, she is just playing hard to catch" [Ram] "I can confirm that" [Female adventure] "Am not!" [Alice] And there they go, leaving behind Jacks who are now being cheers by other female adventures _________________________________________________ "I see now, poor Jacks" [Ash] "I know right!" [Mimi] So basically, Syah and Mimi told the adventure guild master about yesterday --> they checked Borg and Lin''s conditions --> tell Diana about it --> Diana confirm it herself --> Diana comes here, asking for help Right now, I am being told that Syah and Alice are accompanying Gizzere, so that Gizzere can confirm the situation herself. As for Ram and Mimi, they accompanied Diana to meet me "Please Ash, help Qis! I''ll pay whatever price you ask for!" [Diana] "Slow down there Diana, I''ll help her. Just let me prepare first" [Ash] I still haven''t taken a bath yet. Somehow, I get this feeling that if I were to help and treat Qis in such messy condition, mom will scold me. So... "Claude, can you give Mimi the yogurts that I ask you to make yesterday, and please prepare some chicken soup and some fresh yogurts for Qis as well. Mimi, make sure that Borg and Lin eats the yogurts" [Ash] "Understood" [Claude, Mimi] "Ram, can you tell the adventure that I''ll be closing the training hall today. I get the feeling that we will all be busy today, so it''s better to just close the training hall today" [Ash] "Sure" [Ram] "Can we go with Aunt Mimi?" [Farhah] "Aunt huh..." [Mimi] "Yup, as long as grandmother Mimi permit" [Ash] "Ash!" [Mimi] "Can we?" [Mara] "Sure you can" [Mimi] "Right, please take care of them, great-grandmother Mimi" [Ash] "I swear to god if you call me that, I''ll beat you!" [Mimi] "Joking, Joking" [Ash] "Grandpa Claude, if Liyana come, can you tell her that we are visiting Ray and Mile" [Elise] "Sure. Ash, tell me their address, just in case if Liyana herself ask" [Claude] "Right" [Ash] And with that, the ten of them prepare to go out. As for me, I just need ten minutes to prepare, didn''t want Diana to wait long. For breakfast, I''ll just take some breads with cheese prepared by Claude "Want some?" [Ash] "No, it''s alright" [Diana] "And how about the 12... no, 10 guards that''s hiding? You want some?" [Ash] "Let just move now, please" [Diana] "Sure" [Ash] With her carriage, we speed up to the castle. Sigh... just how many times do I have to go to the castle, plus, is commoner, no traveler like me even allowed to go in and out multiple times? Well, it''s not like I ask for it plus, I am here for work related matter, so I guess it''s fine. Still... "Don''t worry, I''ll try my best to cure her" [Ash] "Please do so!" [Diana] "She must be an important friend" [Ash] "Yes, yes she is" [Diana] "Well, time to make her owe me one" [Ash] "And what exactly are you planning to make her do!?" [Diana] "Relax, I''ll just ask her to be nicer to my siblings the next time they met, that''s all" [Ash] "I see, Well, she had always been nice, it''s just that she takes her job seriously" [Diana] "I noticed that as well, she just doesn''t want those kids to break the castle protocol or whatever you call by being overly familiarize with you. Basically she doesn''t want those siblings of mine to act the way I did, but other than that, she''s one of the few guards, knights and noble who doesn''t seems bother about race and position" [Ash] "Well, glad you notice that" [Diana] It''s quite obvious, unlike the Rude Captain and Liyana''s guard, she''s nicer. She scolded them for appropriate reason, like how one time she almost snap when Kara hug Diana, not because of something like "know your position you commoner!" but more like "where are your manner!". Basically, she''s just strict about these kind of thing And there''s the familiar wall surrounding the castle, well have to endure it for her sake. Once we went inside however... "It''s impossible, we would not help you!" [?] "Please, uphold your healer oath!" [?] "Hmph, I would not treat those who support the new saint and saintess!" [?] Who is that, no judging by his appearance and how he behaves, he must be one of the old followers. Plus, those five, aren''t they the one that wanted to kill my siblings back in the dungeon... their arms! How? I thought I had ripped it back then. Looks like someone heals it, no heals is not the appropriate words here, someone regenerated those arms back, could it be that guy who is shouting. Plus, just why is he shouting towards those guys? "Looks!" [Follower A] "Shit, it''s him again!" [Follower E] "Oh my, looks like someone regenerates your arms back, good for you. Be warned though, head couldn''t be regenerated" [Ash] "!" [Follower C] Well, instead of just passing through, I just felt like threatening them more. However, "You, don''t you have any idea what you have done to us, the true follower of the Goddess Achalasia!" [?] "Oh, I do, I''m simply upholding the justice, doesn''t want the goddess name to be tainted by their actions" [Ash] "Why you, don''t you know who you are speaking to!" [Follower D] "Shees... thus everyone here in Estel born from a broken music box? Don''t you have any variation to said those words. And no, to answer your question, I don''t know who is he, and please don''t enlighten me, I''ll just remember him as old man after all" [Ash] "Ash, let us get going. Yefefiah and the other as well, follow me" [Diana] "But Princess Diana, your guard, she is!" [Yefefiah] "Don''t worry, Ash here will cure her" [Diana] "!" [Others] Chapter 40 - Helping Qis part 2 "What are you saying, that''s impossi..." [Old follower leader] "Yeah, yeah. It''s impossible, you are a commoner/traveler, what would you know about treating an illness. Got anymore of that? If so, please tell me within the span of 5 seconds since I don''t have enough time listening to your babbling. Thank you" [Ash] "You, you should pay some resp..." [Follower A] "Yeah, yeah. You should pay some respects, don''t you know he is something something, do so or else you will get punished by god. Anything I miss?" [Ash] "Why you!" [Follower B] "Guess it''s a no then, bye" [Ash] "Wait, we are following you, there''s no way we can let you treat someone important without our supervision!" [Old follower leader] "Oh my, I thought you don''t want to treat her just now? What happen? Or could it be that you''re lusting to see her body? For a holy person, you sure are a pervert" [Ash] "HEY!" [Old follower E] "Looks, I would "love" to talk to you about how great you are, and how it''s impossible for me to treat her according to your who knew from where standard, but ALAS I''m too lazy right now, so either you give up or get lost!" [Ash] "Wait, you two there, how about you come with us, Qis is a lady after all, that way, there are people from the old follower that can see the process" [Diana] "Is that alright?" [Ash] "Of course, they do insist on seeing it. If they don''t, they can simply say that Qis heal by herself, or worse, proclaim it''s their doing" [Diana] "Well, they can still say it''s theirs doing even after I cure her" [Ash] "There''s 80% chance that will happen, unless the high priest here remember that lying is a sin" [Diana] "Tch!" [Old follower leader] (She sure is savage) [Ash] "Yefefiah, gather the other and ask them to come to the treatment room as soon as possible!" [Diana] "Understood, Princess Diana!" [Yefefiah] There she goes, running to call her other companions. According to Diana, Yefefiah is from the angel race, they can usually hide their wing inside their body, but most chose not to. Their wings colour usually follows their hair and eyes colour, and in Yefefiah case, it''s white, similar to her hair. Well then, guess the two of us will be stuck with followers B and D for a while. Both of them, they''re glaring hard at me, almost felt like a laser beam can suddenly be shoot from their eyes. Well, just ignored them "Hey you, why do you associate yourself with those non-human?" [Follower B] "..." [Ash] "Answer me!" [Follower B] Guess I can''t ignore her, sigh... "Why shouldn''t I?" [Ash] "Huh, that doesn''t even answer my question!" [Follower B] "And you, why would you kill them?" [Ash] "That''s because..." [Follower B] "Yeah, yeah, judging by your tone, I can already guess the answer, do me a favour and just keep quiet" [Ash] "Haha, you really are funny Ash" [Diana] "..." [Follower D] (That girl seems to be thinking of something, wonder what is it?) [Ash, Diana] And after a brief walk, we can see a group of young healer waiting for us In front of the treatment room. They''re all excited to learn how to treat this disease. Good, when the students are enthusiastic to learn, so does the teacher that will teach them. Guess I can''t betray everyone expectation Yefefiah open up the room for us, and thank god, it doesn''t reek like Borg and Lin''s house (sorry both of you, but it''s really reeks yesterday). Guess the castle hygiene standards really are good. There''s only Qis inside the room, lying on the bed. I asked Diana whether there are other beside Qis who have similar illness, but most of them are in mild stage according to her and the Queen forces them to works. Well, it wouldn''t be long before the disease progresses, so better cure Qis and then the others "Princess... and... you, what are you doing here?" [Qis] (She''s in much worse conditions than I thought) [Ash] "Qis, It''s fine, I call him here so that he can treat you" [Diana] "Really?" [Qis] "What''s with that doubtful voice" [Ash] "Ash!" [Diana] "Joking" [Ash] Well, should start the treatment now, according to mom, I should see her hydration status first. Well, in her case, it doesn''t take a genius to figure it out, so I should give her the homemade ORS. Still, mom did say something about building a rapport first, so... "Qis, you''re severely dehydrated, so please drink this first, it''s better as compared to plain water" [Ash] "Alright?" [Qis] "?" [Diana] I''m trying my best here to imitate mom, so can you please not make that face Diana! Still, she sure is struggling to drink the water, guess it just show how weak she is right now. Well, since she''s taking her time, I should teach them about the ORS properties, plus, all the young healers are whispering to each other, asking about those ORS but none knows what it is, so "Well, inside our digestive tract, water are absorb along with salt, so that''s why I put some table salt as to increase water absorption. Plus, during diarrhea, both water and salts are lost, so we have to replenish those two together, as for the sugar, it follows the same principle, getting absorb along with the salts" [Ash] "I see" [Yefefiah] "Well, afterward, we will ask the patient to drink and eat this chicken soup. Just like the ORS, they will help to replenish the salts as well as providing extra boost in energy, plus, it''s good for an upset stomach" [Ash] "How much should we give them?" [Young healer] "I''m not sure of the exact quantity, but as long as the patient can eat and tolerate it, you should give it to them. If possible, take it at regular intervals" [Ash] "Well Qis, you heard what he says, now eat this chicken soup, and don''t force yourself too much" [Diana] "I will..." [Qis] and there she go, eating the broth first. I should explain my next step "Right, now it''s time for the next step, searching for the causative organism as well as treating it" [Ash] "Organism?" [Yefefiah] (I see, no wonder mom used the word agent yesterday, now then, how to explain...) [Ash] "Basically, there''s this very tiny living form, smaller than a grain of sand that can cause havoc when they enter the human body. They will try to settle inside of us, multiplying and then, these kinds of things happen" [Ash] As I said that, I showed them the image of bacteria entering the human body through food, good thing I practice my illusion magic, it sure comes in handy. I wonder if I can use it to teach other subjects as well? As for the young healers, they''re all taking in notes, their handwriting however... well they''re doctor. Even the two old followers, Diana and Qis seems focusing on my explanation just now. "So, how do you plan to search this organism?" [Follower D] "Good question, by scan magic. Since this endemic disease targets that of the digestive tract, we should focus on that one, but it doesn''t hurt to search elsewhere" [Ash] With that being said "Qis, will you allow me to examine you, I''ll use my scan magic and mainly focus around your abdomen area, afterward, I''ll use my cure magic and destroy the said organism" [Ash] "Please, do so" [Qis] "Thank you" [Ash] And here we go, using the scan magic. Mom''s mana sure have it effect on me as well, my scan magic suddenly become better, and in no time I can find the causative organism "Here are the list of organism involved" [Ash] As I said that, I display the scan magic result to them, even explaining how I did it in the process, basically you just have to know what you''re looking for. The normal scan magic in this world will give you basic information, more powerful scan magic will give more results, here however, mom taught of searching for that specific organism, making the scan magic more reliable "How do you treat it?" [Yefefiah] "Another good question, simple, we destroy it" [Ash] Well, back on earth, we have antibiotics, here, we have magic, but mom however, combine both of them. She literally uses her magic to make an antibiotic and destroy those bacterias. Then, she replenish Borg and Lin''s mana supply yesterday by channeling her own. She said that since this world do have magic, the bacteria and other microorganisms here also affect the magic, but she said not to worry much, as she couldn''t find the bacteria that directly affects the magic right now. Well, time to show them how it''s done "Qis, I will start the treatment now, I''m sorry if you felt uncomfortable during this whole process, but please bare it for a while" [Ash] "I will" [Qis] And here we go, supplying the magic just like how mom taught, basically pouring my cure magic, make an antibiotic and see which antibiotics are effective and then replicate it further, but have to be careful or else they will become resistance to it "And done, how do you feel!" [Ash] "Qis!" [Diana] "It, it doesn''t hurt!" [Qis] "Qis!" [Diana] "Princess, please don''t hug me, I''m still dirty" [Qis] "Nonsense, plus I can just clean myself afterward" [Diana] "Well, we should get out first, don''t want to disturb them" [Ash] "Ash..." [Qis] "What?" [Ash] "Thanks" [Qis] "Qis, thank him properly!" [Diana] "Yeah, don''t you know basic manner" [Ash] "Ash, I know you''re joking, but please don''t make this any harder" [Diana] "Thank you for treating me, I owe you one" [Qis] "You''re welcome, get some good rest, clean yourself properly afterward. If your condition suddenly become worse, don''t hesitate to call me" [Ash] "We will, thank you Ash" [Diana] "Don''t worry, well, we should get moving now. The old follower as well, don''t just stand there!'' [Ash] ""..."" [Young healers] ""..."" [Follower B, D] "Just move now!" [Ash] Ohh, almost forgot, better give her some yogurt. Why? To replenish the good bacteria inside the gut Chapter 41 - Rafiah Since Qis is now better, should I cure the castle''s workers as well? I mean, it''s far better to treat them at their current stage, rather than just letting the disease progresses. Afterward though, I have to find the source. I''m not sure if they already knew from where the source is, so I should ask Diana first. If they had identified the source of infection, then I can focus on treating the other, but if not, then I can just volunteer and find the source myself. It might be hard, but, seeing as how Ray and his siblings life were affected, I can''t just kept quiet about it. Plus, he is just one of the many victims, not to mention the merchants that are taking advantage of the current situation and increase the price of medicine. That''s all depend on Diana, I''m sure as a princess, she have a better grasp of the overall situation, and she would be able to utilize me better rather than me running solo. So, I should ask her first before doing anything "Umm..." [Yefefiah] "What is it, Yefefiah right?" [Ash] "Yes, could you teach us the scan and cure magic you use right now" [Yefefiah] Ohh, they''re interested in learning, they''re young healers after all, basically they''re the same as medical student back on earth. Hmm... It''s far better for them to learn and practice it right away rather than just explaining it to them, so I guess it should be fine. "Sure, you can. Just bring anyone who''s contracted with the disease, I''ll guide you one by one" [Ash] "Thank you great healer!" [Yefefiah] "No, I have to correct you on that one. My mom is a healer (well, doctor is basically a healer), not me. She just taught me about this disease, so in a sense, no sincerely speaking, my medical knowledge is lower than you are, so please don''t call me that" [Ash] "If you insist" [Yefefiah] "We should gather them all here then!" [Young healer A] "Sure, and it''s better for us to split up and search for them" [Young healer B] "Right! Let us start right away!" [Yefefiah] They sure are excited, not that I could blame them. In fact, it''s better that way, their reaction remind me of the day when those siblings of mine learned about alphabet. "Good, good" [Ash] Can''t help but to say that out loud, even I myself am excited to teach them "Umm..." [Old follower D] "What is it?" [Ash] "Can, can you, teach me as well?" [Old follower D] "Rafiah, have you gone crazy!" [Old follower B] That sure is shocking, looks, even her friend is currently staring at her in disbelief. "Can you?" [Rafiah] "Rafiah! No, no you can''t! We are going back right now and that''s final!" [Old follower B] "..." [Rafiah] Ohh... she is resisting. Plus, if I''m not mistaken, she''s the one that worried about how the new saint and saintess will scold them for their actions back in the dungeon, plus, I don''t remember her talking bad about my siblings. Only the others male followers did that, but not her (well, this friend of her also didn''t talk bad things regarding my siblings, but she seems to be in agreement with others) "Any reason?" [Ash] "..." [Rafiah] "Screw this, what have you done to her!" [Old follower B] "I don''t know, I might have secretly charm her" [Ash] "NO!" [Rafiah] "That actually hurts" [Ash] She thought I was serious just now, and ouch, that respond. Well, you reap what you sow "Reason... I''m not sure, just wanted to learn" [Rafiah] "But, there''s far better great healer than he is back to where we belong! So why choose him!" [Old follower B] "Yeah, that''s a logical counter argument right there" [Ash] I''m curious, so I guess I should play along right now to get some honest answer "Those guys, never teach us anything... plus, shouldn''t we be helping other..." [Rafiah] "But, it''s this country fault for supporting the new saint and saintess! It should be considered as their retribution for doing so!" [Old follower B] "I see, so I guess us supporting the new saint and saintess automatically make us the sinner here" [Diana] Just when did you come? Maybe it''s because of me getting to absorb in this conversation that I didn''t notice her coming. "Tch! Don''t play dumb! There''s no way the new saint and saintess can get to that position! Plus, not when the saintess is..." [Old follower B] "Enough!" [Diana] ""!!"" [Ash, Rafiah] Huh, she suddenly shouted, why? "If you don''t have anything else to said, you can leave, or else I''ll call the guard!" [Diana] "Fine! Rafiah, we are leaving" [Old follower B] As she said that, she tries to drag Rafiah along with her, but, Rafiah simply refuses "Rafiah! Have you forgotten what the church did to you! They helped us when we are in bind! Now is the time we should help them!" [Old follower B] "I know..." [Rafiah] "Then why!" [Old follower B] "Because..." [Rafiah] Something wrong here, it''s like she''s scared of something, but just what is it? Should I interfere? What should I do? Try to find the middle ground... maybe "Sorry, but can you go first, I will teach your friend here about the treatment than she can just go back to you guys" [Ash] "Huh? Are you crazy, there''s no way we would do that!" [Old follower B] Yup, not working. Now, what should I do "Rafiah, if you don''t come now, this will be the end to our friendship!" [Old follower B] "..." [Rafiah] "Rafiah..." [Old follower B] She, she just went to Diana side. Huh? Why? Plus, this mana of her, she''s from the... no way! But how come she joined the old follower then? "....." [Old follower B] And that girl simply left, she doesn''t show any sort of emotion, she''s simply blank, unable to process what just happened. Rafiah on the other hand, keep on saying sorry with such little crying voice. Diana tries to cheer her up, and it work (a bit) "Well, do you have anyone you know here?" [Ash] She shake her head... "How about you come and live with us" [Ash] "!" [Rafiah] "ASH!" [Diana] "No, I''m not a pervert, I''m simply concern here, since..." [Ash] She might want to keep it a secret, so, should I ask Diana to leave first. Mehh, that will simply complicate this matter, so I should just ask her "Just how did you manage to hide your race? No, I do know how, it''s the effect of concealment from that bracelet, so my real question is just how did you find yourself with them" [Ash] "!" [Rafiah] "Ehh... what do you mean Ash?" [Diana] "You are, a half angel and half demon, aren''t you?" [Ash] "What?" [Diana] She nodded. After making sure there''s nobody is watching us, I use my illusion magic to make us disappear for a while, and once I told her that, she removed the bracelet. Her short black hair and black eyes turn into that of blonde, with silver horn similar to Zerolith protruding out from her temporal bone. On her left side, is a wing of an angel, and on another side, is a silver colour wing, similar to that of a bat "..." [Rafiah] "This is..." [Diana] "Sorry... sorry... sorry..." [Rafiah] "Sorry? What for?" [Ash] "Sorry... sorry... sorry..." [Rafiah] "Rafiah..." [Diana] "I ask you once again..." [Ash] "Sorry... sorry... sorry..." [Rafiah] "Sigh... I get it. I won''t ask you for details, but in return, just tell me, do you want to come and take shelter with us? If you don''t, I can pay for your inn, there''s this nice inn that I know" [Ash] "..." [Rafiah] She nodded, well, at least she has calm down a little "Which one?" [Ash] "Can I, meet those kids first. Then, I will decide" [Rafiah] "Why?" [Ash] "To ask for forgiveness..." [Rafiah] "I see, sure" [Ash] "That''s quick" [Diana] "Well, I can''t sense any malicious intent from her, so I guess it should be fine, for now. Just a warning though, don''t try anything funny on them" [Ash] Still have to say that, who knew if she''s just faking it, but I''m 99.9% sure she isn''t "I won''t, and thanks" [Rafiah] "You''re welcome" [Ash] "Don''t do anything funny to her!" [Diana] "I WON''T! And what''s with that face! At least trust me a little" [Ash] Well, I know she''s joking, but that sure hurts, a lot! With that, Rafiah wear back her bracelet, turn to her human appearance, and I just dispel the illusion magic. "Well, I should say welcome to our home for now" [Ash] "Thank you" [Rafiah] And there''s the young healers, slowly gathering one by one Chapter 42 - Teaching the young healers There are 20 people that are currently ill due to the seasonal endemic disease, quite a low number if you ask me. Hygiene do play an important role after all. This beg a question, just why did Qis the only one with such severe symptoms while others in the castle get off with mild to moderate one? Hmm... I should ask them what have they done the past week, maybe it will give me some clue "Is this fine?" [Yefefiah] "Perfect! Now, told her what to do next" [Ash] "Right!" [Yefefiah] Yefefiah is currently treating a young maid, well she''s older than I am, but still can be considered young. I told them that I would supervise their actions, and as for the cure magic part which combine magic and also making the antibiotics from it "Listen here, healing magic, cure magic, and those magics that have similar effect can be derived from three sources, water, light and neutral magic" [Ash] "Ehh? Neutral?" [Yefefiah] "What?" [Diana] "Is that true?" [Young healer C] "You heard that right. There''re this misconceptions that only those with light or water magic can use it. In a way, that''s true as they''ve easier time to use this kind of magic, but in truth, since everyone can use neutral magic, then in theory everyone can use healing magic" [Ash] "..." [Maid] "..." [Knight] "..." [Yefefiah] "..." [Diana] "Well, moving on..." [Ash] "Wait? Can''t you explain more!" [Diana] "Sigh... later" [Ash] I can''t blame them, unlike me who get this knowledge directly from Goddess Achalasia, they''re studying and researching about magic by their own, and thus, it''s logical for them not to know about it. But, I just can''t get used to their reactions "Well, onto the next part, for this part, you need to integrate both your scan magic as well as your healing magic. To do so, focus your scan magic into your eyes and focus on the organism that you want to destroy." [Ash] "Like this?" [Rafiah] "Good" [Ash] She has calm down now, her crying just then really make us worried, but now she is actually having fun I guess? The young healer seems to be reluctant to let her join at first, but Diana and I scolded them for it. "So what makes you different from them?" is the question the both of us thrown to make them reflect their action. Of course they''re still kinda reluctant, but at least they''re not going to stop her from learning, which is good. Should take it slowly, I can''t hope miracle to happen and they suddenly become friendly "They''re many red spot! Forming a sea of red in her abdomen area!" [Rafiah] "Really! Where! I can''t see it" [Yefefiah] "Umm... can you show us how you do it!" [Young healer A] "Ri.. right" [Rafiah] Alright, that''s far quicker than I thought. Not that I would complaint about it. They''re fellow healers after all, they should work together. Right now, they''re sharing tips on how to do it effectively, even Diana and the castle worker join in as well. If course, I guided them. When the last young healer finally manage to see the sea of red "I did it!" [Young healer E] "Good, now to destroy that bacteria. With your healing magic, you should make different type of healing properties to it, and test out which one of it works best for the particular disease. Once you manage to find the best one, keep on using it until the sea of red completely disappeared. And I do mean COMPLETELY. Human aren''t the only living form capable of adaptation. This guy right here are far more ferocious than us. If you let even one red dot left untreated, it will multiply back and the same treatment won''t work again, this could prove fatal" [Ash] As I said that, I show them how to manipulate one own mana to have different type of healing properties. This process is one of important factor to evolve one healing magic to cure magic, and even after this, they''re still many forms of diseases, with some not even due to infection. They should practice it more and more with different kind of disease, plus having to memorize each disease and their treatment, all of which necessary for them to be branded as healer, and along the way, their healing magic will surely become cure magic With that being said, I have to monitor each one of them. They''re struggling, that''s to be expected but nonetheless, they''re doing their best. They really need good mana control, even more precise as compared to that of knights and adventures. Controlling their mana is one thing, changing it to treat the disease is another thing, but slowly "We did it!" [Yefefiah] "We did!" [Rafiah] "Not quite, they''re still some red spot left" [Ash] "But, its colour is lighter as compared to before" [Yefefiah] "That still will give them the chance to proliferate later on, so kill them" [Ash] "Right!" [Rafiah] "I''m tired, Rafiah, please support me!" [Yefefiah] She nodded. It''s an exhaustive process, but they just have to get used to it. Slowly but surely "We have done it!" [Yefefiah] "Let me check" [Ash] Well, they did a good job. I can''t find any red spot, not inside the digestive tract nor anywhere else "Great job, now onto the next one" [Ash] ""!!"" [Yefefiah, Rafiah] "Joking, just take a break first" [Ash] ""Yes!!"" [Yefefiah, Rafiah] "Pretty sure you aren''t" [Diana] "Who knows" [Ash] Well, there are only 20 of them, so I guess they can take their leisurely time for now. As for me, better to treat the other first, don''t want them to wait so long for it. As I treat each worker, the young healers ask me to check their treatment effectiveness, they still struggle to eliminate the colonies of harmful bacteria completely, so I have to pushed them for that. Plus, this is only mild to moderate case, if it''s a severe one, they need to spend more effort to wipe them out, a far harder task than this one. Well, thank to mom for teaching me, and also thanks to Goddess Achalasia for giving me her blessings, I didn''t find it difficult, but I''m sure it''s a difficult process, so that''s why I didn''t scold them for trying it for the first time. Time move on, at its near dusk when "There, don''t forget to find us if you experience the same symptoms. Plus, take this yogurt and make sure you''re adequately hydrated throughout the day" [Young healer C] "I will, thank you for healing us!" [Butler] "Welcome!" [Young healer D] "We did it!" [Yefefiah] "Nice work everyone!" [Young healer A] "You guys did a great job" [Diana] "They sure do" [Ash] That completes today treatment (and teaching session) "Still, you''re not only good at healing magic, but also with other magic" [Rafiah] "Yeah, you really can use neutral mana to cure them" [Yefefiah] "Plus, we also saw how you use light and water magic to do the same when teaching us" [Young healer A] "Is it true that you can use every kind of magic?" [Young healer C] "I can" [Ash] It''s an open secret, everyone knows about it (I think) "Can you teach me magic as well?" [Diana] "Sure, just come to the mansion, I can teach you there along with my siblings" [Ash] "Can I bring them as well?" [Diana] "Why not, but..." [Ash] Should I just make an open class? Some young adventure, kids around the neighborhood area and some common soldiers have requested me to teach them. "Can we? Rafiah included of course!" [Yefefiah] "!" [Rafiah] "Well, I have got a lot of requests, might as well just make a schedule for it. I''ll come back to you guys later when I sort it out" [Ash] "It''s a promise then!" [Diana] "Yes" [Ash] "Now then, follow me. I had asked father, Ram and Gizzere to met with you so that we could discuss what to do" [Diana] "Can I skip, I''m too lazy right now" [Ash] "I don''t know, can you?" [Diana] "Fine" [Ash] I can''t win when she makes that terrifying smile, so it''s better to just give up "Rafiah, can you wait here for a while? I''ll come as soon as possible" [Ash] "I will" [Rafiah] "A scandal?" [Yefefiah] "NO!" [Rafiah] "Don''t worry, I will accompany her, can''t let a juicy story goes unheard" [Yefefiah] "Thank you, let''s go Ash" [Diana] "Right..." [Ash] Chapter 43 - Outing with others part 1 [Elise point of view] It''s morning already. They''re all still sleeping, Charlotte even giggle in her sleep. I wonder what she''s dreaming right now. We are all tired. Yesterday, many things happen, from the bus golem that Brother Ash make, to us making new friends as well as our training session inside the open field dungeon. It was fun. Usually, only high Knights, and nobles will receive proper education including magic education, so what us commoner can do is just begging them to teach us. But brother Ash is different, he didn''t even mind teaching us all about everything, from mathematics to magic, even going as far as to lend a helping hand to a young noble lady, Lady Liyana. Plus, we get to make new friends yesterday, Liyana, Ray, Mile, Kat, and Blanc. They''re all nice people, so I hope we can continue on being friends. Mile''s parent contracted the endemic disease, and in bind, they searched the open field dungeon for any plants to actually cure them, but they''re almost killed by an orc. If it wasn''t for Behe and Brother Ash, who knew what will happen. Then, Brother Ash actually managed to cure them. Unbelievable. Brother Ash, just who are you? "Alright, wake up everyone!" [Elise] "Ok..." [Kara] "5 more minutes" [Mara] "10 more minutes" [Farhah] "Hehehe..." [Charlotte] They didn''t even bother listening to me. "WAKE UP!" [Elise] "!" [Others] There, removing the blanket should do the trick. I understand that the bed here are soft, and our way of living improve significantly as compared to living in those slump, but that doesn''t excuse this behaviour. "Meany..." [Farhah] "Agree" [Mara] They''re angry, but as an elder sister, I have the duty to guide them properly. Grandpa Claude and Brother Ash themselves said that. Should take a bath and clean up our room first. "I''ll go to bathe first, you guys clean the bed " [Elise] "Too late!" [Charlotte] "Charlotte don''t run inside the bathroom!" [Kara] I guess Mara, Farhah and I will clean the bedroom first then. Once everyone gets themselves ready "Brother Ash still hasn''t wakes up?" [Elise] "No, he''s still sleeping" [Rean] "That''s rare" [Farhah] "Indeed" [Zerolith] Usually, both Brother Ash and Grandpa Claude will be the first to wake up, but today, he is still sleeping "Maybe he''s tired since he had to treat Ray''s parents yesterday" [Karon] "Might be the case, so let just give him some more time to sleep" [Claude] Agree. I''m sure treating someone and using such a difficult magic would take a great toll on his body, so "Let us prepare some breakfast for him!" [Elise] "Toast! He loved our toast!" [Singa] "How about some grilled cheese as well? It''s delicious" [Savel] "It''s decided" [Claude] As usual, we will divide ourselves to clean and cook. Since I''m task with cooking today breakfast, I will do my best to cook something delicious! Last time, Brother Ash did praise us for the food, but I''m sure he just fake it. "Toast bread grilled cheese, toast bread grilled cheese!" [Elise] It''s simple, but why did the toast keep getting burned... maybe I don''t have any talent to cook something delicious "Take your time, there''s no need to rush. Rushing something only proves that you''re aren''t prepare for something, so take a step back and evaluate first. Think what action you''re going to do first and then start doing it" [Claude] "I will!" [Elise] Grandpa Claude must have realised what I felt just now. How embarrassing... but it''s a nice feeling. Getting guided by him in such lovely environment, this orphanage really are a blessing from the goddess. (I will do my best! Can''t keep on making a burned toasted bread!) [Elise] And today, we will even add cheese to it. Its look simple, and I hope I won''t fail to do it. If Grandpa Claude can do it, then so do I First try... "Nope!" [Elise] Total failure. How can I messed up this badly... Second try "You''re improving" [Rean] "Not yet!" [Elise] third try "It''s started to take shape of my perfect grilled cheese toast" [Elise] "Are you satisfied?" [Grandpa Claude] "One more!" [Elise] "As you wish" [Grandpa Claude] Can''t stop now, I''m sure I can do better than this. I just need to keep on going until "I did it!" [Elise] "Nice job" [Grandpa Claude] "Yes, can''t wait to surprise Brother Ash!" [Elise] He will think Grandpa Claude will be the one that makes this grilled toast, then that''s when I tell him the truth. I can already imagine his reaction. Still (He''s still sleeping, is he alright?) [Elise] Should I just wake him up... "Princess Diana!" [Kara] Huh? Princess Diana is here? But why? Better see it for myself. Even Grandpa Claude and Rean have gone and greet her. She''s nice to us but that doesn''t change the fact that she''s still a royalty. Can''t be rude to her. Kara, please don''t hug her tightly... "Why are you here today Princess Diana?" [Claude] "Ash, is he here?" [Diana] She looks worried? Has something happened? "Charlotte, please tell your brother to wake up" [Claude] "Ok" [Charlotte] There she goes, happily running upstairs. "Is he always like this?" [Mimi] "No, this is actually the first time he woke up this late" [Zerolith] "Yeah, usually he will be the first one alongside Grandpa Claude to wake up" [Rean] "Guess he''s tired after treating Borg and Lin yesterday" [Mimi] "Can''t be helped, using such magic must be tiring" [Ram] Even Sis Mimi and Guild Master Ram are here. "Brother Ash say he will wash his face first" [Charlotte] "Let him do that" [Diana] Brother Ash, is it really alright to make a princess wait for you? Last time we did that, her guard became angry, which makes me wonder, where is she? 5 minutes have passed, and there''s Brother Ash, "Ash, please, help Qis" [Diana] Princess Diana? I see, so that''s the reason why she come here. Sis Mimi then explains to us as to how the princess knew what happen yesterday "I see, poor Jacks" [Ash] "Right!" [Mimi] That''s the point of the whole story! Still, I can''t say I don''t feel pity for him "Can we go with Aunt Mimi?" [Farhah] "Aunt Mimi huh..." [Mimi] Farhah! That''s rude! Brother Ash, don''t make it worse! See, she''s angry with you right now. Still, we do want to go out, so I guess it''s fine? No, it isn''t, must not let Brother Ash poor example to be planted inside my mind Brother Ash then get himself ready quickly, and there he goes, taking my perfect grilled cheese toast bread! Time to tell him "Thank for the food Claude!" [Ash] And he left... "But I''m the one that make it!" [Elise] Chapter 44 - Outing with others part 2 "[Elise point of view] "Hmph!" [Elise] "Now, now. Brother Ash is in a hurry, plus, isn''t it good he mistook your cooking with Grandpa Claude" [Rean] "Cheer up" [Kara] I''m mad! At least have a proper breakfast with us first so that I can tell you how much I have improved. Still, I do understand that the sick should always be prioritized, but somewhere deep, I just wanted him to praise me for the food like how father always praise mother. (If only that war didn''t happen) [Elise] "How about the two of you join us for breakfast, today grilled cheese toast bread is made by none other than Elise herself" [Claude] "Grandpa, that''s embarrassing!" [Elise] "Sure, we can spare some time" [Mimi] "I''ll take on that offer" [Ram] Before eating our breakfast, It''s my turn today to feed Behe with light mana. His favourite mana is from Brother Ash as he can take however much he so desired. As for the other light magic user (Kara and Mara), Behe seems to know our mana pool limit and thus exercise restrain when taking our light mana. So usually, it''s up to Housey to help us. Brother Ash did instruct Housey to help us to feed Behe "Behe, come here. Housey, please help me" [Elise] "Meow" [Behe] ".-.. . .- ...- . / .. - / - --- / -- ." [Housey] I still can''t understand what Housey is trying to tell us, but the glowing from the previously behemoth''s magic core as well as the sensation that I noticed coming out from Housey indicate that everything is ready. Time to feed Behe, time for the chantless magic that Brother Ash taught us Hold my hands up, and imagine the sun, giving out all of its energy. Remember his explanation, about how the smallest particle, the atom transferring out its energy from one atom to the other through wave similar to that of the ocean. Remember his illusion magic and when you get those image perfectly, channel it first by transforming neutral mana inside us into that of light through the same image. Once it''s done, once again, gather all that light into a mass of ball and "Meow!" [Behe] There, it''s done! Chantless light ball magic. Behe sure love it when we make our light mana shape like a ball. Eventhough he is a light behemoth, he sure act like a cat. No, like a kitten. He is still a baby behemoth after all "Thank you Housey for always helping me" [Elise] "-.-- --- ..- .----. .-. . / .-- . .-.. -.-. --- -- ." [Housey] Ohh, this one, it mean you''re welcome. I love how Housey sounds like when it''s saying you''re welcome, plus with its core brighten up suddenly, Housey reaction is almost similar to that of the younger group when they''re getting praised Time for breakfast "Thank you for waiting" [Elise] "We do promise to always eat together!" [Savel] An old promise that we made back on those days, thank you Savel, thank you to my other siblings as well for keeping that promise. It''s small but it''s made me delighted "Still, chantless magic. Does he really teach all of you such high level technique?" [Mimi] "Yes, all of us can do it" [Singa] Singa said that with such pride. Of course, the common sense shared by us all is that chantless magic is something that only an experienced mage and those court mage can use, but... "Brother Ash said that magic by its true nature is chantless, so he made us practice chantless magic straight away" [Elise] "Crazy" [Ram] "Crazy crazy!" [Charlotte] "Charlotte!" [Zerolith] "It''s hurt!" [Charlotte] While Zerolith is the one scolding her, it''s Mara who is the one doing the pinching. She sure love to pinch Charlotte''s cheek. Who wouldn''t, it''s fluffy. Grandpa Claude and Sis Mimi on the other hand remind the guild master not to said anything bad In front of Charlotte Once we finish our breakfast and get ourselves ready, we take the yogurts that is prepared by Grandpa and head out together with the guild master and Sis Mimi. "..." [Karon] "Sorry Karon, but we have to take the carriage" [Rean] Karon simply nod. He sure loves the bus golem. Well, it''s safe especially for us the non-human and also for the twin. Even Rean and Charlotte feel safe inside the bus golem "Don''t worry, I''ll protect the ten of you" [Ram] "Same here" [Mimi] "Thank you very much" [Elise] Looks like they notice. Let just hope nothing bad will happen, or so I thought. The moment we''re waiting for the public carriage, the usual painful glance that we usually get started. Its painful, I just hate this feeling. We are safe now as they wouldn''t hurt us physically since they know that we''re all Brother Ash siblings now, but that wasn''t always the case. Once Brother Ash is out of their sight, some of them will throw their rubbish on us, even stones. I still remember clearly how Kara begged them to stop but instead... "And what are you glaring them for!" [Ram] Guild master suddenly shouted at them. That caught me by surprise. "!" [Passerby] "If you have any problems with any one of them, step forward. I''ll hear your complaints" [Ram] "Tch!" [Passerby] "Just scramble now!" [Mimi] Thank god the two of them are here. They must have notice it''s the adventure guild master himself that''s protecting us, therefore opt to just let it go. Rean as usual will shield us with his own body when something bad will happen, a habit he had developed due to the constant harassment. As we''re taking the carriage, there are some glare, but guild master glared back at them even stronger, scary... He was a noble before, eventhough he had lost the title, the aura and dignity still remain. The carriage stop, and after 15 minute of walking, we arrive at Ray''s house. Still... "You are still here dear?" [Ram] It''s the Merchant guild master, Gizzere and Sis Alice. They''re currently visiting this house after Brother Ash use his cure magic onto Ray and Mile''s parent. They sure take their time though. The reason as to why they do that, they''re a number of adventure visiting the house and Guild Master Gizzere decided to task them with secret mission, Guild Master Gizzere is currently investigating the sudden surge of medication prices and decided to use this house for a while with Sis Alice helping her. "I see, want our help?" [Farhah] Farhah said that after she gave the yogurts to Kat. "How do you plan to do just that?" [Gizzere] Guild master, please don''t encourage her. Plus, I''m sure you know how dangerous this is "I can ask the tree and animal nearby!" [Farhah] "You mean to said nature communications magic?" [Mid life elf] A male elf, around his forty interrupt Farhah. He is accompanied by a dwarf about the same age as him and some lady whose look like a scholar. Even the Samurai adventure, Jacks is here with them "Yes I can! Brother Ash taught me the basic" [Farhah] "I can do that as well! Brother Ash taught me as well!" [Charlotte] Farhah and Charlotte said that with triumph. "Interesting" [Mid life elf] "You mean the behemoth slayer?" [Scholar lady] "I see, so that mean you guys are the ten orphan siblings" [Mid life dwarf] "Yes, yes they are" [Jacks] The elf seems to be thinking of something "Can the both of you help us investigate then?" [Mid life elf] ""!!"" [Rean, Elise] Chapter 45 - Outing with others part 3 [Elise point of view] Huh? Why is the elf asking Farhah and Charlotte to help the investigation. Sure the two of them did say they would like to help, but it''s dangerous "No, I can''t allow that. It''s dangerous!" [Rean] "Rean''s right!" [Elise] Plus, we don''t even know who those three are "I see, it''s true that this is a dangerous job, that''s if they''re not using the nature communications magic" [Mid life elf] The elf tries to make his point and persuade us. I''m sure he just wanted to see how the two of them use the magic, but it still doesn''t change the fact that it''s dangerous! "Let me show you first how it''s done" [Mid life elf] The elf chant something. Since I''m not familiar with chanting, I can''t tell what spell he will be using, but I''m guessing that he will use nature communications magic, but to whom? "Now the kitty outside, please come inside and dance a bit for us" [Mid life elf] "Meow" [Kitten A] "!" [Others] The kitten, it''s, it''s dancing! It''s so cute! Look at the way the paws move up and down, and the tail wagging like a dog! How cute! "Can you try it?" [Mid life elf] "I sure can!" [Farhah] "I can try!" [Charlotte] Wait, the two of them are now trying to imitate the elf. I should stop them! "It''s alright Elise, the three of them aren''t suspicious people, and you can trust them. Plus, I do hired those three to help us investigate the sudden increase in medication prices" [Gizzere] "You can trust them, plus, they''re the one that heals me back during that incident" [Alice] I see, so those three are the people that Brother Ash mentioned. Brother Ash met them after saving Sis Alice back inside the rock and sea dungeon. "Meow!" [Kitten B] Now there are two kittens dancing! "How cute!" [Blanc] "It is" [Lin] I agree with them, it''s cute. "I can''t communicate with cats..." [Charlotte] The one that asked the second kitten to come is Farhah. Since she''s an elf, her affinity towards this kind of magic is high. Charlotte also have high affinity towards this magic, but for some reason, it''s more toward the marine life. Maybe it''s because of her high water mana affinity? "They really can use chantless magic!" [Scholar lady] "I''m impressed" [Mid life Dwarf] "The blue hair girl did fail though, nonetheless she can use nature communications magic" [Mid life elf] Usually, people will find it shocking when a kid is using a chantless magic, but those three, they''re actually excited as compared to shock. "How about we ask those cats to search some information for us?" [Mid life elf] "Right! Cat, can you please help us?" [Farhah] "Meows!" [Cats] They''re asking the outside cats to search some information for them "And those birds. Can you do it?" [Mid life elf] "Easy!" [Farhah] "There''s a duck! I will ask Mr Duck to help us!" [Charlotte] Ooh, there''s a duck there and Charlotte have successfully interacted with the duck through magic. Now, she is asking the duck to collect some information "Still, what will happen if a mage detect those animals? Wouldn''t they trace it back to Farhah and Charlotte!" [Rean] Rean''s right! I completely forgot about that! "Don''t worry, I have already take care of that" [Mid life elf] "He already masks the mana signature use by your little sisters with his own, that way, the mage will likely trace it back to him instead of the two of them" [Scholar lady] "Is such thing possible?" [Kara] "It is. He simply covers their mana with his own. There are far complicated spells and magic, but for simple investigation like this one, his technique just now is more than enough" [Scholar lady] I see. So he already thinks of that. I just hope everything is alright "Excuse me, is there anybody home?" [Liyana] "Liyana!" [Mile] "Come on in" [Kat] (Isn''t that... Linda''s little sister!) [Alice] The two of them greet and give her the permission to enter, as for Sis Alice, it''s just for a moment, but she seems surprise, maybe because of Liyana is suddenly visiting us here. Liyana is accompanied by her two guard who is always making an unsatisfied face. Unlike Princess Diana royal bodyguard, Qis, I just can''t stand her bodyguard, they''re rude! I''m just glad Liyana isn''t like that "What are you doing here?" [Elise] "I thought of asking your brother to help train me today, but your grandfather tells me to come here instead" [Liyana] (I see... could she be taking the same footsteps as Linda?) [Alice] "Well, we are investigating the sudden increase in medication prices right now, so why don''t you join us!" [Mara] "Can I?" [Liyana] "Sure, the more, the merrier" [Scholar lady] "It''s getting crowded here, so how about I bring the boys for a walk and teach them how to gather information" [Mid life Dwarf] "Rean, follow him. This should prove beneficial if you''re aiming to become a high ranking adventure" [Samurai Jacks] "Right!" [Rean] "Can I follow them as well?" [Ray] "Sure, just be careful" [Borg] And they left, with the adventure Jacks and Mile''s father and Brother Syah accompanying them after being forced by Mile''s mother. I hope her father is alright, he is just being treated by Brother Ash yesterday, shouldn''t he be resting? Still, now it''s just us ladies (and a mid life elf, since the adventure guild master and Syah are going back to the adventure guild for a while ). I wonder what should we do to pass the time. Liyana is asking the condition of Mile''s mother and how Brother Ash treated her yesterday. As soon as she''s finished "Oh look, Mr Duck have come back" [Mid life elf] "Yeah! I won!" [Charlotte] Charlotte said that, thinking that this is a race. In a way, this is. They''re are trying to figure out the reason behind this, and the sooner they figured it out, the better "Quack quack!" [Duck] "I see, nice job Mr Duck!" [Charlotte] "Quack!" [Duck] "What did the duck say?" [Alice] "The duck said that he found multiple large boxes being carried to a house around there. Those boxes contain Pitchy flower" [Charlotte] "That area?" [Liyana] Liyana seems to be thinking of something, I wonder if she has any clue? "A question to the young noble there, why did you think they''re hiding it there?" [Gizzere] "Could it be, because of some noble cooperating with the church? Some of the building there do belong to the importance person from the church" [Liyana] "Good, but there''s more to it than that" [Gizzere] "And that''s?" [Liyana] "Think about it in different way, why would they store it there?" [Alice] Sis Alice seems to be eager on getting us to answer her questions. "Because it''s closer?" [Elise] "That''s logical, but why would they do that. Wouldn''t that only make the royal and the merchant guild suspect them more?" [Scholar lady] Even the scholar lady pitch in. This is hard. I wonder why "Can''t you give us some clue" [Mimi] The only one that know the answer now is the merchant guild master, Sis Alice and the scholar lady, as for the rest of us, we only draw blank. A clue would really help! When we are thinking for an answer, the cats and the birds comes. They''re relaying the same info as the duck. That mean those areas there must be an area of interest "Could it be so that when the time come, they will bring those medications out and give it to the masses? By doing that, they will become the masses saviour" [Liyana] "That''s almost correct" [Gizzere] "..." [Kara] "You notice something Kara?" [Mara] "Well, the medication that they store there are only for symptoms relief, none for treating the disease itself. So I''m guessing it might be a diversion to sway the merchant guild. I mean, Farhah and Charlotte could easily find it, as if they''re asking them to be found" [Kara] "Ehh? Why would they do that?" [Mara] "I don''t know" [Kara] Guild master, Sis Alice and the scholar lady agrees with Kara answer, but just why did they want them to find those medications. Isn''t it better to just hide it so that no one will find those medication. As we''re discussing about the possibility, the boys come back. They''re telling us that they heard a rumor about Princess Diana hiding the medication for the castle use. "That''s absurd!" [Elise] "We know, it doesn''t make any sense" [Zerolith] ""Princess Diana is a good person!!"" [Singa, Savel] "!" [Kara] Kara seems to know the answer now "Dear, we have been summoned by King Estel and Princess Diana to discuss something" [Ram] Guild master Ram come and tell Guild Master Gizzere about it. Apparently, Brother Ash will also join them for the meeting. "It''s getting late, how about we bring you back home" [Syah] "Yeah, doesn''t want those nasty eyes hurt them" [Mimi] "I''ll follow as well" [Samurai Jacks] "Well, we should get going as well" [Mid life elf] Wait! We forgot to ask them their names! I should ask them now! "Ohh, that''s right, we forgot to introduce ourselves. I''m Flinar, the dwarf there is Erinmorlin and the lady there is Lisa" [Flinar] "I see, nice to meet you!" [Elise] And before going back home, we introduce ourselves properly. Chapter 46 - Plan of action I''m tired... In one of the meeting rooms inside the castle, King Estel, Diana, Gizzere and Ram are currently discussing about the endemic disease. Knowing a thing or two about this disease, I do give them my opinion and how to tackle the problem. Of course, curing those who contracted the endemic disease is important, but so does finding the cause. Still, "You guys don''t have any sort of clue as to what causes it?" [Ash] Silence, the answer is silence. Well, I''m an idiot, if they knew about the cause, they will surely tackle it long back. "I''ll look into it." [Ash] "Thank you. Plus, from the look of it, you seem to know or at least have some idea about it" [Diana] "I do. It should be something related to water supplies inside this country, so I''ll be looking at it starting tomorrow" [Ash] "That''s a bit hard" [King Estel] "Why is that?" [Ash] "The water supplies, they''re being managed by the Duke''s family that you have squabble with" [Gizzere] "No problems then" [Ash] "Sigh... Dear, remind me to ask Alice to assist this guy, and also to keep him in check" [Ram] "That''s rude, plus don''t involve her in this matter. That idiot noble will surely misunderstand it" [Ash] "Don''t worry, I''ll do something about it" [King Estel] As he said that, he brings out a contract paper, ask me to sign it before stamping it with the royal stamp. The content is that I''ll have full authority and support from the royal family especially from the king himself to investigate the causes of endemic disease so long as I''m abiding by the rule of the country Then comes the reports from both Guild Masters. Huh, it seems that my little siblings also involved in the investigation. From what I understand, some nobles and merchants do hide the medications to increase the price. Not only that, they''re supplying it to the church so that the church will hand out those medications for free which in turn causing the masses to believe the church are trying to save them. In return, the church will sway them into supporting those said nobles and merchants while at the same time belittling the royal family. There''s even a rumour stating that Diana is the one that''s responsible for taking all the medication from the market for her own personal use. Quite an underhanded tactic, but this is political issue involving their country, as a traveller, I have no room for that, or so I thought The people here are still following the old follower. They''re not as extreme as the old follower themselves, but if they do garner support from the masses, who knew what will happen to the orphanage. Sure, I can repel any sort of attack and counteract back but until when? If things come to worse, I might have to consider moving into another country with them, but Claude will not agree to that. (So the best I can do now is to find the root and help the royal families who support the new saint and saintess) [Ash] As for treating the disease, they will use the young healers, station it in few strategic location and ask them to heal those people. This will serve as training to them, plus this way, Diana''s name can be cleaned (hope so). But the problem is "The orphanage?" [Ash] "Can we use it? It''s a good location, plus that way their perception of non-human can be change slowly. Of course, I''ll be there along with few trusted knights to guard them. I will even make a request to the adventure guild to help protect them" [Diana] "Hmm..." [Ash] This is hard, I mean, the orphanage helping them out do bring a positive image but, I''m worried "Understood, but let me be clear on one thing. I''ll ask Housey to be extra careful on that day. If Housey detects any sort of malice intention to my siblings, I''ll ask it to just kick them out, even if it''s mean by using extra forces" [Ash] "Understandable" [Diana] So, the plan to tackle this endemic disease can be summarised as follows 1. I''ll search for the cause of the endemic disease and if possible stop it (and Alice will be there with me, Ram insist on it) 2. The young healers will be stationed at few strategic locations and start treating the sick 3. Gizzere and Ram will be sniffing out the noble and merchant responsible for hiding those medications and bring them to the court. Their actions are made valid as they''re also receiving the same contract as I do That''s for today meeting. I''m tired, better go and tell Rafiah about them having to treat the sick. Plus, Yefefiah is with her as well, so she can tell other young healers about it. Oh, they''re both sitting on a seat inside the garden. Plus, they''re few young healers as well. From the looks of it, I''m sure they''re gossiping about something. Well, I should tell them first. I''m sure Diana will told them, nonetheless I just felt like doing it "..." [Young healer] "What is it?" [Ash] What''s wrong? Something happen? Why are they looking at me like that, and Yefefiah, why are you giggling nonstop. I''m too lazy to guess, so "Rafiah, let just go" [Ash] "Yes" [Rafiah] "IT''S TRUE!" [Young healer] "NO!" [Rafiah] "But a young girl going to a man''s house. What else could it be?" [Yefefiah] "I told you it''s nothing like that!" [Rafiah] "Rafiah, please don''t do anything suspicious to me. I''m still young, plus I don''t want those siblings of mine to copy such act" [Ash] As tired as I am, I still understand what''s happening, and with the young healers having so much fun teasing her, I decided to join in as well. Well, Rafiah is also to be blamed here, her reaction make us addicted and thus I''m sure they can''t help but to keep on teasing her. Looks, her effort on denying my statement and the reaction of others, it''s fun. Haha, I should stop before she starts crying "Now now, I''ll be sure to protect myself so you guys don''t have to worry much about me. Before I forgot, Diana will tell you this thing tomorrow, or maybe this night itself. You''re all to be stationed in few locations inside the city and start treating the sick two days from now" [Ash] The young healers seems to be excited. I guess getting to treat someone is an enjoyment felt by the doctors. It''s tiring but it''s a nice feeling, one that make them keep on going even through the hardest of time. Yefefiah and another young healer decided to join Rafiah when I mentioned the orphanage will be one of the locations, to which I simply ask them to get permission from Diana herself first as I don''t have any power on deciding that As if detecting what''s happening, she magically appears. I really can''t detect her presence though. Still, she''s quick to act and quickly station them to each location. The orphanage will have three young healers station including Rafiah and Yefefiah. The other will be stationed somewhere else. The orphanage is labeled as the east section and they should be ready to be mobilize to other station should help is required. I can understand that. Those around my neighborhood area are mostly free from the endemic disease as compared to other, so less manpower is required there. With that, Rafiah and I excuse ourselves (while the other having ''that'' face directed toward the now beet red Rafiah. Look, even Diana is joining them. Poor girl) Using the bus golem, we quickly went back to the orphanage, only to find those ten already asleep. Claude and Housey welcome us back, and they quickly prepare a room for Rafiah. As for me, I informed Claude as to what''s happening and the decision to use the orphanage as one of the centres. Claude simply agree to it. Before going to sleep, I''ll supply extra mana to Housey as an extra step of precaution Chapter 47 - The orphans and Rafiah With morning arrive, I''m up early as usual, still not as early as Claude. Claude, even being a ghost can actually fall asleep albeit sleeping isn''t necessary once you become a ghost. Strange, but if he said so Since I''m task on watching and making the breakfast with them, I can relax for a bit more, since they still haven''t woken up yet. As for Claude, he has start to clean the mansion. I guess a butler will always be a butler, even after one dead. As the second morning yawn escape from my mouth, a scream can be heard upstairs. I can guess what''s happening there, still, should just went there anyway "Who, who are you!" [Elise] "Sorry if I scared you" [Rafiah] "Morning Elise, morning Rafiah" [Ash] "Brother Ash, just who is this... wait a minute" [Elise] Her scream actually woke the other as well, and now they slowly gather around, looking confused and drowsy at the same time. As for Elise, I bet he''s thinking about ''that'' thing, "Is this what adults call as..." [Elise] "Nope, you''re wrong" [Ash] "There''s no such thing happening!" [Rafiah] Thought so. Both of us quickly deny Elise bad guess (actually, wouldn''t that be the logical guess here?). Rafiah keeps on saying "nothing happen" "nothing happen" multiple times, she really is quick to deny such thing. Plus, her reaction do make one want to tease her more. As for me, I deny it just because I don''t want the younger group to learn about it. It''s still to early fir them to learn about the adult dirty world "Just clean yourself first, then we will start cooking" [Ash] "Yes, we wil... Hmph!" [Elise] "Ehh? Did something happen?" [Ash] "Nothing!" [Elise] "Hahaha..." [Kara] (Bet it''s because of the grilled cheese toast bread yesterday) [Rean] (That lady, where did I met her?) [Zerolith] Elise seems to be sulking for no apparent reason. Is she finally at her teenage age? Well, who knew. As for the other, they seem to know the reason, better ask them afterwards. Then, there''s Zerolith, he has been staring hard at Rafiah for a while, not because of first love syndrome or something similar. I get the feeling that he actually have realized whom Rafiah is, or at least started to recognize her. With that said, they started to take their shower before moving into the usual morning routine Well, it''s not long until those task with cooking gather inside the kitchen. For today, how about some simple hamburger. It''s easy to made and the kids sure love them especially Zerolith and Singa. Should make them more extravaganza, I wanted to please their stomach first, before dropping the bomb (the bomb being Rafiah wanting to apologize for her friend''s behaviour back inside the dungeon). I wonder how will they react At the dining table, Zerolith quickly gulp down the hamburger, gosh... he really is a quick eater "Slow down a bit Zerolith, or else you will choke" [Ash] "Wigtt (right)" [Zerolith] "And don''t talk when your mouth is full!" [Ash] After breakfast is done, I ask them to wait for a moment, since I wanted to give Rafiah a chance to apologize. Before she started saying a word "Have we met somewhere?" [Savel] "You too Savel!" [Zerolith] So not only Zerolith, but Savel also seems to realize something. The other are still confused by their statement, now then, how will Rafiah approach this situation "I''m sorry, please allow me to apologize to all of you" [Rafiah] "?" [Others] "Rafiah, that won''t do. You''re only making them more confused" [Ash] We might be around the same age, but gosh... I just realized that Rafiah is bad at communication, especially during an important situation. Still, this is one thing that she should tell those kids herself. Claude and I will only try to convince the kids to at least forgive her. I mean, sure those kids have the right not to, but it isn''t Rafiah the one doing the firing back inside the dungeon, but instead one of her friends. Still, I''m sure it''s just the same for the one on the receiving end, and I can''t blame them for that. As Rafiah is trying to think of a sentence to explain what''s going on, Behe leaps onto Mara, asking for extra light mana, and that''s when "You, you''re with them back inside the dungeon!" [Zerolith] "By them you mean..." [Rean] "Yeah, the one that try to kill us!" [Zerolith] "It really is her!" [Savel] Who would''ve thought that Behe leaping into someone can trigger back the memory. Well, we do meet Behe right after that incident, so I guess it''s logical. Now then "Rafiah, please explain it properly to them. You don''t want them to have any sort of misunderstanding aren''t you" [Ash] "I will" [Rafiah] "Explain? Explain what!" [Zerolith] Zerolith sure is angry, can''t blame him. Even Rean and Elise started to take more defensive role, as if trying to shield the other in case anything bad happen "I''m sorry, I can''t stop my friend back then, and almost got all of you kill" [Rafiah] "If Brother Ash isn''t there, we will be killed! Don''t you realize that!" [Zerolith] Rafiah simply nod. Zerolith on the other hand, keep on burning with hate and anger "That''s true, my friend back then only think of killing all of you, and I am powerless to stop them during that time. That''s why, I have no excuse and only ask for your understanding, you don''t even have to forgive me" [Rafiah] "Nonsense, powerless? When you old follower are the one that causes it all in the first place!" [Zerolith] "Zerolith..." [Elise] "..." [Karon] "..." [Farhah] Rafiah once again become dead silence. She really couldn''t find anything to reply. I should step in for now "Now ther..." [Ash] "Ash, can you please let me handle this alone? I''m the one responsible here and as such I would like to see it through the end myself" [Rafiah] "If you said so" [Ash] Even Claude who is trying to interfere alongside me just now fall back into silence. This is her request, and she probably won''t get any forgiveness from them, but it''s her wish, and as such, we would honour it "Is there, anything that I can do?" [Rafiah] "Do what? Even if you do something, people like you wouldn''t understand how us, the non-human feels like. Being treated differently, being treated as someone from the devil clan itself! You will never understand that" [Zerolith] "..." [Rafiah] (Didn''t understand the non-human huh...) [Ash] "Calm down there Zerolith, at least listen to her first!" [Mara] And now, Mara and Zerolith are at each other throats. Rean and Elise try to calm them both down, while Charlotte on a verge of crying before... "!" [Ash] "Sorry... sorry... sorry..." [Rafiah] She suddenly took off her bracelet and revealed her true form. The angel and demon wing, as well as horn similar to Zerolith being revealed for them to see her true nature. Still... "Sorry... sorry... sorry..." [Rafiah] "Well, here''s your bracelet back" [Ash] Instead of giving it to her, It is better for me to put it on her by myself. Only after I put the bracelet back into her arm she stopped crying. Something similar happen yesterday when she took off the bracelet, I wonder what really happened to her "..." [Zerolith] Looks like they have calmed down, and Rafiah is in no position to talk. At least not yet. Between yesterday incident where she broke up with her old follower friends and today incident, it must have taken a toll on her mental health. I should just step in for now, didn''t want to prolong this. Sigh... so much to just leave it to her just now "Well, as you can see just now, Rafiah herself is part demon and part angel. I don''t know why she have to wear the bracelet and hide her identity, and I can''t even make a guess as to how she''s traveling together with the old follower. But I do know one thing, and that''s just like others, she have her own circumstances and right now, I have a feeling she''s trying to change for the better. I won''t ask you guys to forgive her, that''s all up to you, but at least, please don''t make it harder for her." [Ash] As I have done talking, Rafiah still haven''t stop crying and I don''t have any idea as to how to stop her "Big sis... Don''t cry" [Charlotte] Charlotte went to her and pat her back. She herself on verge of crying and yet, looks at her pure action. And that actually work! She sob less now. That''s Charlotte for you! "Guess I will just start my investigation tomorrow then" [Ash] And now, they''re making another confused face. Better explain fast Chapter 48 - Worker get I''m anxious. That is without a doubt, my current feeling. Currently, the kids are divided into three, those whose kinda reluctant to accept Rafiah (Zerolith, Singa and Savel), the cautious/neutral group (Rean, Elise, Kara, Karon and Farhah) and also those who support her (Mara and Charlotte). Kara is on the verge to change side to follow her twin sister but let just said she need a little push. Still, if you ask me, this is to be expected. Her friend is about to kill them and then she suddenly barge in and ask for forgiveness, yup, no sane people can process that thing quickly. "It''s alright Big Sis, give them some time and they will open up to you!" [Mara] "Yes, thank you Mara" [Rafiah] Mara and Charlotte are currently trying to get to know Rafiah better. They''re asking various questions while avoiding sensitive topics (mostly Mara, and when she detects Charlotte''s about to ask sensitive questions, she will cover her mouth) Rean, Elise and Kara are trying their best to tell Zerolith to be gentle to Rafiah. I suppose it doesn''t really fall into a deaf ear, he might be acting like he doesn''t care at all, but in reality he''s "concerns" about Rafiah identity (well, curious will better fit this situation I guess). Karon and Farhah do the same to Singa and Savel. While Singa and Savel don''t fully understand the hatred and stuff toward the non-human, they do understand that those from the old follower will have strong prejudice against their kind and thus, they actively try to avoid Rafiah (if you ask me, if their actions continue, they will develop a problem near future...) In other words, I''m afraid they will become like those old followers, unnecessarily hating a group of people without any basis "What should we Claude?" [Ash] "In my opinion, they will simply get better as time goes by. Do some activities with them and involved Rafiah and I''m sure it will work out" [Claude] "Personal experience?" [Ash] "It is" [Claude] Well, if he said so. Now then, the training hall will be open today (and close again for tomorrow due to the young healers using it as their station), I guess I can ask Rafiah to train with us, or so I thought "!" [Rafiah] "!" [Zerolith] Yup, they''re still awkward with each other. Not that I care about it. I would drag them if necessary, but thank god I don''t have to resort to such an act, otherwise my reputation as an older brother will be tarnished inside their heart "This is, the training hall?" [Rafiah] "It is, here is where the kids and I train together, and every weekday from 100pm to 700pm, we will open the hall for public usage. We will apply some fees though, to ensure the financial stability of the orphanage" [Ash] I explained to her about how the system works. From the entrance fee to how the loot being handle, and also Housey role in maintaining this place. Which reminds me of one thing... "Rafiah, you really don''t have anywhere to go?" [Ash] "!" [Rafiah] "Brother Ash! That''s rude, you can''t just ask her like that" [Mara] Mara suddenly go full offense, I''m sure she misunderstood the reason behind my question, so let just explain it to her, ohh and also to others as well "Calm down, I''m asking this for her own benefits" [Ash] "Benefits?" [Rafiah] "I''ll get straight to the point. Will you consider working here to maintain this training hall?" [Ash] "!" [Others] Usually, the training hall are being managed by Claude and me, but both of us also have our hand full on other things, for example the investigation that I would do tomorrow. If this continues on, the training hall will have an irregular opening session, and it will deter our regulars from coming in, which is bad, very bad. That''s why hiring a worker is a must "Well, I''ll pay you a fixed amount of money, and since you don''t have anywhere to live inside Estel, I can also lend you the room inside the mansion free of charge. Of course, food included" [Ash] Generous? Not quite. As compared to her, I''m pretty lucky since I get this mansion for free. Plus, I don''t want her to be homeless, and I also don''t want any of the old follower trying to take her back, who knew what will they do once they found out about her true identity "Can I see how you do handle things first?" [Rafiah] "Sure" [Ash] A reasonable reason. Plus, there will be some time before the training hall open, so I will quickly do some simulation to help her. "Let see, Rean, Zerolith and Charlotte. You three will become our mock customers. So if you can, please start from the entrance" [Ash] "Understood" [Rean] "What!" [Zerolith] "Ok!" [Charlotte] As expected, Zerolith are quite reluctant. It may seem random but I chose one from each group just now. Zerolith because he''s the one that actively mad at Rafiah just now. If I can make him accept Rafiah, Singa and Savel will naturally follow (I hope). Rean to meditate and Charlotte as cheerleader I guess? I pick her just because I don''t want Mara and Zerolith to be on the same team, who knew what will happen. No, I can guess, they will start bickering with each other, and this can lead to some injuries if they''re not cooperating with each other when fighting the zombie. Don''t get me wrong, they''re strong but in this case, I will still choose safety first. And here goes the simulation. The three of them started from the entrance, and "Morning, only the three of you?" [Ash] "Yes!" [Charlotte] "I see, well, please pay us first. I believe you already knew the amount" [Ash] "Sure" [Charlotte] Rean and Zerolith quickly search their pockets for money, and as for Charlotte, she paid for all three with her imaginary coins. Seeing this, the two of them become beet red "Thank you, now each session will be 20 minutes in which you will fight a group of zombies based on difficulty level predeterminedly set, or you can request to change it to either specific zombies type. Do note we can only simulate up till B rank difficulty if I''m not around" [Ash] "Ok" [Charlotte] "Why is that so?" [Rafiah] Oh yeah, I don''t explain it to her regarding that part. Well, should explain it now "I see..." [Rafiah] "Thinking something?" [Ash] "No, it''s nothing" [Rafiah] Weird, I thought she will give some solution for a moment, but never mind that. Maybe because she''s still shy to state her idea Now then, how should I set it? The three of them are strong. So maybe 30 zombies consist of various types will do. Better avoid the giant zombie, I don''t think they''re ready for that "Alright, you have 20 minutes. Rean, Zerolith and Charlotte, take them out!" [Ash] """Right!!!""" [Rean, Zerolith, Charlotte] And there they go, fighting the zombies. Rean quickly unsheathed his katana and dash forward, slicing the runner zombies that come to target the two mages supporting him. That''s three down, 27 more to go Zerolith as usual uses his staff and barrage the zombies with darkness arrow. Charlotte on the other hand, try to use ice arrow. Again, she must have done that after seeing Liyana using it. Plus, she quickly identified the healer zombies and targeted them first. Now, with no more of those healer zombies, the rest of the zombie should succumb quickly, and they did "Nice job you three. And Rean, keep it up and you will pass my test" [Ash] "I will!" [Rean] Rean looks happy, well, his goal is to become adventure, and I impose a condition for his own safety. At least he should able to take down a group of 30 zombies, equivalent to E rank request before getting my approval, and I think those days will be numbered from now on Oh, Housey have already translocated the loot to the loot corner, and thus the simulation keeps ongoing. The second group, Kara, Mara and Savel also did good. Savel as usual use his illusion magic to draw the zombies attention (and man, that illusion is something else, just where did he get such cruel idea... he basically make an illusion of a crying child with a wound, zombies favourite food if you ask me...). Well, as long as it''s working, I guess it''s fine? Mara quickly slice those zombies with his wind enhance knives while Kara uses her staff to support from afar Next group Elise, Karon, Farhah, and Singa are a bit unbalanced, somehow. With Karon trying to get his mana pool to high level, and Farhah imitating him, they quickly exhaust their mana pool, leaving the job to Elise and Singa afterward. Well, they did a good job if you ask me, quickly wiping out majority of zombies but... "Karon, Farhah. I told you didn''t I? If you keep on doing that, you will find yourself in trouble!" [Ash] ""Yes..."" [Karon, Farhah] Unlike the last time, I won''t praise them. This time, I just have to properly scold them or they might not learn any lesson With some time to spare, we continue our training session. Rafiah is reluctant to join, only watching from the side. And when evening comes, we open the training hall as usual, telling the adventure that we will be closed tomorrow due to the request from the castle. They don''t mind it much which is great. Another hectic day goes by uneventfully, and... "So do you understand what should be done?" [Ash] "I did" [Rafiah] "So care to work here?" [Ash] "If you don''t mind having me" [Rafiah] "I''ll take that as yes. Welcome aboard" [Ash] "Thanks, ohh... regarding the B rank difficulty, I can offer you a solution" [Rafiah] "Really?" [Ash] "I thought you already know? You did scan me back in castle, surely you know I''m also a witch" [Rafiah] "Ehh!!!" [Ash] "..." [Rafiah] Still, a witch huh, this could prove beneficial "Did you..." [Rafiah] "No don''t worry, I will still hire you. It''s just I''m surprised I didn''t pick that up." [Ash] "I see, thank you very much" [Rafiah] I can see her gratitude, she''s happy to get a chance to work here. Still, a half demon and half angle, who is also a witch, I can see why she absolutely need to wear that bracelet, but her mysterious past deepen more with that sudden revelation. Well, as long as I get a worker, I guess it''s a win for me Chapter 49 - Start of Investigation part 1 Back on earth, John Snow, a British based physician founded what the modern medicine call as epidemiology study and thus he''s titled as father of epidemiology. Since I can see this endemic seasonal disease follow the same pattern as John''s case, I decided to use his approach. Unlike John Snow though, I have a head start. John Snow have to interview the relative of the deceased in order to found out about the source of infection then only he came to the conclusion that the well use by the British during that time was indeed infected by Cholera. As for me, I decided to straight away look at each well and also the public around the city. It''s simple since I already have the knowledge. "Take care" [Karon] "You really want to come along didn''t you" [Ash] "..." [Karon] Well, I''m reluctant to let him go. I am investigating an endemic disease. Eventhough I know about the disease transmission, I''m still reluctant to let him come along. Kid have lower immunity as compared to us adult, so yeah, I won''t budge on this one. "Come now Karon, let us help the other" [Diana] "..." [Karon] "Well, please take care of them" [Ash] "We will" [Samurai Jacks] Right now inside the mansion, there''re few people, such as Diana and Qis. Seriously, I might have cured her, but that doesn''t mean she should be working straight away. Even Diana prohibited her, and yet she is still standing strong. Well, if she suddenly fell off due to weakness, there''re three healers here, namely Rafiah, Yefefiah and also another female young healer. There''re also the adventures that had been hired by Diana and lastly, there''s Liyana. She came early in the morning to train with me, but sadly I have works to do. Luckily Qis volunteer to teach not only her, but my siblings as well. Still... (Qis and Alice, I swear I can see some strange reaction in their face when Liyana came in just now) [Ash] There might be a hidden story, but I''ll save it for later. Ohh, and there''s also Alice who come here early in the morning as well. She will be there to help me, but her true mission as stated by Ram is to make sure I don''t land up in any sort of trouble. How rude, but I can''t deny it "Buy us some orange grass on your way home!" [Mara] "Sure" [Ash] Orange grass, just like its name, it''s basically an orange shape like a grass. To eat it, you simply have to wash the grass to peal off a thin layer of membrane and then, eat it. That''s it. It has the same property as that of an orange so that''s why when they say they like the orange grass, I don''t have any problems on buying it. As Alice and I plan the location of wells and public toilets that we will visit, I catch the glimpse of Rafiah''s friend, trying to peek at the mansion. Just how did you know where Rafiah stays right now? Should I approach and tell her to go. (No, bad idea. Let just hope Housey and Claude will protect her) [Ash] Plus, she''s all alone. I don''t think she will create much problem (let just hope so). If she does create any sort of trouble, there''s Qis and other adventures there as well. "We should start here first" [Alice] "Yeah, it''s nearby" [Ash] Alice interrupted my train of thought. Still, this well is nearby, so I guess there''s no need to use the bus golem. It''s a distance coverable just by walking for 10 minutes. As we walk by, I can see some wave of people going to the mansion. They must have come to seek treatment after Diana and the other spread have spread the news, saying that the castle under her supervision will give out free treatment. I just hope everything will be fine in her end As we''re approaching the well, I can see three familiar figures, aren''t they... "Flinar, Erinmorlin, and Lisa, what are you doing here?" [Ash] "Ahh, the Behemoth Slayer. We just finished looking into the causes of medication prices surge for today" [Flinar] "This early?" [Alice] "Yeah, there''s nothing much to investigate in this area, maybe due to certain someone living nearby" [Erinmorlin] "Isn''t that good" [Ash] "Well, what about you two?" [Lisa] "We are looking into the cause of the disease. Right now we are visiting each and every wells and public toilets inside the city" [Ash] "Interesting, can we join!" [Lisa] Lisa eyes brimming with interest, she''s a scholar after all, so this kind of thing will definitely catch her interest. The same can be said to the mid life elf Flinar as well as the mid life dwarf, Erinmorlin. No reason not to let them in, plus Lisa herself is a scholar, she can give some insight from her perspective "Sure, come along" [Ash] As we walk, I explained to all four of them regarding the disease transmission, the symptoms and what shall we do to treat it. "Who taught you all this?" [Lisa] "My mother, she''s a healer after all" [Ash] "Ohh, wish I can meet with her" [Lisa] "Same here..." [Ash] It''s short, but I do get the chance to meet with her. Ever since that day when I treat Borg and Lin, I have tried my best to call the soul of both my father and mother, but sadly nothing happen. Are there any conditions that are needed to be fulfilled? If so what? Seeing the needy? Possible "There''s the well" [Flinar] "Well, well, well as expected, it''s dirt alright. Plus, the public toilet is nearby as well" [Ash] "How long have you been planning on saying that awful pun" [Erinmorlin] "Shut it! Plus, I''m sure those kids will laugh hearing it" [Ash] "Dad jokes warning" [Alice] "Haha" [Lisa] Dad jokes aside, I have to start investigating. First, need to confirm that those who are sicked do use the well here, so I have to conduct an interview. I also need to look into the drainage system, whether it''s connected to the well or not. There isn''t a record about it in the castle, and the Duke refuses to give it to me, even with the contract given to me by the king. "I can help in interviewing the local. It''s a scope of job for a scholar" [Lisa] "The same can be said to me, a receptionist" [Elise] "As for the drainage system, I can use my earth sonar magic and see underneath the ground" [Erinmorlin] "Thanks everyone" [Ash] As for Flinar, he has been looking at something for a while now. "Ash, you might want to see this" [Flinar] "What is it?" [Ash] He pointed out to a slimy substance alongside with trace of fecal matter. Ughh... gross "And..." [Ash] In annoyed voice, I ask him. "Well, the fecal aside, this slimy substances is characteristic of Lou Carcolh, a serpentine mollusk and based on my experience, anytime the mollusk appear on large quantities, it will spell disaster" [Flinar] "I see, but just what could it eat?" [Ash] "Well, you did say something about the faulty drainage system being the source of transmission. If we are to assume that the drainage system of the city are having number of problems, then I can assume some wild monsters make their nest down there and those monsters in turn attract Lou Carcolh" [Flinar] "I see, monster inside the city. This is bad" [Ash] "Not the first time, and surely not the last" [Flinar] While monster typically and mostly found inside the dungeon, there''s time when they can exist inside the city. Rare, but it does happen. The random malignant wormhole summoning the behemoth is an example of it. As for this case, who knew. Need to investigate it further As we discuss the possibility, Erinmorlin has finish using his magic, and as expected, the well and the public toilet do connected As for Alice and Lisa, they have confirmed that the people here do take their water from the well, which lead to a question "If the faulty drainage is to be blamed, then just why is it only happen once a year? Plus the dates it happen almost the same from year to year" [Ash] "Maybe..." [Alice] "Any idea?" [Erinmorlin] "Well, the Duke''s household do responsible for maintaining the drainage, as well as collecting some taxes regarding things like this. As for why it''s only happen during this time of the year, this might be a coincidence, but they''re making the maintenance of it around this time of the year" [Alice] "I see, either the maintenance causes the faulty drainage system and thus causing the disease, or the Duke''s household could have realized this problem but chose to keep silence about it, and only send maintenance to prevent further spread of the disease" [Lisa] "Well, only one way to find out" [Ash] "Let just move to next location" [Flinar] To move to the next location, I simply drive my bus golem with those four as passenge Chapter 50 - Start of Investigation part 2 While driving the bus golem, Flinar, Erinmorlin and Lisa keep on asking me question after question about the bus golem, how do I make it move without any magic core or magic stone, from where did I get the inspiration to make the bus golem, how I make the bus golem etc. I started to see how those three become friends with each other, which bring me to ask them "Where are you guys from?" [Ash] "Oh, we didn''t tell you this yet, all three of us are from the Beastman Kingdom, Ledang" [Lisa] "I see, that''s pretty close" [Ash] Well, you just have to travel through the open field dungeon to get to Kisarre and from Kisarre to Ledang through another dungeon called beast dungeon. Plus, you can go to the Demon Kingdom by going through the darkness dungeon from Ledang. "Have you guys went to the Demon Kingdom before?" [Ash] "Before the current ruler, yes. After the war of succession though, we still haven''t gone there yet" [Erinmorlin] War? What war? Plus, they''re starting to discuss some political issue about the Demon Kingdom that I have lost track of it. "Ash, could it be, you don''t know about the war?" [Alice] "Enlighten me" [Ash] "Unbelievable, simply unbelievable" [Flinar] "Well, I guess telling you about the basic should do. If you''re interested more on it, you can certainly ask me" [Lisa] "I''ll appreciate it" [Ash] Firstly the terminology, even though I know the difference, it won''t hurt going through its once again. Demon and Devil, they''re always interchangeably use by the human, especially by the old follower. Well, demon is a race similar to other race, with their notable features being silver colour horn protruding out from the temporal bone. They''re different classes of demon such as vampire, succubus and many more with only few differences between them. As for the devil, they''re the follower of the fallen gods who reside in the nothingness beyond Achalasia, and the reason why demon and devil are interchangeably use is simply because most of the devil are from the demon races. I don''t really know what happen, even the history books don''t really mention what makes the demon races at that time follow the fallen gods. "The toilet here are way too dirty!" [Flinar] "Well, same goes for the well" [Ash] "Is that another dad jokes?" [Lisa] "100% sure it is" [Alice] As we have reach the next location, Lisa stop her explanation for a bit so that we can focus more on our investigation, once we enter the bus golem back As for the war of succession, it all started long ago, during the time of the first Saint and Saintess, the time when the first ten heroes chosen by Goddess Achalasia to defeat the fallen god itself. Due to the war period during that time and also due to the fact that most of the demon races become the fallen god follower, the demon king of that time loses his support from the masses as well as being punished by other countries. The Prince, seeing the dire state of his kingdom, ask the help of the saint and saintess at the time and one day, just like the saint and saintess, he was bestowed by the goddess with the same blessings to defeat the fallen god. Unfortunately, the prince die in the process and didn''t really choose his successor properly and thus start the period of war of succession. Moving forward to the current time, before the period of war, they''re three major power that try to get ahold of the power, and "The faction lead by the Prince Druser with her trustworthy Female Paladin, Aries manage to get majority of the power, but many sacrifices was made along with it" [Lisa] Prince Druser and the female Paladin Aries, they both manage to garner massive support from their citizens, but the other two groups in unison, started a rebel which quickly became out of control, even involving other countries, including Estel itself. The war became massive with each passing year, and as to financially support the rebel group, their leader make a daring move, that''s to permit any sort of violence, even war to other countries just to get the fund needed, and Estel are among the list of countries that the rebel leader put to be raid upon. "And to make matter worse, the church didn''t even want to get involved in it, only when the newly appointed Saint Louis and Saintess Rumia show their support to Prince Druser do the war begin to subsided" [Lisa] The new saint and saintess themselves to begin with aren''t that favoured by many, but their involvement to stop the war are said to be crucial, especially on manipulation of the goddess orb. By supplying their mana to those orbs, they can detect any rebel groups that are about to launch an attack to the country, and thus alerting the soldier and knight "Well, this is the last well" [Ash] "Can you stop with the dad jokes and pun, it isn''t funny" [Alice] "I bet Charlotte will laugh" [Ash] "Putting that aside, we do have a solid data on our hand" [Lisa] "Plus, the entrance to the underground drainage is here" [Flinar] "True, but we do need a permission from the Duke''s household to enter" [Alice] "Meehh..." [Ash] Who cares about permission, well I do care about it actually, but the situation now doesn''t permit me to get the permission. Plus, I do have the contract from the king, so... "Oh look, they don''t even close the door properly" [Ash] "Pretty sure you simply use a brute force there" [Flinar] "Oh really, well too bad the door doesn''t match well with my strength" [Ash] And when I''m about to take a step forward, my body reflexively take ten steps backward, urghh... no, just no! You don''t need me to spell out why right... "Allow me" [Flinar] Flinar uses his wood magic to cover us with nice and excessively strong fragrance smells, so much so that it started to choke us, but it''s necessary plus, I would rather be choke to death by this smell as compared to THAT smell "I should add some extra layer of protection" [Ash] As for me, I covered our bodies with my cure magic from the three mana. I don''t want any one of us to be contracted by the disease later on, so it''s a necessary step "Are you sure you want to follow us?" [Erinmorlin] "Yes, I might not be as strong as the three of you here, but I am certain that I can protect myself well" [Alice] "If you said so. Flinar, Erinmorlin, both of you will focus on protecting the two ladies here, just leave the monster subjugation to me" [Ash] ""Understood"" [Flinar, Erinmorlin] Chapter 51 - Start of Investigation part 3 As the four of us enter the door which leads to the underground drainage system, we stumbled upon the first (or second, if we consider the smell as problem, which honestly, it does) problem, and that''s its way too dark here. Of course, I do expect this kind of situation, so the solution is quite simple, just use a light ball magic to illuminate the surrounding area and "Heeee!" [Alice] Alice screams as those large rodents quickly try their best to swarm us only to end up being electrocuted by my thunder magic "Nice thinking" [Erinmorlin] "Can''t use any other magic can I" [Ash] This is a small underground pathway, and if I have to consider the poorly maintained state of it, there''s a high chance of this entire drainage system to collapse. I might survive the collapse, maybe Erinmorlin can also survive, but I''m sure the other can''t. Plus, collapsing the drainage system is definitely a big no as the damage done will be severe. It''s no exaggeration to day the whole city/country will be affected by it. I can''t use fire magic, there might be chances of choking due to the accumulated carbon dioxide, I can''t use water magic due to fear of overflowing the drainage with water (and also chances of spreading the disease even further). Wind might be an option but strong wind magic will collapse it nevertheless. Earth is a BIG NO. Light and dark might be considered, but I have a tendency to go on a rampage when using it. So the only safe option is to use thunder magic by electrocute those monsters. Just to make it on safer side from now onward, I will be using my Scythe imbued with both lighting as well as water magic. As for the water magic, I make the composition similar to that of a sea water, because Lou Carcolh is basically a giant snail with serpentine features, so I hope my logic of snail being extremely weak to salt water will work "Two elements imbued simultaneously, It''s no exaggeration to say your level of proficiency is similar to that of court magician, plus, when you consider that it''s done without any chant, it''s really show your magic talent. That''s the behemoth slayer for you!" [Lisa] "The rumour also said that you can use all elemental magic, which is crazy" [Flinar] "That weapon, it''s called a scythe right?" [Erinmorlin] "It is" [Ash] Erinmorlin eyes glimmer with interest, I guess dwarf being stereotypically attracted to weapons is true. As we walk to what we believe as the centre of the system (as scouted through earth sonar magic thanks to Erinmorlin), we encounter two groups of monster. Giant Flies as well as Lou Carcolh totaling around 40 I guess. Flinar and Erinmorlin ready themselves to protect Lisa and Alice, as for me ~Dash~ The Giant Flies try to shoot some nasty substances toward me, but I just slice them before they can even do that, as for the Lou Carcolh, with my Scythe, I simply destroy the hard outer shell, penetrating the soft body and electrocute it. I do notice the area stabbed shrink, as if water being pulled out and drawn into my scythe. (Perfect, it''s working) [Ash] And in no time, the monsters are defeated. Making a new compartment inside my item box magic, I store those monsters inside to be presented as evidence of negligence "Let''s get going" [Ash] They nodded. No question asked. I guess this show that they''re trusting me. Still... "Alice, if this is an adventure request, what rank will it be?" [Ash] "Let see, you have a request from the king itself, plus, you''re also dealing with group of monster which I presume in this case will be at least C as evidence by the number, which will be increasing as we keep ongoing, and also the fact that this request is done on such hazardous environment and difficult circumstances, minimum of B rank will be put" [Alice] "I see, guess Jacks will be qualified then" [Ash] "He will" [Alice] "I believe I already knew the answer, but still, why did you ask her that?" [Flinar] "Simple, our current objective is to see the condition of the central water magic stone that supply the water for the whole country, monster subjugation comes second. So after seeing the water stone conditions, I''ll report it to the king and ask him to request for subjugation of those monsters" [Ash] "Thought so" [Flinar] Plus, I can''t just go and subjugate each and every monster inside, well I can but no, I won''t, it''s just tiring and ineffective. I''m sure I will miss one or two, and they will reproduce back in no time, which lead to the same problems once again . . . There''s the second group of monsters. This time, the Lou Carcolhs are happily feasting upon the giant rodents and flies. Oh boy, I''m sure glad those kids aren''t here, if not, they will have a nightmare seeing this scene. On other related note, I can vividly imagine Savel using this scene as his reference for his next Illusion magic And while those monsters are feasting, I simply throw my scythe towards them first for a surprise attack, dash at them, grab back the scythe and make a full 360 degree swings to destroy each one of them. Poor snail, can''t even fight back their demise As we keep ongoing to the center, we noticed something "The number of Lou Carcolh increase, so does their size" [Alice] "Could they have a queen nearby?" [Lisa] "Most likely" [Flinar] "Fighting a queen Lou Carcolh inside the drainage, that will be no easy task. Need any help?" [Erinmorlin] "Depends, but let me handle it first" [Ash] "If you said so" [Erinmorlin] There are two proverbs here, to many cooks spoiled the broth and also many hands make light work. Both are true but in this case, I guess observing first and decide later will be the best course of action for them Just as we started to feel bored due to the long walk (well, there are Lou Carcolh attack here and there but all are handled swiftly by me), we finally reached the centre and man, the water magic stone is huge, shining some pale blue colour light as well as pouring stream of water around it, but sadly, the water quality is something to be worried off. One look and I can see it''s not recommended to use at all. That magic stone surely have been corrupted somehow. Plus "There''s the queen!" [Alice] "It''s huge" [Lisa] ""Careful"" [Flinar, Erinmorlin] "I will" [Ash] If the water magic stone is a size of a small room, the Lou Carcolh Queen will occupy nearly 9/10th of it, which honestly makes it an easy target for me, the problem lies in only the environment The Queen Lou Carcolh seems to order her underling to make a kamikaze attack, they hurled themselves shell first toward me, with no regards to their safety, and god, I might not have felt a cannon ball being fired at me, but I can say for sure it hits like a cannon. My hand quickly goes full numb just by blocking and smashing those shells. Luckily the chained thunder magic as well as the sea water magic do wonder here. Still, they also cast some slimy substance towards me, which slow down my movement. A quick analysis by my scan magic revealed that the slimy substance do contain the same microbes that causes the endemic disease. Maybe it''s due to their ingestion of the nearby water (I''m glad I covered myself with cure magic) [Ash] Just when the seemingly endless barrage of Lou Carcolh of various sizes and weight come to an end (maybe nearing fifty of them), the queen greeted me herself. Contrary to its size (and also to its species), it sure is fast. The queen is a bit slower as compared to its underling, so it''s easier to dodge its attack, but the power behind it is no joke. One slam from its head hold roughly the same forces to that of three medium size Lou Carcolh barrages just now plus (If the queen keeps on doing it, the whole structure will collapse, have to finish it fast) [Ash] With its upcoming attack, I use my scythe to slice both the upper tentacles holding its eyes as well as the numerous tentacles coming from its mouth In response, it breath out a large amount of poisonous gas, since my body is blessed by the goddess, I don''t find it strange if It doesn''t cause any sort of illness to me, but those four behind me will surely felt it. Thankfully, Flinar uses his wood magic to neutralise those gas The second attack come, the queen have regenerated its tentacles back in shape, as if nothing really happen just now. (This will get tedious) [Ash] Have to do something fast, or else this structure will really collapse. Think Think Think... GOT IT! I have to wait for the poisonous gas attack. No, instead of waiting, let us aggravate it like last time. Slice those nasty tentacles and BINGO " EAT THIS!" [Ash] While supplying more of my sea water magic into the scythe, I throw it inside the queen at high velocity. As expected, the slimy substance inside the mouth halted its momentum, but that''s exactly what I was hoping for With this, the sea water being omitted from my scythe will cause the queen to shrunken. As it shrink (and quickly for that matter), it goes on a rampage spree, but the power have been significantly reduced until "Only the shell and the magic core is left behind" [Ash] The shell is humongous, and so does the magic core. While the magic core do emit water magic, sadly it also emit poison magic, so obviously we can''t use it to replace the corrupted water stone. Well, better store it first "You sure make it look easy" [Erinmorlin] "That''s an A rank monster there, and yet it''s instantly slayed" [Alice] "If we pitch you to fight the Saga or the Female Paladin Aries, I wonder who will win" [Lisa] "That''s an interesting experiment" [Flinar] "Let just report first to the king, shall we?" [Ash] Chapter 52 - Treating others part 1 [Diana point of view] [One day before starting the treatment to the masses] [At Diana''s personal room] "No, you can''t!" [Diana] Since Ash had helped in curing Qis from the endemic disease, Qis vitality had greatly improved. So much so that she looks almost fine from one simple glance, something you wouldn''t expect from someone who''s previously gravely on danger of dying. "But Princess! You being there alone is without a doubt dangerous!" [Qis] "I do have the twelve hidden guards with me, as well as some adventures that are hired to look after each place. So it will be fine, you just have to rest!" [Diana] "Then, I''ll come to visit you, not as the royal guard, but as a friend" [Qis] "And what difference will it make!" [Diana] Qis have been reluctant on leaving me behind without any sort of proper protection. Even when she was sick, she still power herself through just to accompany me. Well, Qis is tough. I still remember Qis, Linda and Alice, those three were once actively studying and training together just to become female guard and mages supporting the country, which sadly are male predominant. In an environment that doesn''t really cultivated woman potentials, those three were once a rare gem, they''re even closed breaking the noble-commoner barrier, but ever since Linda''s... "Please wait for a while, I''ll get my rapier back" [Qis] "Sigh... you will not bulge on this one no matter what I say" [Diana] I''m worried, but instead of forcing her to rest, I''ll just let her take a stroll with me, that way she can have an ease of mind Since she did ask me to wait, I should utilize this time to its fullest Let see, letters from THAT PRINCESS. Sigh... why did she always do things like this. She should have been more aware of her position (not that I''m one to speak). Let see... strange monster in Malsia with strange weapon, from its description, doesn''t it sound exactly like a scythe, the one that Ash have been using Letter from Saintess Rumia... I see. There''re some activities suggestive of the R&D from the church do responsible for the strange portal magic stone that Ash brought us after his fight with the King Behemoth. There''s still some mystery behind the stones but most importantly, why leave such a precious thing inside a dungeon? Even Rumia herself couldn''t figure it out yet Ahh, letters from Sir Ceanu Reaves. His journey to different countries just to search for talents to be recruited do bore some fruits. Still, I hope he comes back soon, the Duke''s household is in serious mess, and personally speaking, I don''t think anyone from that household besides him is competent enough to run the house. Even dad think the same There are several more letters, but most of them aren''t that really important. There''s even an invitation to the Holy Palace... that guy really is persistent, I have already lost count how many times I had rejected the offer "Sorry for making you wait" [Qis] "Its fine, shall we go?" [Diana] For now, let just meet with those young healers. They''re mostly women, with some men, all from the lower class family. If the country didn''t take any opportunities to grab ahold of these young healers, the church will proclaim them to be theirs, and in turn will have their palm on health policies. I can''t let them do that! Still, the sad (or should I say the expected) thing here is that both the church and other noble have been throwing accuses just to deter this plan. They even tell such obvious lie to the citizen just to sway theirs support from me . . . (We might be at a disadvantage for now, but if we didn''t take the first step, then when will the other do that?) [Linda] Right, she did say that a lot. Plus, that''s also true. No matter how disadvantageous the situation are, we have to take the first step. It will be hard and challenging, but till when will we just look from behind? "Princess Diana, welcome" [Yefefiah] We should start discussing about what shall we do tomorrow The leader of the young healers greet me. The young healers all have high affinity towards water or light magic, some with both, and they can use healing magic as well. The sad thing is, the great healer from the church didn''t even bother teaching them any healing techniques (that''s to be expected), thus they have to opt for self study. Still, a student without a teacher can''t go far thus they were belittle by others When Qis was sick, they tried their best to treat her (since those church people didn''t want to treat her), but unable to produce any notable results, which understandably lead them to feel depressed and worthlessness. They''re on the verge of giving up when Ash suddenly appeared and taught them how to treat the endemic disease. Ash explanation at that time were simple, he even uses illusion magic to illustrate the transmission of the disease as well as how to treat it. This in turn causes the fire within them to be reignited, which is good. When Ash refuses to teach them any other healing techniques as he himself isn''t a healer, I thought the young healers will become a lost lamb once again but no, they somehow become even more excited to learn new things. Guess its turned out fine. Ash will still teach them magic though (myself included), that''s a wonderful news. Still, the adventure, the common soldiers, as well as some children do request the same to him, so maybe I should propose and help him to make a school "I see, so the west section is the one we should focus more" [Young healer A] "That''s true. The number of infected there are sky high. As for your activities, on the first day, I''ll ask all of you to gather around the designated spot, collect some information and also ask if there''s any bedridden patients that''s too sick to leave their house. On second day, you will go to those houses to treat them" [Diana] As I said that, they can''t help but to show enthusiasm. This will be their first time treating large number of people as well as proving themselves to be capable. I hope nothing but the best for them, please prove those people they''re wrong about all of you "Adventure guarding us, I wonder if I can get the famous Samurai protecting me, that will be the best!" [Young healer C] "Unfortunately for you, he has set his eyes on certain someone. That certain someone''s friend is with us though just so you know" [Diana] "!" [Qis] "I wonder who..." [Young healer C] Cheer up Qis, you might not communicating much with her right now, but I do know you have been worried about her, especially when that idiot noble have been chasing her around. You even threaten him behind my back just to protect her "Right, let us vote who will go where!" [Yefefiah] "I wanted to go to the orphanage!" [Young healer E] "So that you can seduce him? You aren''t that femini... Ouch!" [Young healer B] The male young healer got hit, yeah, he shouldn''t say that, no wonder he''s single After the vote, Yefefiah and another female healer get to go to the orphanage. I told them I will be accompanying them there, which somehow makes them nervous more. I should give them a word of motivation for now "Everyone, this will be your first time treating a patient, do remember to do it with compassion. I don''t think I have to say this, but please do your best and prove to the world that you aren''t a joke, but instead, a hidden raw gem that will one day help us in making a better Estel!" [Diana] "Yes!" [Young healer] That''s it for today, I should attend to some other works for now Chapter 53 - Treating others part 2 [Diana point of view] [On the day of treatment] "You guys are early" [Ash] Ash said that as he greeted the four of us. "The twelve of you can come in as well, just join us for breakfast" [Ash] "..." [Guards] He pointed out towards the direction of one of the twelve guards, and obviously they won''t answer him "Welcome Princess Diana" [Kara] "Oh Kara, you are up early today" [Diana] "That''s because I know you will be here today" [Kara] Kara hug me as usual, she''s soft and cute, and her innocence smile every time we met is something that I really appreciate, and today "Welcome Sis Qis" [Mara] Mara hug her, and obviously Qis is startled by it, never thought I would see that kind of reaction from her "Th.. thank you" [Qis] "Someone confused" [Ash] "She is" [Diana] I get the feeling that Ash is the one asking her to do it. Don''t get me wrong, neither of us can feel any sort of bad intention behind the hug, I guess Ash just wanted to remind Qis to be nice with his siblings and that''s he ask Mara to do it "How about us?" [Yefefiah] "Yeah!" [Young healer A] "Sure!" [Charlotte] And there she goes, imitating her older sisters. We then join Ash and the orphans for breakfast. Rafiah is there, as well as Alice, who come the earliest. "..." [Qis] "..." [Alice] "You guys really have something going on, aren''t you" [Ash] ""!!"" [Qis, Alice] "Excuse me, is there anybody home?" [Liyana] "Oh, it''s Liyana!" [Elise] "I''ll get the door!" [Farhah] "Let me join in as well" [Singa] And Linda''s little sister is here as well, now the two becomes more awkward. Oh god... somehow I feel little bit grateful that Linda didn''t know about Qis and Alice here having good relationship with her older sister, and it''s looks like she wanted Ash to teach her about magic "Dad and Mom prohibited it, but if possible, I want to be like my older sister!" [Liyana] ""!!"" [Qis, Alice] She said that as she reaffirms her intention about learning magic "Sure, but sadly I will be out today, but you''re free to use the training hall with them once the treatment have been done" [Ash] "Is that so..." [Liyana] Oww, she looks down. She must have look forward for this training "How about I teach you after this?" [Alice] "But you will accompany Ash for today right?" [Diana] "I''ll do it, Alice, you can just go and do your job" [Qis] "Are you sure...? Last time you teach someone..." [Alice] "It''s fine, I''ll do my best..." [Qis] "Can we join in as well?" [Rean] "Being teach by a royal bodyguard will be a much valuable experience!" [Zerolith] "If you don''t mind my strict teaching then sure" [Qis] "Thank you, we will appreciate it" [Rean] "I''ll show my powerful sword technique!" [Savel] "Me too!" [Singa] Looks like Qis will be replacing Alice to teach them about magic. That''s good. Plus, that conversation with Alice just now, I guess I''m the one that have been overthinking about it. It wasn''t like it used to but it''s not as bad as I think it is. I''m glad. "Why don''t we teach them some healing magic as well?" [Yefefiah] "That will be good. We might not be as good as Ash here, but we can teach them a few things" [Young healer A] "Can we?" [Kara] "Sure you can! Rafiah, you will join us as well! Show those kids your talent!" [Yefefiah] "Right... I will" [Rafiah] "..." [Zerolith] Is it just me? Zerolith seems not accepting Rafiah being here? Should ask Claude after this After the long breakfast (as some adventures comes midway), Ash and Claude started to prepare the venue for us. Well, by preparing I mean just showing us the young healers work station, and those station have been prepared by Housey here. "I see, so the training hall will be used as the treatment hall for this upcoming two days" [Samurai Jacks] "Ram didn''t tell you that?" [Ash] "I guess the guild master would assume the adventure knowing about it already" [Alice] "Guess it''s my fault for not being more aware of this kind of thing" [Samurai Jacks] "I should have told you that, sorry" [Syah] Ash actually prepare quite a lot of things. For once, he alongside Farhah make most of the tables and chairs here so that the young healers as well as the citizen will sit comfortably. He also makes some beds just in case some of them needed to be treated while lying down. The final arrangements of it is then done by using Housey. After making sure everything is prepared, Ash and Alice then went outside to start their investigation "Take care" [Karon] "You really want to come along didn''t you" [Ash] "..." [Karon] Looks like Karon wanted to follow Ash to investigate the cause of the disease. No good, he will surely be exposed to the disease "Come now Karon, let us help the other" [Diana] "..." [Karon] "Well, please take care of them" [Ash] "We will" [Samurai Jacks] Now he''s sulking, can''t be helped, his safety comes first "Buy us some orange grass on your way home!" [Mara] "Sure" [Ash] And there they go. There are some time left before the treatment begin, so Qis uses this time to fulfill her promise to Alice just now. She quickly draws her Rapier and taught them some fine arts of fighting while using both magic and weapon. All of us couldn''t help but admire her technique. Even Jacks watch it with full concentration and listen to her explanation about the balance of honing both your skills weapon and magic skill simultaneously "Sorry to interrupt all of you, but the peoples seeking the treatment already gather" [Claude] "Let us get started then!" [Yefefiah] "Alright let do this" [Young healer A] "You want to help too?" [Rafiah] "If you didn''t mind us" [Mara] "Of course not" [Rafiah] "Come, we will teach you just like how your big brother taught us that day" [Yefefiah] Among them, Elise, Kara and Mara are the one planning to help treating the patient. Charlotte is interested as well but his fine control is still lacking according to Claude and thus Claude didn''t allow her to join in. Instead, she will be helping the others in the "menial" task like changing the water, providing the ORS etc. That''s good then, that way the orphanage image will also goes up As for me, I guided my citizen on the process. Where to sit and what to do when you''re called. Of course Qis and others end up prohibited me on doing so, and thus here I am, just sitting here watching the entire process from the sideline alongside Liyana Chapter 54 - Treating others part 3 [Diana point of view] I''m bored, with nothing to do but just standing at the by side alongside Liyana who has been nervous this whole time being left all alone with me. You don''t have to be that nervous, my title might be higher than you are, but that doesn''t mean I will consider it a capital crime if you talk to me. Then again, my brother and sister did just that, so I guess it''s understandable. (She''s Linda''s little sister but I didn''t know much about her, I should be the one initiate the conversation) [Diana] Just when I''m about to say something, an incident happen (or about to happen) "Rafiah! Let''s go home!" [Old follower B] Isn''t she Rafiah''s friend back then? She looks desperate, and not only that, there''s something different about her. I don''t know what but its just felt somewhat off "- .... .-. . .- - / -.. . - . -.-. - . -.." [Housey] No good, Housey is glowing in such a threatening way. Ash did say that he will tune it today so that Housey will become more sensitive to any malice especially towards his siblings, but this is just to sensitive "Housey, it''s alright. Let me handle this" [Claude] Thank goodness Claude is quick to act, otherwise who knew what will happen. Still, there''re some people left to seek treatment, if they make a ruckus out of this, the orphanage reputation might plunge down. I guess I should handle this and let Claude handle Rafiah. "Light, disperse and show yourself, Rainbow!" [Diana] "Woah, look at that" "A rainbow inside the hall" "And the light emitted, it''s so... warm and pretty" "It''s soothing as well" Since the distraction cause by the old follower is just a small one, this should be way more than enough to distract them from Rafiah. Looks, Claude already get this under control and its look as if the old follower is still trying her best to get back her old friend. She is doing it politely though, asking Rafiah to thoroughly think about it. Not only that, other adventures are trying to protect Rafiah as well in case something bad happen (I can maintain the rainbow long enough, but it will quickly become dull) [Diana] Ohh look, Liyana and Ash siblings are admiring it as well. Rather than seeing it "Liyana, how about you make it snow" [Diana] "But, without Teacher Ash..." [Liyana] "Don''t worry, I''m here to help you out" [Diana] I''m no where near Ash level when it comes to magic proficiency, but I''m sure I''m decent enough to guide her. Now then, Liyana should follow her big sister elemental affinity which is ice. And "Snow!" [Liyana] Just a single word, and I can clearly felt the amount of mana gush behind it. No good "!" [Liyana] I quickly grab her hand. She instantly turned as pale as a snow "Don''t worry. I know it''s hard for you to control it. Your big sister also had the same issue" [Diana] "..." [Liyana] (Still, I''m also to be blamed during that time) [Diana] "It''s alright, I will guide you, here, release your ice mana slowly. Imagine releasing each snowflake from the tip off your fingers towards the air" [Diana] As I said that, I corrected her mana flow, so that the gush of mana won''t come out in one shot, but instead flow like a calm river in a single direction "snow" [Liyana] She''s still not able to use chantless spell even though her teacher is Ash. It''s understandable, chantless magic is quite hard plus, I can see that she only just recently attend Ash teaching session with his other siblings. "It''s cold" "And the snowflakes are pretty" "Couple that with the rainbow and it suddenly becomes romantic" As the public become distracted, Qis give me a signal that everything is clear and we could just end it here. It''s regrettable, I myself just started to enjoy it as well "We should stop using the magic" [Diana] "Yes!'' [Liyana] Now that the old follower isn''t here, the treatment can continue as usual. I must sat though, the three of them did a splendid job. They quickly treat all that have come here as well as teaching Elise, Kara and Mara at the same time. The three siblings are currently treating a pair of mother and son, and by the looks of it, they know each other. The other orphans are also doing a great job, Rean for example keep on explaining about the benefits of ORS and yogurt to an old couple who keeps on repeating the same question again and again, Farhah helps on adjusting the wooden furniture to tailor some old lady hip as she complained about her back pain. As for Zerolith, it might be brief but I can sense that he''s actually concern about Rafiah safety. I guess it''s nothing to be worried about, just like how Qis and Alice can communicate instantly even after not talking to each other for so long, I believe they can find the solution toward their problem. "Thank you for the distraction just now Princess Diana" [Claude] "It''s fine. Still, what happen?" [Diana] "The old follower try her best to persuade Rafiah to follow her back into the church, or so it seems" [Claude] "I see, even you felt something off just now" [Diana] "This might be rude as I suddenly slip into this conversation, but I do agree, I don''t know why but somehow, instead of begging her to come back, I felt like it was the exact opposite" [Samurai Jacks] "Same here, her eyes are begging Rafiah to stay safe" [Qis] "..." [Zerolith] "You should go and protect her, Zerolith" [Diana] "No!" [Zerolith] Oh my, I guess he really is concerned about Rafiah. Look, even Claude and the others can''t help but to giggle a bit. Now I really want to know what actually happened And with that, the treatment continue without any sort of trouble until the evening, when "I''m back, and here''s some orange grass" [Ash] "Welcome back!" [Charlotte] "Charlotte, im "Charing a lot" of orange grass" [Ash] "Hahaha, that''s funny brother Ash" [Charlotte] "See, I told you she will appreciate it!" [Ash] "I give up" [Alice] "That dad joke and pun wasn''t even punny" [Lisa] "Sigh... its spreading" [Erinmorlin] What''s with that pun. This might be rude but I just wanted to throw my shoes into his smug face now. Looks, even Rean and Elise can''t help but to felt embarrassed by it "Both of you are early, and isn''t that the three that we met when rescuing Alice" [Diana] "Yeah they''re. You guys, this is Princess Diana, and Diana, this is Flinar, Erinmorlin and Lisa respectively" [Ash] He said that as he pointed towards the elf, dwarf and the lady. "So, did you guys found out about the cause?" [Diana] "About that, your father just gave us a new job" [Ash] "!?" [Others] Chapter 55 - Evening after the 1st day of investigation and treatment After the battles against a group of Lou Carcolh and also with its queen, we met with an unexpected group of people, it was none other than servants from the Duke''s family. Apparently, I have activated something similar to a trap wire and thus alerting them to come here and that''s where the first problem begin. Instead of acknowledging that the drainage was in fact, swarmed with monsters, they accused us of releasing those said monsters and try to arrest us for it. Reasonable, but I don''t plan on making it easy for them. They aren''t that strong to begin with so just a single punch with earth hardening magic into their solar plexus would do the trick. The second problem come when I dragged each one of them into the castle (why I did it? I don''t want to leave them behind and prolonged this breaching issue) If I did just that, then there''s a good chance that the Duke''s household will use this as a reason to send their personal soldier into the mansion and that''s not good, for them (since it will only annoy me). But Yeah, me dragging them there caused a ruckus back then (fortunately not along the way as I simply hide them inside the bus golem). To make it worse the Duke''s wife was present at that time. Well, I can''t hit a woman but damn it, her action makes me want to punch her. Fortunately for me, the King happen to pass by and quickly settled the matter. The Duke''s wife become irritated once this case was simply dismissed as us was breaching into the underground drainage system was for the sake of investigating the cause of the yearly endemic disease "I see. Let me repeat it, the cause of this yearly endemic disease is due to the Lou Carcolhs using the water stone crystal as a source of their energy to breed and multiplies. Their actions in turn cause the toxin and bacteria inside their body to enter Water crystal stone, multiply and then being distributed via the drainage system. Plus, since the drainage system as well as the well and public toilets are all connected, in fact connected to the single water crystal stone, this causes an endemic of such proportion every year" [Diana] "That''s seem to be the cause your highness" [Lisa] That''s the conclusion that all five of us get once the investigation was over. We told the same thing to King Estel and thus he tasked us to "So Big brother will search for new crystal stone inside the Rock and Sea dungeon day after tomorrow?" [Savel] "That''s right" [Ash] That''s my job, to provide as much as viable and large water crystal stone. Water crystal stone is the same as regular magic stone, but the only difference is that unlike the one time used magic stone, it can be use in theory forever so long as you maintain it properly. As for Erinmorlin, he will lead a group of engineers to repair and if possible upgrade the drainage system Flinar is a healer, and since the young healers don''t have any teacher teaching them, King Estel proposed to him to teach those young healers. He then asked to be given some time to think about it As for Lisa, she was asked to properly record all this events from all side, from my side to the noble to the guild master side, so that a proper record can be kept and use as a reference in the future "So, anything happen today?" [Ash] "Well..." [Diana] I see, so Rafiah''s friend did come here and fortunately didn''t make any ruckus. But, they''re saying that instead of dragging Rafiah back, they get the feeling the opposite was in fact, seems the case. Did something happen? Should I investigate it "Don''t, let us investigate it" [Diana] "For a moment, I thought that Gizzere was here with us" [Ash] It has been a while since someone did those mind reading thing to me, so I am quite shock about it. Still, I can guess why Diana prohibited me from doing so, and that''s to ensure the safety of the orphans. I might be able to protect myself in case something happens, but what about them. That''s a risk that neither Diana nor I would like to take. "The clothing aunty and his son also came just now to seek treatment, and we treated them!" [Elise] "It''s hard but it was worth it!" [Mara] "Agree" [Kara] "I see, I''m proud of you guys" [Ash] The clothing aunty and his son also contracted the disease. I don''t know that. Oh... that reminds me, I still haven''t developed a prototype device of a camera. They did request one after all, even the guild master and Diana asked me to develop it as an additional source of income for the orphanage. Other than that, I guess nothing worth noting happen. I should call it a day and rest early, or so I thought "Umm... teacher, If you''re ok, can I request a training session with you tomorrow?" [Liyana] "Tomorrow huh... I''m going to prepare for my job, so I might be tight on schedule, so why don''t I teach you now, that''s if you''re still ok" [Ash] "Gladly!" [Liyana] "Can I join!" [Young healer A] "May I join in as well?" [Syah] "Sure, I don''t mind" [Ash] "Oh, I almost forgot, Ash, why don''t you open a school or tuition as well? I can help you with that, considering how many requests you received, this should be the best course of action" [Diana] "I''ll think about it later" [Ash] Truthfully, I already thought of it but with so many things to do with so little time, I cast it aside "Well, let get started with the magic training" [Ash] "I will!" [Liyana] She''s fired up, that''s good. Plus "Both of you, why do you have such caring look towards Liyana?" [Ash] "Nothing" [Qis] "Must be your imagination" [Alice] "Haha, I guess things really are fine between both of you. I''m worried for nothing" [Diana] ""Princess!!"" [Qis, Alice] "Something happen?" [Liyana] "Nothing, let just start your training" [Diana] Yup, something happen, but since Diana told me not to worry much about it, I just cast is aside. Hope this isn''t a flag raising event though Chapter 56 - The second day _________________________________________________ [Night in Malsia] Three random soldiers doing his best to perform his usual night watch. The rumour regarding an appearance of a strange and an unknown monster wielding an unknown weapon becomes one of the topics that they discuss so that the three can avoid dozing. Not only that, "So Estel being hit with the yearly endemic disease once more?" "That country really are messed up, but then again every country have its own share of problem" "Still, you guys heard the rumour? About the appearance of a traveler who opened up something called an orphanage? Apparently he all by himself take care of the orphans in that country, when nobody was willing to do it. What''s more, those orphans are from various races and there''s also a twin among them" "Yeah, I heard that as well. He must have some hidden agenda if you as..." "Joh!!!" You! You are!" The sight of a hooded monster with a strange weapon appear. Plus, the now two corpses of his friends begin to act strange, as if something is trying to find their way out from the body _________________________________________________ While the first day of treatment center around few locations (the orphanage included), the second day revolve around going from house to house as to treat those who are too ill to even take a step outside their house. At first, I thought to just leave it in the hand of the young healers since I wanted to use this free time of mine to get prepare and stock some food etc to be brought inside the Rock and Sea dungeon. I don''t have any idea how long will this job take so that''s why I thought of doing that but "It''s fine, us from the castle will prepare it for you. So why don''t you join us for today" [Diana] "That''s generous of you, any reason why?" [Ash] "Of course, just what kind of King will my father be if he didn''t at least provide that much to those he entrusted a job with!" [Diana] Diana said that, in almost angry tone. Guess she must have thought I''m once again being too suspicious to them. "Sorry" [Ash] "It''s fine, sorry for raising my voice just now" [Diana] I guess with all the problems that she have, couple with the fact that there are bad rumours about her floating around spread by those irresponsible peoples do take a toll on her. So the best I can do for her now is at least not adding more to it. Still, I do feel bad about it "Sorry Diana, I am being insensitive here" [Ash] "Just try to trust us next time alright" [Diana] "My bad and I will. Don''t want my siblings to learn being biased to certain group of people just because of my stupidity" [Ash] Well, Kids are prone to mimics those around them, and since I am one of the closest adults around, I''m sure they will start copying me. It will be wonderful if they can pickup the good things and leave the bad one aside, but that''s not how it works. As such, it''s my duty to act as a good role model all the time. At least In front of them "Bus golem coming through" [Ash] Just to ease us, I bring out the bus golem once more and let them all in. Right now, there are 16 of us (Us siblings, Diana, Qis Rafiah, Yefefiah and another young healer) "Let see, this should be the first house" [Yefefiah] "Alright, next stop, house. Next stop, house" [Ash] I begin to mimic the robotic lady voice that you will hear when commuting and """Next stop, house. Next stop, house""" [Singa, Savel, Charlotte] "How cute!" [Young healer A] "They are!" [Yefefiah] Once all of us get off the bus and me parking the bus inside the item box, we enter the house of an old man lying there with his wife next to him. The house reminded me of Borg and Lin''s house and I quickly applied some cure magic just like yesterday to all of us. "How about you do the honour for today" [Young healer A] "That will be nice" [Rafiah] "If you said so" [Ash] While I am treating the old man, the other didn''t just sit there and watch. Instead, they''re all giving information about what causes the endemic disease and what to do to prevent it, emphasizing more on the hygiene part. "Remember, always wash your hand before eating!" [Diana] "Preferably like this, but a simple hand wash that clean the dirt from the hands are enough" [Rean] Diana and Rean try their best to explain it to the crowds. They knew that Diana alongside me will be moving around from house to house for today treatment and as such they will gather around the house that we stop by. Seeing this, Diana quickly took the opportunity to involve my siblings as well to teach the masses about the disease. It''s a good step, that way prevention can be done as someone higher up from them are personally explaining the disease to them, washing the dirt off Diana''s name which is tainted by nasty rumour and also spreading the good name of the orphanage. "There, done" [Ash] "it, it doesn''t hurt anymore!" "Darling" The two of them hug eachother, such a sweet scene, still I have to interrupt them as the schedule is a bit tight. Plus "You guys heard what Princess Diana said right, about the importance of hygiene. So do us a favour and start helping this two sweet couple cleans up their house, or else the disease will only spread further" [Ash] "As the behemoth slayer rightly said" [Diana] "Yosh, leave it to us!" And with that, our busy schedules continue on. We met some of the young healers as well, going by the castle carriage along the way doing the same thing as us. We also went and stop at the clothing shop and chat with the clothing shop aunty and his son for a while before moving on to the next location. The same scenario keeps on happening, we treated the patient, the neighbour used the opportunity to peak at the princess and thus the princess and my siblings started to give a health talk. It''s tiring but also fun. There''s still some of them that looks at my siblings like they''re looking to a garbage, it hurts me alright but "You there, if you have nothing better to do, then I suggest you to leave!" [Qis] "Nice job Qis" [Diana] "Thank you" [Qis] "Female knight is cool!" [Elise] "That''s rare word coming from you Elise" [Ash] I can understand her admiration toward Qis, but hearing Elise using the word cool somehow sound strange to me. "Thank you, the three of us once really strive to become one" [Qis] "Three of us?" [Elise] "Nothing" [Qis] "Don''t just brush it off Qis" [Diana] I''m pretty sure Qis is trying to tell Diana not to tease her, but let just let it slide. I don''t want Elise image of a strong female knight to be needlessly destroyed by my comment And after a while, we finally covered the assigned area. Since we are having some free time, Diana asked all of us to come with her to dine together in one of the luxurious restaurant. Naturally we all rejected that offer. We compromise and eat at what is called as normal restaurant for the likes of us. Chapter 57 - Getting the water crystal part 1 "Claude, we will be out for quite sometime and I will increase my mana input into Housey as to prevent anything happening to the mansion, especially to Rafiah" [Ash] "Understood, and do come back safely" [Claude] "That''s a given. Ohh, Rafiah, that thing about being a witch and upgrading the difficulty rank of zombies in training hall, don''t do it now. We will think of something to cover it up" [Ash] "Yes. Don''t worry, I will not do that. Plus, I''m not confident on doing so" [Rafiah] "Then I''ll leave both the mansion and the training to the three of you" [Ash] Before going to sleep, Claude, Rafiah and I talk about the safety measures that we can implement to keep the mansion safe My ten cutie pie wanted to follow me so bad to the dungeon that I actually can''t help but to said yes to their request. (Well, they''re someone that will one day be chosen by the goddess to fight the fallen god, and even Goddess Achalasia wish nothing but happiness for them, so I should spend more quality time with them) [Ash] And since those tens wanted to come along, I have to make sure they''re adequately prepared. So that''s why I double checked all the item that I have bought from the store for the last time before going to bed. Diana actually get angry when I buy those items for them, saying the castle can provide them with the necessities, but this time, I had firmly refused the offer. I can understand and accept that the castle will provide me with the necessary fund and item because I''m the one that will do the jobs of searching for the water crystal stone, not those siblings of mine. So the fact that Diana wanted the castle to provide for their necessities as well just doesn''t stand right with me. I do know that the castle providing for additional ten kids is like giving an ice cube from an iceberg, but it''s just felt wrong in my opinion (Everything here. Perfect) [Ash] Should go to sleep now . . . Morning have come and this time around, we are eating breakfast made by Claude and Rafiah. "How''s the pancakes?" [Rafiah] "Delicious!" [Karon] "It truly is" [Farhah] "How about you Zerolith, care to give some comments. Savel and Singa are free to give comments as well" [Ash] "It''s delicious!" [Savel] ""..."" [Zerolith, Singa] "Thank you" [Rafiah] Well, at least Savel have open up a bit to Rafiah. As for Singa and Zerolith, let just give them some more time. We depart soon after breakfast, using the bus golem as usual "Take care" [Claude] "Bye bye Grandpa" [Charlotte] "Bye" [Kids] "Claude, Rafiah and Housey, be careful and take care" [Ash] "We will" [Rafiah] "-... -.-- . / -... -.-- ." [Housey] "Yeah, bye bye Housey" [Ash] With that, eleven of us with Behe stopped by the adventure guild first as Ram have promised me to give some information regarding the water crystal stone that I am looking for. Crystal stone can actually be made by combining few magic core that we can obtain from monster with magic stone, but the chance of success is pretty low. Plus, if its fail, then all the valuable magic core and magic stone will be destroyed as well, so that''s why finding a crystal stone is much better option "You guys are early" [Ram] "They''re excited to enter the Rock and Sea dungeon, that''s why" [Ash] "Understandable, all of you come here, I will explain about the location that you will be exploring" [Ram] "Yes!" [Kids] Rock and Sea dungeon, as we know it, comprise of a main road that stretch from one floor to another. The main road length is short, only a kilometre, but the width and depth of each dungeon on the other hand is nothing to laugh at. The more periphery you go inside the dungeon, more vicious monsters and traps will show up. That''s the basic that i have been told long back. Plus, the 50th floor dungeon follow the typical dungeon structure in this world, with the center of the dungeon being the hardest. So that mean that from Estel to the 25th floor, the difficulty level will be increasing, and from 25th floor to Malsia, the difficulty level will slowly decrease "And as for the water crystal stone, there are reports stating that it can be found in following floors. The 9th floor, 14th, 15th, 17th, and 20th to 25th floor. That said, since you''re bringing the kids along, I wouldn''t advice you tackle the 20th floor onward. Sure you''re strong and the kids safety can be assured if they stayed in the main road where the monsters won''t attack, but it''s better to be Safe than to be sorry" [Ram] "Just a question, is there a chance we can encounter an S rank monster on those floors?" [Rean] "Unless you stay clear from 20th to 25th floor, then you''re good" [Ram] "I see, and what S rank monster can we expect?" [Ash] "Plenty, the sea are pretty deep, who knew what''s lurking underneath it. To give you few examples, there''s the Emperor Megalodon, corrupted mermaid king, Monstrous Jellyfish, Monstrous Kraken, Mutated Hydra, and god forbids, but please by all means don''t encounter Leviathan." [Ram] "That''s actually a lot more than I thought" [Ash] "Believe me, there''s more" [Ram] "Seriously!?" [Elise] "Yeah, that''s why we tell them not to dive too deep even on the first floor." [Ram] "Well, as long as I don''t go too deeply and stay as close as possible to the centre, then everything will be fine" [Ash] "Please do that, don''t want anything bad happens to these kids" [Ram] "How about Brother Ash, aren''t you worry about him!?" [Farhah] "He is strong, he can take care of himself well. Have some confidence in him" [Ram] "Nice dodge" [Ash] "Is that so? Well, I have spoken all that I know, good luck on your job" [Ram] "I will, thanks Ram" [Ash] "You''re welcome, and kids, be careful" [Ram] "We will!" [Kids] Chapter 58 - Getting the water crystal part 2 To get from one floor to the other inside a dungeon, we will have to take the portal that connects the floor. Every dungeon has its own way to reach the next floor. The open field dungeon have a stair like your typical dungeon games to access the floor above or below it. The Rock and Sea dungeon however, uses something akin to a portal to transport us to another floor. This might be due to the fact that the depth of the dungeon, even the sea on the 1st floor have a depth of 30Km. I think the god or whoever the one created the dungeon must have thought of it (But really, why do dungeon exist in the first place?). As for the Icy dungeon, I never see it but to access the floor below, there something akin to an elevator, now that''s unique. Who know, maybe it''s because if it''s a stair, it will become slippery and aren''t suitable for use As our first destination is the 9th floor, we didn''t bother to stop by in any of the floors. With the bus golem, I straight away uses traverse the straight main road from the first floor up till the 9th floor. Unlike the open field dungeon where I had those passengers inside the bus to get out and walk to get to another floor since you can''t just drive a vehicle through a staircase (well, there are methods to do that actually or else those merchants from the country of Kisarre won''t be able to bring their goods), the portal is big enough to let my bus golem to pass through it. There are people that we met along the way. Some a tourist from Malsia accompanied by an adventure, some are merchants going to Malsia to make business there. Some even just went solo. Well, inside most of the dungeon in this world, as long as you stay on the main road, your safety are almost guaranteed. It isn''t known why but monsters, traps and things that are harmful aren''t likely to appear in the main road. Once we reach the 9th floor "The sea, it''s raging!" [Kara] "Are you really going to dive into the sea Brother Ash?" [Mara] "Well, I can just wait for a while. Who knows, maybe it will be calm later" [Ash] Yeah, the sea is raging, and quite violently at that. The sea just near the main road aren''t affected but those far away, I swear to god a tsunami might appear any minute. This floor length is around 1.5Km, so I should travel to the centre first and scan the whole floors for any traces of water crystal stone. "Here, make yourself comfortable" [Ash] "Can I swim?" [Singa] "I wanna swim too!" [Charlotte] "No you can''t! Rean, Elise, make sure they stay here! And if anything happens, here, use this. I already told you right how to use it right?" [Ash] "Yes!" [Rean] "Understood" [Elise] At the middle of the main road, I set up some portable camp that we get from the castle, it sure is big and it comes with utilities such as bedroom, toilet and kitchen. One would think that travelling through the dungeon will be hard, but looking at how they''re all playing with Behe right now, it''s like we never step inside a dungeon. (Well, you can say that this is similar to a camper van, which got me thinking, should I upgrade the bus golem into a camper van, or should I make a new camper van golem just for traveling). It''s an interesting idea and one that I can explore in the future. "I bet other will be jealous of us, look at how luxurious our travel is" [Farhah] "This must be how the royal, rich nobles and merchants travel" [Savel] "Maybe" [Karon] "I hope I can always travel like this in the future" [Zerolith] (Looks like I will create a camper van golem in the future then) [Ash] It might be early, but I should prepare some food for them while using my search and scan magic. Sure I can just stay silent and enter a meditation state to increase the effectiveness of the magic, that way I can search better and faster, but I am traveling with them and the reason why I allowed them to come along is to have some quality bonding time with them, so let just do that. (Maybe a BBQ style would do?) [Ash] Nope, should do something simple first, this is our first time traveling like this, so I should do something simple so that we can gradually get accustomed to traveling. "You want be to make some fried rice?" [Elise] "I can help that" [Kara] "Fried rice it is then" [Ash] "Then I will be the one going to cook the dinner tonight" [Rean] And with that, Elise, Kara and I cook us some meals. There are some foods that Claude cooks for us but I kept it for a case of emergency inside my item box. As we prepare the materials to cook (Ohh... there''s some wavelength similar to water crystal inside the drainage, somewhere in the southeast) [Ash] It''s weak, so I guess it must be deep inside the sea, or maybe it''s because of me not concentrating enough. Well, I will just confirm it after we eat together . . . After eating, Zerolith and Karon are tasked to clean up and wash the plates we had used, and as for Charlotte and Behe... "Let us swim!" [Charlotte] "Meow!" [Behe] "No, don''t you see the raging wave there!" [Ash] Singa might have given up (or appear so), but Charlotte seems way to eager to swim. Plus "At least let me dip my foot into the sea!" [Charlotte] "Charlotte, it''s dangerous! Do you want to get eaten by a shark!" [Mara] "It''s fine! I can communicate with them!" [Charlotte] "That wasn''t the point!" [Mara] "How about you practice your water magic?" [Kara] "But there are no targets to hit" [Charlotte] Yeah, she is dead set on swimming, but a no is a no, so sorry Charlotte, you puffing your cheeks while begging me won''t work wonder here "Hmph!" [Charlotte] "Meow!" [Behe] Yeah, they''re both sulking, can''t be helped "Rean, Elise, take care of others and you ABSOLUTELY CAN''T SWIM! YOU HEAR ME!" [Ash] "Yes!" [Kids] "Hmph!" [Charlotte] Now I''m worried, should I just send them back home... Chapter 59 - Getting the water crystal part 3 With the raging sea didn''t even shown any signs of stopping its violence, I decided to just straight dive into it, but not without any sort of protection first (Hmm... there are several issues that I have to deal with. Air is without a doubt an essential component, then there''s a problem of the raging current, which without careful planning, can swept me away to the bottom of the ocean floor in an instant. There''s also the fact that the sea is swarming with monsters of various ranks and sizes, and how to fight them effectively. Lastly I have to keep on tracking the wavelength of the water crystal stone) [Ash] Well, the first problem shouldn''t be much of a problem as long as I can maintain adaptability magic, a spell under the neutral mana that can allow one to survive in any hostile environment so long as you maintain the magic. Of course, the more hazardous the environment is, the larger the amount of mana needed to maintain it. (I said it''s no problems but if my mana supply exhausted from prolonged usage or fighting, I''m in deep trouble) [Ash] Yeah, should be extra careful. The second problem may be solved by using extra amount of mana into the adaptability magic, and if not I can just use water magic to steer my way through the raging current. The third problem is obvious, I just have to avoid any unnecessary fight, that mean not killing a rare monster just because it dropped a lucrative loot. Never (Alright, maybe one or two treasure turtles, but not more than that) [Ash] Yeah, treasure turtles are highly sought, just like it''s name suggested, it will drop it shell (which usually made up of highly valuable material like gold, diamond or even legendary metal) As for the keep on using my search and scan magic to detect the wavelength of water crystal stone, I think that''s manageable. It can also serve to function as trap detector, so I should keep it activated all the time Now then, to cover my whole body with adaptability magic. Slowly convert the neutral mana into the spell and "That''s a nice glow" [Rean] "Yeah, the silver aura emitted means that the magic is successfully used. The more refined the colour is, the better" [Ash] "That mean that if I can use this magic, I can swim right?" [Charlotte] "CHARLOTTE!" [Ash] "Yes, I won''t..." [Charlotte] Instead of sulking, now she''s sad. Can''t be helped, it''s for her own safety. Still, I do feel bad "Fine, I will try to make a pool in the mansion, that way you can swim whenever you like" [Ash] "Really!?" [Kids] "Ohh, that caught not only Charlotte, but all of you as well. Yes, I will. I will fetch an extra crystal and used it for the pools, it''s a promise. So promise me not to dive into the sea" [Ash] "I promise" [Charlotte] "Good" [Ash] I don''t know whether my actions just now is a good one or a bad one from a parent standpoint of view. Maybe I should ask Claude, Ram, Gizzere, the clothing shop aunty as well as Alice''s parents for advice. Oh, let''s not forget Borg and Lin as well "Well, I''m off" [Ash] "Careful" [Kids] "Yes" [Ash] And off we go, and after 100 meter dive ~Booom~ (Shit!) [Ash] Without any warning, there''s a cannon ball being shot toward my direction. It doesn''t pose much problem to me since only one of it is being fired and I can easily avoid it, but (There should be more of it...) [Ash] And I am correct. Why! Can''t I be wrong on this one thing. What more (The one operating it is the cannon crabs, I see. This should be easier then) [Ash] Cannon crabs, they got their name due to their one of their claws literally have cannon attached to it, and they can shoot anything, from cannon ball to magic from it. The baby one will use detach cannon from dead crab and slowly merge it to its claw, and thus slowly turn into an adult cannon crab (There''s another shot fired!) [Ash] Maybe because it''s only the 9th floor, or maybe it''s because of the goddess blessings, but it doesn''t take much for me to avoid any of the shot fired, but it sure is annoying (Let see, how about this. Ice Shark missiles) [Ash] With my commands, three ice shark emerge and crunch those crabs. The dead crabs in turn dropped a loot of mini cannon. (Should I take it? There''s still no way to utilize it. Unless... yup I should take it) [Ash] I just thought of an interesting idea. Well, I''m pretty sure just like the scythe, that weapon should not exist in this world, and even if it does exist, it would not be widespread much. Plus (Let see, Elise, Zerolith, Kara, Farhah and Charlotte should benefit from it) [Ash] Yeah, I can''t wait to develop it, but then again, I have plenty of things to develop. The Polaroid camera, upgrading the bus golem, the pools, the camper van, and now this, a pistol for mage and archer to use. Yup, it''s a lot (Well, I have to grind those loot, but I still have to look for the water crystal stone, so...) [Ash] I command those ice shark missiles to come back to me, give them my golem magic and command them to hunt and bring me the loot of cannon crabs, or something similar to it. That way, I can keep on focusing on my task. I should increase their number to six, and done (Go forth!) [Ash] And off they go, swimming into different direction. As for me, I keep on diving straight down, to the direction where the wavelength is strongest There are couple more of those cannon crabs, as well as some small light platinum alloy treasure turtles, for which I instantly slayed it. This should be good for Rean''s armor should he become a high ranking adventure. No, it not just Rean, the other nine will need it as well. (It might be small in amount but the dungeon resources are nothing to laugh at, so I should only sell small part of it while keeping the rest so that I can develop some armor for them) [Ash] Well, there are few more valuable metal than alloy platinum, but I shouldn''t be too greedy. I mean, back on earth, platinum itself is one of the strongest material available, so I should be grateful since I can get it from slaying a turtle But my luck spree come to its end, there are no more treasure turtle nearby, and because of that, I created and send another six Ice Shark missiles to look for it After twenty minutes of diving, I finally found the water crystal stone. I don''t have any idea how deep I have dived, but I''m sure with the adaptability magic that make it easier for me to swim, couple with the body blessed by Goddess Achalasia and the fact that I started using wind magic to propel my way through just after five minutes of diving, I''m sure I have dive for at least five kilometres deep, if not more Unfortunately (or fortunately if I must said), a regular giant squid is protecting the said crystal. From the looks of it, it''s much smaller than that of a regular giant squid, so it should be around C rank monster, B at best (Well, Rean will have to cook some sushi for us tonight) [Ash] Yeah, sushi sounds nice. Rean does look like a Japanese, so who knows, maybe he can cook us one. The squid try to trapped me with its tentacles, but (Giant Ice missile shark) [Ash] And done, such an anti climatic fight, well at least my food didn''t struggle much in its final moments. With that, I stored the water crystal stone inside the item box. It''s much smaller than the one found inside the drainage, so maybe I can use this one for the kids pool. As I ascend upward, there are few more cannon crabs which got slaughtered by me, one of which dropped a long barrel cannon, maybe a variant among the common loot. Good, that mean that there''s much more materials for me to play with (Experimenting will always brought you a good result. Should you need my help, then just call me) [Vincent] (Father!) [Ash] Just now, his voice came out from the scythe. Still, if he said that, that mean I can summon him in near future... (I''ll look forward to it) [Ash] Chapter 60 - Getting the water crystal part 4 _________________________________________________ [At Malsia] In a road where trading between merchants are currently taking place, lies someone who is out of place. One of the regulars there who happens to know the real identity of that person approach her "Princess, just what are you doing here today? Like usual?" [Girl] "Ohh, nothing, I''m just here to investigate something" [Princess] "Could it the recent rise of ghosts likes monster that been haunting us lately?" [Girl] "Exactly, can you tell me more about it and if possible, can you bring me to someone who witnessed those ghosts monsters" [Princess] "I will" [Girl] Along the way, the girl relay the information about the types of ghosts monsters that she have heard haunting Malsia. Among them are vengeful spirit, wraith, skeletons, white lady, headless horseman, pontianak, pocong, jenglut and more. The list seems endless but after interviewing and asking the witnesses, few common points were told "The appearance of a strange monster with a strange weapon seems to be the cause of all of this" [Girl] "That''s right, plus I''m sure that monster is the one that shown up first among other" [Princess] "Plus, the number of people getting killed and the number of ghosts shown up do correlate, that mean..." [Girl] "No doubt, that monster is responsible for it, but just why?" [Princess] As the two keeps on talking about the endless possibilities, the princess found herself In front of castle and the girl bid her farewell. Along the way, the girl also talked about a certain traveler from Estel (If I''m not mistaken, Diana did mention to me about the sudden appearance of a young man opening something called an orphanage. He is strong, able to solo an A rank behemoth with ease as well as slaying an S rank King Behemoth) [Princess] ... With that, the princess reach a pen and begin writing a letter addressed to Princess Diana from Estel Kingdom _________________________________________________ (I''m pretty sure, no 1000% sure I said to myself, don''t hunt too many monster, but this... this is just absurd) [Ash] Yeah, those ice shark missiles bring me quite some loots, mostly cannon from cannon crabs, as well as some luxurious shell from the treasure turtle, one of which is a large gold shell, and when I use my scan magic on it (Just how much money will I get from this...) [Ash] Yeah, a 24 carat gold is no joke, and this shell is quite large itself. Even the boys group couldn''t help but to keep staring in awe. "It sure is big, and pretty" [Rean] "I''m sure this will fetch a good price" [Zerolith] "Agree" [Karon] "If I can make a shield out of it, it will match well with my golden hair" [Singa] "That will be nice!" [Savel] As for the girls, their reactions are exactly what I thought "Just how will we wear this?" [Elise] "Can we even wear this in the first place" [Kara] "Impossible" [Mara] "Still, I would love to have some gold with me" [Farhah] "So pretty!" [Charlotte] Yeah, about that... "Sorry girls, but I would just sell it to Gizzere. If you want some jewelry, wait until you''re older" [Ash] "Ehh!!!" [Girls] "Sell it?" [Boys] Huh, even the boys seems suprises, but I''m sure their reason are totally different from the girls "Can''t we have it even just a bit of it" [Kara] "Please!" [Elise] "Puppy eyes won''t work here, so just give up" [Ash] "..." [Girls] They''re pouting, understandable. Still, it''s for their own good. First, I just don''t want the orphanage being targeted by thief since some outsiders can easily watch what''s happening right now through the watcher. Me telling them out loud about my plan to sell this golden shell is simply to ward off those potential thief. Plus, I don''t want any of the girls to experience excessive jewelry just when they''re still small. I mean, I can let Elise wear some since she''s approaching teenage age, but for the other, a big nope. (Maybe talking to Diana about this kinda thing will prove beneficial) [Ash] On a second thought, how about I consulted with Rafiah, Alice, Mimi, and Lin. Yup, they''re far better than some princess raise in such a magnificent castle in this case As for my other loots, I now posses quite some amount of cannon. They don''t look like they can shoot something from it, so I don''t have the slightest of an idea how I will turn all of this into a pistol, but I''ll just have to make some trial and error to see how it will go. "Well, enough talking. There are still some time left, so I''ll hear you out about what you guys wanted to do, but swimming is without a doubt, prohibited. The options here is whether you want to camp out here or move to different floor. Should you want to camps out here, then I''ll use the spare time to train you guys, and should you want to move to different floor, we might find something interesting down there" [Ash] After some heated discussion among themselves (as the pouting girls seems reluctant to move to another floor, I don''t know why but maybe they wanted to stay here longer and ask me to catch another treasure turtles... maybe), I decided to follow the majority and goes down the floor (Singa and Savel manages to bring Charlotte to their side by telling them that I might allow them to swim should the ocean be calm on other floor) With that, I told them to once again, take their seat inside the bus golem (with the girls having some hard time separating themselves from this floor), we begin to descend down "Ahh..." [Kara] "Bye gold..." [Farhah] "Hope we meet again" [Mara] Now I feel awful, but this is for their own good so I should steel my heart We move down until the 14th floor, Ram did say there''s a record stating that there will be another water crystal stone here, so I should camp out here. I thought of train them here before preparing for dinner but their first day of long distance traveling sure worn them out quickly. Even so, Rean brace himself and try to make us dinner like he promised back then "Just sit down there, I''ll be the one preparing it" [Ash] "I''ll help, I did promise just now" [Rean] "I''ll help as well" [Karon] And the three of us started to cook, sadly, Rean didn''t know how to make a sushi. Still, the salted egg fried squid came out nice Chapter 61 - Getting the water crystal part 5 _________________________________________________ Ram and Gizzere are currently sitting on the guild master room of the merchant guild. The husband and wife, though having a wide age gap of fifteen years apart, are still as lovely as ever. They''re currently discussing about their findings regarding the sudden surge of medications magically available in the market after Princess Diana and the young healers treated the masses when those from the healing institute if the church refuse to do so "It''s not that obvious, they can just keep the medication for themselves for other uses but instead, they outright sell it back to the market, which mean that the merchants that supports both the nobles and the church must only be thinking of net profit and losses, and driven by fear of losing too much of money, the merchants must have started selling the medication, going against the order from noble and church" [Gizzere] "I see, well the adventure that we hired to investigate do mention the merchants, the noble and the church aren''t that united to begin with. They each have their own personal agendas back on their mind. Even the trio Finral, Erinmorlin and Lisa said the same thing" [Ram] "Not only that, but our son manages to find the evidence suggesting of monetary embezzlement from the noble which they used to sponsor the R&D department of the church. It still doesn''t explain much about their underlying motives as donation to the church alone wouldn''t be much of the evidence in the court of law, what more when some of the judges themselves seems to be defending the old follower" [Gizzere] "Those judges are still the same, even when back I am a noble" [Ram] "Well, those who enjoys such luxurious life wouldn''t want such drastic changes, and when the King and Princess suddenly came out with such a plan, that''s to be expected" [Gizzere] "Hasty, but the much needed plan" [Ram] "Agree, even though they managed to get us, Sir Ceanu Reaves and several prominent figures on their side, we are still lacking" [Gizzere] "If only he were to join us, but then again, having a traveler suddenly servicing the country will cause an issue" [Ram] "I''m sure King Estel and Princess Diana will think of something. Still, judging by how things have been going, I guess he does have been helping our side a lot. Of course, having him working under Princess Diana will be good, but personally, I think that having him taking care of the orphans wasn''t that bad" [Gizzere] "Agree" [Ram] "Mom, dad, here are the documents that you asked" [Son] "And here are the updated list of nobles and merchants responsible for it" [Daughter] "Thank you, why don''t all four of us take a break" [Gizzere] "I would love to" [Daughter] _________________________________________________ As we keep ongoing down the floor, I started to notice a pattern. Maybe it''s just a coincidence but the more dangerous the environment were, the better the chance of such lucrative drop and loot that we get from the monster. The chances of treasure chest appearing will also increase at such occasions. Well, even back on earth, this pattern have been used by game developers especially those from RPG genre. They will reward the player should they play it on harder difficulty plus, the end game stages or dungeon will also contains the most valuable loots. I guess the same can be applied here "I did it!" [Karon] "Good job!" [Elise] And the last of us that finally managed to use adaptability magic is Karon. I did teach them how to use it as they''re all intrigued by it. Plus "Take this!" [Charlotte] "Charlotte, don''t go around splashing the sea water to other!" [Rean] "It''s salty!" [Savel] "Why did you taste it?" [Singa] "Curiosity" [Savel] "MEOW!" [Behe] "Curiosity killed the cat" [Ash] Behe tried to copy Savel''s action and gulp the sea water only to quickly spit it out Ever since we came down to the 19th floor (after tackling the floors containing the water crystal stone, for which they''re three of them in the 17th floor), I finally allowed them to at least swim just beside the main road (the thing is,they saw a parent letting their children swims and thus another begging session commence with them getting the win, plus they do look bored having to see the same scenery without actually doing anything, so that''s that), of course with me constantly emitting my search and scan magic as well as having the ice shark missiles guarding each of them (and another 5 securing the peripheries). I also make a giant ice missile shark and let it roam around, letting it fought with monster and collecting the loot, which got me thinking "Something wrong Brother Ash?" [Kara] "I''m just thinking of using a water magic core to that giant ice shark missile, so that it can become stronger and act more autonomous" [Ash] "But don''t you have one A rank magic core already that you get from slaying the false kraken at 17th floor?" [Mara] "Why don''t you just use that then?" [Zerolith] "I''m thinking of using it to improve the orphanage water and drainage system, sure Claude''s master did a splendid job making a separate water and drainage system that didn''t connect to the nation system, but they''re old and as such maintenance will be required" [Ash] "I see, so that mean you want to get another A magic core and use it on that shark?" [Farhah] "Precisely" [Ash] Should I went to the 20th floor and below? I do know Ram warned me not to take go while taking care of them, and I''m reluctant myself but just a sneak peek wouldn''t hurt much right. There''s. better chance of finding strong Megalodon there and should I encounter an S rank monster, I can simply run away "Are you thinking of going to 20th floor?" [Kara] "Maybe" [Ash] "Isn''t that dangerous?" [Elise] "You do have enough water crystal stone now could it be because you want another A rank magic core?" [Mara] "There is that, and also because a water crystal stone from the 20th floor should be one quality crystal, I thought of giving it to Diana and let her use it to improvise the water and drainage system of the country and use the other as spare parts, or maybe as the second or maybe even third water sources" [Ash] "I see, that way the endemic disease won''t spread like it usually does!" [Rean] "Precisely, but I will tell this first, should I encounter an S rank monster there, I will abandoned it and we will go back home, got it?" [Ash] "Yes!" [Kids] Well, as long as I keep my distance as close as possible to the main road, the chances of finding an S rank monster would be almost nill, but the problem lies in one tiny bit if thing, and that is the crystal are found pretty far out, and not only that, there will always be a monster guarding it. I don''t want to jinx it but yeah, I have the feeling the next monster will at least be that of an A rank, or maybe even higher (Should get myself ready than) [Ash] With that, we camp out in the 19th floor and descend downward the next day Chapter 62 - Getting the water crystal part 6 We are currently on the 20th floor of the Rock and Sea dungeon now, with the intention of finding an A rank magic core (for which I have to find an A rank monster) as well as the water crystal stone. Fortunately a high rank monster can always be found near the crystal and since this is the 20th floor, my guess is that an A rank monster will be the one guarding it (Let just hope that an S rank monster won''t be the one showing up) [Ash] While I''m confident enough on taking an A rank monster head on, S rank monster is another issue altogether. They might be only a rank apart but the difference between their power is like between a day and night (Time to use my search magic) [Ash] "Brother Ash, I can feel someone looking at us from the sea there" [Charlotte] "Really?" [Ash] No harm on scanning the area that Charlotte pointed at, and... "Mermaids?" [Ash] "Mermaids!" [Kids] Ohh, just like me, they''re all excited to see a mermaid. Still, aren''t mermaids known for luring their victims into the deep sea just to drown them? As far as the old tale back on earth, that seem to be the case, but I couldn''t find such evidence here on Achalasia, maybe they''re nice? The knowledge bestowed to me by Goddess Achalasia didn''t warn me about them "Isn''t that little girl with blue hair..." [Mermaid A] "Maybe, her mana is similar to him" [Mermaid B] "Shall we approach them?" [Mermaid C] "Wait, get back quickly now! A stealth giant Megalodon on their way, and there''s a whole group of them!" [Mermaid D] "What!" [Mermaids] The mermaids seem to be in a panic, I''m pretty sure it''s because of the group of Megalodons that I sense nearby them. (They didn''t seem hostile, I should help them) [Ash] With my adaptability magic quickly being applied to my body, I quickly withdraw my scythe and enhance it with wind magic before throwing it out towards the group of Megalodons. The leader of the pack, a black stealth megalodon is an A rank monster who magic core would be having a mixture of water and dark element. Now that''s rare The group of mermaids already disperse. Good, they would only get in my way should they stay there or decided to become a spectator from afar As the scythe finds itself back into my hand, a blast of scald magic hit my left hand, and not only that (Multiple water arrow incoming!) [Ash] The group of Megalodons started to attack me aggressively, they even use water jet propulsion magic and try their best to crunch me from all directions. The lower rank Megalodons shouldn''t pose much problem however (I can''t sense the stealth megalodon...) [Ash] This is bad, even my scan and search magic yield no result ~Boom!~ (Shit!) [Ash] That cannon really hit hard. Looks like our battle have caught the attention of a group of giant crab cannon, no (They''re synchronizing pretty well, Is this because of the stealth megalodon?) [Ash] Couldn''t think of other reason, it could be just a coincidence, but still (Even the ink squid!) [Ash] They try to block my field of vision by shooting out inks from their body, but fortunately my Ice Shark missiles do a great job of crunching them, and they even defeated those giant crab cannon for me (Oh no you don''t!) [Ash] The other Megalodons try their best to destroy my ice shark missiles, but I''m not gonna let them do that! I do know shark (and most fish, no actually all fish) rely on their fins to help them maneuver around the ocean, so even if I can''t hit them and finish them in one shot, I should target those areas to significantly reduce their mobility, that way they wouldn''t become much of a threat (A mana!) [Ash] I detected a dark magic mana approaching me fast, and I quickly propel myself out of the way and thank god I did otherwise that leader of them would surely have a human for his breakfast (Here!) [Ash] I shoot out a giant light arrow towards the stealth megalodon but unfortunately it missed and instead hit a nearby group of Megalodons. No,not just a megalodon, they''re currently multiple species of marine monster that surrounds me (If these keeps on going, my mana would surely be depleted fast, so...) [Ash] Instead of aiming them one by one, I should just slayed them altogether, I''m surrounded after all, so... (Exploding thunder magic) [Ash] By using thunder magic, I shoot out the magic into all directions, adding a fire explosive mana into it, that way the thunder magic that are dispelled towards all directions get the extra boost of power they needed Most of the marine monsters now are dead, and as for the surviving one, they''re in pretty bad shape. Even healer sponge who are being shielded by them can''t heal them fast enough, and not to mention the fact that I wouldn''t let it happen. Those sponge as well as the surviving monsters are meet with their demise as my Scythe slice them clean (Now all that''s left is the leader) [Ash] I still couldn''t detect the stealth megalodon and neither does my ice shark missiles. Still, judging by it action earlier on... (I should create more ice shark missiles) [Ash] This might cause some drainage in my mana but I''m hoping for one of them to be attack by the stealth megalodon, that way I can detect the sudden surge of mana from it and react accordingly but sadly the stealth megalodon is smarter than I thought (Could it be because it already escape? No, my intuition telling me it''s not...) [Ash] Should I lure it? With what? (!) [Ash] Just as I am thinking of using myself as a lure, the stealth megalodon attack me once again with darkness magic before completely disappearing once again (Guess I''ll just use myself as a lure) [Ash] Since the Ice missile sharks will only make the stealth megalodon even more wary, I should just dispel it, and as soon as I done just that (There!) [Ash] Another attack, and thus begin our game of cat and mouse. This keep ongoing for ten minutes before (I got you!) [Ash] Instead of shooting it with the intention of killing it, I shoot out a light ball magic so that it would get attached to the stealth megalodon,and thank goodness it''s a success (I can detect my mana on that freaking megalodon now!) [Ash] With my thunder magic being maxed out, I shoot out Thor Hammer magic into the stealth megalodon, and it hit! (Not so fast!) [Ash] You can''t run away! (Homing thunder!) [Ash] The thunder spell quickly zaps the stealth megalodon and as to properly finish it off, I threw my scythe to sliced it off! (Become my sushi!) [Ash] And it''s done. Now to collect the loots. I should just let my ice shark missiles do that job, as for me, I will collect the water crystal stone nearby . . . It sure is big, I think it''s slightly larger than the one inside the drainage, should take it with me now. Time to go back into the surface . . . The kids are grouping the loots. The ice missile shark bring those loots to them when I''m busy searching for the crystal, and one loot have caught all of our attention "A marine spawning block!" [Ash] "It is" [Rean] "Another rare item" [Elise] "Will you be using it to upgrade the training hall?" [Kara] "I think I will do just that!" [Ash] Better start planning it now itself "Mermaid?" [Charlotte] "It isn''t there anymore" [Farhah] "Too bad" [Singa] "Yeah, I wanted to see one myself" [Savel] "You couldn''t find them Brother Ash?" [Zerolith] "I try, but unfortunately they''re nowhere near us now" [Ash] "Guess it''s just a coincidence that they stick close to the main road just now, otherwise I doubt Charlotte will notice it" [Mara] "Agree" [Karon] Now that Mara mentioned it, just how did Charlotte detected the group of mermaids? Coincidence? I don''t think so. "Let just go home, we got what we want" [Ash] "Right!" [Kids] And our trips inside the dungeon have come to its end As we enter the bus golem, I noticed that a knight coming from Malsia rushing through with his thunder horse, I wonder why (Well, maybe it''s sending some important message. None of my businesses) [Ash] Chapter 63 - Out And that''s the exit to Estel''s side of the Rock and Sea dungeon, the kids are all sleeping soundly, so I guess it''s better for me to just went straight home. It''s night and when I arrive at the mansion Rafiah already call it a day as she and Claude have been managing the training hall. A single glance and I know full well that she''s still tired (Maybe I should increase the amount of worker again) [Ash] Plus, I do have the marine Spawning Block right now and I do plan on integrating it to the training hall sooner or later (Let just not tell her yet) [Ash] On a related note, Claude seems totally fine. Maybe because butler is a demanding job and thus requiring great amount of stamina, or maybe simply because he''s a ghost, ghost do have large amount of mana and stamina "Watch your step" [Claude] "Yes" [Kids] The drowsy kids are woken up by me, and I told them to go straight ahead to their bedroom and get some good night rest. As for me, I thought of giving the crystal to Diana and King Estel, but I decided not to. Those two are human and they also need some rest "Claude, I''ll be giving the crystal to the castle early in the morning. If I''m late, tell them to have breakfast without me" [Ash] "Sure. And you should just went to bed now, you look tired as well" [Claude] "I am, thanks Claude" [Ash] Those kids had once waited for me until noon to ate their breakfast. They''re all still growing, so I don''t want any of them to do that, but at the same time, I feel happy that they do just that. After bathing and changing my clothes, I dive straight to my bed, and just when I am about to fall asleep, I detected a rise of mana just outside the mansion ((((!!!)))) [Ash, Claude, Rafiah, Rean] I went straight ahead with my Scythe ready. So does Claude, Rafiah and Rean and... "God of death!?" [Ash] "Who?" [Rean] "You mean that monster there?" [Rafiah] "That''s one strange monster, and why do you said that thing is a god?" [Claude] "Yeah, on a second inspection, it isn''t. That''s a grim reaper" [Ash] "?" [Rean] They''re almost similar, in fact, they only differ in three things. The scythe of the god of death is made out of highly valuable material unlike the one the grim reaper is using (even the shaft is made out of wood), the god of death height is around 1.8 meter, basically the average human height but this thing here is at least 2 meter tall. Lastly, the skeleton colour of god if death is white, the same as newly arrived skeleton plastic model back at school, and this grim reaper aren''t, in fact its colour is like a buried skeleton you often find in movies "Grandpa!" [Rean] "Mr Claude, are you alright?" [Rafiah] "Yeah, I''m fine, just feeling strange" [Claude] "Rean, Rafiah, both of you bring Claude inside and ask Housey to heal him. I will defe..." [Ash] ~KLING~ The sound of two metal hitting each other. The Grim reaper wanted to use this chance to strike Claude, but too bad, I''m not gonna let him do that easily. As the three of them enter the front gate of the mansion, Housey immediately activate a defense barrier around the mansion. ~KLANG~ This grim reaper, it has good skill, but ~Slice~ The scythe as well the right arm being sliced off neatly "Sorry, but my skill is a gift from god of death itself. I don''t think you have the chance to beat me" [Ash] It tries it best to run away, but with my light magic, I simply make light dome magic and entrapped it inside, killing it in an instant The problem is... (Housey, take care of the other, I''ll patrol and beat the other ghost monster around) [Ash] (-. . / -.-. .- .-. . ..-. ..- .-..) [Housey] (I will, and you too) [Ash] Just when I am about to head out ""Can we follow?"" [Rean, Elise] "..." [Ash] That''s quick. Still... "Understood, but you should always stay beside me, got it?" [Ash] ""Yes!!"" [Rean, Elise] I simply let them, Rean wanting to be an adventure wouldn''t want to miss fighting (or at least observing me fighting the ghost), and as for Elise, being from fox tribe, her knowledge regarding mystic related is good ~Horse neighing~ "Help us!" [Neighbors] They''re two headless horsemen trying to barge inside a house near my neighborhood, I use light ball magic on one of them and as for the other one "Slash" [Rean] "Take this" [Elise] Both Rean and Elise manage to beat them in a well timed and coordinated surprise attack. I must said, that headless horseman mana signature is around E~D rank monster, so "Both of you sure are strong" [Ash] ""Hehe"" [Rean, Elise] "Thank you for saving us, WAIT, you are!" "Ahh, good neighbor, you wouldn''t mind someone from a fox tribe saving your family right?" [Ash] I just realized that this is the house of an avid old follower, still "Thank you so much!" "What are you doing!" "But dear, they save us!" "Still..." "No time to hear you guys bickering, they''re still monster roaming around so closed the door and barricade it with any furniture and don''t go out until you see the morning sunrise" [Ash] They simply nodded and do as I "Lets go" [Ash] "Cheer up Elise, at least the wife is kind enough to thank you" [Rean] "I will, thank you Rean" [Elise] "An adventure and a female knight in the making, I''ll be sure to support both of you so do your best" [Ash] ""Right!!"" [Rean, Elise] The three of us continue to defeat the monster roaming around. Fortunately, they''re mostly low ranking monster, even the dazzled and drowsy adventure and soldiers manage to fend them off once they''re back on their feat The hard one however, is the grim reaper, they''re four of them in number, and three of them are slayed by me. One Infront of the mansion, another two alongside other monster. As for the last one "Wind slash" [Samurai Jacks] "..." [Grim reaper] The skeleton of the grim reaper started to fall apart, and they don''t show any sign of regenerating nor does sign of stacking back up "Good job Jacks" [Ash] "Just what''s happening, no, actually this is..." [Samurai Jacks] "Master, you know something?" [Rean] "Tell us" [Ash] "Well..." [Samurai Jacks] Chapter 64 - After the attack It''s morning, the four of us (Jacks, Rean, Elise and I) formed a temporary group last night to ward off those pesky ghost monsters. While Jacks and I still have much energy left, the same can''t be said for Rean and Elise, they''re extremely tired right now "You guys must be tired, it''s morning now and those monsters won''t come out. Since Alice''s inn nearby, I will rent you a room so that you can rest" [Ash] "No, it''s alright. I think it''s better for us to go back to mansion" [Rean] "Agree, we can still walk" [Elise] They said that but looking at their state right now ... "Jacks, I''ll send them to the inn first, so can I request you to report what we have been doing last night to guild master" [Ash] "Will do" [Samurai Jacks] "Thanks" [Ash] "No problem, still I must say I''m impressed. Based on the watcher, you just fought a group of A rank monster inside the dungeon, exit the dungeon through the bus golem that run on your mana and then joined us to fight those ghosts monsters, just what is your secret to be this strong?" [Samurai Jacks] "Let just said I met some good teachers" [Ash] Technically speaking, Goddess Achalasia and God of death blessed me with their blessings and knowledge, so in a way, I''m not lying when I am referring them as my teachers With that, the three of us headed towards the inn. Along the way "Lee..." "Just what happen..." "Is this, a sign of devil invasion?" "Same thing happened in Malsia right? Is this their doing?" "My child. Did anyone see my child?" Last night is a total havoc, I do run around and use an enhancement magic as well as flight magic to cover as much area as possible (and thus leaving Jacks to watch Rean and Elise. Well, watching them is not a good word here, the two of them did provide a much needed support to Jacks) but I couldn''t cover them all. It''s regrettable but what could I do "Morning, is everything alright here?" [Ash] "Ash, Rean, and Elise!" [Alice] "What are you guys doing here?" [Alice''s mom] "Well, how about you come inside first" [Alice''s dad] Looks like everything fine on their end. Thank goodness. As I explained my intention of renting a room for Rean and Elise "No need to pay and we will include breakfast and lunch for them" [Alice''s dad] "I can''t do that" [Ash] "Don''t worry, you did save Alice back then, think of it as a way to repay you. Plus, having them here is like having a grandchild with us" [Alice''s mom] "Agree" [Alice''s dad] "MOM! DAD!" [Alice] ""Hehehe..."" [Rean, Elise] We have our breakfast in the inn as I told them about (especially Alice) the type of monsters we encountered yesterday. Alice ask me to follow her afterward to discuss this thing further with Ram. While I do agree, I ask her to go ahead first as I need to check on the mansion. She agreed. Last thing, I also told the innkeeper as well as Rean and Elise I''ll be taking them around afternoon so that they wouldn''t need to take the carriage. "You''re such a sweet big brother to them" [Alice''s mom] "Agree" [Alice] After making sure Rean and Elise get their much needed rest, I used my flight magic and flew to the mansion. I need to check on Claude''s condition first thing first as well as the other. Still, my mana is depleting as my control of this spell is still below average as well as the fact that I have been fighting non-stop last night, so I might arrive a bit late than what I calculated, nevertheless, it''s still faster than dashing around . . . As soon as I open the door, the aroma of pancakes hit my nose. Yeah, Claude is totally fine. I''m relieved "Where''s Rean and Elise?" [Karon] "Well..." [Ash] I told them what happen last night, and when I finish telling my side of story "You see, yesterday a ghost eater as well as lower wraith were attacking me simultaneously with the grim reaper. As soon as I''m inside the mansion though, Housey, Rafiah and I quickly get rid of them. Afterward, Rafiah and the kids have been helping around the neighborhood once we sense that your mana signature moving further away from the mansion" [Claude] "I see, I have failed to detect those two monsters, furthermore I caused unnecessary trouble to you guys as well" [Ash] "Don''t worry, they aren''t that much monster left afterward. Plus, most of them are low ranking monsters anyway" [Rafiah] "Just like brother Ash, Sis Rafiah helped our neighbors, as for us, we take turn on guarding and helping the area nearby the mansion" [Kara] "Grandpa Claude warned us not to wander far from the mansion. Behe help us to detect the monster, Housey uses it energy and expand the area of coverage even further to help us" [Zerolith] "Singa, Savel and Charlotte were asleep one hour after their turn started though... Seriously but not that I can blame them" [Mara] """Sorry...""" [Singa, Savel, Charlotte] "Haha, but last night sure was crazy" [Farhah] "Do you have any idea what just happened?" [Claude] "Jacks mentioned that similar thing is happening in Malsia albeit in a much larger scale, though he himself didn''t know the exact details of it" [Ash] "I see, so what should we do now?" [Kara] "First, I''ll strengthen Housey fortress defense magic by enhancing it with materials we got from the Rock and Sea dungeon, afterward I''ll meet Ram and ask him what happen. For today, you guys should just stay inside the mansion" [Ash] "Good thing today is weekend, so we do not need to open up the training hall" [Rafiah] "I don''t think they will come to use it after what happened though" [Claude] "Well then, I''m off" [Ash] "Take care" [Kids] "I will" [Ash] Now, I should see how the clothing shop aunty, the kebab stall owner and several other people that I knew before meeting Ram. Along the way, the people who recognise me started to thank me once again as my timely intervention saved quite a number of them. It''s overwhelming but I''m grateful. "Man, I wish my son can use magic like you" "Can you teach us magic big bro?" "And here I thought the orphanage thing is just a gimmick, but your actions with the katana wielding boy and the fox girl yesterday prove me wrong" "Haha, thank you" [Ash] The neighborhood have warm up even more to us. That''s good. . . . "I see, well take care" [Ash] "You too" [Kebab stall owner] And he is the last one, I''m glad they''re all fine. I should head to the adventure guild now. Chapter 65 - Grim reaper I went straight ahead to the adventure guild and there, the adventures started to greet me one by one, and all of the male adventures are asking the same thing "Could you tell us more about Rafiah" "Man,Rafiah is pretty, how about introduce her to us" "Our party can always need an additional female member" "Yeah. No. I get this feeling that all of you are just desperate" [Ash] "True that" [Mimi] "But I must say, Rafiah is a beauty. Couples that with her shy and feminine personality, it''s no wonder they''re all this excited" [Female Elf adventure] "Come on now, at least let us talk to her. That ghost butler of your been blocking our romantica path to be with her" "Such poetry, but no, and I''ll be sure to add an additional function to the training hall so you desperate adventure won''t bother her too much" [Ash] "Man, we''re just joking" "I don''t think so" [Lin] As we''re talking about Rafiah, Ram''s daughter who works in the guild call and guided me to Ram''s room. Just as she''s about to knock the door, Ram looks like he''s heading out somewhere and ask me to follow him "Castle?" [Ash] "Yeah" [Ram] "Refuse?" [Ash] "No!" [Ram] "Joking..." [Ash] "Good" [Ram] "What just happened?" [Ram''s daughter] ""Nothing"" [Ram, Ash] "Sigh... men" [Ram''s daughter] Yeah, just how many times have I went to the castle. Well, It''s not like I will refuse this invitation as I myself need to hand over the crystal to King Estel himself, that''s why I''m just joking when I refused to go, but Ram take it seriously. Well, I still haven''t familiarised much with the system inside the castle but I''m sure that one have to give a solid reason not to attend when he or she is summoned by them. "How about we use your bus golem?" [Ram] "Sure" [Ash] . . . When the castle guard notice my bus golem, they immediately start to inspect it. Well, I''m sure King Estel and Diana don''t have any problems with me using it, but last time I bring the bus golem inside the castle, I dragged the worker from Duke''s household alongside me, so it''s no wonder they have to check it thoroughly before giving me the pass "Teacher Ash!" [Liyana] "Liyana, what are you doing here?" [Ash] "What do you mean? Us noble and knight attend our education inside the castle" [Liyana] "You don''t know that?" [Ram] "First I heard of it" [Ash] "What about you?" [Liyana] "Get summoned by the King alongside him" [Ash] "I see, the king and Princess Diana must have taken a liking on you, to invite you so frequently" [Liyana] "Maybe" [Ash] "Well, you should go to your class now little miss, don''t want to disturb you for long" [Ram] "Right! Hmmm..." [Liyana] "Sure, today''s fine. And if I''m not there, you can just wait inside the mansion. They''re all excited to see you" [Ash] "Thank you!" [Liyana] "Welcome, good luck on your studies" [Ash] "Thanks!" [Liyana] And when she turned around, she collided with Diana, with Qis just beside her, for which she apologized like her life depends on it "Liyana, it''s fine, really" [Diana] "I''m sorry..." [Liyana] "Well, Princess Diana have already told you it''s fine, so how about you went to your class first" [Ram] "I will" [Liyana] And thus, the four of us went to the sudden meeting room. There, as usual, a number of nobles and also high knight look at me in disgust. No, this time, it''s not only me, their gaze is also directed towards Ram. If I''m not mistaken, Ram is a former noble, I wonder why his status been striped "Tch... that traveler again" "And him. Just why did the fallen noble like him getting the same treatment as before" "Must be nice, getting the favour from the king" "Wow, I''m surprised they are still the same. Honestly speaking, I thought they will learn their manner about formal meeting, but they prove me wrong. Then again, I''m also breaching the etiquette here, so please forgive me" [Ash] "It''s fine. Just take your seat first" [King Estel] "I will" [Diana, Ram, Ash] My designated place is just beside Ram. I''m glad. Well, not all of the Knights and nobles here have the same looks. Some of them are actually quite nice. I''m glad. As I look across the room, a knight caught my attention (Isn''t he the one that I met yesterday on the 20th floor? What''s he doing here?) [Ash] I can ponder a guest here, he is from Malsia and according to Jacks, Malsia is struck with the same problems, so I guess he must have been called to brief us about what''s happening in Malsia and compare it with Estel situation After an additional ten minutes of waiting (for which I get to know a few nice nobles who treated me well and seems friendly with Ram), the meeting started "Good morning, as you all know, this meeting today will discuss about the sudden appearance of the ghosts monsters last night. Here, we have a knight from Malsia, who originally come to send a letter from Princess Haliza to my daughter, he will be joining us today to share his opinion regarding this matter" [King Estel] Just like what I expected. The knight begins his briefing regarding the attack that been happening on Malsia. From the sound if it, there''s a strong grim reaper there that causes the problem from day 1 itself and that grim reaper spawn other monsters by turning the soul of those who it killed into a monster. From the description, I can guess what we''re dealing with, but the question is why does it suddenly appear "You said that monster is called as Grim reaper right? How do you know about it? As far as the guild concern, this is the first time such monster been detected" [Ram] And all of the attendees looks at me, guess I should explain "Well, these grim reaper, they''re all the personification of death itself. The highest, being God of death itself, and followed by other personification of death like grim reaper, angel of death, lady of the holy death and more. From the sound of it, the one that have been appearing over there might be a corrupted Thanatos, an S rank monster" [Ash] ~Gulp~ I can hear the other gulping. Hearing an S rank monster suddenly appearing inside a country is no joke. "Well, as for what causes it to appear, sincerely speaking I have absolutely no clue about it, but if I am to hazard a guess, that will be the same reason as to why The King Behemoth suddenly appear inside the open field dungeon" [Ash] "A possibility" [Diana] Not just Diana, even King Estel and Ram are on the same page "Could the same S rank monster appear on Estel as well?" [King Estel] "Unless it escapes from my radar last night, then I''ll say it''s unlikely the Corrupted Thanatos will be here as well. I say that, but they''re some area that I did not covered last night, but still, mana from an S rank monster should be clearly felt even from afar, and in some cases, even without using the search magic. Still, it makes me wonder why there''s one at Malsia but none here" [Ash] "Judging by what have been told by the knight, could the Corrupted Thanatos has some sort of stealth mechanism?" [Nice noble] "A possibility, I did encounter a stealth megalodon back in the dungeon, so an S rank monster employing the same tactic should be considered as well." [Ash] "Wait, how did you know all this?" [Qis] "My master had told me about it" [Ash] Yeah, Goddess Achalasia blessings sure comes in handy in this case "Sorry, but are you by any chance, The Behemoth Slayer?" [Malsia''s knight] "Been called that a lot recently" [Ash] Huh, I''m surprise he knew about me "Haha, you see, originally Princess Haliza send me a letter, and as we''re discussing among ourselves, I mentioned to her about you and when they''re being attack by the ghosts monsters, she sends him here to request help, asking us whether we can send you there to investigate the cause of the attack" [Diana] "!" [Ash] Chapter 66 - Thanatos Asking my help to investigate this further. I get from their stand point of view that I''m qualified to do that. I did beat the S rank Behemoth and found the cause behind their sudden appearance, not to mention, I''m also the one who knew about Grim reaper and it''s variant. It''s understandable and logical choice to be made, but... "Sorry, but I refuse" [Ash] "Why!" [Malsia''s knight] ""Can you please explain" [Ram] "Simple, the same reason why I refuse to worked with Diana and the adventure guild in the first place, I can''t find myself to leave those siblings of mine for a long period of time. This might sound selfish and in a way, it really is, but if possible I don''t want to miss seeing them grow." [Ash] "You sound just like a father" [Ram] "I sincerely just realized that myself" [Ash] Yeah, it''s a selfish thinking from my part but I can''t help but to think that way. Knowing what the future hold for them as well as Goddess Achalasia request to make them happy, I feel like I want to be with them, even if it''s for a while longer. "I can request Princess Haliza to give you a generous amount of reward!" [Malsia''s knight] "I don''t have any issue with money as of now, so no" [Ash] "Besides, Estel right now is facing the same problem, so we would like him to investigate this matter here first before deploying him there" [Diana] "Your highness" [Malsia''s knight] Why did I feel like she will force me to go there "Diana, I''m sorry but what do you mean by deploying me there" [Ash] "Hmm?" [Diana] "Nothing..." [Ash] Yeah, that smile say it all. I''ll just protest about it later but somehow I get the feeling that it wouldn''t help much "Thank you so much your highness" [Malsia''s knight] Please don''t talk like It''s confirmed that I will go there "Still, if Thanatos and the other grim reaper did appear, could it be possible that this is the sign of devil invasion Mr Ash?" [Noble] "Just Ash is fine, but I can''t say that for sure. While It''s plausible that this could be the sign of a devil clan invasion, the opposite also hold true as we have neither evidence to support both sides of the arguments" [Ash] "Could the grim reaper be part of the monster tame by the devil clan then?" [Qis] "Possible, but highly unlikely. Just like how the devil clan get their blessings because of their connection to the fallen god, the grim reaper species are mostly associated with the God of Death itself" [Ash] "Then how do you explain the corrupted part?" [King Estel] "I can''t. Unless I see it for myself then any guess would be a good guess" [Ash] "But that sure is scary, getting killed by the Thanatos" [Noble] "You''re half right and wrong. While the soul of those taken by the corrupted Thanatos do suffer, those soul taken by Thanatos itself isn''t suffering. In fact, it''s describe as like you''re falling into an eternal slumber before finally die in a peaceful manner. More so if the God of Death itself decided to come and greet you" [Ash] Well, that''s if you''re lucky enough to see them during your moment of dying. As for me, I guess I can be considered as lucky since God of Death itself decided to end my life back on earth. Back then, I might be suffering from internal bleeding but I didn''t remember much pain as my life was taken away "Can you tell us about the weaknesses of those monster?" [King Estel] "Well, the lower rank one are generally weak to light magic, and as for the higher one, it''s quite the opposite. While death are often considered as something bad and thus are associated with dark magic, the closer the monster is to the God of Death, the higher is their affinity to both light and dark magic since both life and death are both side of the same coin. As for the corrupted Thanatos, while I''m unsure of why it''s happened, my guess is that light magic can at least remove the corrupted part out" [Ash] "You mean that they should remove the cause or treating the Corrupted Thanatos back to the normal Thanatos?" [Ram] "If they can''t defeat it, then making it stop by itself is better" [Ash] As we keep ongoing of discussing about this topics, they keep on asking me about how to defeat each type of monster that have been reported. Well, most of them are low ranking grim reaper type of monsters so they should be weak to light magic as stated before. Then, King Estel ask one of the knight (and thank goodness it isn''t the Rude Captain) to present out their plan to patrol the city tonight. I have been requested to patrol my neighborhood area for which I agree. Of course, some of the hired adventure as well as the knight and soldiers will be assigned there as well As for the final thing that we discussed about, it''s the plan of sending out an investigation team to find out the cause. Once again, I''m selected and this time, I can''t exactly complaint much about it,I mean they don''t know anything about those grim reaper so it''s only natural that I''m the one that will investigate this matter. King Estel did say that he will appoint out some magicians to help me, but I just refuse and suggest that they should form a separate investigation team so that we can compare our finding With that, the meeting is concluded. Before going back home, I handed over the water crystal stone that I get from the dungeon. They''re seven of them and I handed over five, as I did promise Charlotte and the other that I''ll make some swimming pools for them. Beside, if I want to integrate the marine spawning block into the training hall, I need to build another pool to use it "Ehh... marine spawning block!" [Diana] "Yeah, that''s why I will take two of the crystal" [Ash] "And you will integrate it to the training hall?" [Qis] "Naturally" [Ash] "Can''t you sell it to us?" [Ram] "Nope" [Ash] "How about us then?" [Diana] "What makes you think I will sell it to you!" [Ash] Actually... "How about I sell you this thing here" [Ash] A Treasure turtle shell made out of 24 carat gold and sold! I get paid handsomely for which I''m grateful, not to mention I also get paid because of finding and handing over the crystal stone. Should I spurge some money and treat those siblings of mine to a nice restaurant? Chapter 67 - Community center "Teacher Ash, can I come go to the training hall with you?" [Liyana] "I''ll be taking Rean and Elise at an inn first. How about you just go to the training hall first" [Ash] "Then I''ll come with you! I want to see both of them as well" [Liyana] "If you said so" [Ash] After the meeting ended, Liyana and I came across each other at the hallway. She''s at first reluctant to speak to me as Diana and Qis are with me "So you''re going to teach her magic after this?" [Qis] "I did promise her that" [Ash] "Hmm... I''m free right now, so let me come as well" [Diana] "Liyana will feel uncomfortable so no" [Ash] "I.. I didn''t say that! I swear!" [Liyana] "Oh, you didn''t say that, but it''s looks like you''re thinking about it" [Ash] "~Gulp~" [Liyana] "Liyana... I understand..." [Diana] "No! Princess Diana, this is just a misunderstanding!" [Liyana] "Well, you heard her Diana, it can''t be helped" [Ash] "It''s fine, I''ll just give up" [Diana] "No!!!" [Liyana] "Both of you, please stop teasing her" [Qis] "!" [Liyana] "You could at least let us tease her a bit longer" [Diana] "I did feel bad though" [Ash] And she''s pouting now. Well, we do tease her so I guess it''s expected. And when I tell her to come with me "It''s fine, I''ll take my personal carriage and go to the training hall first" [Liyana] Yup, definitely pouting there. "Oh no, you''ll come with us" [Diana] "!" [Liyana] Without giving her a chance to say no, Diana quickly take Liyana''s hand and went to her own carriage. This causes Liyana to become pale and try as she might, she can''t find the word to politely refuse Diana''s invitation. As for Qis, she asks the castle worker to pass a message to the young healers to come to the training hall (You don''t have to look so pale though) [Ash] Oh yeah, I forgot to ask about the details of their investigation on the church, noble and merchant that complot and accused Diana with such dirty lie. Well, I''ll just ask her once the magic class is over After chatting with some of the nice nobles and Knights from the meeting (as they invited me to their house just for some tea session for which I refuse by giving an excuse of teaching Diana herself magic), I bring out my bus golem outside the castle gate and quickly drive to Alice parent''s inn. There, I find that the two of them are eating inside their room. From Alice''s mom explanation, there are some costumer who finds Elise presence nearby them to be an uncomfortable experience. Alice''s dad try to back her up but the two of them decided just to eat inside the room as to not complicate things further. "We are sorry about that" [Alice''s dad] "No, it''s alright. If they''re to make a ruckus there, the inn will end up in trouble and I''ll feel bad about it" [Elise] "True, plus I do think that us going to our room is the best course of action" [Rean] "Please take this, it''s not much but I hope this won''t deter you from keep on coming here" [Alice''s mom] "Don''t worry about it, it''s not your fault" [Ash] "Well, make sure to bring the other with you next time" [Alice''s dad] "I will" [Ash] Sigh... try as I might, the stigma being born from the old follower still persists in some of their followers. It''s not like I have done much, so I shouldn''t feel that upset, but when your family members are the one on the receiving hand, it isn''t a nice feeling. Well, for now, let just take the grape bread that Alice''s mom give Inside the bus golem "You both did great" [Ash] "Yeah..." [Elise] "Don''t worry about it Elise, I''m sure they''re only a few of them like that..." [Rean] "I hope so, after the war though... things only get tougher for us" [Elise] "Sigh, it''s fine." [Ash] "!?" [Elise] "I can''t do much about them, in my opinion, they can even go rot in hell for whatever reason that is but what I do know my thinking will only make matter worse for all of you. That''s why the only thing that I can do now is to support those fighting for your better future and that''s include all of you" [Ash] "?" [Rean] "Rean, when you become an adventure, become an outstanding one so that you can protect other with similar fate like you guys, and Elise, become an upstanding strong female knight that those from the old follower can''t complaint about it, and for that, I''ll be giving my all so that you both, no all ten of you will achieve that" [Ash] ""Right!!"'' [Rean, Elise] That got their spirits back up. Good, they shouldn''t be sad just because of some small incidents like that. As the bus golem stop In front of the mansion, Rean and Elise excuse themselves first as they wanted to change their clothing quickly. Well, now that I think of it, my appearance is quite shabby now, so I''ll do the same Once I get myself ready, I went to the training hall. There, I can see that they''re quite a few of them interested in the class. There''s Diana, who just beside her is Liyana, telling an old tale to the neighbourhood kids who come to learn more about magic. Then, there''s the young healers with Rafiah and Zerolith. It''s looks like they can sense something going on between those two and thus trying their best to narrow the gap (by forcefully putting them in the center of the group and have them chat with each other) (As long as it''s working, I guess it''s fine) [Ash] Then, there''s the trio. Flinar is currently teaching Farhah and a female elf adventure more about wood magic as well as some magic exclusive for the elf. Karon is with Erinmorlin as he is listening intently to Erinmorlin plan on repairing the underground drainage system. Lisa is with the twin and it''s looks like she''s telling them about her life experiences as a scholar. Much to my surprise, Mara actually the one that''s more interested in finding the unknown through travelling as compared to Kara. Syah, Mimi, Borg, Lin, Ray, Mile, Kat and Blanc are with Claude as they''re testing the Grape juice that he made. From the looks of it, it seems delicious. Kat and Blanc couldn''t help themselves as they keep on asking for more Qis and Jack are currently fighting the generated zombies, and they''re being watched by the neighborhood kids as well as Savel and Singa. Let just hope they can learn something out of it As for Charlotte, she''s with the other small children playing catch with Behe. There isn''t shroud of terror in their eyes (even though one day Behe will be a S rank monster), instead, they couldn''t help but to keep on petting Behe''s soft fur and wing... (Wait... since when did Behe developed a wing?) [Ash] "Just now" [Gizzere] "You scared me there!" [Ash] "Well, it''s you the one being careless. And before you ask, I thought of asking you to sell me the gold treasure turtle but it looks like I am too late for that" [Gizzere] "Sorry about that" [Ash] "It''s fine, plus, I can use this chance to relax with my old friends" [Gizzere] And there''s the clothing shop aunty with the kebab stall owner. Ohh... I don''t know that they knew each other. As for those two, they came just now as to see how the kids are going, how nice of them. The last to enter are Rean and Elise, and even they are surprised by the number of visitors. Well, at a glance, it''s looks as though this training hall become a community center. Maybe I should consider doing just that, but let not be hasty here, I should at least ask Diana''s opinion. (It will be nice if I can do just that, that way, maybe the hatred to my siblings can be abolished) [Ash] Well, time to start my lesson "Kara, come here will you" [Ash] "Yes" [Kara] As she run toward me, I called the other as well and they''re all eager to learn. Good "Alright, before I start my lesson, how about we have Kara here teach you all about the basic of magic" [Ash] "!" [Kara] Chapter 68 - Selfish? [Kara''s point of view] Goodbye gold. When we are all inside the Rock and Sea dungeon, Brother Ash managed to slay a treasure turtle and the loot of the treasure turtle is a 24 carat gold shell. It''s pretty and if can I would like to have my hand on some of the simple jewelry. It is a selfish request and thought in my hand as being able to live and eat in such a wonderful mansion itself is a dream come true for all of us. Never in my mind would I consider wearing a gold as I know how expensive it is. When Brother Ash mentioned to us that he will sell the gold to the merchant guild, he mentioned about not wanting thievery to happen around us, I can understand the logic behind it but having to sell such a wonderful item is a waste. I can see Elise, Mara and Farhah actually also think of the same thing. As for Charlotte, she only thinks of it as a pretty shell, she''s a tad disappointed as well but I''m sure her reason is slightly different from us As we are descending a floor "Ahh..." [Kara] "Bye gold..." [Farhah] "Hope we meet again" [Mara] It''s looks like our thoughts accidentally leak out from out mouth. As for Elise, she''s disappointed as well and wanted Brother Ash to search for another treasure turtle. I guess us girls can''t help it when it comes to this kind of matter. I''m sure each one of us wanted to make some simple gold chain like Princess Diana (Princess Diana, she''s pretty and her simple yet elegant accessories really make her stand out. How I wish I can copy her) [Kara] Plus, she''s nice to all of us and did not even bother making friends with us, that all add up more to her beauty Once we''re on the 20th floor, Charlotte actually manages to detect a group of mermaids ahead all of us. She really is amazing when it comes to water related thing and it just make me curious as too why. Her affinity towards water element magic is sky high, even Brother Ash himself seems surprise, and the for better of worse, it will keep on growing. While we are happy for her, we also felt dreaded hearing about it. If by chance another war happen and the royal and noble heard about her amazing ability, she will get taken away from us and... (No, I''m sure Brother Ash will protect us!) [Kara] Just like how our parent have been protecting Mara and I before they ended up dying, I''m sure Brother Ash will do the same. In fact, I''m sure Brother Ash is a gift from God herself, at least that''s how I look at him. I still remember how both mother and father keep on praying for our safety and I heard that in their final moments, their final prayer is for us to always be safe and happy... The mermaids seem to be in a panic, and the reason is "A group of Megalodons!?" [Mara] "That''s right!" [Charlotte] "How did you know?" [Rean] "I just... know?" [Charlotte] Instinct? That seems to be the case "Just what kind of excuse is that!" [Zerolith] "Hey, don''t scold her!" [Farhah] "I didn''t!" [Zerolith] "Both of you, just keep quiet for a while!" [Elise] ""Sorry..."" [Zerolith, Farhah] "Haha, serve you right!" [Savel] "Savel!" [Kara] "Ouch ouch, I''m sorry, I''m sorry!" [Savel] That''s one bad behaviour, us the older group have been tasked by Grandpa Claude and Brother Ash to guide the younger group "Meow!" [Behe] "It''s looks like Brother Ash manage to defeat most of them! That''s our Brother Ash!" [Singa] "That''s quick" [Karon] "This is Brother Ash we are talking about! A school of fish is nothing for him!" [Zerolith] "And that''s the shark missiles bringing the loots" [Mara] "Let just sort it out first" [Rean] "Right!" [Others] Brother Ash must have dive deeper into the ocean. The crystal he is looking for is situated deep inside, so he will take some time to get it and resurface back. So it''s better for us to help him sort the loot first, and once he''s done "A marine spawning block!" [Ash] "It is" [Rean] "Another rare item" [Elise] "Will you be using it to upgrade the training hall?" [Kara] "I think I will do just that!" [Ash] Brother Ash sure is lucky, he had a zombies spawning block and now a marine spawning block. Just what is the condition for such item to be dropped by monster? With seven water crystal stone collected, Brother Ash decided to went back home. All of us agree to it ~Horse neighing~ Ohh, a knight coming from Malsia''s direction. I wonder why he is in such a hurry. The galloping of the thunder horse is clearly heard as it gallop through the dungeon . . . Its night time and all of us are drowsy. As per instruction, we are going to clean ourselves first before going to sleep "Charlotte, at least change your clothes first!" [Elise] "Don''t wanna!" [Charlotte] "Mara, Farhah, you too!" [Kara] "five more minutes" [Mara] "Ten more minutes" [Farhah] "Why you guys, chang...!" [Elise] Elise suddenly stop, and we can hear Grandpa Claude, Brother Ash, Rean and Sis Rafiah headed outside. What happen? And Grandpa Claude suddenly come inside and that''s!!! "Stay back all of you!" [Rafiah] Sis Rafiah warned us "That''s a ghost eater and a wraith!" [Elise] "Damn! What''s it doing here!" [Zerolith] ". .-.. .. -- .. -. .- - .. -. --. / - .- .-. --. . -" [Housey] "Go Housey!" [Singa] And the two monsters vanish from Housey''s light attack. We attended Grandpa Claude and he seems just fine "Thank goodness" [Rafiah] "Yeah" [Zerolith] "Ohh, you are agreeing to her, that''s new" [Mara] "Shut it!" [Zerolith] "Shut it, shut it!" [Charlotte] "Charlotte!" [Kara] "Ouch!" [Charlotte] "Haha, sorry for making you worry. But more importantly, Rean, Elise, both of you go and support Ash right now!" [Claude] "!" [Others] "Isn''t it dangerous!" [Karon] "Don''t worry, I''m sure Ash will protect them. Plus, I do it for Ash own benefits. He just fought a group of A rank monster and now this happen. With Rean and Elise there, he at least will slow down a bit and will not push himself so hard" [Claude] I see, I guess it''s true, and it''s looks like Rean and Elise agree to it and quickly went outside to support Brother Ash. As for us "Looks like Ash mana is going further away from the neighborhood area" [Rafiah] "And there''s also some monster being spawned nearby. Fortunately they''re mostly low ranking monsters" [Claude] "What should we do?" [Mara] "I''m heading out first. I''ll defeat them and protect the neighborhood in his stead!" [Rafiah] "Be careful" [Kara] "I will!" [Rafiah] Sis Rafiah go out and start beating the monsters. We also couldn''t just wait here and do nothing, but we''re all tired as well. Still, the people in this area, they''re nice to us. There are a few of them who are still an avid follower and will try their best to harm us all, but for most of them, they''re nice. They are trying to know us better, but we are the one avoiding it, having some irrational fear that stone might be hurdles to us, or trying to electroc... (No, that''s all in the past! Don''t think of it!) [Kara] ".. .----. .-.. .-.. / . -..- .--. .- -. -.. / - .... . / .- .-. . .- / ... --- / -.-- --- ..- / --. ..- -.-- ... / -.-. .- -. / .-- . -. - / .- -. -.. / .... . .-.. .--." [Housey] "Housey?" [Charlotte] "Housey expanded his area of influence, that way you guys can help the neighbors" [Claude] "Thank you Housey" [Karon] "-.-- --- ..- / .- .-. . / .-- . .-.. -.-. --- -- ." [Housey] We take turn defeating the monsters within the periphery. Light magic from Mara and I seem effective and thus we strategize among ourselves to defeat the monsters. They aren''t that many of them and they''re low ranking but we are still tired. . . . Morning have come and the monsters all disappear. After a long rest, Grandpa Claude make us some pancakes to replenish our energy. Brother Ash also come home, but... "Where''s Rean and Elise?" [Karon] "Well..." [Ash] Ohh, so they''re resting at Alice''s parents inn. That''s a relief to hear. After eating with us for a while, Brother Ash then went to the adventure guild to meet the guild master "Well then, I''m off" [Ash] "Take care" [Kids] "I will" [Ash] We have nothing much to do, so I guess practicing will be the best thing to do "Is anybody home?" [Syah] "There is!" [Farhah] Ohh, they''re here. It''s looks like they''re worried about us and thus they come to visit us for a while. I''m happy and all of us started chatting with them. More and more people have come to meet us. I''m happy to see they''re fine, and I''m also happy that they''re all worrying about us. Even some of the neighborhood kids that are curious come and greet us. Apparently, Brother Ash, Mr Jacks, Rean and Elise helped them last night and thus they come to say thanks for what they did. Ohh, good timing, there he is "Thank you Uncle Samurai!" "Hahahaha! Uncle!" [Borg] "Maybe that''s why certain someone playing hard to get? Because you look like an uncle" [Female Elf adventure] "Is that really necessary!" [Samurai Jacks] "Who is this certain someone?" [Kat] "I don''t know" [Blanc] It''s Sister Alice, but let just keep it a secret from them More and more people have come. Grandma Gizzere, Clothing Aunty, Kebab stall owner and "Princess Diana! Sis Qis! Liyana!" [Kara] "Kara! Give me your usual hug!" [Diana] "Ok!" [Kara] Her hug is warm, I wish she became our real sister. As for the other kids, they''re curious about Princess Diana, and she started telling them story to get closer to them. How nice of her "Hey! What''s happening between the two of you!" [Yefefiah] "Umm..." [Rafiah] "Nothing!" [Zerolith] "Suspicious" [Young healer A] "It''s time for an interview!" [Young healer B] "Hey, let me out!" [Zerolith] "Nope, you both need to sort out your feelings!" [Yefefiah] "You may leave once all the misunderstanding have been thrown away from your heart!" [Young healer C] "Umm..." [Rafiah] "Good luck!" [Yefefiah] Will they be alright? "What are you two looking at?" [Lisa] "Ohh, nothing much" [Mara] "Really. Well, standing around doing nothing is bad. I know, how about I tell you guys about my research!" [Lisa] "Sure, that sound interesting" [Kara] Ohh, how nice. She has been traveling from country to country recording and studying various things. Biggest flowers, Raflesia Gigantica and Reverse Raflesia Gigantica, that sound interesting. Prince Druser and Female Paladin Aries. So that''s what they''re doing now. I don''t know that. Mermaids, I see, maybe she might have some idea about the mystery surrounding Charlotte but (No, should just keep it a secret) [Kara] As we keep on listening to her stories, Brother Ash, Rean and Elise have come back home and it''s looks like class about to start "Kara, come here will you" [Ash] "Yes" [Kara] Since Brother Ash is calling me out, I went to his side first "Alright, before I start my lesson, how about we have Kara here teach you all about the basic of magic" [Ash] "!" [Kara] Chapter 69 - Magic class part 1 Since they''re some new faces around, It will be better for them to at least learn about the basic of magic. Apparently (and obviously), the knowledge I received from the goddess and their understanding about magic is quite different. Can''t blame them since unlike me, they''re all researching about magic to be applied into their daily lives. I mean, for comparison sake, if by chance the god gives me scientific knowledge back on earth and I can suddenly make a rocket that can travel to Mars within an hour, those back on earth will have their jaw dropped to the floor. "But Brother Ash, I''m not sure I can do that" (Plus, teaching a princess is without a doubt, a big job. Someone like me couldn''t do that!) [Kara] "Don''t worry, I''ll help you. You just have to tell them the basic and if by chance you make a mistake or forgot some part of it, I''ll make sure to step in" [Ash] "But..." [Kara] "You can do it!" [Ash] "Fine..." (I give up) [Kara] Kara isn''t that much of a shy girl I believe, it''s just that how society have been treating her and her twin Mara being more extroverted causing people (and probably she herself) seeing her as introverted. (Plus, she does show an interest in learning and teaching area, so this will be a good first step) [Ash] Looks like she''s mustering her courage to speak. (You can do it!) [Diana] That''s what probably Diana''s eyes telling Kara right now "Good evening everyone, I''ll be... I''ll be teaching you guys about the basic of magic" [Kara] "Yes" [Centaur boy] "Please teach us" [Little girl] "I''ll do my best" [Kara] She takes a deep breath and "As you all know, magic is a phenomenon that happens when one channel their mana from within their body, or more specifically from inside their cells to outside the cells, and that''s include our own body as well" [Kara] "Cells?" [Clothing shop aunty] "They''re basically this really, really really tiny block that make us. Think of it like those bacteria that caused the endemic disease, only this time, their function is to make us" [Ash] As I said that, I make an illusion magic showing the typical cell structure that we use to draw inside classroom. It''s looks like they understood the explanation "Thank you Brother Ash. Now, the mana that one contain is actually determined by the number of special organnelles in cells call Mitral. One who''s born with high amount of mana will usually have high number of Mitral inside their cells, but not to worried, one can simply increase their number through training" [Kara] "First I heard of Mitral" [Qis] "Same here" [Diana] "Umm..." [Kara] "Don''t worry, I can assure you that''s correct" [Ash] Well, information from Goddess Achalasia herself wouldn''t be wrong "And to top it all. Mitral will consist of a central neutral core surrounded by the seven element peripheral core which corresponds to the seven basic elements in this world, Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Light, Dark, and Mirage" [Kara] As Kara said that, I''ll illustrate the Mitral Organnelles through my illusion magic to make it more understandable "The neutral central core of Mitral usually can be utilized by two means. One is by using it directly and thus producing the neutral mana magic which without exception, can be used by everyone. This neutral mana can either be used directly or can be channel through number of different form of magic, for example racial magic. For example, a Dracula can channel his or her neutral mana which is converted into racial magic and infused it into their bloodstream to enhance their vitality" [Kara] "How about the human race?" [Lisa] "Human race doesn''t have any special racial magic, but they''re able to utilize almost all the other other racial magic to small degree. The same vitality magic in Dracula for example can be used by human to look younger, or the beastly enhancement magic can be used by human as Berserker magic or it''s higher variant, Amok" [Ash] Since Kara can''t answer that part confidently, I help her, she looks relief but I just ask her to continue the teaching session "Now, the second use of neutral mana magic is to convert it into the seven elemental magic by channeling it into the peripherals core of the Mitral" [Kara] Kara then proceeds to use wind magic on her right hand and light magic on her left hand. I don''t know why she does that, maybe it''s just to emphasize her point. "This two is the elementals magic that I''m good at, but..." [Kara] She then switched the magic in her hand into Earth magic, albeit only a tiny amount of dirt comes out "According to Brother Ash, my earth magic affinity is low, but I''m still able to use it albeit not as good as Karon" [Kara] "So that mean you have three affinities?" [Kat] "No, what we call affinity is simply the number and strength of peripheral core inside the Mitral. Here''s the catch, I could technically and theoretically use all seven type of elemental magic just like Brother Ash, since all of us have the seven peripheral core surrounding the Mitral Organnelles" [Kara] "!" [Others] Haha, I swear to god, this is exactly how those siblings of mine react when I told them for the first time. "That mean that I can use all type of elemental magic as well?" [Neighbors kids] "Technically yes, if you work HARD enough" [Kara] "That sound discouraging" [Mile] "It sure is" [Blanc] "How about the thunder magic? Lava magic and other? Where do it come from?" [Neighbors kid] "They''re simply a combination of other basic elements" [Ash] "Now, coming back to our topic, what we call affinity is simply the number and strength of our peripheral core. As for me, the number and strength of my peripheral core is mostly wind and light and thus I''m able to easily utilize those two magic easily as compared to other type of magic. While it''s technically possible for me to use other elements, it''s just way too hard that it would not be worth it as the number and strength of other cores are simply not enough to sustain that element" [Kara] "So wait..." [Samurai Jacks] "Does that mean..." [Syah] "Ash have..." [Diana] "Yup, I have equal number and strength of all seven elements of peripheral core surrounding my central neutral core" [Ash] "And that allow you to use all type of magic" [Mimi] "That''s correct" [Ash] And once again their jaw dropped. It is to be expected "Now, how about we move on into the next topic. Basic of using magic, and I''m sure all of you are wandering the same thing, how to use the chantless magic!" [Kara] "Ohhh!" [Ray] "She''s enjoying this" [Mara] "She sure is" [Rean] Chapter 70 - Magic class part 2 "Are you sure you can handle this one?" [Ash] "Yes!" [Kara] "Well, if you insist" [Ash] She seems to be enjoying this, so let not dampen her spirit Once again, she uses her magic. This time, she uses both the light and wind magic, shape it like a bird and infused it with neutral golem magic and "Those two birds are dancing in the sky!" [Neighbors kid] "She makes it look so easy" [Lin] "That she does" [Gizzere] I see, so she just show them how to do it first as to make her students more engaged in her lesson. She sure is natural in this kind of field, maybe I should push her in this direction "Now, a quick question, what magic did I just use?" [Kara] "Is there a spell to make bird shape magic?" [Centaur kid] "Transformation magic?" [Succubus kid] "Ohh, it''s looks like the golem magic effect have worn outs" [Diana] "It''s a pity" [Liyana] "Haha, sorry. I''m still not that good with my neutral mana control" [Kara] As the neighborhood kids keeps on guessing the answer and becoming more and more engaged with the lesson, Kara finally told them "Truthfully speaking, I don''t know what kind of magic I used to make the bird shape but I do know I don''t have to worry about it as I can simply use it without knowing any sort of spell, that''s the benefit of chantless magic" [Kara] (Such an odd approach but...) [Ash] "Is that so!" [Kids] "That''s so cool!" [Centaur kid] "That mean that we didn''t have to bother learning any spell and magic circle just to use magic!" [Thin boy] "Such frightening thought" [Flinar] "But useful nonetheless" [Erinmorlin] Kara proceeds to teach them about chantless magic, but first "Now, Mrs elf adventure there, why do you think monster are so good at magic?" [Kara] "That''s an interesting question" [Lisa] "Hmm... because they have magic core inside them?" [Female elf adventure] "Partly, but the answer I''m looking for is because they can use chantless magic the moment they''re all born, and as a result, they incorporate the magic into their lives. From catching prey to hiding from predators, they subconsciously use their magic without any sort of spell or magic circle to aid them. It becomes so integrated in their lives that its feel natural for them" [Kara] "I see, then how about some of the high ranking monster that can use the circle and spell?" [Lisa] "That''s..." [Kara] "Well, magic circle and spell that those monsters use are for augmentation of their power, that''s all. They''re still able to use chantless magic even without one" [Ash] "I see" [Female Elf adventure] "And just like monster, we can also use chantless magic, but we''re hardwired and being told that we have to use spell and circle to use magic. Just like breathing and walking, one wouldn''t yell breath in and out every single second right?" [Kara] "She''s repeating what Ash told us" [Diana] "But now it make more sense as compared to last time" [Qis] "Agree" [Alice] Alice and Ram''s family have come here just now and Alice naturally went beside Qis, so much so that it startled Qis for a moment. As for Ram and his two children, they join Gizzere and the clothing shop aunty as well as the Kebab stall owner "But how?" [Borg] "Easy there Borg, she will get to it" [Ash] "Haha, sorry about that" [Borg] "Geez..." [Lin] Well, it only shows that they''re really enthusiastic to learn about it "The process is hard since unlike monster, we don''t have any magic core to aid us to drawn out our mana effectively, that''s why most people rely on spell and circle, but like I said just now, we can still use chantless magic as natural as breathing. So for starter, how about you breath out your mana and turn it into an element you''re good with" [Kara] "Ehh..." [Other] Haha, Kara is too excited that she skip part of my teaching "Well, what she meant is that she wanted all of you to channel your mana and incorporate it into your breathing cycle. For each breath you take in, imagine drawing out your mana and once you exhale out, exhale those mana with your breath. You don''t have to start straight away becoming like a dragon who can breathe out fire, it''s suffice to just feel the flow of mana inside your lung and make it feel natural. That''s the first step to learn about chantless magic. Of you find it difficult, you can take your time and inhale and exhale deeply, that will aid you" [Ash] "Haha, I see" [Syah] "A slip of tongue because she''s to excited to teach someone" [Claude] "How adorable" [Mimi] "Haha..." [Kara] "She''s beet red right now" [Mara] "She sure is" [Rafiah] "You''re one to talk" [Yefefiah] Like Mara say, she''s beet red right now, but that''s fine, it''s only natural to make some mistake especially when you''re just a beginner Now that the teaching lesson become a practical one, I guided them all with the help of Claude and my siblings. The thing is, Goddess Achalasia blessings enable me to use chantless magic from the get go, so I don''t even need this process, in fact, I created this method just to teach the ten of them about chantless magic, so in a way, you can say that this is my school style "Ice Flowers" [Liyana] "Ohh, that''s pretty" [Kid] "That sure is quick" [Succubus kid] "She didn''t even use long spell" [Kid] "But she does say Ice Flower to use the magic" [Kid] "My concentration and power are still lacking, that''s why I still have to chant the name of the spell that I am about to use as to aid me" [Liyana] "Don''t worry, you''re still making a good progress, unlike them, you can only practice when I''m around with you, and I could tell that you''re not negligence on your training, so good job" [Ash] "Thank you teacher" [Liyana] "You''re welcome" [Ash] I really mean it, from the number of flowers to how complex and pretty it looks, she didn''t skip any training After two hours "Mini rainbow" [Diana] "Now that''s quick!" [Ash] "Not as quick as Charlotte though" [Zerolith] "Yeah, Charlotte did it in an hour" [Savel] "She''s naturally gifted" [Singa] "That''s pretty!" [Charlotte] "Thank you Charlotte" [Diana] "Just how?" [Qis] "Can you teach us?" [Alice] "Me too!" [Young healer A] "Well, Remember what Kara and Ash said, about how magic should be as natural as breathing and walking? I just apply those concept here once I felt comfortable with the breathing exercise, I channel the mana within me to my fingers and just like Liyana, I chant the spell name instead of the long chanting to aid me" [Diana] "What Diana told you just now is the next step, when you''re comfortable with the flow of mana inside your body, try to redirect the mana into elsewhere, preferably to your fingers and make a small magic out of it, and keep on repeating it. This is the hard part, but once you pass this stage, you''re good to use any sort of spell without chanting" [Ash] "That easy to use chantless magic?" [Ram] "That easy" [Ash] It sounds easy but they still need to put effort to it. Just like how a baby learn to crawl then to walk, and then running, you have to keep on struggling doing it. Still... (I can understand the ten of them being a fast learner since Goddess Achalasia will choose them in the future to fight the fallen god, but Diana herself ain''t that bad) [Ash] But like they said, not as fast as Charlotte. Charlotte literally use chantless magic an hour after I taught them all while the rest of them took some time to use it As the dawn embrace us, I stopped the teaching session for today Chapter 71 - Nothing "I see now" [Ash] As they''re all leaving the training hall one by one, I asked Diana, Qis, Ram, Gizzere, Alice and the trio (Flinar, Erinmorlin and Lisa) to stay behind for a while as I wanted to ask them about the progress of the investigation It''s just right for me to start first and I told them about how I came across seven water crystal and gave five of it to Estel Kingdom to be used as water source and kept two of it with me for later use. I also told Gizzere, Alice and the trio regarding the new job that I had to investigate and that I would start right afterwards. They''re not even surprise by it, and make a face that says "that should be expected, it''s you after all" which sincerely make me snap a little As I finished my side of story, they started to update each other of their current progress. The noble and merchant that''s responsible for helping and spreading the propaganda are arrested but sadly they can''t catch them all (reference alert). Most of them that were caught are basically novice in this kind of field since the craftier one have made sure to erased all of their records of involvement. I don''t know how, but I must say I''m impressed. I mean, they can escape from the combined forces of a princess, and two guild master, that''s an achievement of its own. While I am a little bit furious since they escaped easily, I am also relief at the same time as the three of them had identified the hiding snakes and thus they''re closely monitored by the castle. "Even his family... that''s to be expected" [Alice] "Don''t worry, that idiot noble won''t hurt you, and with this incident, we can increase the surveillances to them" [Qis] "How about you ask certain adventure to protect you? Sure, you''re pretty strong but having someone you love protecting you ain''t that bad" [Diana] "NO, I don''t!" [Alice] "I''m 100% sure no one wanted to hear it from me, but I''m still saying it. If you keep on playing hard, Jacks might become disinterested in you an..." [Ash] "SHUT IT!" [Alice] "Yes..." [Ash] Yeah, that scare me, so much so that I instantly became silent. Ram and Gizzere on the other hand just giggle a bit, maybe reminiscing their younger time As for the church, well sadly they escaped as well. They simply say that they''re about to start treating the citizen. Bullshit at a new whole level. I don''t want to be disrespectful as I''m sure the religion spread by Goddess Achalasia is a good one, but those who have power tend to be corrupted by it, and thus will use anything they have just to maintain their status, and in this case, using the religion. I''m sure that''s one of the reason why the new saint and saintess are being treated harshly by the old follower since the two of them are trying their best to cleanse the institution As for the trio, Flinar actually accepted the request from the castle and will soon start teaching the young healers, with a condition that he is not bind to the kingdom as he would like to continue with his journey once he achieved a satisfactory result. I must say, I''m impressed and also his rating inside my mind just rose splendidly. Erinmorlin on the other hand still discussing with his fellow engineer as how to tackle this issue, but they did have a plan or two in mind, that''s good. Lisa''s report is nowhere near finish, and the castle already asked her to make another record for last night incident for which she agreed. "Can I come investigate with you after this?" [Lisa] "Sure, but you should ask another for another female companion, it will be awkward if it''s just the two of us, and you won''t be comfortable having a stranger male with you in the middle of the night in a foreign country" [Ash] "Hoo..." [Ram] "How thoughtful of him" [Qis] "That''s suspicious" [Diana] "I know you''re joking but damn... that sure hurt" [Ash] "My bad, plus I''m sure you wouldn''t do such a thing, considering how you wanted to become a perfect role model to them. What is it again? Teaching Rean and the other to become a gentleman wasn''t it" [Diana] "Yeah, I''m sure of that as well, plus, the fact that you are saying such thing only prove that you won''t do it" [Lisa] "What if I say that just to deceive you and your friends?" [Ash] "It''s fine, I am already accustomed to traveling, so I know someone with an ulterior motive underneath them, and I''m sure you aren''t one of them" [Lisa] "But if you do something to her, the two of us will send you to hell by our own hand" [Erinmorlin] "The deepest part for that matter" [Flinar] "Noted, but what are you two, her father!?" [Ash] They sincerely give an impression of over protective father just now """...""" [Trio] "?" [Ash] Did I just touch some sensitive topic? I should apologize "Anyway, I''m hungry, can I ask the owner of this wonderful mansion to treat us dinner for tonight!" [Lisa] "Umm.. yeah, sure! It''s on the house tonight. Others are invited as well! Diana, call that 12 hiding guard of you to come out and join us" [Ash] "Well, they can''t and won''t come out. I do feel bad though but nonetheless, I should join you for tonight" [Diana] "Princess, you can''t!" [Qis] "Party pooper" [Ash] "Why you!" [Qis] "Hahaha..." [Alice] I ask Claude to prepare us some cuisine ASAP, and as for me, I spurge some money that I received on some quality ingredients. I buy some extra ingredients as well since Liyana is stuck here with us until Diana leave with her. I buy some sweet odourless Durian cake (thank god this king fruit doesn''t smell in this world), some banana cake (which is my favourite and as it turns out, Charlotte as well), and some quality Cockatrices meat We have a fantastic dinner tonight. Behe can''t help himself as he keeps on munching the BBQ Cockatrices meat. The kids keep on begging for more cake, for which Gizzere scolded them (and thus, all of their hopes to eat the cakes in one night vanished). Alice and Qis motivate Liyana to study magic, somehow, I get the feeling that the two of them support her just like how a big sister would. I don''t have older siblings but that sure is the impression that I got. As for me, "Smile!" [Ash] "Brother Ash!" [Elise] "That''s rude!" [Farhah] "Oh my, Savel, you should see this pictures" [Ash] "Let me see" [Savel] "Me too!" [Singa] ""No!!"" [Elise, Farhah] "It blank though..." [Rafiah] ""Eh..."" [Elise, Farhah] "Hahaha, got you" [Ash] "Brother Ash..." [Karon] "I''m sorry you have to see that Princess" [Rean] "Same here" [Kara] "Why am I the one that''s embarrassed right now ..." [Mara] "That''s rude!" [Ash] "Then behave yourself a little" [Claude] "It''s fine, in fact, I''m a little jealous myself. You guys seem to be so close event hough you aren''t blood related" [Diana] ""..."" [Gizzere, Ram] ((Princess...)) [Qis, Alice] "Then Princess Diana can become our big sister, just like in fairy tale, a commoner and a princess!" [Charlotte] ""Charlotte!!"" [Liyana, Zerolith] "I''m sorry Princess Diana" (But that''s a nice suggestion) [Kara] "Your face tell us that you agree with her" [Gizzere] "Humm..." [Kara] "She become beet red once more" [Ram] (I''m guilty here for telling them that story...) [Alice] "Hahaha, that''s a nice suggestion Charlotte, but if she''s to become your big sister, then my relaxing life with you all will be over as she will work me to the bone, so no thank" [Ash] "Well, this is a first, this must be how those guys and the holy palace feels like, simply getting rejected by me" [Diana] "Why you!" [Qis] "What are you, a broken record? Can''t you use other words beside that two?" [Ash] "Tchh..." [Qis] "And that Tchh... as well, add that to the list" [Diana] "Princess!" [Qis] "Fourth one" [Alice] "Alice!" [Qis] "Hahaha..." [Others] The dinner ends. Lisa and I started our investigation until the sunrise and... "Nothing happen..." [Lisa] "That''s reassuring, but scary at the same time" [Ash] Chapter 72 - and still nothing happen Was it a fluke? Was it because the number of ghosts type monster we slaughtered on the first day had been reduced to zero? Or could it be because they are gathering strength for the second attack? Well, I can speculate on and on about it but it will not lead to any answer, not to mention that I didn''t find a single clue about it, and neither does the magician team dispatched from the castle. With that, I went back to the mansion and "Pool!" [Charlotte] "So fast!" [Farhah] "And you make it with Karon right?" [Rean] "So, which part did Karon make?" [Singa] "Not much, but it''s fun" [Karon] "The tiles are so pretty" [Kara] "Just like the training hall tiles" [Mara] "Is it the same?" [Elise] "It sure look that way" [Savel] ~Jump and Dive~ "Zerolith! Behe! Not fair! I wanted to enter it first!" [Charlotte] "First come first serve!" [Zerolith] "Meowwww!" [Behe] "Well, have fun playing, I will integrate the marine spawning block to the training hall. Claude, please look after them" [Ash] "But of course" [Claude] "I''ll come with you" [Karon] "Me too" [Rafiah] "If you said so" [Ash] Karon and I make a ceramic tile swimming pool just behind the mansion, complete with the changing rooms. After some discussion, I expand some part of the already wide training hall, as to make much wider and deeper pool, and this time around, by using the second water crystal stone and the marine spawning block in the center, once again I integrated it into Housey. It seems like Housey can still take more command even without any additional enhancement, but I decided to just enhance Housey with the material gathered from Rock and Sea dungeon. "And done!" [Ash] "Should we test it before the costumer come?" [Rafiah] "Good idea" [Ash] After some testing, the results are satisfactory. I can summon varieties of marine monsters from Megalodon to the small kraken as well as Sea Lou Carcolh. Just like the Zombie Spawning Block, Housey can''t spawn an S rank monster from it and it need either my help or Rafiah to summon an A rank monster effectively. Guess that''s good enough (Should I... used my Witch power?) [Rafiah] Rafiah whisper it to my ear (No need, from the sound of it, you aren''t that confident in controlling it, plus it''s almost noon, and we are about to open up the Training hall) [Ash] (Understood) [Rafiah] "Why are you whispering to each other?" [Karon] ""Nothing"" [Ash, Rafiah] "..." [Karon] We open up the training hall as usual, and with my help, we are able to guide the usage of the new addition to the training hall. Most of the adventure and the common soldiers are happy to use it and give a positive feedback. Well, the same rule still apply, and unlike the loot from zombie, the loot from marine monsters are harder to get, so of course they will be happy With dawn approaching, I rest my body for a while before once again starting the patrol and the investigation, this time with Flinar and Erinmorlin as well. But "It''s morning..." [Lisa] "Just like yesterday, no monster appear" [Flinar] "What do you guys think?" [Erinmorlin] "I''m not sure" [Ash] Once again, neither of us get the answer we are looking for. The same can be said to the castle magicians. When we report it to King Estel and Diana, they mentioned that we should just continue the investigation uptill the end of weekday (ie, three more days to go). After returning back to the mansion, it''s time for me to upgrade the bus golem as well as making the camper van golem. I thought of making the Polaroid camera and the pistols af first, but I have no idea how to start with that two, so that''s why I decided to upgrade the bus golem before making a camper van golem "Can we join?" [Karon] The boys group seem interested in it. "Sure, why not" [Ash] "Yeah!" [Singa] "When are you making the camera?" [Kara] "Maybe after the camper van golem" [Ash] "Camper van golem?" [Elise] "You''ll see" [Ash] And now to make the bus golem version 2.0 with the main feature of self driving. That mean, instead of using my mana as the fuel, I''ll put a magic core at it center and use it as a fuel. This process is quite easy as compared to making Housey and thus "Is it done?" [Rean] "Not quite" [Ash] I don''t feel like stopping here, sure, the bus golem now can be driven by anyone as it doesn''t require mana from external sources, but the ride can be smoothen out further. First, I''ll add an air conditioner inside the bus golem. For this, I''ll just add small magic core and integrate it into the main core and done! But... "It''s so cold!" [Zerolith] "Can''t you adjust it?" [Mara] "Well..." [Ash] After some tweaking here and there (which honestly take much longer than I thought it would), I managed to get it done "Can we ride it?" [Centaur kid] "Well, not yet!" [Ash] Ohh... the neighborhood kids have come to play in the pool. They''re running around and jumping without any care. (I should watch them for now) [Ash] Sure, I can just continue and use my magic to monitor them, but it felt so wrong. Plus, their safety is my number one priority and I don''t want to give such lame excuse should any one of them injured due to my own carelessness "Your parents didn''t know you will come here?" [Ash] "No..." [Succubus girl] "Tell them first next time" [Ash] "Yes!" [Kids] I will let it slide this time, but next time, they should receive their parents permission first. As they''re all playing, Claude and Rafiah served them the Durian and Banana Cake. As for me, I make some orange juice for them before heading to training hall to help Rafiah and Claude. I should really increase the number of worker here As night approach "Do you think it will be the same as yesterday?" [Lisa] "I can''t sense any danger so maybe" [Ash] "Then we should just focus more on investigation part" [Samurai Jacks] "Agree" [Female Elf adventure] "But where should we start?" [Soldier A] "Hmm..." [Ash] "Something happen?" [Syah] "I was just thinking, this is exactly like the time when the Behemoth attack the city" [Ash] "It does, so what you want to say is..." [Lin] "You guys do know right what I found after beating the S rank Behemoth?" [Ash] "You mean the portal thing?" [Borg] "Exactly!" [Ash] "Does that mean that they''re more of those portal stone scattered around the Kingdom?" [Soldier B] "Maybe, maybe not" [Ash] "We should keep that in mind as we investigate it" [Flinar] This time, the soldier and adventure (as well as the trio) that guard the neighborhood here decided to focus more on investigation part. I can still remember the properties of the mana wave emitted by the portal stone, so I focus searching for it. (This is...) [Ash] It''s there! No, more precisely, it was there. Traces of it can be felt. Maybe it''s just a fluke but (This is just In front of the mansion, could it be...) [Ash] Is Rafiah targeted? Or is it me and the orphan? Either way, it''s not a pleasant feeling. (Hmm... I should consider some more places) [Ash] As morning come, we gather once again. This time, I tell them to come straight to the castle where we gather In front of it before the trio and I (as the other adventure and soldiers are reluctant to enter). We give the report as usual and... "In front of the orphanage, castle, adventure and merchant guild, as well as In front of the few noble houses..." [Diana] "I can''t find the stone, but I''m sure they''re traces of it being placed there" [Ash] "You look tired" [King Estel] "Yeah, scanning and covering such wide area is no joke" [Ash] "Hmph! I can''t believe this traveler word, he is just lying" [Rude Captain] "I''m too tired to argue so can you just keep quiet" [Ash] "!" [Rude Captain] "But he is making a valid point this time, just that he''s presenting it poorly" [Noble] "I know, I know. In conclusion, he wanted a prove, but the way he spoke just now irritated me" [Ash] And in the end, the magician team as well as some knight and soldiers are ordered to search for the portal stone. I am told that I can just search it at night when patrolling with other for which I agree. Once outside "I heard that you''re upgrading your bus golem? Can I join?" [Erinmorlin] "I thought you will be having a meeting with your fellow engineer?" [Ash] "Its cancel for today" [Erinmorlin] "Well, be my guest then" [Ash] The two of us went back to the mansion, and start upgrading the bus golem. The kids are being watched by Claude as they played in the pool. We make a sliding glass window (we use Erinmorlin earth magic to do that), making a better engine, paint it with better material and also tested out the bus golem outside the mansion with only the two of us "This is nice" [Erinmorlin] "It sure is" [Ash] Yeah, we are now an avid bus lover. No denying that Once we are back, I can see a succubus lady watching over the kids playing in the pool while dipping his feet inside the cool pool "Thanks for watching over them" [Ash] "It''s fine, you are working hard for our sake, so this is the least that I can do. Plus, the two of you are deeply engrossed with your work just now" [Succubus lady] "Can''t deny that" [Erinmorlin] "It''s not fair..." [Karon] "Forgive them Little Karon, they just want you to enjoy your time with other, that''s why they didn''t let you join in, right" [Succubus lady] ""Correct..."" [Ash, Erinmorlin] "If you said so..." [Karon] Yeah, we forgot to include Karon this time around. Sorry... and thank you for covering us Succubus lady Unlike the usually depicted succubus, this lady here dress just like any other mother. She has a black hair with silver horn protruding from her temporal bone just like Rafiah and Zerolith would. Her daughter follow her features Since I''m tired, I decided to rest early, and once the night come, we started our investigation once again, and this time around, nearing dusk (This is it!) [Ash] No doubt about it. I should report it to the castle. I went to the castle and I''m the first one to arrive. There, I can see Diana with a long hair girls. What are they discussing? Ohh, they''re coming toward my direction "So there you are!" [?] "?" [Ash] Chapter 73 - Princess Nurhaliza _________________________________________________ [Diana point of view] "Mini rainbow" [Diana] "Now that''s quick!" [Ash] "Not as quick as Charlotte though" [Zerolith] "Yeah, Charlotte did it in an hour" [Savel] "She''s naturally gifted" [Singa] "That''s pretty!" [Charlotte] "Thank you Charlotte" [Diana] "Just how?" [Qis] "Can you teach us?" [Alice] "Me too!" [Young healer A] I did it, not at a level where I can use chantless magic at a fight, but with this, I''m one step away from chantless magic. Truth to be told, I had never heard of this kind of technique being taught in any school. So when Ash mentioned something about an Organnelles called as Mitral, there''s a little bit of skepticism inside me, nonetheless, I still attend the session and here I am right now. I asked Ash about it, and he say that he simply thought of it when he was teaching the orphans back then. In other words, this is his own school style. That''s simply amazing, plus with achieving such a feat at a young age, he should be considered genius. (Maybe he''s blessed just like I am?) [Diana] Looking closely, I do feel some sort of blessings inside of him, is it the same as mine? Plus, his scythe also have some sort of blessings bestowed upon. As for the orphans, my intuition tells me that they will also receive the same blessings as I am, from Goddess Achalasia herself, I don''t know what makes me think of that, but this intuition of mine is usually right about this kind of thing. Well, it''s part of the blessings, so I has no doubt about it During dinner with them, I am sincerely envious seeing as how close those kids with Ash. They''re not even blood related, but they share a strong bond, unlike me and my other siblings. No, even mother herself didn''t really acknowledge me, but thankfully father does... "Then Princess Diana can become our big sister, just like in fairy tale, a commoner and a princess!" [Charlotte] That really caught me off guard, and from the sound of it, this must be Alice doing, telling the orphans that fairy tale of her. "Hahaha, that''s a nice suggestion Charlotte, but if she''s to become your big sister, then my relaxing life with you all will be over as she will work me to the bone, so no thank" [Ash] "Well, this is a first, this must be how those guys and the holy palace feels like, simply getting rejected by me" [Diana] This really is the first time. I get mixed feeling about it. Qis is angry because of Ash''s words. Now, now, I''m sure he just say it as a joke, no need to get so uptight, but the part where I will work him to the bone, who know, that might happen As the dinner ends, Qis and I dropped Liyana to her mansion first, she''s drowsy right now, so inside the carriage, neither of us make any sound as to let her sleep. Her maid then carried her to her bed and we went back to the castle straight afterward. One of the workers tells me that Princess Nurhaliza had sent me a letter but I''m too tired, so I will check it later, or so I thought "I''m tired..." [Diana] "You''re working hard today, how about you go and sleep first" [Qis] "I''ll do just that" [Diana] Work keeps on piling and I haven''t even touched the letter Haliza send to me. I''ll do it tomorrow but somehow I get a bad feeling about it. (It''s not an official letter, so maybe it''s fine) [Diana] How wrong of me. The first thing I do after waking up is reading the letter, and thinking of apologetic message to send, but... "I''ll be sneaking out of castle and see you three days from now. Love, Haliza" [Princess Nurhaliza] "..." [Diana] Wait a minute, that mean... "Princess Diana! Princess Nurhaliza is here!" [Qis] "I knew it!" [Diana] "Ohh, you just wakes up? Wake up sleepy head!" [Princess Nurhaliza] "At least let me dress myself first!" [Diana] As I prepare myself quickly, she just sit there, inside my room accompanied by her commoner friend, Mira and her guard Once I''m done, the five of us stroll the castle first before moving on to the topic when "Ohh, Ash is early" [Diana] "Who?" [Princess Nurhaliza] "The Behemoth Slayer" [Diana] "Ohh! So that''s him!" [Princess Nurhaliza] "Haliza, wait!" [Diana] This girl, seriously! "So there you are!" [Princess Nurhaliza] "?" [Ash] Of course, Ash will be confused _________________________________________________ Who is this black hair girl? She''s emitting an aura of assertiveness similar to Diana... "Diana, is she a princess?" [Ash] I''m sure other royal and noble aren''t that interested in seeing me, so I have a feeling she is a noble from a foreign country, and her aura really is similar to Diana, so that''s why I came to that conclusion "She is" [Diana] "Wait, did he seriously just called you Diana?" [Princess Nurhaliza] "He did, and I''m fine with it. Plus, he is a traveler, not Estel''s citizen, so I will just let it slide" [Diana] Somehow, I get a bad feeling about this, should retreat first "Ohh, where are you going dear Behemoth Slayer" [Princess Nurhaliza] "Escaping" [Ash] "How rude, at least introduce yourself first" [Princess Nurhaliza] "Well, you already knew who I am so it''s pointless. Plus, I get this impression that you didn''t even mind it with the way I talked" [Ash] "Ash, just do it..." [Diana] Diana seems to be giving up already... Well, no demerits on doing so, so I guess it''s fine "I''m Ash, son of Vincent and Maria, a traveler currently taking care of ten cute siblings of mine. Nice to meet you Princess...?" [Ash] "Nice to meet you Ash, I''m Princess Nurhaliza from Malsia and this two here who just joined us is my friend and my guard" [Princess Nurhaliza] "I''m Mira, nice to meet you" [Mira] "..." [Guard] "I''ll just called your guard Qis 2.0 then" [Ash] "Hey!" [Guard] "Why am I getting dragged into this first thing in the morning" [Qis] "How about we all have some breakfast first. It''s still early plus, the meeting will start after the breakfast" [Diana] "If you said so" [Ash] "You sure jump quickly on this matter" [Princess Nurhaliza] "I''m too hungry after scanning this kingdom the whole night non-stop, so a nice breakfast is just what I need" [Ash] "Tchh... first Mira and now this traveler!" [Guard] "Well, you better get used to it then, I''m just too lazy right now to change my way of speaking Qis 2.0" [Ash] "Why me..." [Qis] "Alright then, rude Captain 2.0 it is" [Ash] During breakfast, the princess tells us that she actually sneaked out from the castle last night and ask Mira to accompany her at last minute. Really, that sound absurd but "Haha, it''s true, plus, Haliza always does that and her father will scold her for that alongside me" [Mira] "And you''re dragged along with her whim?" [Ash] "Sure am, but it''s fun nonetheless" [Mira] "I just get to know Diana recently but I can relate to you on personal level" [Ash] "Haha, we are in the same boat then" [Mira] ""Hey!!"" [Diana, Haliza] And after that, she told me that she will join the princess to the meeting as well since she had been tasked by the princess to investigate the outbreak of ghosts monsters in Malsia for Which I updated them regarding my opinion on the corrupted Thanatos "I see, that sure is interesting" [Mira] "Hey Ash, why don''t you come to Malsia?" [Haliza] "!" [Ash] Chapter 74 - Proposition Huh, she wanted me to come there to investigate the cause is it? I''m pretty sure her knight had told her regarding my decision, but maybe the word doesn''t reach her, so let me just repeat myself "I''m sorry, I would like to deny the request, I have ten siblings to take care of, and I am reluctant to take a request that cause a prolonged absence in the house" [Ash] "Ohh, that''s not what I meant. I already heard about it from one of the knight" [Haliza] "?" [Ash] "She wanted you and your siblings to live in Malsia" [Mira] "Exactly! I can grant you a citizenship in an instant, even make you a high knight or a noble, of course those kids include. So what do you say" [Haliza] "Sigh... same as always" [Diana] "Deny" [Ash] "Ehh!" [Haliza] "Obviously, well maybe not but I can see why" [Mira] "Tell me why then!" [Haliza] "Well..." [Ash] My reason is simple. First, We would have to leave Claude and the mansion behind since he still believes that his master will one day return. There''s no way we could agree to that. Claude really loves the mansion and won''t even consider moving out from it. Plus, we have a grandfather to grandchildren kind of relationship with him which we would not sever in any sort of situation. Second, there are already few people that we had acquainted with. Well, we are still not that close (or maybe it''s just me, who know) but I''m sure both sides would feel sad not being able to see each other again. Diana, Qis, Liyana, Alice, Jacks and more. There are still disadvantages living here though namely some of the noble, knight, merchant and the old follower really, really hate us (or to be exact me) and sincerely, it''s not surprising. But, I can live with that, they knew if they lay their hand on one of my siblings, they should be ready to fight against my wrath "Well too bad, but I will not give up!" [Haliza] "Should you decide to accept the proposition, you could always come and find us" [Mira] "I''ll keep that in mind" [Ash] (That''s to be expected from both of them) [Diana] And with that, we move on to our meeting, there, Princess Nurhaliza and Mira told us something interesting "You meant to say that this person actually managed to drove out those monsters?" [Noble] "It is, we take it as a grain of salt at first but then three days ago, the ghosts monsters suddenly disappeared and stopped attacking us. Obviously the masses were overjoyed during that time and we contacted him to hear his explanation but the church already took him in and had refused letting us talk with him" [Mira] "We investigate further and found out that he had been contacting the priest of the church several times in the first. We are still unsure of their connection neither does the method he used" [Haliza] "Hmm, could it be..." [Ash] "Looks like we have the same idea" [King Estel] "Mira, when you say drove out, do you mean that person defeated the ghosts monsters or something else?" [Diana] "I''m there during that time and I did saw the ghosts monsters running away from that person, that''s why I chose the word drove out" [Mira] "Is there a report or list of monsters sightings three days ago in Malsia?" [Ash] "I have it with me, should I read it out?" [Mira] "If you would" [Ram] "Well then..." [Mira] She list out the ghost monsters seen during that day, and... "It''s the same monster that attack us back then!" [Qis] "How suspicious" [Noble] "and the corrupted Thanatos?" [Ash] "From that day onward, there isn''t even a single sighting of that monster, not to mention other monsters have stop appearing" [Haliza] "Well, quite a straight forward case it is" [Diana] "And I suppose the mysterious guy is a supporter of an old follower?" [Ash] "That seem to be the case" [Mira] "Ash, did you find it?" [King Estel] "I did, though I only found one of it" [Ash] I presented the portal stone which I stored inside my item box and explain to them (especially to the Princess and her best friend) "You meant to say that those ghosts monsters that are driven away and start to appear in Estel due to this portal stone?" [Haliza] "That seem to be the case, although..." [Ash] "This still doesn''t explain the corrupted Thanatos part" [Noble] "Plus, how can they control those monsters" [Knight] "Exactly, but at least one piece of the puzzle is in our hand" [Ash] They do raise a worthy points and sincerely speaking, I felt the same, but I just can''t think of a reason and from the looks of it neither does the other. Try as we might but we keep on heading to a dead block "This is tiring..." [Ash] "How about you come and investigate there with us?" [Mira] "Like I say..." [Ash] "Maybe you should" [King Estel] "!" [Others] Now that''s surprising. I should hear the king reasoning first "If this really is due to the underhanded work of the old follower, it''s best for us to solve it as soon as we can. We already had the case of a king behemoth appearing inside the 3rd floor of the open field dungeon, and now, Corrupted Thanatos appearing in Malsia. If they keep on doing these kind of things, they should be able to achieve their objectives and when that happens, it might be too late for us to stop them" [King Estel] A sound argument but "Aren''t there any S rank adventure inside the country or in Malsia? You could send them instead of me" [Ash] "If they are we will not have this problem, can''t you think a little!" [Rude magician] "He is a traveler after all" [Rude Captain] "Big talks coming from someone who didn''t contribute a thing" [Ash] ((He really is outspoken and frank)) [Haliza, Mira] "Well, S rank adventure and the SS rank adventure the saga are constantly on the move, they rarely stayed inside of a country for too long" [Ram] "Sound just like a traveler to me" [Ash] "Well, they didn''t bother about money and all, most of them are quite eccentric but not to say they''re bad, they''re nice it just that we have troubles requesting them to stay inside the country. They will usually explore the dungeon or other countries and as such will constantly be on moving, that''s why it''s hard for us to contact them" [Ram] "That sure is an opposite lifestyle compared to mine" [Ash] "Isn''t that what traveler always do as well?" [Noble] "I meant compared to my current lifestyle" [Ash] That''s close... still... "Your highness, can I get some time to think about it?" [Ash] "That you can, but do give the answer by end of this weekday" [King Estel] "I will, thank you" [Ash] With that, we end our meeting. As I am about to leave "Can we met those siblings of your?" [Haliza] I really wanted to reject but... "Fine, but the rude Captain 2.0 should stay here" [Ash] Chapter 75 - Official visit to orphanage part 1 "And what do you plan on doing once you''re all alone with your highness!" [Guard] "Obviously I will kidnap her and ask some huge amount of ransom money from Malsia, and while I am at it, I might also force her to spills out a secret or two regarding Malsia" [Ash] "Princess! Did you hear that!" [Guard] "Ash, please don''t make such a joke..." [Diana] "Haha, but it''s funny nonetheless" [Haliza] "Princess, please rethink!" [Guard] "Just out of curiosity, why do you forbid Haliza''s personal guard to come with us?" [Mira] "My cutie pie, most of them are non human, and they''re twin among them. I just got this feeling that this rude person here will not appreciate having to breath the same air as them. So if you insist on letting him come and he shows any sign of aggression towards them, I''ll not hesitate to slice him up. That''s why it''s better for all of us to let him stay here" [Ash] "Did you really think that a puny like you can beat me!" [Guard] "Want to try?" [Ash] "Stop! Sigh... fine, he will not join us" [Haliza] "Princess!" [Guard] "It''s fine, I''ll be joining her" [Diana] "But...!" [Guard] "It''s fine, really. Nothing will happen. But if you insist, promise me that you will not make any ruckus" [Haliza] "I don''t have any confidence to say he will not cause any ruckus" [Mira] "Well, deny it is then" [Ash] "Can''t he just wait outside the mansion?" [Qis] "Well, let see... oh that hidden vampire guard of yours is currently on duty, please ask him to keep an eye of this rude Captain 2.0" [Ash] "Vampire guard?" [Haliza] "You never cease to amaze me, but sure. Plus, he already receive the message and agreed to it" [Diana] "Well, shall we move?" [Mira] "How about you guys use my new bus golem 2.0!" [Ash] ""Bus golem??"" [Haliza, Mira] ""2.0??"" [Diana, Qis] As I say that, I bring out the newly build bus golem 2.0. Of course, I explain to our two guests about my new beloved bus golem and tells Diana and Qis the new things added, most notably the addition of magic core to make it truly autonomous and thus can be run by almost everyone as unlike the usual noble carriage that still relies on the driver (for controlling as well as some mana to be consumed), I make this bus golem so that it can be use even by Rean and the kids in emergency. It''s sturdier, self driving (to some extent) as well as come with the benefit of minuscule mana consumption! Truly, a marvel! "He''s an enthusiasts" [Qis] "Well excuse me!" [Ash] "Still, this is nice, don''t you want to sell the concept? I can see that this has a potential to replace horse carriage one day" [Diana] ""Same here"" [Haliza, Mira] "I''ll think about it later, plus, I still have ton of unfinished work to do, that Polaroid camera for example" [Ash] ""Polaroid camera??"" [Haliza, Mira] "Well..." [Ash] And now to explain about them regarding photo and all. Needless to say, they''re really excited about it. Well, since a foreign princess did come to visit us, I should take some photos to commemorate it, and I can also give it to her as a gift (Well, should ask for the girls help to make and decorate the album as a gift from the orphanage) [Ash] That''s a nice idea, let just do that. Starting with pictures taken inside the bus golem Once we arrive at the neighborhood area, the kids run alongside the bus. Well, I am carrying a princess here, so should I stop? "Well, let just stop and picked them up. From the looks of it, they''re going to the orphanage. Is that alright with you Haliza?" [Diana] "Sure, I don''t mind" [Haliza] "Sigh..." [Guard] "I thought Gizzere was here for a moment" [Ash] With Diana''s suggestions, I let the kids into the bus. They''re excited, I''m glad to see that, but "If you''re misbehaving like this, I''ll ask him to throw you out" [Qis] "EEHH!" [Kids] "You heard her right" [Ash] "EEEHHH!" [Kids] And they become an obedient kids. Haha, kids, I swear. Well, as a reward, I tell them regarding the freezer like box install behind where fresh and cool juices were stored, but they''re to afraid too move now, so Mira is the one that takes it and give them the delicious treats Once we arrive at the mansion, the kids rush to the mansion and keep on knocking the door. The guard was of course, left at the mansion front gate (with his protest falls on deaf ears) "Hey, don''t do that!" [Succubus girl] "It''s a bad manner!" [Little girl] "Agree, what should all of you do?" [Diana] "Greet them nicely!" [Kids] "Then please do it properly" [Diana] "Yes!" [Kids] "You''re better than me at this kind of thing" [Haliza] "Add me to the list" [Ash] "Haha" [Diana] "Coming" [Claude] Claude open the door, there''s Kara, Mara, Savel, Singa and Charlotte alongside him. I''m sure Kara and Mara rush here after hearing Diana''s voice, as for the little three, well, obviously they''re excited to play with others "There''s the usual hug!" [Diana] "Someone blushing" [Ash] "So what!" [Qis] "Am I... not allowed..." [Mara] "No no, of course not!" [Qis] "Ehh..." [Mara] "I, I mean..." [Qis] ""Boo..."" [Diana, Ash] "Princess! Ash!" [Qis] "The three of you, please stop teasing her" [Claude] "Mara! Even you?" [Qis] "Hehehe... sorry" [Mara] "Slowly imitating you" [Diana] "Don''t talk like you''re not influencing her as well" [Ash] "You got me there" [Diana] "How about you guys enter first" [Claude] "Yes!" [Kids] (They''re nice, and close to each other as well) [Mira] (Seeing them thus warm one''s heart) [Haliza] (Agree) [Mira] Once inside "Morning Princess Diana, morning Sis Qis and..." [Elise] "Who is this long black hair noble and orange hair girl?" [Farhah] "Now that she say that..." [Centaur kid] "Who are they?" [Zerolith] As I keep on taking photos after photos, Haliza and Mira introduce themselves "Greetings, I am Princess Nurhaliza from Malsia, I come here today to see about the orphanage, nice to meet all of you!" [Haliza] "I''m her best friend, Mira. Just some merchant''s daughter that strive to become one, nice to meet you" [Mira] "Another Princess!" [Other] "Now that I think of it, we don''t actually introduce them to the neighbourhood kids inside the bus" [Ash] "Yeah, It just slipped my mind having to make sure they''re sitting still inside the bus" [Qis] Chapter 76 - Official visit to orphanage part 2 "I''m hungry" [Singa] "Hungry, hungry" [Charlotte] "Well, the older group are the one preparing meal today with Sis Rafiah whereas the younger group have to clean the mansion with Grandpa Claude when they show up, but with this many people..." [Kara] "Don''t worry I have some warm food that''s always kept ready inside my item box, that said, it''s rude to serve our guests like that, so is it alright with all of you?" [Ash] "I don''t really mind" [Diana] "Same here" [Haliza] "We don''t mind" [Kids] "Still, we will prepare some nice warm foods for all of you later, so do look forward to it" [Claude] "Yes!" [Other] With this many guests showing up, I bring out the tables and chairs from my item box. Good thing I bought it last time "Mr, your item box really is large!" [Little boy] "It can store a behemoth! Of course it''s large" [Blonde boy] "I wonder how large it is?" [Haliza] "Truth to be told, even I have no idea myself" [Ash] And that just show how large my item box is. I have breakfast in the castle really early in the morning, but a second breakfast sure is a welcome one, especially with them serving large Cockatrices meat presented similar to that of a turkey. There''s enough serving for everyone, but I still bring out the warm food that''s store inside my item box so that everyone can eat without any reserve "Did the orphanage usually eat these kinds of thing?" [Haliza] "Pardon?" [Rafiah] "I mean, eating some nice foods together" [Haliza] "Well, I bought large amount of Cockatrices meat since I wanted to spurge some money for them, but I''m a bit greedy there so that''s why there''s excess amount of it" [Ash] "Oh yeah, mother told me to say thanks to you Mr, for the nice Cockatrices meat that you give us" [Succubus girl] "Same, father ask me to say thank you as well" [Blonde boy] "Same here" [Kids] "Make sure you guys finish it! Don''t waste, it got it!" [Ash] "Yes!" [Kids] (So he is not only nice to the orphanage, but also to his neighbours as well. Seems like the rumour regarding him being a muscle head that only knows to threaten people are false then) [Mira] After breakfast, Haliza and Mira ask us just to continue our usual daily activities. Well, there''s not much that I wanted to do beside resting my body as I overexert myself last night, but they''re here to visit the orphanage, so I guess I should just brace myself "Brother Ash, how about you make the Camper van golem?" [Karon] "No! The Polaroid camera!" [Kara] "The pistol you say also seems nice! How about you make that! That way I can shoot more thing with both pistol and bow" [Farhah] "Meow!" [Behe] "-... . .... . / .-- .- -. - / - --- / --. --- / --- ..- - ... .. -.. ." [Housey] "Is that so, sorry Behe, you can''t go out today, and thank you Housey for translating it" [Ash] "Meow..." [Behe] "Swimming pool!" [Charlotte] "How about magic practice!" [Savel] "We can join in as well!" [Kids] "But I do love the pool" [Succubus girl] "Easy there all of you. How about this, those who wanted to use the pool will come with Rafiah while those who wanted some practice can join me. Let Ash get his rest since he doesn''t sleep last night patrolling and keeping us safe" [Claude] "I''ll take care of them as well, so please get some good rest" [Rean] "Same here" [Elise] "Sorry for asking you to make the Polaroid camera" [Kara] "It''s fine, really. I''ll accompany our guests so you guys just do what you normally do. That say, since all of you are here, why don''t we start today as the first school day? So, please don''t neglect your study, and that includes all of you as well!" [Ash] "Ehh..." [Kids] "Playing pool" [Kids] "Magic..." [Kids] "I thought it will be next week" [Centaur kid] "No but!" [Qis] "Yes!" [Kids] "Guess we will oversee their study first" [Diana] "This orphanage serve as school as well? And wait, do commoner get the chance to study here? If so, that sure is nice" [Haliza] "I just implement it few days back, though the idea had been there for some time.Thus, we are still at early stage but with Diana support, along with other like Qis, Alice and Lisa that volunteer teaching them, it''s up to a good start. Needless to say, there''s still so much to do to make it a proper school" [Ash] "Still, it''s a wonderful idea" [Mira] For one,we still didn''t have any syllabus in mind. So the one volunteering (Me, Rafiah, Claude, Alice, Lisa, Qis, Diana and Gizzere rarely as they''re busy, Jacks and few adventures all according to their times of availability) really just taught them what they know (of course we use the noble school syllabus as our guide) . For me, I''ll teach them science and magic. Plus, the issue of resources should also be considered, not to mention the fact that if the school did bloom, I have to consider kids from other places as well. It''s a big project so that''s why we are threading it ever slowly. Not to mention, unlike school back on earth, we didn''t have a predetermined time, but classes is usually conducted every alternate day with weekend as off day. Still, I''m grateful that most of the parents don''t really oppose this idea which is nice "Now then, let begin... Charlotte. How about you spell Diana!" [Diana] "That''s easy!" [Charlotte] "She''s enjoying this" [Haliza] "That she does" [Mira] "Ohh, the school started today?" [Alice] "Don''t worry, we are just starting, since the kids are all here, Ash decided to just roll with it" [Qis] "Is that so... My apologies, it''s nice to meet you Princess Nurhaliza and her friend Mrs Mira" [Alice] "Ohh... you already knew who we are" [Mira] "Guild master Ram had told me about both of you being here" [Alice] "Why are you here though?" [Qis] "Guild master Ram ask me to accompany Ash since he''s worried Ash might do something embarrassing In front of Princess Nurhaliza" [Alice] "How rude!" [Ash] "From how you behave, I''ll do the same" [Mira] With that, the first day of school suddenly started. Well, it''s a good topic for another day. Overall, they begin to learn the basics thing like alphabet and numbers as some of them didn''t have those basic. Noon arrive, our guests are now watching the usual operation of the training hall. I explained to them regarding the payment system as well as how the Zombie and Marine Spawning Block works. Housey efficiency really taken them back. That''s nice. Interested in trying out the Marine Spawning Block function, Mira wanted to try it herself but it proves difficult for her. Guess she''s just a normal civilian. Qis and Alice however, seems comfortable. Well, Alice is weaker as compared to Qis, that''s to be expected, but they''re good. Other young adventure seems surprise as well. They''re now fighting the generated zombies really well "They''re synchronizing well. Guess they really are friends back then" [Ash] "The three of them really are close" [Diana] "Three of them?" [Ash] "Liyana''s older sister, Linda include" [Diana] "I see..." [Ash] She tried to hide her sad tone, and with how Mira been glaring at me signalling me to stop asking her the question, I stopped After closing the training hall, as promised, Claude cook some nice food, inviting the kids as well when they''re about to go home. They refused as they wanted to eat dinner with their family members. How nice, even Claude don''t feel bad getting rejected when presented with such pure reason. Well, we still give them some of the foods for them anyway After dinner "That''s nice" [Mira] "Thank you" [Claude] "Still, this orphanage really is a nice place! Maybe I should do the same in Malsia" [Haliza] "I''m sure other of similar fate like us will be delighted" [Rean] "Agree, this orphanage is a dream come true for us, and I''m sure they will think the same thing" [Elise] "If you need some help, I''ll be happy to help" [Ash] "Thank you, I''ll be asking your help in the future" [Haliza] "That said, you still haven''t told us regarding your decision" [Qis] "Decision?" [Rafiah] "Well..." [Ash] I told them about King Estel request. Chapter 77 - Before going to Malsia I remember their reaction last time when I was asked to investigate the king behemoth incident, they''re all reluctant to let me go. This time around, another S rank monster appear, plus, I''m going far, to the neighbouring country in fact, so it comes to no surprise that they''re all once again, reluctant to let me go "But last time you''re up against the king behemoth, you almost lost!" [Rean] "If it wasn''t for the help of other four behemoths, who knew what will happen to you back then!" [Elise] "And now you''re up against the monster closest to the god of death, Thanatos itself!" [Mara] "Another S rank monster... Brother Ash, are you sure you wanted to go there?" [Kara] "Isn''t there anyone else well-suited for the job?" [Karon] "Are they involved as well?" [Claude] "Most likely" [Ash] "I see, that is..." [Rafiah] "Who are "they" you guys talking about?" [Zerolith] "Looks like Brother Ash didn''t tell us the full story here" [Farhah] "It''s still under investigation, so I might not even deal with them" [Ash] "Will you be going against bad guy?" [Savel] "Brother Ash is strong... but going against a bad guy and an S rank monster at the same time is..." [Singa] (Oh boy, this isn''t going well. I''m reluctant to go in the first place, and they''re making it harder for me to go. I can refuse but if what King Estel fear do come true and this Achalasia Externa group achieve their objectives...) [Ash] (...) [Charlotte] Charlotte suddenly get up from her sit and sit in my lap. "What''s wrong Charlotte?" [Ash] "Last time Brother Ash does that face, Brother Ash does for us. I don''t understand but I''m sure Brother Ash doing it the same thing now" [Charlotte] "That''s..." [Others] "But do come back quickly and bring us some gifts!" [Charlotte] "Haha, sure. I''ll be sure to bring you all some nice gifts" [Ash] "..." [Others] "Remember what I said back then? Instead of making a sad face like this, why don''t you all send him off with a bright smile" [Claude] "That smile does pull me through during my fight with the king behemoth, and I''m sure it will do the same when I''m going up against the Corrupted Thanatos" [Ash] "Like this?" [Charlotte] "Now that''s cute" [Ash] "Fine..." [Elise] "But please come back safely this time" [Rean] "If you''re coming back like last time after the fight with king behemoth..." [Kara] "We won''t forgive you!" [Singa] "Noted" [Ash] "I''ll be sure to support your brother with everything I have" [Haliza] "That''s goes the same for me" [Mira] "Do take care of him" [Claude] "I guess that settle it then" [Alice] "Will you be telling my father directly or do you want me to relay the message?" [Diana] "I have to send the four of you... no the five of you back to the castle with the bus golem, so I''ll be telling King Estel myself. Alice, I''ll be also dropping you to the inn, and then I''ll join the night patrol" [Ash] "Actually, why don''t you just rest, no need to go patrolling when you''re this tired" [Diana] "Agree, I''ll be asking other adventures to cover you for today" [Alice] "If you insist" [Ash] After telling the kids about it, I send those five (including the rude Captain 2.0) back to the castle. Alice at first are quite reluctant to follow me as she can simply take the carriage back home. But, I insist on her taking the bus golem together with all of us for safety reasons. Plus, I do finish my business quickly since all I have to do is to send the five back home and telling the king regarding my decision. That''s all and done. The king also seems tired and he noticed that I am tired as well and thus telling me to get some well deserved rest for tonight. I''ll do just that (after I send Alice back home) At the inn "Thank you for sending her back home" [Alice''s mom] "Don''t worry, it''s nothing much" [Ash] "Ohh please, you know this isn''t right. You yourself take good care of the siblings, I''m sure you can relate to our feeling. No, maybe it''s because you can relate to us, that''s why you force Alice to take the bus golem with you" [Alice''s dad] "Maybe, I might do it subconsciously" [Ash] "Well, thank you once again Ash" [Alice] "You''re welcome. Well, I''m off" [Ash] As soon as I arrive at the mansion and lap right into my bed, I instantly fell asleep. It''s a tiring day but there are a couple of things that''s needed to be done. I just list it out tomorrow . . . Morning come, after breakfast, I went into the adventure guild and make a formal request to Ram so that the adventure guild can protect the mansion against any kind of threat during my absentees. "I''m sure the adventures here don''t really mind even without a request, but I''ll just process it for formality sake" [Ram] "Thank you" [Ash] "Still, do take care" [Ram] "I will" [Ash] After that, I went to meet Gizzere at the merchant guild so that I can receive my part of loot sell. It went well without a hitch and she also pray for my safety. Thanks Gizzere Next, to make the camper van golem as quick as possible. That say, I need to make sure that it''s a comfortable one, so I called in the now free Erinmorlin to join me. The kids also join us as we make the camper van golem. It isn''t really that hard as its concept is similar to that of a bus golem but I have to make sure that they''re enough space for all of us. Not to mention the bathroom, the kitchen and some space for comfortability. All and all, I make a large Camper van golem, roughly around 2.5 times larger than the bus golem 2.0 at the spend of two days. "Well, I''m off" [Ash] "Do take care" [Rafiah] "Make sure to come back safely" [Claude] "-... -.-- . / -... -.-- ." [Housey] "Meow" [Behe] "Bye bye" [Kids] "Bye" [Ash] During the departure day, I went to the castle first as to get the official letter from Estel Kingdom as a formality, so that me going there is agreed upon by the kingdom. This is needed, kinda like a work visa, and "Shall we depart now?" [Haliza] Chapter 78 - Departing to Malsia "So this is the Camper van golem?" [Diana] "It''s larger than your bus golem" [Qis] "Well, I had to make it this way, otherwise they will travel in a cramped environment. Not to mention, even I hate an enclosed space myself" [Ash] "Now this is quite a luxurious way to travel" [Mira] "It is. By chance do you have an alarm system set up as well? Luxurious travel like this will usually attract bandit travelers, that''s why when nobles and merchants who can''t afford such system, they will hired an adventures to guard them as well" [Haliza] "I have it, don''t worry. Not only that, this camper van golem comes with multiple enhanced magic core that will identify the weaknesses of any enemies ahead and will throw spells accordingly to help us ward off any attempt of hurting us. Not only that, it''s built with a strong alloy from the loots I managed to get my hands on and carefully and tenderly placed by a trusted engineer! And..." [Ash] "You can stop it now, you enthusiast" [Qis] "Fine..." [Ash] Well, I get it, I went overboard with my explanation, but this beauty need to be properly addressed to them! And after saying goodbye to them in front of the dungeon entrance, we start our journey. There isn''t much problem since we are not wandering around, only going through a straight line, so all those safety features that Erinmorlin and I installed might not even be needed. Might be a waste to go this overboard but it''s better to be prepare for any sort of trouble "This is quite slow as compared to your bus golem" [Mira] "It is, short version as to why, I make it so that it will conserve its energy throughout journey as to better prepare and react when emergency comes pouring us down with trouble" [Ash] "I''m thirsty, can I take the juices inside?" [Haliza] "Sure, why not" [Ash] "Guess our item bag didn''t need to do its job when such a golem exist" [Mira] "Another wonderful thing about this thing" [Ash] And we are now on the 9th floor from the Estel''s side of the dungeon. It''s slower as compared to bus golem. If I used bus golem instead of Camper van golem, I''ll be somewhere around 13th to 15th floor right now "It''s nighttime now" [Mira] "Shall we stop and parked this thing beside the road?" [Haliza] "Hehe..." [Ash] "You better don''t think of anything funny" [Guard] "You guys can just go to sleep. I can just put this golem of mine into autonomous state, and let it drives itself" [Ash] "It can even do that!" [Haliza] "How mysterious." [Mira] "I''ll take that as a compliment" [Ash] It''s thanks to the blessings from Goddess Achalasia herself that I am able to create it. I''m sure such magical technology will be hard to make especially as they require much resources and magic power to begin with. Their reaction did reminded me of Diana and Qis when they see me making Housey through fortress defense magic. "Hmm..." [Haliza] "Something wrong?" [Mira] "Sorry if it isn''t comfortable for you" [Ash] "No I''m just thinking. Can you please take care of the bandit travelers from the Malsia''s side? They utilize the dungeon trap system so well that it actually bringing us trouble after trouble" [Haliza] "I see... but is it really alright?" [Mira] "Well..." [Ash] _________________________________________________ [Bandit travelers point of view] It''s another morning inside the 18th floor of the rock and sea dungeon Malsia''s side. Us traveler are usually looked down by various people as we are born inside the dungeon but that''s an old trend. Now, most of the traveler is a wanted criminal or someone who being revoked of their citizenship,and with nothing else to do, we band together and do anything that we could to survive. As for me, I''m a traveler who goes from one traveler group to another. I have some special skill that allows me to detect any sort of bad luck that will happen to me and those around me, and that''s why "Where are you going early in the morning" [Bandit A] "Toilet" [?] "Ohh, nevermind" [Bandit A] He is still pissed off with me. I know him for quite sometime. Why is he pissed with me? That''s because I helped a young slave girl escaping from his hand by "accidentally" bumped into him. Well, I might be a bandit now but I only does it so I can survive, sure if I were caught, all of us here will be sentenced to death regardless of what. But, for me who just thinking of surviving normally, it just felt so wrong doing whatever you like just because you''re now a traveler, and the country law didn''t apply inside the dungeon. (Well, Goddess Achalasia law will still apply... but more importantly...) [?] This stinging sensation in my palm, they''re getting stronger and stronger, I should escape. It''s a shame that I have to leave another group, but that''s just our lives are. Time to plan my escape route and my infiltration route to Malsia As I went into the main road disguising myself as ordinary people, I see some strange... box? Just what is that thing, and that thing just, instead of traveling down the safe main road, it purposely takes a sharp turn into the thieves den! (I''m curious, but that must be the thing that cause my palm to sting, which mean...) [?] I should escape, but somehow I''m drawn to see what happens and "Shit! What is that thing!" [Bandit A] "Just activate as many traps as possible!" [Bandit leader] "But it''s not stopping!" [Bandit B] "What kind of steel monster is that!" [Bandit C] "No, there''s a blonde hair man inside of it, is it a carriage?" [Bandit A] "And what''s with his smile! It pisses me off!" [Bandit A] Unbelievable, it just ram through the traps. There is an explosive trap in front but "It''s disarmed!" [Bandit E] That carriage... I get the feeling it detects the traps and disarm them in advance. Well, disarm is a strong word here, it simply shoot some magic ball to it and let it explode on its own, not the usual disarm methods that we usually do With all the traps being out done, the group decides to take the carriage straight on but... (They got hit and run...) [?] Not only that, the carriage use some sort of magic to tie them down in an instant Goodbye my 5th bandit group, I will be off Before running away, I can see a blonde man with a strange weapon, a commoner and a noble with her guard coming out from that carriage. "I should run as fast as I can for now!" [?] _________________________________________________ Chapter 79 - Malsia That sure is anti climatic. For a group of bandit travelers that know the in and out of the dungeon traps and bring trouble to the official and adventure that try to catch them (or in this case kill them as any country rules cannot be applied inside the dungeon), they lost way to fast from the assault of the camper van golem. Guess that shows the power of this golem of mine. Haliza''s personal guard wanted to kill them right here and there but I intervened, saying that I am the one who caught them and wanted to hand them over to the judge for further trials. Maybe they will be sentenced to death, or maybe not. Regardless, It just felt wrong killing them. I don''t have any problems killing monster but human is a whole different story. To transport them, I make an earth carriage similar to the circus carriage use to display animals. The same carriage I made to transport the idiot noble back then. The tied up bandits didn''t struggle much, since most of them are knock out cold. With a connection set between the camper van golem and the earth carriage, we continue our journey as usual. The people who use the main road can''t help but to keep on staring at the golem and the carriage, having a confused look. There''s one person among them that catches my eye as he seems to know what''s happening. Maybe I''m just imagining thing... With night approaching, we finally found ourselves at the entrance of the Rock and Sea dungeon Malsia''s side. There, the guard greeted the runaway princess but "Poor him, I''ll be sure to compensate him" [Haliza] "Please do" [Guard] Seriously... well, apparently when sneaking out, Haliza just order the guard station here to let her pass saying there''s a royal emergency happening inside the dungeon (with Mira further convincing him). Not knowing what to do, the station guard finally give up and let her pass through. This causes the king to be angry since he does not report this right away. Now the guard are punished (albeit lightly since the king know about his daughter''s attitude) (RIP guard, your carelessness will be my lesson) [Ash] Using the goddess orb in here, it''s my turn to be scanned. This sure bring me back to the time I get scanned by one of it when entering Estel for the first time. This giant blue goddess orb sure is a mystery. Nevertheless, as long as it get the job done, I guess it''s fine. Still "Hoo... it shows here that you have received a title from Goddess Achalasia and God of Death" [Old guard] "!" [Others] Not only Haliza, Mira, guards and the people around us, even I myself am surprised by it "The Guardian of Children, and the great scythe magician" [Haliza] "That actually makes sense. You do take care of the orphanage with great care, and you manage to defeat an S rank monster solo. Maybe that''s why the titles are bestowed to you" [Mira] "Don''t you check it before? Otherwise, this new messages will not appear" [Haliza] "I didn''t bother to check it since it''s pointless to me, but this sure is a surprise" [Ash] "Wait, does that mean!" [Guard A] "Are you perhaps the Behemoth Slayer?" [Old guard] "He is" [Haliza] "Got called that a lot recently" [Ash] And the guards (as well as the surrounding people) become excited. Well, let just hope they don''t expect me to do all the work here. As for the titles given by Goddess Achalasia and God of Death, I sincerely have no idea when? Maybe it''s during that one time I met them in my dream. My nickname is the behemoth slayer but that''s like how the people around refer me, as for the title given by the God? They''re granted when someone achieve a feat that''s recognize by them and can be seen by using the goddess orb. It can''t be forged no matter how, so someone with title bestowed to them by the goddess will be recognized as a great person and highly sought by everyone. I''m grateful for the title but let just hope the news didn''t spread much. After passing through the goddess orb (as well as showing them the official letter from King Estel and handing the earth carriage with bandits to them), I take my first step at a new country and "It''s the same" [Ash] Almost the same as Estel, that''s a bummer. Well, they''re a neighbouring country, so maybe I should have expected that. Malsia building looks like that of an old British or European building and design, and here, it''s the same. Well, as disappointed as I am at first, I do appreciate the finer details of the material use, instead of the usual material, the building here give of some vibrant white colour that I just started to notice. Apparently, there''s an earth themed dungeon here called as gift from earth dungeon, and they used the limestone that they got from the dungeon to make the building We take the soldier carriage station here and go to the castle. I can''t use my bus golem since this is a new country and the fact that I just left it behind for Rean to use whenever necessary. Along the way (This is...) [Ash] "Something wrong?" [Haliza] "Are you sure the corrupted Thanatos didn''t appear later?" [Ash] "That''s what happened" [Mira] "I can clearly felt a strong corrupted mana, but I can''t exactly pinpoint it" [Ash] "But our court magician didn''t detect anything!" [Haliza] "Maybe because they didn''t knew about this monster before, or maybe because it can hide itself well. Whatever the reasons are, it''s still out there" [Ash] "That''s terrifying" [Mira] "Ash, can you..." [Haliza] "Scout around? Sure, but you have to accompany me as well, otherwise I might get arrested" [Ash] "Will do" [Haliza] "Thank you" [Ash] As I keep on searching for the wavelength of the corrupted Thanatos mana, trying my nest pinpoint it location, my eyes attracted to a certain someone. A young human black hair girl scavenging through the trash with a Little girl around Charlotte age at her side. She''s around 15 years of age and from the looks of it, she seems starving (Sigh... I can''t believe my eye) [Ash] "Stop the carriage please!" [Ash] The carriage stop, I went to the girls but, she looks terrified, like having a PTSD kind of symptoms, she tries her best to run away from me but her legs just give in. On closer inspection, there''s a scar everywhere in her arms and legs... poor girl "Please... spare her..." [Girl] "It''s fine, really" [Ash] I open up my item box, bring out the warm fried rice that Claude make for the two of them and "Is there other like you around here? If so, please show it to me" [Ash] Chapter 80 - Orphans of Malsia The little girl around Charlotte age can''t help but to drool heavily with the warm fried rice just inches within her sight. She''s starving but at the same time scared of something. Maybe, just maybe, they received the same treatment as my cutie pie back then. I do remember vividly, Elise begging the Kebab stall owner for free food only to get harsh treatment and get charcoal thrown to her. But still "It''s fine, I won''t do anything. Trust me" [Ash] This time around, I kneel down so that my eye can meet with the little girl eye. She''s hesitating but taking one step at a time together with the teenage girl until they quickly take the Fried rice and run away to an alley. That''s unexpected, and here I am thinking that the title bestowed to me will have some effect, like making children trusting me more. Without any complaint from my side, I just follow them until I find the group of orphan sharing the fried rice with each other. They''re all starving but still prioritize other over themselves. How nice. I guess this is what emphatic really mean. "There''s still more if you want" [Ash] "!" [Others] They''re to focus on the food that they failed to notice my presence. I just hope any bad people with bad intention won''t use this kind of thing to their advantage. That said, I still bring out the foods and drinks stored inside my item box and quickly give it to them. They''re around 25 of them here, quite a large number as compared to my siblings. Still, I can''t find myself to abandon them. "Thank you" [Little girl] "You''re welcome" [Ash] The little girl thanks me. Sigh... how come no one take care of them. And how did they survive this long... (Wait a minute) [Ash] "Something wrong Ash?" [Haliza] "Yeah, is there a report of these kids here being injured by the ghosts monsters attack?" [Ash] "Now that you mention it..." [Mira] From the sound of it, there isn''t one. Good, but a question arise, how did they survive. I can''t feel any sort of witch or any powerful magic from these group. Sheer luck might play a role but it should be considered as the last option. Witch? No, they doesn''t emit wavelength of a witch like Rafiah does. They''re being the perpetrators are plain impossible in my book but I''m sure others (especially the old follower and those hating the non human) won''t think the same as I do "They''re the perpetrators" [Guard] "You can keep your rubbish opinion inside your brain please. Thank you" [Ash] Yeah, 3 second didn''t even passed and the guard has proven my point. Well, I should just ask them straight but ~eating like there''s no tomorrow~ "Let them eat first" [Haliza] "Yeah" [Ash] I will feel like the bad antagonist in the children book should I disturb this blissful moment of them, but someone didn''t share our common sense "Hey you! List..." [Guard] "Let them eat first!" [Haliza] "Yes, Princess Nurhaliza!" [Guard] "Princess..." [Teenage girl] "Nurhaliza..." [Cat boy] "Sigh... quick question, do all the guard of noble act like this? I know the answer is not but I can''t help but to think that way" [Ash] "Well..." [Mira] Now all the kids have stopped eating thanks to that guard. They''re clearly hungry, but despite of that, they stopped eating as to give the due respect to Haliza. Haliza didn''t even hesitate to tell them to continue eating the food but they refuse to do so and thus a silent war between the two started which ended up with her win (after she forced them, saying that this is a royal order). "I can see why Diana reacted like that when meeting you" [Ash] "Like what!" [Haliza] "Like that" [Mira] "Seriously!" [Haliza] Still, it didn''t take them long to finish their late night dinner. As the last chicken being gulped down, I begin asking them the importance question first "Did you guy have anywhere to stay?" [Ash] "..." [Kids] "Hey! Don''t you know what to ask!" [Guard] "I do, and that''s why I''m asking them so can you please keep your mouth shut like, I don''t know, forever" [Ash] "Why!" [Guard] "Sigh... they''re like cat and dog" [Mira] "Agree. Still, like what Ash have ask, did you guys have anywhere to stay?" [Haliza] "We, don''t..." [Teenage girl] "This is our home" [Cat boy] "!" [Haliza] "I see" [Ash] Again, I''m reminded by those ten when we first met. Well, the next step should be an obvious one "Mira, is there any inn large enough to accommodate them all?" [Ash] "Actually, why don''t you use my home?" [Mira] "Is that alright?" [Ash] "Ohh, that small mansion wasn''t it!" [Haliza] "Interesting" [Ash] Well, that''s nice but "No!" [Teenage girl] The teenage girl protest. The guard snap as she refuses Haliza kind invitation but "May I know why?" [Haliza] "Impossible" [Teenage girl] "?" [Haliza] "It''s impossible! There''s no way those above us will see and treat us this kindly! You guys must have a hidden agenda!" [Teenage girl] "You have gut saying such a thing toward the princess!" [Guard] "!" [Teenage girl] Afraid as she might from the guard stern and threatening voice, she still shield the other. That''s nice of her. She''s like Rean and Elise "That might be true, I mean there''s no way I will do it all for free" [Ash] "!" [Others] "Ash!" [Mira] "Don''t get me wrong, I won''t ask them to do anything that will endangered themselves. But, I will ask for something bigger" [Ash] "And that is!?" [Teenage girl] "Simple, I will make you not to repeat what you say just now to Princess Nurhaliza in the future" [Ash] "?" [Others] Well, now all of them are confuse. Better explain it to them "When your princess and her friend here ask about you well being, we do that because we care for you. For me, it doesn''t matter whether you''re a human, a non human, a twin, a slave, a noble or a royal. You guys are still kid if you ask me and it''s the adults job to help all of you" [Ash] "He''s right" [Haliza] "Princess!?" [Teenage girl] "I''m sorry. I am also to be blame. All this while I am in the castle, trying my best to make a better future for Malsia and yet, here I am, failing to help all of you here" [Haliza] "Starving, thirst, sadness. I''m sure all of you underwent each of that everyday. That''s why, please trust us. We don''t want you to keep on experiencing that. That''s why, please trust the three of us" [Mira] The orphans are swayed right now. On one hand, they''re still cautious of us but on the other hand, they want to believe in us. Time to bring out my secret weapon, but first "That''s a nice light ball magic" [Mira] "What is it for?" [Haliza] "You''ll see" [Ash] As I illuminate the surrounding, I bring out the album that is meant to be given to Haliza as a gift from the orphanage and show it to them. I ask them to gather around me and show them photos after photos of Haliza and Mira with my siblings, all the while showing them other album and photos that I take. I tell them how I met those kids, how I opened up an orphanage with the help of Diana and how the kids are right now. Their eye, I can see they''re envious of them. I feel bad, but, if this is what it takes to persuade them, then I should continue "That sound fun" [Little girl] "It is" [Elf boy] "Well, what do you guys think?" [Haliza] "..." [Kids] "Fine... but if you are doing something bad, we will run away!" [Teenage girl] "Don''t worry, we won''t" [Mira] That''s good. I''m glad it all went well. (Any doubt about the title now?) [Goddess Achalasia] (!) [Ash] I see... (Sorry and thanks) [Ash] (Take care of them, guardian of children) [Goddess Achalasia] (Yeah!) [Ash] Chapter 81 - Unexpected information It''s my first morning at Malsia, and once again, I wake up at a site of new ceiling. With me are all the orphan boys sleeping like a log. They''re 14 of them with the oldest one being 13 years old and the youngest one (and also the youngest in the group) nearing 4 years old. Well, they''re sleeping peacefully, so let me just use the kitchen first and make some good breakfast for them. This small mansion, they''re Mira''s parents property which was passed down to her since they end up dying as a result of the succession war. Apparently, like what Lisa had told me, the two leader that opposes King Druser of Demon Kingdom as well as his Paladin Aries, one day launch an attack to Malsia and almost ravage this kingdom as a result of it. Her parents as well as those working in this mansion die and Mira left this mansion as she can''t help but to feel sad, reminiscing about her childhood day when living here. Must be tough. "Morning" [Ash] "You''re up early" [Mira] "Have to cook some breakfast for them" [Ash] "Let me help as well" [Mira] "Gladly" [Ash] And we started to cook. I have to make some heavy meal for me as well since I will start my investigation today itself. Last night, after making sure all the orphan asleep, Haliza, Mira and I went to the castle and meet King Malsia. I presented to him the letter from King Estel before him, and to my surprise, King Estel did have good impression on me, just that he tell King Malsia not to bother with the way I talk and how I greet the noble and royal (by writing what actually happened during our first meeting). Well, as long as I don''t have to make a fake smile and all that, I guess it''s fine. "Morning" [Teenage girl] "Morning, you sure wake up early" [Mira] "Can you cook? If not, I can teach you" [Ash] "..." [Teenage girl] "Alright then, start with chopping these carrots" [Ash] "I''ll try my best" [Teenage girl] Seo Ah, that''s the teenage girl name. Like her Korean name, she followed the same features especially her long black hair that she''s tying right now, but "Hahahaha. That''s not how you hold a knife" [Ash] ~Blush~ [Seo Ah] "Ash!" [Mira] "Sorry, sorry. Here, I''ll teach you" [Ash] This is exactly how Farhah first uses a knife. Well, she might not know it, but that''s the beauty of keep on living your life everyday. You''ll learn something new and for her, today is learning how to cook. I''ll just make a simple sweet Malaysian curry, they use coconut milk in their ingredient to make it more delicious, and that''s exactly how I''m doing it right now and... "Call the other please" [Mira] "I will" [Seo Ah] "Ash, can you please lift this up?" [Mira] "Sure" [Ash] As we prepare the table, one by one, the kids come downstairs and start taking their sit and we have our breakfast after they all gather. Instead of talking with other, they''re more focused on the food right in front of them. And here I am, wanting to memorize their name during breakfast itself, but I guess that can wait. Haliza barge in halfway through and join us for the second breakfast "You''ll get fat" [Ash] "How dare you!" [Haliza] ~Scare~ [Kids] "Really Ash..." [Mira] "Kids, Don''t follow this bad example of his. Don''t get me wrong, he is a nice and strong person but his foul mouth part, absolutely don''t follow that!" [Haliza] "Yes" [Kids] "That actually hurts" [Ash] "You reap what you sow" [Seo Ah] Thanks to Haliza, the meal become even more delicious as they started to open up to us. That''s good. After breakfast "That guy come and tell you not to worry!" [Haliza] "That''s right" [Cat girl] "He seems suspicious at first, but we were told by him not to wander around during that time" [Seo Ah] "Interesting" [Ash] "It is, this is worth investigating more" [Haliza] "When that guy was taken by the church, did you ever met him after that?" [Mira] "No, but..." [Little boy] "He did tell us that he might not see us again" [Seo Ah] "I see" [Ash] And here I am, thinking that guy might be the culprit, but it might be the other way around. I mean, if he really is a culprit and coorperate with the church, I''m sure he won''t even bother to tell this orphan anything. That means that he does actually used his power to drive out the ghosts monsters and the church then taken him away somewhere else before this kingdom get to him. At least that''s the impression that I got by talking to them. Judging by the story thus far, could he be a male witch? Witch tend to be a female for an unknown reason, Rafiah for an example, but they''re cases of male being born with witch power and thus, they can manipulate monster and strengthen or weaken them at their whim, which lead me to few questions. Why does he drive them out to the portal stone that the church use, did he purposely did it? Was he also the one responsible for converting Thanatos into a corrupted one? Is he really the one behind all this, or he is just at the wrong place and time. Whatever that might be, he is one of the keys to solve this mystery. "I wonder if he''s safe" [Seo Ah] "Yeah, the church threaten him by using us after all [Oldest boy] "Pardon?" [Haliza] "Well, he actually admired the behemoth slayer for opening up the orphanage and thought of doing the same. We were happy at that time but that''s when one of us saw that the higher up at the church uses a dirty method to take him in" [Seo Ah] "When that fail, the church threaten to hurt us. He is at a weaken state and couldn''t resist much and that''s when..." [Oldest boy] "I see, thank you for the info" [Ash] "Someone blushing" [Haliza] "That''s a nice feeling if you ask me" [Ash] "?" [Kids] "Oh, you guys still haven''t realized? Ash here is the Behemoth Slayer, the one that opened up the orphanage in Estel" [Mira] "Ehhh!!!" [Seo Ah] "Really!" [Little girl] "Didn''t I tell you all, about how I opened up the orphanage yesterday by showing you guys the photo album" [Ash] "But you didn''t tell us that you''re the behemoth slayer!" [Seo Ah] Yeah, my bad. I did tell them my name but I just thought that it wouldn''t matter much about my nickname. Apparently, people in Malsia do know about the orphanage back in Estel and that the Behemoth Slayer is the one managing it, but my real name didn''t pop up as much and thus, the kids here couldn''t come to the conclusion that I am the Behemoth Slayer Still, I did receive an unexpected but valuable information from them. I should prioritize searching for the mysterious man itself, but first "Let us buy some clothes for you guys!" [Ash] Chapter 82 - At Estel part 1 [Rean point of view] "You did it!" [Lily] "Haha, thank you" [Rean] "80 zombies, you defeated 80 zombies single handedly!" [Kadeus] "We can''t fall behind him!" [Ray] "That for sure!" [Kadeus] The water zombie that keep on shooting water ball magic to me is down. Its head roll over the training hall ground and quickly disappear, turning into a loot. From the looks of it, the loot is a low grade magic enhancer to boost one water magic strength when equipped. I guess this is perfect for Charlotte With that, I finally did it! With this, I can finally become an adventure. Still, should I register first or should I wait for Brother Ash to come back first? It would be a nice surprise when he comes back only to find out that I have become an adventure but going to register with him will also feel nice "Grandpa Claude, we are next!" [Elise] "Sure" [Claude] "Let tries our best!" [Liyana] "Hmph!" [Mile] While the son of Borg and Lin (Ray), the centaur kid (Kadeus) and the succubus girl (Lily) decided to pair up with me as we all wanted to form a party once we registered as an adventure, Elise, Liyana and Lin decided to train and become a female knight. Their role models in this case couldn''t be much obvious "So, when should we register?" [Ray] "Well..." [Rean] "Do you want to wait for Mr Ash to come back home?" [Lily] "Ahhh..." [Kadeus] "Sure, in the meantime, we can all train together even more. Mr Ash did ask Rean to complete his task of soloing a group of 30-80 zombies, so if each of us can do just that..." [Ray] "Our party will become even stronger" [Lily] "That sound nice" [Kadeus] "Let us do just that!" [Lily] And they''re motivated to soloing a group of zombies. Since this is a controlled environment, I don''t think they will get hurt. "Mr Flinar, teach me more of that wood healing magic!" [Farhah] "You can join us Farhah" [Yefefiah] "Sure!" [Farhah] The healers, Sis Rafiah and Farhah are currently using the training hall to further strengthen their magic. While some of us have seen our path in the future, they are also some that''s still stuck, but that didn''t pose much of a problem, our future path should be taken only after careful consideration like what Brother Ash always told. As for me, I will aim to become an SS rank adventure, a Saga, as for Elise, her aim is to become a female knight. Kara would love to become a Researcher as well as an educator. Mara would like to become a Researcher as well, as she clearly shows her interest in exploring the unknown for which Sister Alice told her to take an adventure license as well to ease her in the future. Karon would like to become an engineer and he will be taught by Mr Erinmorlin and lastly Farhah would like to become a healer. As for Zerolith, Singa, Savel and Charlotte, they didn''t decide that yet. "This is tough" [Elise] "Dark zombies is no joke" [Liyana] "Meow!" [Behe] "Behe! Don''t!" [Mile] And there Behe goes, shooting his light beam magic to the group of zombies. Contrary to his look, Behe is a C rank monster and would continue to grow to become an S rank monster in the future, becoming a full pledge Light Behemoth "It''s time to change the shift" [Syah] "Oh mine, already?" [Female elf adventure] "Well, we should get going then" [Mimi] "We will leave it to you" [Female Paladin] "Ray, Mile, Kat, Blanc, better behave yourself!" [Lin] "Yes mother!" [Lin''s children] The group of female adventures left and with that, Mr Syah, Mr Borg and Mr Jacks come to protect us. I don''t think this is all necessary as it''s just a waste of their precious time, but all of them insist on doing so. That''s to say, I am glad that they''re doing this for the sake of our own safety. While I do think they''re doing it to protect us, I''m sure they''re other motive behind it, not a bad one like kidnapping or hurting us but more like... "You''re in the right direction" [Gizzere] "That scare me" [Rean] "What do you mean by that?" [Lily] "Rean here is thinking about all the adventure coming in and out and the reasoning behind it, and it seems like he is getting something" [Gizzere] "Such as...?" [Kadeus] "Think for yourself, adventure need to have a sharp and healthy mind, so why don''t you brainstorm with him" [Gizzere] Busy as she might, the Merchant guild master, Gizzere still spent some of her precious time to come and taught us something, which is highly appreciated. Unlike other, she didn''t give us the direct answer for a question, instead, guiding us all to number of answers and make us think critically for each option. Coming back to the doubt I had in mind, I don''t think the answer is that hard to come, instead, I''m sure the reason why Brother Ash hired the adventure in the first place have something to do with it and that''s... "When are they coming?" [Rean] "Who knows. But, that''s why the adventures are all gathered here for. Primarily to protect all of you, even if it means to let them escape" [Gizzere] "But that is..." [Rean] "That''s why your Brother is reluctant to go. Sure, the king and the princess gave their assurance but that wouldn''t stop those guys from coming and knocking on this door. Even with all of this, I''m sure they''re some of them with a few loose screw that will take advantage of his absence" [Gizzere] "That is just..." [Rean] "Just what are you talking about?" [Lily] "Nothing..." [Rean] "Growing up aren''t you" [Gizzere] I can''t just tell them that this mansion would be targeted. The probability is there and so long as the adventures are guarding us, with the king and Princess backing us up, I would like to believe the chance to be minimal at best, but like Mrs Gizzere had said, they''re some of them with a loose screw and we should all be cautious about it. (Still, if Brother Ash and the adventure guild are cooperating together, surely the king and Princess did the same. I wonder what will they do in this situation) [Rean] "Speak of the devil" [Borg] "It''s looks like she''s all alone" [Syah] "Just like the last time" [Jacks] "!" [Rafiah] "Rafiah, stay back..." [Yefefiah] "Rafiah..." [?] Isn''t that, the old follower that''s with Sis Rafiah? They''re friend if I''m not mistaken and she had come here once during the endemic disease. I wonder what she comes here for today. (I''m confused, but...) [Rean] Brother Ash isn''t here, and now it''s up to me to protect the other siblings. "Welcome, how may I help you" [Rean] "!" [Others] Chapter 83 - Scythe Boss I thought of going undercover, entering the church at Malsia and scan the whole building while offering my prayer to Goddess Achalasia. Well, that''s my initial thought but... "So that''s the Behemoth Slayer!" [Thug D] "He is young!" "And quite the look as well" "Shame that those filthy brats are with him" "Tchh, can''t they just die. They''re an eyesore. If I was in charge, I wi..." "!" "Oppsie, sorry. My Scythe suddenly slip. Do forgive me for my carelessness" [Ash] "Ash..." [Mira] "You think you''re a big shot!" "Take thi..." "Huwaaaaa!" "Why me!" [Thug C] "What spell did you use to make them fly so high?" [Seo Ah] "Hmmm... Don''t know." [Ash] Well, I should just take Haliza''s offer to come with us to buy some clothes for the orphans, but if I do that, more ruckus will follow. She already got severely scolded by her father for sneaking out not from the castle, but from the country itself, and I''m sure she''s currently sneaking out as well. As a result, this not so innocent and stupid young man that dare to harm the orphans get a free ticket from me to get once in a lifetime experience of experiencing cordless bungee jumping alongside his friends. Well, that what you got for not being a decent human being, the least you can do if you hate these children so much is just to keep quite, but no, you have to openly say your hatred out loud, not to mention right in front of me. "Brother Ash..." [Little girl] "What is it?" [Ash] "Can I try next!?" [Little girl] "It looks fun" [Cat boy] "Sure, but we should buy your clothes first" [Ash] "Ash, you are disturbing the traffic" [Mira] "My bad" [Ash] Well, better stop doing this. Here I am thinking that I will be left alone afterward, but some of them (or rather their friends) decided for round two "You sure love to mess around aren''t you" [Thug?] "Boss!" [Underling] "Listen here, I am..." [Thug boss] "An idiot?" [Ash] "What! You dare to..." [Thug boss] "A massive pain in the, no. I can''t say that out loud. This little kids will follow me. Hey Mira, is there a nice way of saying that thing?" [Ash] "Hmm... Haemorrhoids?" [Mira] "Listen!" [Thug boss] "Oh yeah, did you collect any sort of information from him? If not, I can do it now" [Ash] "You can! Thank you!" [Mira] "You two! This isn''t the time for that!" [Seo Ah] "Just die" [Thug boss] "You go boss!" And he threw a single punch to me. Is he really a thug? Such a weak punch? Or was it because of my body receiving a blessing from God herself? Either way, I did plan to extract some information from him, so "Question, would you rather receive a thunder or ice flowing through your body?" [Ash] "Neither! Neither! Neither! Please don''t press my fist so hard!" [Thug boss] "Boss!!!" "And you there, you sure are lovely after "learning hoe to fly". Want to do it again?" [Ash] "No, no, no, no. Please spare me!" [Thug C] Well, they''re just some random thug after all. So, they succumb quickly just from a single threat. That say, rather than punishing them like this... "You guys will be joining me to lunch with my new cutie pie here. Just a warning, if you do anything funny to them..." [Ash] I summon my ice shark missiles and have it surrounds them. "Understand?" [Ash] "YES!!!" [Thugs] "We really are disturbing the traffic" [Mira] "Yeah, let just go and buy them some nice clothes first. You guys get moving now!" [Ash] "Ehhh?" [Thug boss] "Obviously, I don''t want you guys to escape. Plus, your task now is to choose some nice clothes from them. Bring us to a nice clothing shop and make a suggestion for what they should wear. Any inappropriate clothes will receive another ticket to heaven!" [Ash] ""Is that alright?"" [Mira, Seo Ah] "It is" [Ash] Rather than having them keep on hating the orphan, I''ll rather have them spend some time with the orphans. I hope by doing this, a bond can be forge between them. Well, one or two sessions won''t be enough and there will be some that will fake it till they escape from my "punishment". Well, I can ask Haliza to think of something creative after this, so for now, let just focus on the shopping part. As the thugs show us a nice store for clothes, we enter the said shop. Apparently, Mira is about to bring us here as well. Well, that''s convenient. And when I told them to browse some clothes, the seven of them quickly search for some nice clothes and bring them to me for evaluation. What is this? A fashion show? Still, they do bring out an appropriate clothing to be used. Here I am, thinking that they will choose a clothing like those medieval thug that suit them, but no. They actually took their time to browse through the shop and look for the best clothes! I''m sincerely impressed "This is nice for your black hair" [Thug boss] "Umm... thanks?" [Seo Ah] "What do you think you''re doing? Flirting around with my little sister?" [Ash] "Ouch ouch ouch ouch. That hurt. Please loosen your grip boss!" [Thug boss] "Little sister?" [Seo Ah] "Scythe boss! Let them kiss!" [Thug A] "Yeah, boss here didn''t get a chance for romance when he was a kid" [Thug B] "Did you want to get electrocuted?" [Ash] "Please spare me this time scythe boss" [Thug C] "Looks like you have a follower" [Mira] "Sigh..." [Ash] Well, if I can straighten them up, then I don''t mind being called boss by them. Plus, I will not be here in Malsia for long. So they can at least protect the orphanage here when I''m not around. That being said, I won''t force them. If I do force them, I get this feeling that it will bring more harm than good. After one and a half hours of shopping for clothes and necessary things for the orphanage, all of us head back to the orphanage. The thugs offer to carry all the luggage at first but I simply put them all inside my item box, for which their eyes become glittering due to how effortlessly I open up and close my item box. The orphans also react the same "Want me to teach you guys magic?" [Ash] "YES!" [All] "Can we?" [Thug boss] "Can you?" [Ash] "Please!" [Thug E] "Scythe boss!" [Thug F] "Hahaha, kidding. I will, but make sure you use it for the right purpose." [Ash] "Understood!" [Thugs] "You really have become their boss" [Mira] "That actually impressive..." [Seo Ah] Well, let just hope I can influence them in the correct way ~At orphanage~ After cooking up today lunch, I asked them about the mysterious guy that drove out the ghost monsters. Sadly, they don''t know anything about it. Haliza tries to extract more and more information from them, which only makes them becoming even stiffer. The fact that she''s a princess alone makes it hard for these thugs to look her straight into the eye, and with her acting like this, you could imagine how sweaty they become. It''s no joke when I say that they''re even more scared as compared to me threatening them. "Sigh... If only I can just walk into the church and scan the building" [Ash] "Why can''t you do that?" [Seo Ah] "Well, if the masses do know about me, I should consider that the church also knew about me, and let just said I don''t have a good records with them" [Ash] "Can''t you just infiltrate it?" [Thug D] "I''m sure there are barrier set up here and there. So me doing that will leave a bad impression. Not that I care but these children here will be affected by my actions so I have to act with more care" [Ash] "Then how about you come with us? I''m sure we can blend in perfectly. That way, you can enter the church and boom! Problem solved!" [Thug boss] "..." [Others] "Did I say something wrong" [Thug boss] "Boss, you did have a brain after all!" [Thug A] "What did you think of me!" [Thug boss] "I must say, I''m surprised to hear a decent idea coming from you!" [Ash] "BOSS!" [Thug boss] Chapter 84 - At Estel part 2 [Rean point of view] She just ignored me, and when straight ahead to Sis Rafiah. I try to block her by going in between them but (Those eyes...) [Rean] Its looks like she really is worried about Sis Rafiah, nothing more, nothing less. It''s a conflict feeling I''m having right now, either letting her meet Sis Rafiah or for the sake of Sis Rafiah, chase her out. Still (This is not for me to decide. If her friend do come to harm her, then all of us will chase her out, but here...) [Rean] "Sis Rafiah, what would you do?" [Rean] "..." [Rafiah] "Rafiah..." [Old follower B] "Give me a minute, I''ll talk to her" [Rafiah] "Are you sure?" [Yefefiah] "Yes. We are friend after all" [Rafiah] Sis Rafiah brings her to a corner and there, the two of them talks among themselves. We can''t hear what they''re saying but from the sound of it, her friend looks genuinely worried about Sis Rafiah. "What should we do, Rean?" [Zerolith] "Shouldn''t we stop her?" [Farhah] "I''m, I''m not sure about it..."(Farhah might not able to see it, but I''m sure the reason why other aren''t that reluctant to let them talk are the same as mine) [Rean] "For now, let them talk first. We will see how things go" [Claude] "Right" [Other] All of us here are worried, but let just placed some trust in Sis Rafiah. "This is taking forever" [Mara] "It is..." [Kara] "I wonder what they are talking?" [Karon] "Well, most of the time, they''re just staring at each other and try to come up with words. It must be hard for them as well" [Elise] "Elise is right, let us be patient" [Rean] "Isn''t it bad? Hearing something that other don''t want us to hear?" [Charlotte] "Charlotte''s right" [Savel] "What should we do?" [Singa] "Patient" [Rean] But it''s taking quite some time for them to talk. Like Elise''s mentioned just now, they''re both having difficulty talking to each other, they''re still some intimacy between them, if not, the old follower won''t come here to see Sis Rafiah, but at the same time, that intimacy is being tested When things settle between them, and Sis Rafiah friend decided to leave, all of us rush to her side. They''re all clinging to her, like afraid of her suddenly leaving us all. Even Zerolith himself rush, guess he must be worried. He might not want to admit it, but his actions and words are contradicting when it comes to Sis Rafiah. Guess, as a fellow demon races, he can''t help but to feel worried about her "Is everything alright?" [Claude] "It is, don''t worry" [Rafiah] "I''m sorry to ask, but what taking you so long?" [Gizzere] "Nothing, she just ask me to keep myself safe. She did try and pursuit me to go back to the church but..." [Rafiah] "Just like last time?" [Jacks] "Exactly" [Rafiah] "I see" [Syah] "Like last time?" [Charlotte] "You mean the time when we are using this hall as treatment room?" [Elise] "You guys never tell us what happen actually during that time!" [Mara] "Please tell us!" [Farhah] "Well..." [Rafiah] She looks reluctant to share it with us. Is it something confidential? Is it really alright for other to know about it. It really pique my curiosity but, I myself sure that''s something that she don''t want to tell to them, mostly because she didn''t want to burden any of them "Now, now. Let us give Sis Rafiah some time. I''m sure she''s tired. Let us ask her next time" [Elise] Elise must have felt the same as I am. I sincerely wanted to know about it as well, but that''s not for me to decide. Should Sis Rafiah herself decided to tell us, then I will be more than happy to hear it from her, but otherwise, I won''t. Still, like I mentioned, I can''t stressed out about my curiosity being pique by this event, plus if Brother Ash was here, he would solve this problem in no time. I''m not as strong as he is, in fact, I can''t even imagine myself achieving his feat of strength, but, at a time like this, I''m sure Brother Ash will dismiss us all and help Sis Rafiah afterward. He isn''t around, so I got this feeling that I should do it in his stead, it might a rash move from my part, or I might be feeling little bit cocky after soloing a group of 80 zombies, but nevertheless, this is something that I decided to do, not for my sake, but for Sis Rafiah sake. "Elise''s right. How about we give her some time. We could always ask Sis Rafiah when she herself ready to tell us" [Rean] "But!" [Farhah] "Now now, Like Elise have said, I''m sure she''s tired, how about all of you give her some time for herself" [Claude] "Fine..." [Mara] "Make sure to tell us!" [Farhah] "Promise us!" [Charlotte] They leave, only after Sis Rafiah smile and nodded. I''m sure she won''t tell them yet as to not to worry them, and as for me "You sure you want to know about this, Rean?" [Gizzere] "I feel like I should do just that. If I am to become a saga but I can''t even help someone important and close to me, then there''s no meaning to it" [Rean] "I''m proud of your reasoning. It sure feels like watching my own Grandchild growing" [Claude] "Still, what actually happened? What takes you so long back then?" [Borg] "Just like last time, she actually ask me about how I have been doing lately, and as I mentioned before, she might be telling me to come back to the church, but her eyes were telling a different story" [Rafiah] "Did you ask her more?" [Jacks] "I did, but she''s reluctant to answer. Sorry that I couldn''t be much of a use" [Rafiah] "Well, The Princess did foresaw this to happen. Now, we just have to continue our plan as usual." [Jacks] "What plan? I do know with Brother Ash not being here, they will all start moving, but this is the first I heard of a plan" [Rean] "Rean..." [Syah] "I slipped out those word. How careless of me, do forgive me" [Jacks] "You could at least put up a better act" [Gizzere] "Are you sure you want to know about it?" [Claude] "Please, let me!" [Rean] They''re looking at each other, I wonder what they''re thinking right now Chapter 85 - Scanning the church _________________________________________________ [Saintess Rumia point of view] At the headquarters of the church, a red hair saintess is flipping through bunch of documents. Being the second most important person in this country, it isn''t strange for her to keep working on and on even at the expense of her own free time. It''s tea break time, and she''s now flipping through the letter that she got from Estel Kingdom, from her friend Princess Diana. Eager to read it, she actually torn the letter a bit when she hastily open it up. The letter: Its looks like my suspicion are true. There are prove that the old follower, the R&D of church and the Achalasia Externa are all connected. Right now my official will continue to investigate it further. P/S The Behemoth Slayer might not be working under me, but we can consider him as an ally. He knows what we are doing right now and thus will cooperate on further notice, though he''s a bit reluctant that we had to lured them out by sending him off with Haliza. Double P/S That Haliza sneak out of her castle once again... That girl really don''t think of her position isn''t she Triple P/S Please come to Estel, there''s something that I wanted to show you (Aren''t you the same...) [Saintess Rumia] Still, looks like our suspicion are true. King Druser and her Paladin Aries also gave the same prove the other day, but even they can''t find the exact number of people involved. Furthermore, there might be a connection between the two fallen princes of the Demon Kingdom as well as that group. And then there''s the Saga note. Should I consider... no. Not yet _________________________________________________ I''m sure those bastard back at Estel had made their move. I''m getting this fuzzy feeling inside my stomach, hoping that my little cutie pie will be alright. I''m sure they''re now under the protection of so many people, but Jacks wanting to involve Rean is a bit... Yeah, we have an argument there. I''m sure Rean can handle it, plus, if he can''t handle this kind of thing, then he will have difficulty in the future where his blessings will be awaken. That''s why I reluctantly agreed to it, on a condition that it will not put him on so much danger. Urgh... I so hope everything will be fine... (I can''t treat them like this, but I can''t help but to feel worried all the time. Is this how a parent feels about letting go of their child?) [Ash] "Something wrong?" [Seo Ah] "Oh... nothing" [Ash] "Scythe boss, are you nervous?" [Thug Boss] "No Kanji, I''m not" [Ash] "Aren''t big boss the one nervous... suddenly having to go to the church" [Thug C] "Looks who talking" [Kanji] "We are all nervous aren''t we?" [Thug F] It''s morning after our discussion on how to enter the church yesterday After Haliza and Mira brings out a collection of dresses that they had, we properly dress ourselves and go undercover. There''s no way we could allow these guys here entering the church like "that". Even if it wasn''t for infiltration purpose, you can''t just go to a holy place like that, it just plain rude. That said, Both of them didn''t have the slightest of faith in us, so they send in Seo Ah to tag along with us (Mira is also well known as the Princess close friend, so that''s why we have to exclude her out as well). As the final step, I changed my hair and eyes colour from Blonde to Black, similar to Rean by using my illusion magic. I could just changed my appearance, becoming a girl is possible, but I will scan the building, so maintaining my illusion while scanning effectively might deter either one of them, or maybe both. That''s why, I opt for a simpler illusion. As we see a sea of people heading out to enter the church, we naturally blend in with them. That way, we (or more specifically, me myself) would avoid getting detected. The eight of them surround me naturally, even talking about various topics (while avoiding the topic about orphanage etc since we don''t want people to find out about me), I realized something (Is it to late too realized that I actually don''t have any friends my age?) [Ash] I mean, Diana, Qis, and Alice are around my age, but they''re girls. Jacks, Syah, Borg, Flinar and Erinmorlin, they''re older. Yeah I just realized that. On the other hand, Seo Ah is the youngest among us currently, being 15 years old, and as for others, The Blonde Kanji who is the boss of these thugs are the oldest, being 18 years old. "There''s the church!" [Thug B] "Just act naturally!" [Seo Ah] She said that, but yeah, all of us not convinced. If the eight of them didn''t know about this operation, maybe they will not be these nervous, but that said, it will be more troublesome should they''re left in the dark, so telling them about it will be more beneficial, that way, they can act for the best interest of me scanning the building Once inside, we take our seat at the mid row. I can see a large statue resembling Goddess Achalasia beautifully carved out from diamond. That seems overly excessive, but then again, I do remember about the gift from earth dungeon in this country, so maybe they found a ridiculously large diamond there? Who know, but one thing that pique my interest is (Did the carver ever met Goddess Achalasia? Or is there a portrait of her somewhere?) [Ash] Well, I mean I myself have met her, so it isn''t strange for other to met her as well. Still, it''s beautifully designed that I admire it for a full minutes (You better start your Job Ash) [Goddess Achalasia] (Right!) [Ash] (Still, I''m upset you know, this is the first time you visit the church and offering your prayer) [Goddess Achalasia] (I, I have no excuse... Sorry) [Ash] (It''s fine. Good luck investigate about this issue) [Goddess Achalasia] (Sure...?) [Ash] Is there a meaning behind her cheering? Could this be an important lead for me to know more about this world? Well, I should just start scanning this building. I give a light tap to Seo Ah and Kanji, both just beside me, signaling that I will start scanning the building. They both nodded, so does the other. Please don''t make those nervous look... Well, Seo Ah is smart, she closes her eyes and start offering prayer, so others (including me) start imitating her When I start sipping out my mana into the surrounding, I did it ever slowly and blend it naturally with the surrounding mana as to avoid being detected. I can''t afford to fail. Haliza did mention that there is number of people within the church rank who received their training on magic, so they will be able to detect my mana outflow should I become careless, that''s why, I will treat this as one last chance for me. (Good, look like everything went fine) [Ash] That said, it wouldn''t be possible if there aren''t any underground pathway being built and yup, jackpot! Now I feel like a spy in those old movies. There aren''t anything worth mentioning inside (or should I say in the surface), but I still record my finding. Remembering it and sketching it will be a pain, instead, just like how sonar on a ship works, the mana of mine will keep on updating what it finds in sheet of papers that I meticulously crafted yesterday. That way, my hand will be free and it will make me look less suspicious. Still, the looks on their face when I demonstrated this latest (and spontaneous) creation of mine will never get old. At first, I was bewildered by their reaction, then become annoyed, but now, I started to enjoy it. As my mana started to dive even deeper underground. "Hm!" [Ash] ((Something wrong?)) [Seo Ah, Kanji] (I''ll tell you later) [Ash] ((Got it)) [Seo Ah, Kanji] I don''t know whether it is coincidence or not, but they''re number of different findings that got me curious. Plus... (I think I found our man of interest) [Ash] Or so I thought, but there are number of wave corresponds to human, so that mean that... "Thank you all for coming today, may the Goddess blessed us all" [Priest] We quickly went out, and "That''s nerve wrecking" [Thug A] "You could say that again" [Thug D] "That''s nerve wrecking" [Thug E] "To think that someone actually repeat that again..." [Ash] "Hey, the boss doesn''t found it amusing, say your sorry!" [Kanji] "Kanji, that isn''t what I mean..." [Ash] "Sigh... no wonder Princess Nurhaliza and Sis Mira ask me to follow all of you. More importantly..." [Seo Ah] "Yes, but let us buy some sweet crepes first and discuss it later at the orphanage" [Ash] The other nodded. Chapter 86 - The Traveler King "Delicious!" [Cat boy] "It really is" [Little girl] "Thank you for treating us!" [Big boy] "Thanks Kanji and his friends here, they brought us all to a nice crepes shop" [Ash] "That''s unexpected" [Haliza] "It really is" [Mira] "Wha... what do you mean!" [Kanji] "Kids, you forgot to thank them" [Ash] "Thank you Big Bro!" [Orphans] "Knock... knock it off!" [Kanji] "Its embarrassing" [Thug A] "It is" [Thug B] "Something wrong?" [Thug C] "My will to live, got replenished by that thank you. It''s a nice feeling" [Thug D] "Seriously!?" [Thug E] "I, I actually understand those feeling" [Thug F] "Haha" [Seo Ah] "Well, five of them being a tsundere, at least there are two honest ones with us" [Mira] "Now that you get ahold of this feeling, don''t you think it''s better for you to act more mature? For starter, you can help around in orphanage" [Haliza] "Of course, we can help you guys to further, but that is a good starting point" [Mira] ""Well..."" [Thug D, F] "Haha, it''s up to you. Just know that this opportunity doesn''t come knocking your life door often, what''s more, it''s your princess and her best friend offering it" [Ash] "We, we will think about it" [Thug A] "Can you give us some time?" [Kanji] "Sure! But just so you know, I will polish you guys to absolute max, that way you can become useful!" [Haliza] "Well good luck..." [Mira] ~Gulp~ [Thugs] "Why do I have this feeling it have the opposite effect" [Ash] "They become demotivated" [Seo Ah] "Just leave it to her, she will turn that demotivation into motivation, trust me" [Mira] "If you say so" [Ash] It''s noon, and as usual, Haliza comes and greet us. She also brings some dishes from the castle, and it goes well with the crepes that we buy along the way. We make sure to have our lunch first before diving in to the topics in hand. That said, I don''t want those guy to know about it, but "We insist!" [Kanji] "This is a national, no maybe international matter you know..." [Ash] "Still, living in the dark while knowing such a threat exist, it isn''t manly for us to do so!" [Kanji] "Same here!" [Thugs] "I, I agree!" [Seo Ah] "I thought you''re a girl?" [Ash] "That''s not the point and you know it!" [Seo Ah] "Joking Joking, but the decision will be left to your princess here" [Ash] "Princess Nurhaliza!" [Seo Ah, Thugs] "Are you sure you want to get involved in this?" [Haliza] "Once you enter, we won''t accept you to drop out of it halfway. Plus, this is a matter of national secret, there''s more thing involved here than what you can imagine now" [Mira] ~Gulp~ [Seo Ah, Thugs] "I guess this must be how Rean is feeling now" [Ash] "Rean?" [Kanji] "My little brother back at Estel. I''m sure by now they started moving, and Rean must be curious about it as well, knowing him, he will involve himself in order to protect those around him. He might be weak right now, no, I guess I am the one that look at him wrongly. He is strong, protecting other siblings of mine before I came, so when I''m away now, those feeling must have resurfaced once more." [Ash] "Why are you telling us this?" [Seo Ah] "Looking at you guys just kinda reminds me of them. I do understand your feelings, wanting to protect something precious, but we are the same here, wanting to protect you as well. That said, you guys should really think about it. Just like how I leave them to decide whether Rean can help or not, I''ll leave the decision to Princess Nurhaliza and her friend Mira here to decide" [Ash] "That actually motivational" [Haliza] "Yeah, and just by looking at their eyes now, we can guess the answer" [Mira] "Please, let us help!" [Seo Ah, Thugs] "Understood" [Haliza] Well, they''re accepted. But more surprisingly, that''s how I actually feel about Rean right now. I guess I really did becoming overprotective to him. No wonder Jacks kinda push me to involve him, to let him grow more. Guess that bickering with him end up with him being the final winner. (I have a long way to go from becoming an ideal big brother for them) [Ash] "How about we actually start discussing your finding right now?" [Haliza] "Let us do just that" [Ash] In one of the room, we started sitting around the table. The kids can be heard playing tags, so in response, I cast a bird wind golem to monitor them. Don''t want them to accidentally break some vase or injured themselves when they''re playing around Since they''re still unaware of most of the things that''s happening around them, Mira quickly recap all the event that''s happening right now. Starting from the first ghost monsters attack in Malsia, to her finding, to how the two of them went to Estel, the attack happening at Estel which coincides with the mysterious person driving them out, how I found the portal stone, the group called Achalasia Externa, how the king of Estel ask me to come here to investigate, and about Diana''s plan to lure them off in my absence and finally "So there really are underground pathways exist beneath the building" [Haliza] "That''s to be expected, but looking at it now" [Mira] "It''s huge" [Kanji] "And that''s not all of it?" [Seo Ah] "No, it isn''t." [Ash] "Why do you said that?" [Thug C] "My mana can''t reach all of the nook and cranny, so I believe it''s way larger than any of us thought" [Ash] "Just how could they build such a large passage?" [Kanji] "Could it be... the first traveler king?" [Mira] "Possible" [Haliza] "The what?" [Thug E] (Thank you for asking it in my stead) [Ash] "Well, he is one of the people fighting alongside the ten heroes that manage to defeat the fallen god, and it''s say that his earth magic is so strong that an earthquake or two is a norma when fighting him" [Haliza] "Such power" [Thug F] "Them what makes you say he is the one responsible for it?" [Seo Ah] (Once again, thank you for asking it) [Ash] "It is say that he actually managed to make various underground pathways during that time. Some say that it''s even connected to a dungeon. That''s why there is a theory that a monster can spontaneously spawn inside a country eventhough there''s the goddess barrier that protect us from random malignant wormhole" [Mira] "It''s still a theory though, strangely enough, there''s no evidence that can be found" [Haliza] "Meaning that there''s not a single passage dating back to that time were found?" [Kanji] "That''s educational" [Thug A] "The more you know" [Ash] "I have this feeling that he himself just knows about it" [Haliza] "Well, he is exceptionally quite just now" [Mira] "Well, moving on..." [Ash] (He changed the subject forcefully!) [Seo Ah] As we discuss the infiltration route to be used, I suggest that we divided ourselves into a smaller group. Kanji and I will infiltrate the pathway, as for Seo Ah and the other, I ask them to search for the portal stone that might be left out. That way, we can work more efficiently. This is still being done in a secret as we don''t want anyone, not even from the castle side to know about it as there might be a rat hiding among them, that''s their help are really appreciated. "So we will start here" [Ash] "I think that''s the best" [Kanji] "I agree" [Mira] "Still, just the two of them searching for the stones? isn''t it dangerous?" [Thug C] "I will put up a direct request to an adventure that I know. That way, we can ensure our safety" [Mira] "Ohh, could it be his sister?" [Thug A] "Your sister is an upstanding adventure" [Thug F] "Why do you look at me like that!" [Kanji] "Ohh, it never click to me that you''re his little brother! She did say that she have a problematic little brother!" [Mira] "It sure is a small world" [Haliza] "Unbelievable..." [Kanji] "Well, that take care of that. Next, how about I teach you about scanning magic, and the portal stone wave property" [Ash] With that, I started to train them Chapter 87 - At Estel part 3 [Rean point of view] It hurts. My siblings, all of them keep on giving me a sharp stabbing stare, from Elise to Charlotte. They have keep it going from lunch to dinner, and they''re surprisingly tenacious about it. They didn''t even utter a single word, but I do know why they keep on giving that stare, but forgive me all of you. To tell you all of this will break my promise of keeping this matter a secret as it can be considered as national secret operation, so involving them wouldn''t be a smart choice. Now I know how Brother Ash usually felt. Still, is it alright to entrust such secret to me? I can understand telling Grandpa Claude about it as he is a wise man, strong to that. But me, a fledgling? I am grateful that they''re trusting me with that, but I have a doubt about myself, whether I''m truly worthy of knowing about it. That said, I have to give my best as to not betray their expectations to me. (Plus, one way or another, we are all involved with this matter. So at least by telling me, I can get myself prepare and act immediately. More importantly, this will ensure that I am able to properly protect all of you!) [Rean] Still... ~Deadly stare~ (They sure don''t know when to give up...) [Rean] With dinner ready, all of us ate quietly, but unable to tolerate the silent, Mara without any warning "Sis Rafiah! Tell us what happen!" [Mara] "It''s not fair only Rean get a chance to know what happen!" [Kara] "True" [Karon] There they go, started to protest against this injustice. I can understand that, if I am on their side, I will react the same way. "Maybe next time..." [Rafiah] "Promise?" [Charlotte] ~Smile and nod~ She did it again, only smiling and nodding. Charlotte clearly looks disappointed as she gets7 this feeling that she wouldn''t get any answer from her, and thus ~Deadly stare~ (Oh god...) [Rean] "... - .- .-. ." [Housey] (Not you too, Housey) [Rean] "Meoooowwwwww" [Behe] (Even Behe have started copying all of them...) [Rean] "Sigh... if I told you that this matter is to be kept secret by the order of King Estel and Princess Diana herself, would you believe?" [Claude] "Ehh!" [Others] "But it is" [Rean] I don''t know why Grandpa Claude started to talk about it, but I guess it must be because he can sense my discomfort, or maybe more importantly, he doesn''t want any of them to keep on pressuring me to give the answer, scared that I will lose to their younger siblings power and thus telling them the unnecessary thing "But why does Rean get to know about it?" [Elise] "What makes Rean so different from us then!" [Zerolith] "How about you ask Ash himself then" [Claude] "That''s..." [Farhah] "Does that mean brother Ash give Rean the permission to get involved?" [Singa] "Then why aren''t we getting one then?" [Savel] "It''s complicated, but let me tell you one thing. For all we did, we did it while keeping each one of you in our mind, so that''s why the most important thing that you guys should do is trusting Rean. If you keep on behaving like this, Rean will be upset and who knows what will happen to him shall he go knowing that you guys aren''t happy about him" [Claude] "That''s, we aren''t mad!" [Farhah] Grandpa Claude really do know how to sway their heart. I guess he knows about each of us the best among all the people. After dinner, I make sure that the boys group are fast asleep. Well, before I move out "Be careful" [Zerolith] "Be safe" [Karon] "You''re our big brother" [Singa] "Get the bad guy that keep on doing bad thing to Sis Rafiah for us" [Savel] "I will" [Rean] I''m glad, there are sound of frustration coming from it, but I guess they kinda accept it. I''m glad they didn''t make any ruckus about it, they''re all mature enough even when they''re still young. Well, I am 13, no, nearing 14. So I don''t have the right to say that to them And when I walk In front of the girls room, Elise come out and "Be careful, Kara, Mara, Farhah, Charlotte and I wish you luck" [Elise] "Thanks you, and don''t worry. It''s not something major" [Rean] "Still, be careful. All that we left after the war, and before Brother Ash came is each other. So, we don''t want to experience it again..." [Elise] "Same here..." [Rean] After telling that, I excuse myself and went outside. There, I can see Grandpa Claude with Mr Jacks discussing something, and from the sound of it "We still haven''t found it" [Jacks] "I see. Well, they''re crafty. I still remember my master didn''t even know about their master mind until it''s too late" [Claude] "That sound omnious" [Jacks] "It is, so Rean, do be careful. Don''t do anything reckless and always follow Jacks instructions!" [Claude] "I will!" [Rean] The master mind aren''t known yet. They did tell me about it, but it still didn''t get digested properly inside my mind. I do know the church have multiple people inside of it, and they''re multiple section of church, from the usual priest to the Achalasia Externa group. So, finding a single master mind will prove nothing but difficult. With that, Mr Jacks and I start moving and sneaking around. He told me that we will meet with the trio first, especially Mr Erinmorlin as he does have some valuable information that he just found out about it this evening. I wonder what will he tell us about As we keep on walking, the two of us stumble upon Sis Qis, and she later join us to met Mr Erinmorlin. Apparently, she just finished her side of job, investigating a merchant connection with the church. She alongside Sis Alice just came back from reporting it to Guild Master Gizzere, and Sis Alice were ask to relay the same to Guild Master Ram. As for Sis Qis, she was told to met Mr Erinmorlin just like us "There he is" [Qis] "Let us meet him" [Jacks] "Right!" [Rean] Chapter 88 - Another one join us It''s night at Malsia, after training them to use scan magic as to search for any remaining portal stones (with Kanji''s older sister, Naoto coming halfway through after being called out by her friend Mira), Kanji and I make our way to one of the doors leading to the city underground drainage. Again, I have to enter a place like this, not that can complaint much about it as it comes with the job. Last time in Estel, it''s brimmed with monsters especially large rodents, giant Flies and Lou Carcolh. Well, I can rule out Lou Carcolh exist for a bit since there isn''t a case of endemic disease that strike Estel, but there''s still a possibility of it lurking around. "Urghh..." [Kanji] "Still annoyed by your sister nagging?" [Ash] "At least she tone down a bit just now" [Kanji] "Well, his little brother have finally grown up and do something serious for once, so she must be proud" [Ash] "But is that nagging really necessary" [Kanji] "If you ask me, that''s how she show her love to you" [Ash] "I know, I know, it just that I''m a grown man already" [Kanji] "Not in her eyes apparently" [Ash] Her older sister at first didn''t believe what just happened, I mean who would? A troublemaker that you know suddenly say that he will be helping the princess on her secret mission that is so important that the operation is kept confidential, even among the castle worker. Yeah, even I would have a hard time believing it. Still, she quickly believes in Kanji when Haliza, Mira and I (after I introduce myself) tell her. She was then asked to join in as well, for which she agreed. Well, having an A rank adventure like her in our side is great. She''s called as elemental archer as she will usually imbued a small magic stone into her arrow to be fired. Interesting, I wonder what would happen if she were to use a pistol (and for that, I should create it first and prioritize giving it to mage and archer siblings of mine) "Here is the door that Mira told us" [Kanji] "I see. One last time, are you prepared?" [Ash] "Absolutely!" [Kanji] "Good" [Ash] I don''t know how strong Kanji is, so I should take it slowly at first and see for myself. But, before that, "What is this?" [Kanji] "Cure magic. It''s for our protection against disease" [Ash] "So it''s true that you can also use cure magic, and that you''re one of the people that help prevent the endemic disease in Estel this year" [Kanji] "Partly, I couldn''t done it all by myself" [Ash] And once we about to enter, Kanji take three steps back, and as for me, yup. Why do I feel nostalgia, I mean, this horrible stench should imbued fear or nauseated feeling in my mind, but no, my smart ass brain here say, hey, don''t you remember this moment, when Alice and the trio followed you to help identify the source of endemic disease? If not, here are the smell that can invoke back those memories. "Kanji, let just go. Here, I''ll use another magic" [Ash] "Thanks" [Kanji] I actually forgot to use the scent magic, a branch of wood magic. Flinar is the one that uses it at that time, so it didn''t really click to me to use it alongside cure magic. Guess that nostalgic feeling at least serve it purposes. Ohh, better use the light ball magic as well, and there, all right and clear As we enter the underground drainage, I started to use my scan magic to search for the lingering of my mana that I used at the church. We also will try our best to head towards the church building direction, but I don''t think we could rely on our sense of direction that much. Drainage like this will usually be a maze, plus, we don''t have any marker or point to guide us, so our best bet is to just scan for my mana (or the mana of that mysterious person, alongside other) "Haah!" [Kanji] "Nice one" [Ash] "I can still keep ongoing!" [Kanji] "Easy there, we have a long day ahead of us, and who knew what is store for us, conserve your energy and avoid unnecessary fight, got it!" [Ash] "Yes Boss!" [Kanji] There''s less number of large rodents as compared to sewer back in Estel, guess that mean that the country take good care of it. But, if they do maintain it, then, why can''t they find the tunnel that the traveler king created long back? Well, if you think about it, there are stories back on earth about how the under tunnel construction worker who found an ancient pathway when they started to do their works, so I guess the same thing applied here as well. As we keep on going around, wandering almost aimlessly (as Kanji convinced me that we are heading towards the church direction), "!" [Ash] "Something wrong?" [Kanji] "I get a reading from my scan magi, someone is coming!" [Ash] "What should we do?" [Kanji] "I can''t sense other beside that single person, so we can just ambush and capture him" [Ash] "Leave it to me!" [Kanji] "We will strike together" [Ash] "Got it!" [Kanji] The mana signature isn''t that strong, so there should be no problems to just capture him. As we are getting closer "Who''s there!?" [?] "Haah!" [Kanji] "Heek!" [?] ~Metal clash~ The sound of Kanji sword and another weapon (a broad knife) clashes can be heard, not bad. Even after I concealed our presence and turn off the light ball magic, he can still detect Kanji''s attack, and that should mean that (The stinging sensation, it''s strong! That means...) [?] "Gotcha!" [Ash] "Heek!" [?] "Don''t move, or this scythe here will slice your neck in an instant" [Ash] "I won''t! I won''t! Please spare me!" [?] "Way to go!" [Kanji] "Haha, thanks" [Ash] As I create another light ball magic, the guy react strangely "You! You are during that time!" [?] "What time?" [Ash] "I mean..." [?] He''s trying to dodge my question here, but Kanji don''t like this kind of thing, so... "Ouch!" [?] "What time. If not, say goodbye to your fingers!" [Kanji] "No, please don''t!" [?] "Then talk!" [Kanji] "Yes, yes I will! You see, I happen to see this man here riding a strange box, defeating a group of bandit travelers at the rock and sea dungeon!" [?] "I sea" [Ash] "Is this really the time..." [Kanji] "Yeah, sorry..." [Ash] So, Kanji didn''t appreciate my sense of humour huh... such a let down. Still, "If you know me from back then, tell me what you''re doing here right now!" [Ash] "Well..." [?] "Talk!" [Kanji] "Yes I will!" [?] Chapter 89 - Contradiction "Qudus, my name is Qudus. I''m a traveler" [Qudus] "Just like Boss here" [Kanji] "Yup" [Ash] I didn''t expect to meet a traveler here out of all the places. Then again, this must be how all of them feel like when I say that I''m a traveler. Still, that didn''t explain in the slightest what he is currently doing down here, and with the current situation, I should be more doubtful "Answer us, what are you doing down here" [Ash] "I''m trying to get to Malsia through the ancient tunnel" [Qudus] "Ancient tunnel. Boss, could it be?" [Kanji] "The tunnel made by the traveler king? Is that what you mean?" [Ash] "Maybe, I''m not sure myself" [Qudus] "How did you manage to find it?" [Ash] "You won''t believe me when I say it..." [Qudus] "Just spit it out!" [Kanji] ~Clang~ "Alright alright!" [Qudus] Apparently, Qudus here was born with a special and peculiar ability. He can detect any sort of impending bad luck to himself, albeit not knowing what is it through the tingling sensation that he felt in his hand. Apparently, with this ability of him, he managed to escape from my rampage back at the Rock and Sea dungeon. After he left that group, he wander around looking for infiltration route to Malsia, and that is by the tunnel created by The Traveler King. Here lies his proficiency in this peculiar ability of him. As he has quite a good control over this ability of him, he can activate this skill at wills to look for the route. As he explained, I understand that this ability of him is a passive skill when it first started, but not knowing where to go, he started to experiment. What if, by using the more dangerous route, I can find a way to enter a country, not by the normal mean, but by sneaking around. That question and the subsequent experimentation of him led him to found a route by utilising the tingling sensation on his hand. He directed all of his intention on finding the route to be taken, and the tingling sensation will react to it in a peculiar manner, that is, it will spread to his fingers and as the intensity increases, it''s a sign of an impending doom for him, and he will purposely take those route, a contradiction that Kanji and I didn''t quite understand at first, but as it turns out, it''s the correct one. Sure, the it is the most dangerous route but at the same time, it is also the route that he intended to take, so that''s why it react in such contradicting manner. "I just don''t get it..." [Kanji] "In short, when not activated, it will tell him any bad luck that will approach him. When he take control of it, he can use it sort of like a compass. Sure that compass of him will take him to the most dangerous route, but it''s also the best route to be taken as the chances of success is highest" [Ash] "That''s right!" [Qudus] "What a strange ability" [Kanji] "Hmm..." [Ash] "Something wrong?" [Kanji] "What with that smile!?" [Qudus] I just thought of a good idea. "Will you cooperate with us?" [Ash] "What!?" [Qudus] "Well, here''s the deal. I can request Princess Diana of Estel or Princess Nurhaliza of Malsia to grant you a citizenship at either country of your choice. In return, you will have to use that ability of yours to help us, starting with finding a man of interest" [Ash] Well, rather than using my mana as guidance to the underground passage build below the church building, I think we stand a better chance if we utilize his ability, and he will also get some benefits from it, that is getting a citizenship status. In my opinion, it is a good deal "What if I don''t want it?" [Qudus] I don''t know why, but I get this feeling that he is trying to strike a better deal. Well, Kanji here is about to snap (Geez, kinda reminds me of Qis). But, before he snap, let me the one that do the job ""!!"" [Kanji, Qudus] Just like back then, when I threaten the duke and implant a terror seed to his subconscious mind, I release similar aura to threaten him. Well, if he is still trying hard on his bargaining side, I''ll just force him to do the job (by implanting the terror seed in his mind). If not, I will still honour my side of deal. This might seem cruel but the weight of this operation couldn''t be much more important than the life of a single traveler... (Oh Goddess, I sound just like a villain, like a cold blooded prince) "Right, right. I will cooperate with you so please..." [Qudus] "Boss..." [Kanji] "That''s better. Still, that deal that I mentioned earlier, It still stand, so let just forgive the killing aura part, agree?" [Ash] "Yes, yes. I agree" [Qudus] (Mental note reminder, don''t piss him off) [Kanji] With that, Qudus started to use his ability. He focus on the word that I gave him, man connected to Thanatos incident, and slowly, Kanji and I can appreciate the fine tremors in his fingers, with the middle finger shaking the most "Follow me" [Qudus] ""Understood"" [Ash, Kanji] As we walked to a certain direction, I can actually feel my mana from this morning, but (I should keep quiet for now. Let see if he is trying to bluff us or really helping us) [Ash] I started to use my scan magic silently. Reason, to confirm the location of our man of interest, and also to detect any sort of traps or ambushes. So far, there is none, and Qudus here seems to do his job well. That''s good, I can''t just recommend someone dangerous to a princess, it will be bad for them, and for my head... yeah, couldn''t be more careful here. As we are closing in (Stop, there are people in front of us) [Qudus] He tells the truth. Good, and as a response, I tell them that I will activate my scan magic and scan ahead (eventhough I already done that) and (Yeah, three people. Leave it to me) [Ash] ((Yes)) [Kanji, Qudus] Chapter 90 - At Estel part 4 [Rean point of view] As the three of us approaches Mr Erinmorlin, we can see that he is holding some sort of map. I wonder what kind of map will he show us "There you are" [Erinmorlin] He said that with a cautious voice. His voice makes my heart race even faster, after all, Mr Erinmorlin here is accustomed to traveling, and thus have a few shares of stories that involves him getting in a tight situation, so when I heard such cautious voice coming from him, it really does make one anxious, but not the other two. They''re both calm, this just show how much stronger and experienced they''re compared to little hatchling like me. "We are told to meet you here. I suppose you have some good information?" [Jacks] "I did. Well, I don''t know what you will find but here, take a look" [Erinmorlin] "This is..." [Qis] "A map of dungeon? No. Just what is this?" [Rean] "This is the map of the underground drainage system in Estel. That''s too say, it''s incomplete since us fellow engineer found something interesting" [Erinmorlin] "And that is?" [Jacks] "An underground pathway. One of us actually confirm an interesting finding, the noble, merchant and church people sneak in and out some nasty stuff there" [Erinmorlin] "What stuff?" [Rean] "Well..." [Erinmorlin] He looks uncomfortable, why is that so? Could it be monster, or some drugs? I should just take a guess "Could it be monsters and drugs?" [Rean] "That, and also children slave?" [Jacks] "!" [Rean] "I take it this is related to the slaves that were transported at the Rock and Sea dungeon back then? I do heard some of it escapes, with a little girl being almost..." [Qis] "Such a thing..." [Rean] I''m sure everyone will have their blood boiled up. I myself feel the same, with my grip automatically tighten and make a hard clenched fist. "Still, I thought Estel is abolishing slave system?" [Rean] "On paper, yes. But..." [Qis] "You will find a case or two here and there about a slave inside this country. So this could mean that we are actually having a vital information here" [Jacks] "But how did they manage to snuck in the slaves?" [Rean] "And that''s why I''m here as well. That''s not the only thing that''s shown in this map. Take a look here" [Erinmorlin] "It says, to the Rock and Sea..."! [Qis] "Seriously!?" [Jacks] "I thought it was a myth..." [Rean] "Well, not anymore. This ancient tunnel here was also discovered by us, but that say, if they are cases of slaves being brought to Estel in illegal way, then that mean this is one of the pathways that are use by them" [Erinmorlin] "And I suppose our job is to scout the area?" [Jacks] "That seems to be the case. Also, I guess we should gather information of those using it, by catching them in action" [Qis] "That''s true. Well, Princess Diana did ask me to emphasize the scouting part to all of you as they''re only three of you, but with Jacks and Qis here, I don''t think that should be a problem" [Erinmorlin] "Alright, shall we get started?" [Jacks] "I''m ready!" [Rean] "Same here" [Qis] "Best of luck to the three of you. Rean, don''t push yourself too hard, got it?" [Erinmorlin] "Right!" [Rean] As we went to the nearest door that lead to the underground drainage, Mr Jacks remind me not to waste so much of stamina and mana as we couldn''t expect what we will find there. Sis Qis agree to his statement as well There''s the door, as we descend downward with some small light stone with us, we navigate the drainage to the marked spot (the ancient tunnel as well as the secret pathway). ~Growl~ ~Slash~ ~Stab~ There''s a mutant dogs that see us as a source of entertainment, trying to hunt us down, only to be swiftly deal by the two of them. I don''t even have enough time to react but these two already slash the neck and stab the skull of those mutant dogs. They''re strong. "Just why are they mutant dogs here?" [Rean] "Guarding?" [Jacks] "Maybe, or they snuck monster here, got careless and escape" [Qis] "I see" [Rean] We should expect more of them then, and they''re. Their number doesn''t seems to be withered down, even as the three of us keep on defeating them. They must have reproduce and thrive in this kind of environment, as we also encounter large rodents as well. I guess the dogs must be at a higher place in the food chain down here. "I do know you''re pretty good. Guess that brother of your really are just over protective" [Jacks] "Well, Princess Diana also seems to be backing Ash up the other day, I guess they can''t help but to feel likes that" [Qis] "?" [Rean] "Hahahaha, why don''t you ask your brother yourself what happen" [Jacks] Did something happen? From the sound of it, it looks as though Brother Ash have anticipated me doing all this, and he rejected such idea. "It should be arou...!" [Jacks] (I can sense someone) [Rean] (Guess your training does paid off) [Qis] There seems to be ten people, and behind them is a cage with something large... a behemoth? No, it''s sphinx monster, and it''s only in it teenage age from the looks of it. There are people whom I assume to be merchants, but there are also a person in priest uniform. Just what is his role here. There are also some which looks like a mercenary group (Should we follow them around?) [Rean] (We can actually caught them in the act now itself) [Qis] (Good idea, and make sure to prioritize getting the priest. He seems to hold a valuable information) [Jacks] (Right) [Rean] The three of us started to imbued our magic once again into our weapon. One of the mage manage to detect our mana but "Too late!" [Jacks] With a wind sickle magic slashing from his katana, both the mage arms being slice into multiple pieces. As for Sis Qis, she''s using fast water cannon magic to damage and at the same time stab the swordsman used. The priest try to run away but "On no you don''t!" [Rean] With the back of my katana, I try to hit his neck, trying to spare him but, my actions was blocked by a mace user, but that shouldn''t be a problem. I simply use my darkness magic, cover his eyes with it, and in panic, he swing his mace around. Predictable, so I targeted his legs, slice it and as he stumbled upon the ground, I dash toward the priest. The priest uses his light magic to attack me but "Take this" [Rean] I fire off my fire arrow, before he can finish his chant. The fire arrow hit right at his abdomen, and as he is trying to set the fire off, I send an uppercut right at his jaw, knocking him off in an instant. The merchant try to run away, but... "Don''t" [Jacks] Instead of running away, he releases the sphinx. "Haha, try and fight thi..." [Merchant] """!!!""" [Rean, Jacks, Qis] His head, in one gulp, his head is swallowed by the starving sphinx. It''s a gruesome scene, and now "Get ready! Rean, be careful!" [Qis] "Try to stay behind us, got it!" [Jacks] "Yes!" [Rean] Chapter 91 - At Estel part 5 [Rean point of view] After gulping the merchant head in a single bite, the diamond shape like structure in the sphinx head begin to glow brightly. The dark red colour like that of an old blood is nothing short but terrifying. It is on it teenage age, and as such still haven''t reached it full potential yet, but with how starving and aggressive it is now, not to mention our unfavorable location to fight, the threat level shoot up With a single sweep of it tail, the mercenaries behind get tossed around, like a tantrum child throwing it toys. As for us, we dodge the incoming slash from its sharp claws. It lack power as compared to that of a behemoth, but it compensates it by the speed and the frequency of the attack Mr Jacks and Sis Qis keep on blocking and counteract it one by one, and as for me, with the window of opportunity created by the two of them I fire off a magic fire arrow right to the diamond like structure on its head, but (my fire power, it is still lacking) [Rean] I''m sure that thing is the sphinx magic core, so that''s why I targeted that area. If only I can get a window of opportunity, I can slash that magic core with my fire imbued katana, but alas, the three of us are busy dodging and defending from the sphinx attack, not to mention "Duck!" [Qis] ""Yes"" [Rean, Jacks] The sphinx throw off a large fire ball magic toward us, and through that opening, I fire off a neutral magic arrow of mine right to its mouth, managing to cause profuse bleeding on its tongue. I''m sure I get hit the blood vessels directly "Nice one Rean" [Jacks] "Keep it going, we will try to create some opening, and you should slash that magic core with everything you got!" [Qis] "Right!" [Rean] The eye of the sphinx are now red, whether it''s transforming into something terrifying or just plain angry towards me, I''m not sure, but that doesn''t change the fact that it looks at me not as a prey, but as an enemy that he needed to dispose of quickly While the sphinx let out a roar, the two of them uses a combination magic, causing a small and yet powerful typhoon directed right at the limb of the sphinx. This causes the sphinx to lose it balances as well as injuring it in the process. The three of us try to strike but "Wind shield" [Jacks] "Water shield" [Qis] "Fire shield" [Rean] The three of us reflexively shout out the spell name in order to increase it power. The magic core tries to defend itself by shooting out a laser with fire mana properties, but ""Tchh!!"" [Qis, Jacks] It uses that very chance to unleash a set of barrage to us once more. Truly, a high ranking monster, managing to recover so quickly. At this rate, the sphinx will heal itself back into its former glory. We could not let it do just that, I do hope the bleeding will causes it to be weaken, maybe let the beast die from loosing too much of blood, but sadly, the tongue regenerated back, and the bleeding is sealed off completely, albeit it leaves a scar right at the place where I shoot Still, we have to turn the tide off the match around. Right now, they''re defending me, and asking me to finish the sphinx off when opportunity is created, to do that, I have to make sure they can do just that, and thus, my main role for now (before giving the finishing blow) is to support them, and if I can''t injure the sphinx, then I will buff us up With my darkness magic, I uses a buff magic on the three of us, call acceleration magic. It''s a branch of darkness magic associated strongly with time magic. This magic can also be accessed by those with wind magic albeit differently. As the three of us enjoy the speed buff, I cast a debuff magic, a deceleration magic towards the sphinx to slow it movement down (Should have done that from the very beginning itself) [Rean] Still, the amount of mana needed to debuff the sphinx is high, as the magic core try it best to resist it. With this, the onslaught of slash from the sphinx becomes more manageable, and as to further increase our speed, "Tailwind" [Jacks] This magic causes the wind to envelope us, increasing our mobility and speed, and as such we started to attack the sphinx "Roar!" [Sphinx] "Oh no you don''t!" [Qis] The sphinx try to stomp Sis Qis, but she quickly counteract by stabbing her Rapier into one of the blood vessel and "Acid!" [Qis] A burst of blood with some volatile acid spurt out, severely injuring the sphinx. The sphinx try to use it tail which is there no more as it get quickly cut by Mr Jacks As for me. (Focus, increase the temperature of my fire, imbued it with darkness magic as well) [Ash] (Having difficulty my dear child? Don''t worry, you can do it. This is only the beginning of your journey) [?] ""!!"" [Jacks, Qis] That voice, can they hear it as well. No, from the looks of it, they don''t, but they''re focusing on something else, they''re focusing on my katana... "Huh?" [Rean] Since when? I don''t understand this... but "Haaa!" [Rean] Dashing and leaping forward, I use each and every muscle in my body to slash my weapon, right into the magic core. It strong, but (This mysterious power, it helps) [Rean] I don''t know how, and why, but there''s something strange happening to my mana outflow, almost as if, it''s getting a buff from someone else, but if it helps to defeat this sphinx, then be it! "ROARRR!" [Sphinx] ~Crack~ ""Haaa!!!"" [Qis, Jacks] The two of them come to help, and with the three of us combining our power ~Shatter~ The magic core shattered into thousands of pieces, and the sphinx move no more "Pheww..." [Rean] ""..."" [Qis, Jacks] "Why are you..." [Rean] "Forget it, we have more important things to do now" [Qis] "Yeah, don''t you think you can run away" [Jacks] "I guess I don''t knock him hard enough" [Rean] The three of us knock the priest back into unconsciousness Chapter 92 - The fallen god blessing There''s three people currently talking about their plan on taking down the saint and saintess of the church, I couldn''t really grasp what they''re talking but one of them, a woman that looks like in her early 30 pique my interest, in a rather uncomfortable way. Just what is this feeling, it''s familiar but at the same time it felt distant. Plus, just why did I feel like she actually notices me "That because I did" [?] "!" [Ash] "What are you talking about Mrs Agnes?" [Old follower A] "Yeah, what are you...!" [Old follower B] "What the..!" [Old follower A] Since my cover already blown up, I decided to throw my scythe imbued with my thunder magic towards the three of them, and as expected, the two men couldn''t even react fast enough to detect it, let alone dodging it. As for the woman that they called Agnes, she takes out her staff and dash not towards me, but toward Kanji and Qudus ~Stone wall cracked~ She simply swings her staff and the thick earth wall that I used to shield Kanji and Qudus was cracked in an instant before finally destroy by her. Well, did she really think I can only make one earth wall at a time "Sigh... as expected from someone with the Goddess Achalasia blessings" [Agnes] "And I suppose that makes you having the fallen god blessing?" [Ash] "Sharp, aren''t you" [Agnes] So the uncomfortable feeling that I felt really is the blessings from the fallen god, but somehow, somehow, all my intuition is telling me there''s more to this than what is actually presented. "Well, I suppose I should take my leave" [Agnes] "Oh no you don''t!" [Ash] I don''t know why, she''s strong and would give me a hard time should she fight with me, but she chose to run away. Is this a trap? Is she trying to lure me to a place where it is advantageous for her? "Kanji, Qudus! Tie those two lying on the ground and get out of here! I''ll chase that woman for now!" [Ash] "But!" [Kanji] "Just do it!" [Qudus] I don''t know whether Qudus understand what my thoughts process were or it simply him being concerned about his own safety, but I''m thankful for his quick response. I do want the two of them to bring back the two knocked out follower back to Haliza so that we could at least get some information from them (should this Agnes escape from my grasp) As I keep on chasing after her, I came across an underground facilities that are used to keep the slaves in place. I can say that they''re slaves with confidence as there are actually children and babies among them being taken care of by what I assume to be their parents. God, some of them are completely naked... "!" [Ash] Three small iron rod staffs come accelerated towards me, it''s fast but still within my reaction time. The staffs then glows strangely... "This is bad!" [Ash] With my item box magic, I quickly kick the three staffs inside of it. I make sure that I created a new space as to left the importance thing inside of it left unscathed. ~Boom~ As I am about to close the item box magic, I can hear a loud explosive sound coming from inside. But, that''s not all (Seriously, more of it!) [Ash] And to make it worst, it not only targeted me, but also the others as well. This will be hard but there''s no other way. I will create new item box and let it open at the place where the staffs are going, that way I can cover all of them. The thing is, I never open up more than one item box at a time, so this is... (What, this time, it didn''t explode!) [Ash] "Gotcha!" [Agnes] "Thunder spikes!" [Ash] "Tchh!" [Agnes] Tchh, she makes a fool out of me. Once again, thank goodness for my fast reaction time, otherwise she would have got me. Plus... "What is with that ugly syringe!" [Ash] "Oh, afraid of blood?" [Agnes] "Hmph, doesn''t feel like you''re targeting by blood" [Ash] "Who knows" [Agnes] And the second cat and mouse game started, or about to start ~Slam~ As she''s about to run, I simply create an earth wall reinforced with wood magic in her direction, and she fell for it, and in a comedic way "Mommy, will we be safe?" "Stay strong sweety, mommy is here" "Sorry about that little boy, I''ll make sure to finish this quickly" [Ash] "Kyaaa!" "!" [Ash] "What did you do to my brother!" "Shut it!" [Agnes] This is, I can feel that she''s channeling her mana, along with some sort of blessings into that man, and "What in the hell!" [Ash] "Tchh, weak, but, there''s more people, so maybe..." [Agnes] That guy turn into a giant zombie, and just straight out burst it way from the cage, charging directly to my direction "Sorry about your brother!" [Ash] It pain my heart to see the tear of that man, having to witness his brother being turn into a zombie and get all of it four limbs severed by me shortly afterwards. But, it has to be done, I can''t compromise the safety of other over one person. It pain me, but "Sorry" [Ash] I''m sure there''s better words to be use here, but that''s all I can mutter up right now "Tchh, first that Thanatos, then the male witch, and now you, someone with a blessing, though I suppose you having a blessing wouldn''t be that bad for me" [Agnes] "Interesting" [Ash] I don''t know why me having a blessing would be a good thing for her, but I do know it meant nothing but bad news for me. As for the other two that she mentioned, she didn''t say corrupted Thanatos, but instead, just Thanatos. Judging from what I have seen, I can assume that she''s the one that put the corrupted part into the corrupted Thanatos, and as for the male witch, judging by her tone, one can assume that the male witch isn''t her ally. "You leave me with no choice. Corrupted Thanatos, comes forth and destroy him!" [Agnes] "Huh?" [Ash] Did she just summon a corrupted Thanatos. ~Clang~ The sound of two scythes clashing with each other echoes the underground pathway. Another S rank monster, and this time, I''m all alone. ~Gulp~ This is bad. "Boss!" [Kanji] "What are the two of you doing here, and that is!" [Ash] "You!" [Agnes] "So you''re the behemoth slayer. I''m Kana. Nice to meet you" [Kana] "Just how did you... oh forget it. What important now is to stop the corrupted Thanatos. Kana, you will help me to stop this monster, and as for Kanji and Qudus, just go back and calls for help! Get your sister and Mira first and foremost and they should know what to do next!" [Ash] ""Yes!!"" [Kanji, Qudus] ~Clang~ It sure is strong. My guess is that Agnes try to make the Corrupted Thanatos stop Kanji and Qudus, but "You have to pass me first, Agnes" [Ash] "That, I shall do" [Agnes] Another strike from the Corrupted Thanatos, but this time, it''s weaker, so much so that I can actually damage it with my dark magic. "I''m here as well!" [Kana] "Tchh..." [Agnes] "Such a reliable male witch" [Ash] Chapter 93 - Ash and Kana Vs Corrupted Thanatos _________________________________________________ [Just before] "Hey Qudus! Listen! Can you search for this man that I''ll describe?" [Kanji] "Huh?" [Qudus] "Just do it! Boss there will need every help that he could get! So either you do it with your own free will or after learning some pain!" [Kanji] "You didn''t leave me with other choices!" [Qudus] Complaint as he might, Qudus started to redirect his ability to search for the man. The key word given are male witch and orphanage. The two traverse the underground and after defeating a number of monsters (mainly thanks to Kanji) "Hey you! Are you the male witch?" [Kanji] "How did you know?" [Kana] "Just answer me! The Behemoth Slayer will really appreciate your help right now!" [Kanji] "I, I am! What happen!" [Kana] "There''s no mistaken it! Now we should let him out, but how?" [Qudus] "Leave it to me!" [Kanji] Kanji chant some long spell to imbued his sword with earth magic, and once it done he simply cut the lock, and give it a nice strong kick to loosen it. He then went and grab a high level healing potion and give it to the weaken male witch, and... "Thank you for saving me" [Kana] "Welcome, but there''s no time to waste! Can you move?" [Kanji] "I can, let us make haste" [Kana] "Qudus!" [Kanji] "Fine, Fine!" [Qudus] _________________________________________________ It''s two vs two, me (someone with Goddess Achalasia blessings) and Kana (a male witch that will be the wild card fighting against the corrupted Thanatos) Vs Agnes (someone with more than just the fallen god blessing) and Corrupted Thanatos (S rank monster which is ofte n associated with the God of Death itself). I do hope Kanji and Qudus will call for backup as fast as possible since there are a number of peoples around us, which honestly speaking, will cause me trouble. I''m sure Agnes will not have even the slightest of hesitation to turn all of them into a monster, and thus, I need to protect them, not only for their sake, but for my own sake as well. The Corrupted Thanatos begin it attack by throwing it scythe towards the two of us. It weapon is approximately 1.5 larger than mine, with what I presume to be made out of the same material as mine, befitting to that closest to God of Death itself. But, since Kana manage to weaken it down, the power behind the throw reduce, and instead of parrying it, I simply catch it and make it mine. Now I wielded two of it. Just like how I will usually call back my scythe after throwing it, the Corrupted Thanatos did the same, and I can feel the pull. Well "Here! Since you want it so much!" [Ash] I simply throw it with wind magic to accelerate it further, and with a strong light magic to top it all, and to make it overkill, I throw my scythe as well. It tries to catch it, and it successfully done so, but not without any damage. I can say that the right arm of it is currently being damage by the light magic. "Kana! Don''t let it heal itself" [Ash] "On it!" [Kana] "Like I let you!" [Agnes] "And who say I will allow you to do whatever you want!" [Ash] Since the Corrupted Thanatos are currently recovering (but not as quickly as it supposed to be, thanks to Kana efforts), I dash through it and went straight ahead to punch that female priestess. She did manage to block my punch with her two staffs but "Naive!" [Ash] Here! Get a taste of my thunder magic! "AAAHHH!" [Agnes] "And take thi..." [Ash] I distance myself as the Corrupted Thanatos begin to slice it way to protect Agnes. But, that doesn''t mean I stop using the thunder magic. I simply channel my mana and keep on using it. But "Such strong magic. And that magic circle!" [Kana] Right now, a strong light and dark magic encircle Agnes, forming a strong barrier that protect her. Smart move from her side "Can you weaken it?" [Ash] "I''ll try, but don''t expect too much. Plus, the longer this battle drag on, the more disadvantageous our situation will be" [Kana] "Your influence will weaken?" [Ash] He simply nodded. Guess our top priority now is to defeat the Corrupted Thanatos, or remove the corrupted part. My wild guess back at Estel about using a strong light magic did hit the mark, as I can see that the part being damage isn''t healing as it supposed to. True, Kana''s witch power did come into play, but I''m sure the light magic itself is one of the main factors, or... (Could it also be because of my scythe being a gift from the God of Death itself?) [Ash] Maybe that can be a factor as well. Whatever, I did know the combination of my scythe + strong light magic and the witch influence will be the key factors in taking down that monster "Kana, give everything that you got in this one shot! I''ll slice that monster with my scythe and light magic. Focus solely on dropping it defense, no need to reduce it attack power or anything other than defense!" [Ash] "Got it! Be careful!" [Kana] "Yeah!" [Ash] With Kana channeling his power to solely dropped the defence of the Corrupted Thanatos, I begin to charge my scythe with a strong light magic. And... (Should I channel Goddess Achalasia blessings power as well?) [Ash] I don''t know how, but I simply imagine that Goddess Achalasia bestow her power into my mana to give an extra boost of power, and "!" [Kana] Did it work? I did feel an extra boost of power right now, but whether it''s true or it just me having a delusion about it, I''m not sure. "Whatever! Haaa!" [Ash] Letting out a battle cry, I dash towards the Corrupted Thanatos. It try to mimic me by channeling all of it dark magic into it scythe, and thus, the two weapon collide. (Shit! It becomes stronger) [Ash] I did mention to Kana to solely dropped the defence value, so maybe this is it original strength. "Haaaaaa!" [Kana] Kana further strengthen his power, channelling it through his wooden staff, and "It''s working! Keep it up" [Ash] "I will!" [Kana] I can see and feel that the evilish miasma that surrounds the Corrupted Thanatos begin to disappear. As a final resort, the Corrupted Thanatos and I both launches an extra set of attacks. Me with my light ball and arrow, and dark arrow as for the Corrupted Thanatos and neither of us dodges it. "Tchh!" [Ash] "Are you alright!" [Kana] "Yeah! Don''t worry" [Ash] The dark arrow, it sure is strong. I guess I''m lucky that it misses my spine. I might be imagining it but I can feel the mana just beside my back bone. ~Dark Arrow~ "Tchh!" [Ash] "Look out!" [Kana] "Just keep doing your job!" [Ash] "!" [Kana] He nodded. I''m sure from his expression, he wanted to decrease the attack power of the Corrupted Thanatos, but I don''t think it''s a good idea. Just as the arrows about to hit me ""!"" [Ash, Kana] "Boss, are you alright! I bring my sister as you asked!" [Kanji] "Scythe boss!" [Thug C] "Don''t rush! If you do, you will only be a burden to him!" [Naoto] "But!" [Seo Ah] "Don''t worry! Just believe in him!" [Naoto] Thanks. If not for her, I will get hit by the magic arrow from the Corrupted Thanatos. She really is a skilled archer, and truly worthy of her A rank adventure. She can shoot precisely from afar, and her wise decision of not letting other join the fray is a good one. But I have to ask just why did she allow Seo Ah and the thugs to come down with her as well. Well, there must be a reason, but nevermind that for now ~Roar!!!~ ~HAAAA!" [Ash] Just a bit more, and the Corrupted Thanatos becoming more panicky right now. It make multiple darkness arrow only to be intercepted by Naoto. With this "Take this!" [Ash] Just like how I boost my power and speed back at my fight with The Behemoth King, I make a small explosion at the back of my palm to give it the extra boost it so needed, and ~Slash~ With that, The evilish miasma that surrounds the Corrupted Thanatos disappear, and all that''s left is Thanatos itself. It appearance resembles that of a man that you would imagine from an ancient greek god with 8 wings of black and white colour. And without the evilish miasma, he seems nice "Thanks" [Ash] "Likewise" [Thanatos] It still have some mana left to heal me, event after that battle. Man, I can''t imagine defeating it one on one. I should train myself more. If not for Kana and Naoto, who knew what will happen "Where did she go!" [Kana] "What... Huh!" [Ash] "Did she run away! Hey Qudus! Search for her right now!" [Kanji] "I did, but I just can''t get a response!" [Qudus] Damn it! That Priestess Agnes. She''s good and honestly speaking, I will do the same if I were in her position. Guess this is what they say, you won the battle but not the wa Chapter 94 - Welcome back? "Ouch! That sure hurts a lot" [Ash] "Sorry, but bare with me" [Royal Healer] After the fight with Agnes and the Corrupted Thanatos (now simply Thanatos), we have the people that''s lock underneath the ground being released. I''m not lying when I say that their reaction sure bring tears to my eyes (as well as the thugs which honestly makes me see them in a different light right now. Guess all they need is someone to actually guide them). They have been handled by Haliza since then As for the two priest that we caught in the act, they apparently vouch not guilty and refused to talk any further. Even the church demanded their release and have been pestering me to apologize for everything that have happened. (Yeah, I sincerely wanted to punch each one of them) [Ash] But thank god it doesn''t affect (or should I say they''re afraid) to touch those little kid at Malsia''s Orphanage. They knew that I have been helping to make a second Orphanage here at Malsia so naturally these little kid will be an easy target for vengeance but Haliza''s influence manage to stop them. Speaking of the Orphanage, Kana here will work for the Orphanage. I still remember how each one of the kids rush and wanted to hug him first. They remember him dearly, and it makes me jealous a bit. "Thank you, I can fulfill my promise to take care of them" [Kana] "Don''t sweat it. Plus, having you here actually makes me feel better" [Ash] Kanji, Qudus (after receiving citizenship from Haliza) and the thugs are all taking their time to determine what they should do next. Kanji wanted to become an adventure with Naoto supporting him. Good for him As for the Thanatos, it simply vanished (after giving his vouch to never let this kind of thing happen again). I thought of asking him a thing or two about Achalasia Externa and the fallen god (should he knew about it) but he simply say some peculiar thing regarding my Scythe. Thanatos say that I actually don''t take the full advantage of this special scythe of mine. I do agree as the only time I use full advantage of it is to meet mom, and I can hear dad occasionally giving his opinion (but he never shows up in the end). Still, it will be nice if you actually give me a hint or two, not just says that and left me wonder all by my own. And after all of that, it leads to "There, all done. There''s no more mana clump beside your spine" [Royal Healer] "Thank you. Geezz... finally, I don''t feel any sort of mass every single second" [Ash] "It actually a miracle for you to survive. Most that have that clump of mana anywhere inside the body tend to become sick, and even die because of it" [Royal Healer] "Guess I''m just lucky" [Ash] Thanatos dark arrow are concentrated in mana that it actually take a physical form and leave a clump of mana at my back (which, if not for Goddess Achalasia blessings, who knew what will happen to me). That''s why Haliza''s family personal Royal Healer decided to just remove it before it started to act funny "You look better now" [Haliza] "Yeah, I can walk comfortably now" [Ash] "Hmph! If he can''t handle that, then he is just a fake" [Rude Captain 2.0] "Say someone that doesn''t contribute a thing" [Ash] "!" [Rude Captain 2.0] "Now now" [Haliza] "I swear to god" [Mira] Well, we started to walk to the meeting room as to discuss what happen and our future course of action. Apparently, Diana and Qis will also be there. They also mentioned that they will surprise me with something (now I''m curious...) "Tchh!" [Rude Captain] "Sigh... Rude Captain and Rude Captain 2.0. Diana, can''t you bring someone nice for once" [Ash] "It''s been a while and that''s the first thing that come from your mouth" [Qis] "Haha. Now now, in his defense, you''re acting not befitting as you should" [Diana] "Oh, my sincere apologies dear Princess Diana of the Kingdom of Estel, this humble gentleman just can''t forget how this great knight of yours act toward my ten siblings during our first meeting, and his subsequent manner. I do apologize for hating him for such a valid reason. Then again, you''re right about me having no manner" [Ash] "Sigh... this is what Princess Diana just talked about" [Mira] "Some people will never learn..." [Diana] We make our way to the meeting room. There, our group is the last to enter. As we take our seat, I noticed that Guild Master Ram and another person whom I presume to be Malsia''s adventure guild master are sitting right next to each other. Make sense, I''m sure they''re an acquittance, or at least known each other given their respective position With that, we begin the meeting (just how many meetings do I had attended with the top of the country now?). Well, I gave them my report, about how Kanji, Qudus (his peculiar ability is kept a secret only)and I manage to find Kana (for which, his secret as a male witch only known by Haliza and King of Malsia). I also talk about my fight with Agnes and Corrupted Thanatos and how I managed to defeat it "Hmph, you, defeating it?" [Rude Captain] "Usually I will slam you back for that, but I have to agree with you this time around. Defeat is a strong word here, I merely remove the evilish miasma that corrupted the Thanatos and it simply vanished afterward" [Ash] "Haa! See, I told you!" [Rude Captain] "Calm down. He might not defeated it, but at least the threat of an S rank monster roaming around Malsia is no more. Plus, soloing an S rank monster is no small feat, you should know that" [Malsia guild master] "Still, what could cause the Thanatos to be corrupted?" [King Malsia] "Agnes, she''s the one that causes it. I don''t know how but I''m sure how, whether it''s her ability, whether she''s a witch, or because of her blessings" [Ash] "Blessing?" [Diana] "Yeah, she outright say that she received blessing from the fallen god itself" [Ash] "!" [Other] "Don''t bullshit us!" [Rude Captain 2.0] "No, I didn''t. Sure she can just claim it, but I can clearly felt there''s something different about her, plus..." [Ash] "Plus?" [Haliza] "I''m sure she''s hiding more than that. She''s a shrewd one and if in terms of adventure ranking, she could easily become an A rank adventure" [Ash] "That''s worrisome" [Qis] "I see, and how about you? Did the priest that were caught say anything?" [King Malsia] "They didn''t. Plus, it seems like there are some sorts of barrier that prevent us from looking directly into their mind" [Magician] (That''s an interesting magic, I''m sure I can do that) [Ash] "And how about the Estel''s side of thing?" [King Malsia] "Well..." [Diana] As for Diana, she did mention that an engineer group (which I presume to be Erinmorlin) also found a tunnel made by the traveler king. Is this just a coincidence? Other than that, they also mentioned that they manage to arrest a group of mercenary and a priest. Just like how the church here in Malsia react, the church there also react in the same way. That''s to be expected. "Should we really hide these things from public?" [Magician] "Yes, we should. If words do come out about what have been happening, I''m sure it will spells more trouble. Plus, they do believe in the church more than us" [Haliza] Yeah, as frustrating as it is, we should just kept it as a secret for now. I''m not sure what will be the worst possible scenarios, but I assume it could turn bloody (that is if the history back on earth can be applied here) With that, we concluded our meeting with plan moving forward. While the finer details about how they will handle the church request is left to them, they requested me to keep on investigating about the tunnel made by the traveler king. I don''t have any complaint but I did tell them that I will map it out for few days before going back to Estel as. Reason? I just say that I missed the ten of them ~Giggle~ "?" [Ash] Why did she giggle like that? Oh well, guess someone rude like me saying something like that bound to make that happen. With that, the meeting concluded. While Ram and the other guild master discuss about adventure related stuff, Diana, Haliza, Qis and Mira plan to go straight to the orphanage. They even have huge amount of foods prepare (and all of that were put inside my item box). I also got my payment from Haliza We take Haliza''s carriage and went there straight. At the door, I can hear Charlotte playing tag with them. Guess I must have missed them even more than I initially thought. "Welcome back!" [Charlotte] "Charlotte, I''m back! Oh, how I missed you guys so much!" [Ash] "Me too!" [Charlotte] There''s the hug. I lift her up and pinch her cheeks. This sure is a strong hallucinations. Maybe too strong. Wait a minute... Is this really a hallucinations? . . . ~Pinch~ "That hurts!" [Charlotte] "Ehh! Charlotte! What are you doing here!?" [Ash] "Haha" [Farhah] "All of us are here as well" [Rean] "Well, except Grandpa Claude and Sis Rafiah" [Elise] "Ehh! You guys!" [Ash] "Let me explain" [Diana] Chapter 95 - At Estel part 6 [Diana point of view] "Same like me?" [Diana] ~Nodded~ After the discovery of the ancient tunnel believe to be made by the traveler king, as a mean for the ten heroes to travel safely during that time, Qis, Jacks and Rean were asked to explore it. Unexpectedly, they managed to find that the tunnel not only connected to the underground passage that the church built, but was also had been long exploited by them. And during the scuffle that they had, Rean awakened a blessing, similar to mine. A blessing from Goddess Achalasia herself. (Could those ten children be...) [Diana] The original ten heroes, they''re the one that manage to take down the now fallen god. Every few hundred years, the fallen god is said to be awakened, and their followers will rush in ravaging Achalasia. But, there will always be a group of ten people who are blessed with Goddess blessings. Sure, there are more and more people in history getting blessed to fight them, but the core being those ten people will always be in the front line, and their fate are... "I wonder if Ash knew about it?" [Qis] "My intuition tells me he does" [Diana] "I see..." [Qis] Plus, Ash is also blessed. The blessings that he received might not be similar like us, but I have no doubt he is blessed by Goddess Achalasia herself. Could it be that, the goddess ask him to raise those ten? No, no. No way, I might think too much into it. "Well, we should see him. I wanted to confirm it myself" [Diana] "Right!" [Qis] This takes precedence than anything else right now. The ten heroes, and the ten orphan... (God, please...) [Diana] . . . The carriage arrived in front of the orphanage, but "Get out from here!" [Claude] "What''s happening!" [Diana] "Princess!" [Qis] "Yes!" [Diana] Qis rush to the commotion. I can see that they''re number of people whom I assume to be from the church trying to "talk" to Claude. They''re being rather forceful about it. "Alaric, if anything happens, ensure the safety of those ten children" [Diana] (But princess...) [Alaric] "That''s an order!" [Diana] (Understood) [Alaric] The male vampire guard agree to it. I know what he is thinking, but it''s no exaggeration when I say those ten will determine the future of Achalasia should they really are blessed like the ten heroes "We just wanted to talk to the black hair boy" [Priest A] "Sorry, but that won''t do!" [Syah] "And who do you think you''re?" [Head Priest] "And who do you think you are?" [Qis] "The royal bodyguard. And the princess!" [Priest B] So, they come for Rean. I see, well, the one captured must have told something, probably about how Rean uses his blessing, but let us not make assumptions here. Maybe they''re just here to hold Rean accountable for what is happening "And may I know what business do all of you have in this orphanage?" [Diana] "You see, we are here to talk with the Black hair boy. About how he knocked out one of our member" [Head Priest] "It is I that did it! Surely you can talk to me all you want right now!" [Qis] "Well, he is also responsible according to that person" [Head Priest] He seems persistent, and I have this feeling that is not all. I should just confirm it "Right now, the Orphanage is under my care as the behemoth slayer had entrusted me to it. Should you want to talk to the black hair boy, you should follow the castle protocol. Or, you can just have the talk with him, but with me overseeing it" [Diana] "That''s..." [Head Priest] He seems reluctant. Guess he really is trying to hide something, or he just doesn''t want to mess with the castle, or both and my intuition is inclined to it, 85% because he wanted to hide something, and 15% because of my authority "If you please excuse us, your majesty" [Head Priest] They all bow and quickly take their leave. What a mess "Thank you so much Princess Diana. Who knew what will happen if you aren''t here to help us" [Claude] ".. .----. -- / .-. . .- -.. -.-- / - --- / -.- .. .-.. .-.. / - .... . -- / - .... . -." [Housey] "What did Housey say?" [Diana] "I''m ready to kill them if you aren''t here to help just now" [Claude] "Seriously..." [Qis] "Meow!!!" [Behe] "Behe too..." [Diana] Claude welcome us inside, and there, I can see that Rafiah is trying to protect all of the kids. Rean try to go out to settle this but was hold back by the other nine. That''s the smart choice. Plus, Claude and the other male adventures are here, it''s the right choice to let them handle it "Are you alright Rean?" [Diana] "I am. Thank you Princess, for just now..." [Rean] "It''s fine. Plus, your Brother will be angry should I not interfere, so much so that he might leveled the castle" [Diana] "He wouldn''t!" [Zerolith] "I can imagine he do exactly that vividly" [Borg] "Still, just why did they come?" [Male adventure] "Rean..." [Elise] "Maybe it is because of what I did?" [Rean] Maybe, but maybe also because of your blessings. Figuratively speaking, it''s small right now but I can clearly sense it, it''s there. If I''m not mistaken, the current head priest shouldn''t be able to detect it, unlike the late head priest, but knowing him, he will still take Rean to the especially made goddess orb and scan him. Luckily that goddess orb in question have been tampered by me back then, so I shouldn''t worry about Rean status being exposed. But that doesn''t mean he is 100% safe. He is right now being targeted by them. Plus, they could always ask someone sensitive enough to tell them whether Rean do awakened a blessing or not (Now, what should I do?) [Diana] "If only Brother Ash is here, he can just kick their ass!" [Farhah] "Word!" [Qis] "Sorry..." [Farhah] "Honestly..." [Mara] "We think the same" [Kara] "Yes..." [Karon] "Well, you can''t just go to Malsia right now" [Syah] If Ash is here, he will take the brute force way, and that''s no good. Right now, I have to think of a way to deceive them. Unlike me who have this special crystal to hide my blessing, Rean doesn''t have one. If I''m not mistaken, this crystal can be found in gift from earth dungeon at Malsia, at least according to Linda... "You guys, don''t you want to know how your Brother is doing right now?" [Diana] "Ehh..." [Other] "Princess, you don''t mean..." [Qis] """We want!!!""" [Singa, Savel, Charlotte] "Going to Malsia..." [Farhah] "That''s a bit sudden" [Karon] "Well, I did have something to do there as well, so that''s why I can bring you guys with me should you wanted to" [Diana] """We want! We want! We want!""" [Singa, Savel, Charlotte] "Princess Diana, with all due respect, don''t you think that''s a bit sudden?" [Claude] "You guys, give us a minute" [Diana] "?" [Kids] I gathered the adults "You see, I''ll bring them with me to Malsia for a while and let my father handle the church while they''re there. That way, we can ensure their safety. Plus, don''t you think they will be the safest when they''re with Ash?" [Diana] "I see" [Qis] "That does make sense" [Rafiah] "But to do it so suddenly. Won''t it burden you?" [Syah] "Just leave it to me! Is it alright Claude?" [Diana] "Well..." [Claude] Claude think for a while before giving the permission to do so. He also mentioned that he will use his illusion magic (alongside Housey helps) 24/7 to give off an illusion that those ten children will always be here, that way, we can deceive the church even if it is for a short while. What a splendid idea. The adventure also agree to keep their mouth shut and also to continue guarding the mansion as usual as to further deceive them. Splendid! "Alright! Who wants to follow me to Malsia, raise your hand!" [Diana] """Me. Me. Me. Me!!!""" [Singa, Savel, Charlotte] "Ehh..." [Others] "I''ll take that as a yes!" [Diana] "Come now, let us prepare your clothes" [Claude] "I''ll help" [Rafiah] "Let me telly father first. I''ll come back after an hour or so" [Diana] "Understood" [Claude] (This all happen... because of me?) [Rean] "Don''t worry. It isn''t" [Diana] "!" [Rean] A lie here wouldn''t hurt. Still, I have to tell father about it. Plus, once I met Ash at Malsia, I should ask him directly about it. . . . "Princess, an urgent letter from Malsia arrive" [Butler] "I see, thank you" [Diana] Huh... so that actually happen at Malsia. Plus, they also request guild master Ram to come. Very well, off we go then (after telling father that is) Chapter 96 - Gift from Earth dungeon part 1 So that actually happened... I''m pissed. Can''t they just leave those kids to live their lives like other children. Logically speaking, I can understand that one wanted to "talk" to those hurting the person they''re closest to, but I''m sure this isn''t the case here. Most probably, they wanted to use Rean as a bait to ultimately make me succumb to them. That being the case "Good job Rean, on taking down the sphinx. Guess you really are more than qualified to become an adventure now" [Ash] "Really!" [Rean] "Mark my words" [Ash] As I said that, I lightly tap his shoulder. I couldn''t be much more prouder right now. Rean really are taking his step into adulthood. Oh god, manly tear was shed here... "!" [Ash] "Brother Ash?" [Rean] "Is something wrong?" [Elise] "Rean...!" [Ash] "Ash, you''re acting strange" [Haliza] Did his blessings awaken... Is it when he was fighting against the sphinx? That seem to be the case here. Then, the reason those priests come to the mansion would be... (You should search for the crystal like this at the gift from earth dungeon. That way, we can mask Rean''s blessing) [Diana] (You!) [Ash] So Diana also realized the same. Then, I should consider that Jacks and Qis also knew about it. Rean doesn''t seem to be aware of it though, should I tell him? No, most importantly (Got it. I must say, that crystal of your really do wonder to mask your blessings. It is better than the Rafiah''s having) [Ash] (I know you have notice it. We should talk about this at night) [Diana] (Understood) [Ash] "What are you two whispering about?" [Haliza] "About how a certain princess in this country have been bullying me to no end" [Ash] "Poor Ash" [Diana] "Suspicious..." [Haliza] (...) [Rean] Well, that being said, I have two things to do now. First, I have to map out the section of the underground passage that were discovered, and second, to find the crystal that can mask Rean''s blessing straight away. I should prioritize searching for the crystal now, and map the tunnel later at night. Plus, I can also search for the portal stone at night since the other can''t seem to find even one of it "Alright! Let us all go and have a picnic at the dungeon! All of you will come!" [Ash] "Really!" [Cat girl] "Yup! Kanji, Rean, both of you get prepared now. I''ll test your skills as to get better understanding of them. That way, you can improve it before becoming an adventure" [Ash] ""Yes!!"" [Rean, Kanji] "What about us?" [Elise] "As usual. Seo Ah, Elise, please make sure they behave inside the bus golem" [Ash] ""On it"" [Seo Ah, Elise] Apparently, Ram borrow my bus golem to drive here from Estel (bringing the other along with him). Good, I can use the bus golem and the camper van golem as a mean of transportation here. They''re around 45 plus of us, so it is a big number. That said, this is like a big family day for us, and as such, I tell them I will buy some food and drink first before all of us heading out. Mira and Kana accompany me for that . . . It''s noon, and the sun show no sign of stopping it heat. Luckily, both the bus golem and camper van golem are equipped with something similar to an air conditioner. Not only that, I have stock them with large varieties of drinks and sweets, freeze inside the freezer, so that way they can just grab one of it anytime they wanted to. I have Kanji drive the bus golem as he seems to take an interest in it. Both golems can act autonomously, so there shouldn''t be a problem even if there aren''t anyone behind the steering wheel, but it''s better to have one than to have none. Like the first time I use the bus golem, the people at Estel can''t help but to keep on staring at it. I do remember that the neighborhood kids constantly pestering me as to letting them enter. Now, they''re used to it and whenever they see the golem, they knew who is inside. Now, the people of Malsia give the same stare as the people of Estel use to give. . . . And we have arrived, I parked both the bus golem and the camper van golem inside my item box. With all of us here, it can''t be helped that we felt a little bit crowded. So, to ease things up, we divided them into a group of ten, with each adult taking care approximately 10 children. As for me, I oversee all of them by using my scan magic all the time. That way, I can quickly tell should any one of them stray away. "Overprotective aren''t you" [Mira] "Better than having to search for them inside this big dungeon" [Ash] "True" [Mira] The kids are excited. They can''t help but to rush straight inside the dungeon "Don''t run too far!" [Kana] "Hey! Where''s your line!" [Thug D] "What? You sprain your ankle?" [Thug F] "Yes..." [Elf boy] "Here, let me help" [Farhah] "I can help as well" [Kara] "Good luck!" [Mara] "That should be a good healing magic practice" [Elise] "You guys can use healing magic?" [Kanji] "Brother Ash thought us all. Plus, we can use chantless magic just like him" [Zerolith] "Teach us more!" [Cat boy] "It''s not fair!" [Cat girl] "Yes, yes. I will." [Ash] "So many" [Guard A] "And isn''t that!" [Guard B] "Princess Nurhaliza! What are doing here!?" [Guard C] "Is she sneaking out again!" [Guard A] "Quick! Informed the castle!" [Guard C] "On it!" [Guard B] "How rude! I''m just here to have my magic practice with the Behemoth Slayer here!" [Haliza] """Really...???""" [Guard A, B, C] "Really!" [Haliza] "She''s lying" [Ash] """!!!!""" [Guards] "Ash. Don''t make them becoming even more suspicious towards me!" [Haliza] "Can you blame them though. You always sneak out of the castle" [Mira] "Honestly. You are a princess, so please act appropriately" [Diana] "Looks whose talking!" [Haliza] "Well, shall we move on first? We are blocking the traffic" [Qis] "Agree" [Thug A] "I wonder how this dungeon will look like" [Karon] "Karon, let us move first" [Savel] "Yeah, if not, you will be left behind" [Singa] "Ehh! Karon will be left behind!" [Charlotte] "Don''t worry. I won''t" [Karon] "He won''t. That say, all of you please form one straight line. We should ease the guard jobs here" [Rean] "As Rean say. That applies to all of you as well" [Elise] "Yes!" [Kids] "You are natural at this kind of thing" [Seo Ah] "Thank you" [Elise] "Let just not waste any more time, shall we?" [Ash] "I have finished treating him!" [Farhah] "Amazing, it doesn''t hurt anymore!" [Elf boy] "Such talent" [Thug F] "Yup, everything alright. Good job Farhah" [Ash] "Thanks!" [Farhah] "Alright. We don''t want the guard to keep on waiting, don''t we." [Kana] "Sorry Mr Guard" [Kids] "Haha, no problems" [Guards] It takes quite some time, but now, all of us are inside the gift from earth dungeon Chapter 97 - Gift from Earth dungeon part 2 The gift from earth dungeon, just like its name suggests, the overwhelming concentration and abundance of earth mana in this dungeon makes it covered with nothing but caves and small mountain after mountain. Just like the usual dungeon structure, this dungeon also contains a straight safe main road in the middle free of any sort of danger (from monster or natural hazard from dungeon, not from human action). As for the means of transportation from one level to another, here, there''s a very fast escalator bringing people and carriage up and down. Plus, the elevator here is sincerely quite cool, manage to change it bases to accommodate the carriage or group that will be using it. I wonder how or what mechanism is responsible for that. Truly, another mystery on its own. And like the name, the monster and the treasure chest being spawned here are also earth related. Name it, from usual clay, to lime, to diamond and precious steel like titanium. The monsters are the same, plus, Naoto had mentioned that an A rank Earth Behemoth can be found inside this dungeon (That if you''re straying to far from the main road especially on the lower floor of the dungeon) Well, my target for today is to find the crystal similar to what Diana''s currently wears as to mask Rean''s blessing. No, maybe I should find it for all ten, nope make it eleven as Rafiah will also appreciate it as well. Don''t want her secret being half angel half demon half witch to be exposed. But before all of that "Rock monsters!" [Elf boy] "It is" [Little boy] "It''s cute!" [Cat girl] "It is" [Charlotte] "Can I pet one!" [Farhah] "How about bringing it back home?" [Mara] "That''s a little bit..." [Seo Ah] "Nope" [Ash] "EEEEHHHH!!!" [Girls] "Obviously. How will you feed it?" [Zerolith] "Our mana!" [Little girl] "And what if it hurts other people? Will you take the blame?" [Rean] "..." [Girls] Rean and Zerolith presented a good argument there. Guess I don''t need to tell them how wonderfully dangerous their idea was. Still, rock monsters. Rock monsters is basically and literally a rock that have been supplied with some mana by the dungeon (usually), thus becoming alive. They''re weak (not as weak as slime though) and all they can do is shoot or hurl themselves towards people. Luckily most of them are small and should they attack, it felt like small children throwing stones at you, which is relatively harmless as compared to other kind of danger that dungeon have to offer. Still, I should exercise caution and cover them with my mana as to avoid any sort of injuries to them. "Well then, how about we begin today practice" [Ash] I should start first. As mentioned before, rock monsters usually get their mana from the dungeon, but that doesn''t mean us human can''t give it to them. This is a phenomenon that can actually happened inside certain dungeon like this dungeon or the ice dungeon back at Estel. Basically, you supply some mana to these rocks and "Haa!" [Ash] As I give my mana to the surrounding rocks, they become alive one by one. And one by one, they started to hurl themselves towards me. Well, such ungrateful children, biting the hand of those that feeds you, but then again, so am I, killing something that I give live to with my scythe. This keep ongoing until hundred upon hundred of them comes at once, for which I started to use magic to defend myself. And then, "Watch out!" [Kanji] Yup, I gave birth to a boulder monster. Well, not that it will cause trouble to me, in fact, it is beneficial. These types of monster will usually dropped almost no loots. They''re occasionally some loots depending on the type of rocks and minerals that we defeated and generally speaking, the stronger and the bigger it is, the higher the chances of it dropping some loots. And now "Tadaa!" [Ash] "It''s a jewelry!" [Kara] "And some strong metal!" [Karon] "So pretty. Brother Ash, can we have it?" [Elise] "Nope!" [Ash] "Come on!" [Elise] "Ash, don''t do that to them..." [Diana] "Yeah, that''s mean" [Haliza] "They''re still children if you ask me, so no. I mean, I might consider giving it to Seo Ah, or maybe Elise if she really, really wanted to, but no. If I gave it to them, the other will become jealous" [Ash] "Regrettable but I do agree" [Mira] "Same here" [Qis] "Then how about giving us the metal? We can use it to make some super strong armor!" [Savel] "I can imagine it now! My large sword cleaving the enemy!" [Singa] "That will be cool!" [Little boy] "Nope" [Ash] "EEEHHH!!!" [Boys] "And why is that?" [Kanji] "I will sell them and use it as an emergency fund for the Orphanage" [Ash] "I see" [Kana] "Well, enough chatting for now. Let us start some training" [Ash] "Yes!" [Kids] "They sound disappointed" [Thug D] "Can you blame them" [Thug F] Well, for the first practice, I''ll have all of them to be divided into several groups, with each group having kids from Estel and Malsia orphanage. Those back at Estel are better at chantless magic as compared to those at Malsia, plus, they are also being trained by me longer as compared to those in Malsia (in which, this is their first training session inside the dungeon with me). Their training is simple, just do what I do at their own luxury pace. They can be fast, slow or have boulders come at them for all they want, but what important is that they must know not only their limits, but also others as well. This will also serve as communication training for them as they have to relay information from time to time so that they can avoid getting hurt by those monsters. (Well, I did cover them with my mana, so they will only get some scratch) [Ash] Well, I can cover them completely and had no scratch should they get hit, but sometimes, you have to make the choice that you dislike for the benefit of others. In this case, I have to make them getting hurt just a little bit as to make them take their training seriously. Sorry in advance but yeah, it''s for your own good. And they started. All of them started slowly, well almost all of them. Zerolith, Singa, Savel and few boys in this group started hastily and get overwhelmed by the number of rock monsters attacking them. Yup, they quickly learn an important lesson. Still, I''m glad they''re fine. It can''t be helped that they feel some pain, but otherwise, it only leave a scratch mark here and there. That''s all Still... (I can''t find the crystal that Diana''s mentioned. Should I consider searching it in other places?) [Ash] Chapter 98 - Gift from Earth dungeon part 3 It''s almost noon and with them having expenses all of their energy for training today, we decided to have an early lunch session. As for the location, we decided to use a nice brisk location just beside a pond. I had already scanned the whole area for potential dangerous and there''s none of it, which is good. As I take out the foods and drinks inside the item box, my mind started to wonder around, thinking the beat next spot to grind that crystal. Well, us training back then do cash up some good amount of loot. It isn''t that much considering the size and rank of the monster that we fought, but I can say that we actually manage to collect a whole treasure chest worth of loot, something that is actually impressive. I do wonder is it because of my luck, or the luck of one of the kids here (Now that I think of it, wasn''t that happen back then as well) [Ash] The first time, I found the zombie Spawning Block (as well as Behe), second time I found marine spawning block and both of them are during my training session with them inside the dungeon. So either my luck max out when I am with them, or one of them having such good luck that it affect our luck as well, or simply Goddess Achalasia herself decided to interfere and give us all something good. (If that is the case, I do hope we can get some crystal spawning block) [Ash] Maybe I am asking too much, but who knows, maybe I will get it. But a crystal spawning block will definitely bring more trouble and ruckus as compared to normal monster Spawning Block... Well, all of that would only happen should I get my hand on one of it, so there''s no need for me to think too much about it "Ahh, my cloth..." [Charlotte] "Here, let me help you" [Seo Ah] "It''s alright, I can just do this" [Charlotte] While setting up the place, Charlotte accidentally spill some mango juice to her clothes. Well, since her water affinity and skill are beyond your average people, she simply dry it off herself by manipulating the mango juice and get if off her clothes. That my little sister! Doing it so easily without struggling at all. Not to mention her clothes didn''t even have mango stain As we eat "This wood apple is just delicious" [Elise] "It juicy, and sweet. Not to mention it size is bigger as compared to normal apple" [Seo Ah] "I want more!" [Zerolith] "Same here!" [Farhah] "Zerolith, Farhah!" [Kara] "Don''t be shy, there are plenty of it still left" [Haliza] "Then don''t mind if I do" [Zerolith] "Zerolith, slow down a bit, or else you will choke on the food" [Ash] "Hut it yumy (but it''s yummy)" [Zerolith] "And don''t talk while your mouth is full!" [Ash] "Hahaha" [Cat boy] "That applies to you as well" [Kana] "Corry..." [Cat boy] "Good grief. I really need to start becoming stricter, plus, I think it will be for the best that I will teach them basic noble manner in upcoming class" [Qis] "Please do so" [Ash] "!" [Estel''s Orphan] "Oh yeah, we did have Orphanage here in Malsia, but as for the school and education..." [Haliza] "We could just take it slowly. We just built the Orphanage, and even though it is backed up by the castle, that doesn''t mean the Orphanage should continue to be reliant on it. So, I will think of a way to generate funds for it" [Mira] "I''ll help. Let us brainstorm together in the upcoming day" [Kana] "Sure" [Mira] "Well, should you require a helping hand, just ask me, I''ll lend it" [Ash] "We will take that offer" [Mira] Looks like Mira and Kana will be the one responsible overseeing the Orphanage, with Haliza becoming the benefactor of it. I guess one way to see it is that while the Orphanage back at Estel is self funded, the Orphanage here will be backed up by the country itself. It''s good for them as that mean the children will not be neglected (that is if they''re in a good hand, but I''m 1000000% sure Haliza will carried out her duty nicely). But, like Mira said, they need to have their own funding sources. Well, Mira is a merchant, I''m sure she could think of something ~After lunch~ The kids started to become drowsy. While I do let the younger group sleep inside the bus golem and the camper van golem, I tell the older group that we will continue with a very light magic exercise before letting them completely rest. "Hmmm...." [Older group] What with the disapproval sound, I know you''re drowsy, heck, even I myself am drowsy right now, but I just have to do it, it''s for your own benefits. That said, I will just let them use up all their mana by practicing chantless magic all by their own. Once they done that, then only they can sleep. The two princesses and their two best friends also join in. As for Rean, Kanji and his friends, I''ll have them spar with each other "Can I spar with you, brother Ash?" [Rean] "That would be interesting" [Kanji] "No. It''s a good idea, but I will just beat you up quickly, so there''s no point in that" [Ash] "I see, then, when I became stronger, I will challenge you once again!" [Rean] "Bring it on!" [Ash] I like the motivated face that he makes. After he declared that, they started to make a group of four each and started to have a mock battle, Rean and the three thugs on one end and kanji with the other on the other end. This might be just a mock battle but all of them took it seriously, which is good. At first, I put on some restrictions to Rean (he can only use one type of chantless spell) as to make things fair, but the other disapproved the idea, saying that it isn''t manly to do so, plus, they would like to fight Rean at his best as well. Well, if they say so While all of them have something to do, I scan the area once more, and (There''s no sign of that crystal, just where can I find one?) [Ash] Well, I''ll just have to keep on looking for it I guess Chapter 99 - Gift from Earth dungeon part 4 "Sleepy..." [Charlotte] "Want to sleep...zzz..." [Youngest boy] "We can, still, keep ongoing..." [Youngest girl] "Poor child" [Haliza] "Guess we will just stop here" [Ash] "Agree..." [Rean] "I''m tired..." [Kanji] "Scythe boss, your stamina, are endless" [Thug E] "Mrs Qis too, both of them are unfazed" [Seo Ah] "They live in a completely different dimensions from us" [Zerolith] "This is just the results of daily training. You guys will achieve the same should you put in more effort" [Qis] "Like she said" [Ash] "Why did I get this feeling he didn''t put that much of an effort" [Mira] "Who knows" [Diana] (Oh, you definitely know) [Ash] Well, after the mock battle between Rean and Kanji (which ended up in a draw as both side can''t keep up), we ventured further downward inside the dungeon in hope of finding the crystal (with the added benefit of training these kids as well as some sightseeing inside the dungeon, like that beautiful waterfall at 4th floor). We did run into a couple of treasure chest, as well as some random golem (the monster, not the magic), but so far, I can''t find even a single crystal. If this keep on, I will venture further downward myself in order to find it. (Here I thought the streak of good luck will continue, but that doesn''t seems to be the case) [Ash] As I keep on activating my scan magic, I detected something almost familiar "What!" [Ash] "What happen!?" [Kana] "Don''t scare us like that!" [Diana] "I find it..." [Ash] "That thing?" [Diana] "No, the portal stone... but, the wavelength, something feels, different" [Ash] "Can you investigate it?" [Haliza] "I will. Kana, Qis, please stay here and protect the kids and the princesses." [Ash] ""Got it"" [Qis, Kana] "How about us?" [Kanji] "Me too!" [Rean] "Not fair, we wanted to go as well!" [Elise] "Did you forgot what happen last time I found one inside the dungeon?" [Ash] "That''s..." [Kara] "Be careful!" [Mara] "I will" [Ash] and off I go, dashing towards the direction of the wavelength. I''m surprised that I managed to pick that up. But another question pop up? Why? Just what could they be planning, placing the portal stone inside a dungeon. I can at least understand if they placed it inside a country, as they can attack or let a monster attack the country from inside, but here? (Whatever, need to find it first, before...) [Ash] This aura, golem? Yes, it is, but there''s more to it. As if, all the golem are connected by a single strand. Like a doll, no, like a puppet. That mean (Master puppet golem? Judging from the mana, it is of an A rank, but, the number of golems that it control do complicate things) [Ash] At least this time, it isn''t an S rank monster. Should it be an S rank monster, I will bring them all outside first before proceeding. "The..." [Ash] As I spotted the first earth golem, it launches a boulder magic towards me, at a high speed that it. Well, good thing for my quick reflex, so that shouldn''t pose much of a problem, plus this earth golem is all alone, so ~Boom~ A single explosion right at its magic core should do, or so I thought, but that golem keep on firing boulder magic towards me. Guess when the golem are attached (or controlled) by master puppet golem, it will be regenerated. (Well, that is to be expected. Aside from some leadership and control magic, that monster will have a healing magic or two just for golem) [Ash] Guess that mean I shouldn''t waste my time and energy fighting them. I should just when straight for the puppet, or so I thought All these earth golems that keep on increasing in number didn''t make it easy for me. Plus, "Just how big is that golem!" [Ash] One of the golem, almost 100 meter tall. It does have multiple magic cores condensed into a single magic core inside of it, so I guess it is a combination of multiple golems at once. And it punches, like a mountain being thrown at your direction. I can''t avoid it so "Fire magic: Explosive chain" [Ash] With that, I uses explosion magic consecutively, one after another until the arms of the Golem is there no more. It try to regenerate back. "Crap!" [Ash] The speed at which it regenerate, it is fast, but on other note, I noticed that the surrounding golem becoming sluggish. That mean that the puppet master golem must have prioritize making it. As the second punch continue, I uses the same magic again. Thank goodness the result remain the same. Guess I can focus a bit to search the master. It should be nearby based on my scan magic and "There you are" [Ash] The puppet master golem is your average golem size, but unlike your normal golem, the head is larger and it is entirely made out of magic core. (Guess this will be easy) [Ash] I fire off a single thunder spear towards it, but it''s smart enough as to shield itself by using other golem. Smart, plus, it also ask other golem as well as that 100 meter tall golem to attack me. Well, that is smart, I guess since I can just use this "Bubble" [Ash] I created hundred upon hundred of bubbles, each with different mana imbued inside of it. Ice mana, fire mana, explosion, thunder, light, dark, name it, I put varieties of mana into these bubbles and ~Wind Rumbling~ What better way is to send all these bubbles into a group of monster better than a tornado. With these two combined, chaos ensure. The bubble flying towards all directions, begin to hit not only the golem, but also the ground and nearby structure. And the 100 meter golem, it size now become something disadvantageous for it as it keeps on getting barrage by it. Well, I do hope it magic core didn''t damage much as I wanted it for myself, and as for the puppet master golem (It looks panicky) [Ash] Well, time to end this. And when there''s a tornado, there''s thunder! Plus, let make it storm as well. These three usually goes together and ~Boom~ A single loud and powerful thunder hit the puppet master golem directly, and instead of shattering it''s magic core, it simply deactivated? I guess that''s the best description, given how it stopped glowing and I couldn''t feel any sort of mana from it. All the other golem also stopped moving, and among them is "Nice!" [Ash] Really nice, and what more "Guess I take back my word. Streak of luck continue, part 3" [Ash] Chapter 100 - Night talk It''s night and all of them have gone to their bed sleeping themselves due to the training exhaustion. It didn''t take them that long to jump right into the REM phase of sleep, in fact, I''m sure it is as soon as their body hit the bed. As for Kanji and his friends, he went back to his home, and as for Haliza, she actually wanted to wait for Diana to finish her talk with me first before going back to her castle, but Diana and I managed to convince her not to wait. With the moonlight shining ever so brightly, the three of us take our seat at the wooden chairs and "Ash, be honest with me, will you" [Diana] "That depends. I''m sure you don''t have any malicious intent towards us, in fact you''re one of the most trustworthy people that I knew around, but there are things that I would not tell" [Ash] "Fair enough" [Diana] That''s easy, I guess it just make even more sense to not fully expose oneself. We are close, but not that close enough to openly tell some big important secret just yet "I''ll start. May I know when do you start to realize that those tens, will awaken their blessings?" [Diana] "To tell you the truth, from the very beginning" [Ash] "You mean back then? When you first met them?" [Qis] "A little after that, but yeah" [Ash] "What makes you suspect that?" [Diana] "I, I have my reason to believe that, but let just said it have something to do with my blessings" [Ash] "Can you tell us more about your blessings" [Qis] "Yeah, it isn''t that much as compared to Diana or those kids, but the truth behind my blessing is simple and yet mysterious. The reason I got this blessing of mine is simply because of deeds of my parents" [Ash] "Huh?" [Diana] "What do you mean?" [Qis] "I wish I knew about it, but sadly I am at lost myself" [Ash] "Wait, how come you know that the blessing is because of your parents deeds" [Ash] "Well..." [Ash] Can I just say that I have met Goddess Achalasia and God of Death itself? Well, thinking back, mum did say that line before . . . (If I''m not mistaken, Goddess Achalasia did ask you to find out about this world. Please do your homework properly) [Maria] . . . Plus, that massive diamond sculpture back at the church, it''s beautifully designed and look almost the same like that of the goddess herself. So, I''m sure there are people that have met the goddess herself, albeit few in number. Heck, I''m not surprised if it can be counted by fingers. So I should just be honest in this one "That because Goddess Achalasia and God of Death itself tell me that" [Ash] Technically it''s only Goddess Achalasia, but hey, the God of Death is there at that time, so I''m not lying "YOU WHAT!" [Diana] "ARE YOU SERIOUS!" [Qis] "Shh!" [Ash] ""Sorry"" [Diana, Qis] Don''t want to wake them up, although... well, let just move on "Are you serious when you say that just now!" [Qis] "100% serious" [Ash] "Unbelievable, simply unbelievable" [Diana] "That''s why I''m reluctant to tell, but it''s the truth" [Ash] "Well, it''s shocking but it isn''t impossible..." [Diana] "How about you?" [Ash] "Well, it''s a long story, maybe I''ll save it for another time, but let just said that this blessing awaken when Liyana''s older sister is still alive... nk, I worded it wrongly..." [Diana] "Princess..." [Qis] "So, that mean back when you, Qis, Alice and I believe her name is Linda, is still friends?" [Ash] ~Nodded~ Well, now I''m curious, but "I can tell that the blessing you awaken is almost similar to Rean, but, there''s a difference. I wonder why?" [Ash] "Well, before I proceed, you did know what happened to those te..." [Diana] "Rean, I don''t think you want to hear this" [Ash] "If you like, then please come inside" [Qis] "Huh!?" [Diana] "Sorry, for eavesdropping..." [Rean] Rean there have been using his blessing to strengthen his darkness magic and blended with the surrounding darkness behind the door, well I will give him B+ for it, but it isn''t enough to fool us both. Qis and I have noticed it from the start, but we just kept quiet about it. But, now, talking about his fate in the future... "Am I, not good enough...?" [Rean] "No, that''s splendid. It just that this is me and Qis you''re facing" [Ash] "NOT THAT!" [Rean] "Rean..." [Diana] "Am I not good enough to know what happened? Am I not strong enough, only to be protected all the time..." [Rean] "Right now, you aren''t" [Ash] "!" [Rean] "That''s... true" [Qis] "Ash! Qis!" [Diana] "I see... sorry for bothering you" [Rean] Rean try to leave, but "You don''t want to hear what we are discussing?" [Ash] "I ain''t, good enough" [Rean] "Then become good enough under my guidance, that is what Goddess Achalasia and God of Death tasked me to do" [Ash] """!!!""" [Rean, Diana, Qis] "Well, even if they didn''t tasked me to, I''ll still guide all of you. This might sound cliche, but you, Elise, Kara, Mara, Zerolith, Karon, Farhah, Singa, Savel, and Charlotte, and now, all of them. You guys are all my families, so there''s no way I will just leave you be like that" [Ash] "Why?" [Rean] "Why? No reason why. You wouldn''t need a reason to help your family member right" [Ash] "!" [Rean] Sigh... I swear to god, don''t make that face. Cheer up, you''re a man "I can''t believe you think like that when you''re making that face itself" [Diana] "Looks whose talking, mini Gizzere" [Ash] "Sigh... the three of you" [Qis] She said that, but she smile the brightest among the four of us "Please, let me join in as well" [Rean] "Sure" [Diana] "Still... you really want to know about what will ultimately happen to all of you?" [Ash] "Please tell me!" [Rean] "Well..." [Ash] I tell him what happen to all the ten heroes in the past "!" [Rean] It''s to be expected, but, I can''t look at his shocked face, but I have to, I need to show him my support, even if it is painful for him, and for me... "But, not all of them die. In fact, there might be a survivor. Specifically one" [Diana] """!""" [Ash, Qis, Rean] Chapter 101 - Director of Orphanage _________________________________________________ [Somewhere in Kiserre, a neighbouring country of Estel connected by the open field dungeon] "Run, we have to keep on running!" [Adult man] "Hang in there!" [Teenage girl] "I, I can''t..." [Young deer girl] The young deer girl, still having a laceration all over his lower limb, cry. The old rusty iron shackles that they destroyed to free themselves are still there, dangling at her foot. With that condition and the fact that she''s starving, no one can blame her not being able to run, but the situation demand it. "It can''t be helped" [Old dwarf] "Old man! What are you doing!" [Adult man] "Well, it''s better for me to get caught and buy you some time to escape" [Old dwarf] "That''s stupid! They will just kill you on the spot!" [Adult man] "Don''t underestimate me. I might be old, but I was there 100 years ago, helping my friends warding the devil off" [Old dwarf] "But that longevity medicine by that Estel''s elf has run out!" [Young dwarf] "Even so, this is our only way" [Old dwarf] "NO!" [Teenage girl] "I don''t want that!" [Young deer girl] "It''s fine, plus..." [Old dwarf] "..." [Others] "My time have long been due..." [Old dwarf] "Old man..." [Adult man] "Now go! Don''t make me repeat myself!" [Old dwarf] "... Understood!" [Young dwarf] "Let''s go... Both of you!" [Adult man] "NO NO NO!" [Young deer girl] "Let me go! Let me go!" [Teenage girl] "Bye-bye. Take care, and may the Goddess be with you" [Old dwarf] The old dwarf send them off with a smile. Taking his old axe from his item box, he sigh one last time "How I want to drink the coffee made by Claude with all of them once more" [Old dwarf] _________________________________________________ ~Big yawn~ ~Slap in the mouth~ "Farhah!" [Ash] "Hahahaha" [Farhah] "That''s funny" [Elf boy] "Do it again" [Young girl] "..." [Ash] Sigh... fine ~Purposely yawn~ ~Hit even harder~ "Alright you there, come here!" [Ash] "Run!" [Farhah] "KYAA!" [Little children] "What a chaos" [Karon] "It sure is lovely here" [Naoto] "It sure does. Guess this mansion have become brighter ever since they move in" [Mira] "Alright there, calm down. Ash, you should just rest now" [Kana] "No need" [Ash] After the night talk last night, I went outside to search for any portal stone that might be left by the Achalasia Externa group in Malsia. Well, too bad since I come empty handed even after searching from night till sunrise. Guess they must have taken some measure to combat that issue. Well, if they don''t, it will works in our favour which is nice. "Aren''t you going to the castle afterward? You should just rest" [Naoto] "True, but my time here with them is short, so let me play with them more" [Ash] "That''s sweet" [Seo Ah] But it''s the truth. The king summons me as to discuss the peculiar portal stone that I found at the dungeon yesterday. It''s an important issue so I can''t find any excuses to reject it. Plus, I''m sure Diana and Haliza will blabber non stop should I skip the meeting. (Well, I''m sure it''s not just the portal stone. The watcher did show to other that I had found an interesting item, so that must be included in today''s meeting) [Ash] Just when I had get used to it, that watcher suddenly decided to do it job. Sigh... I can imagine the nobles and merchants who will pestered me non stop just to get a hand on it. "Sigh..." [Ash] "Sigh..." [Singa] "Why do you sigh?" [Ash] "Why do you sigh?" [Savel] "Oh I see..." [Ash] "Oh I see..." [Cat boy] Huh, then try this one "If you must cross a course cross cow across a crowded cow crossing, cross the cross coarse cow across the crowded cow crossing carefully" [Ash] "..." [Singa] "Cross..." [Savel] "C C C C C... Charlotte" [Charlotte] "That''s petty..." [Zerolith] Haha, If they managed to repeat this tongue twister, I will be so impressed that I will, I don''t know, maybe treat them to whatever they like . . . "I''m off" [Ash] "Bye-bye" [Kids] "We will see you later" [Mira] With the time nearing noon, both of us went out a bit later than I usually do should I attend a meeting, hey, I can already tell that those pesky merchants and nobles will like to have it, so this is just a countermeasure to prevent or should I say make me less annoyed. And once we are at the castle gate "Hello there Sir, may I have a moment of your time" "No, No, don''t listen to him, instead, why don''t the two of us have some nice discussion" "Baah, he is just a swindler, can''t believe he even have the nerve to show up here" "Why did that little girl get this golden opportunity" "First with the princess and now..." Bla Bla Bla, that''s all I hear. Sigh... atleast the castle guards manage to control the situation, so they didn''t really come close to me, but man, you got to respect their sheer will and determination to get this item of mine. "Too bad for them, I already knew what to do with it" [Ash] "This is simply outrageous, but I must said, it makes me excited" [Mira] "Good" [Ash] As the two of us are a bit late, it should be no surprise that we will be running late to the meeting, and with almost the same scenario happen inside the castle (and honestly, you just swap merchant and replace it with noble, since at the end of day, all my brain translate their words into bla bla bla) we arrive around 15 minute late "Tchh, this is why I don''t like commoner like them, not appreciating of our time" [Rude Captain 2.0] "Sorry, we have no excuse" [Mira] "This time around, I will say the same as she" [Ash] "Hmph, atleast you know your place" [Rude Captain] "Obviously, since I can ju..." [Ash] "Ash, just sit" [Diana] "How rude, don''t they teach you not to interrupt when someone is talking" [Ash] "Coming from you, it''s almost ironic, no, I should use the term sarcastic here" [Diana] "Just take your seat" [Ram] And we begin the meeting, and the first list on the topic is obviously "Can you sell the Crystal spawning block to us?" [Malsia''s merchant guild master] "Well, I will say this straight, no I won''t, since this thing here belong to the director of the Malsia orphanage, and that''s Mira here" [Ash] "!" [Others] "Right" [Ash] Chapter 102 - Crystal spawning block and peculiar portal stone _________________________________________________ [Somewhere in the open field dungeon] An old dwarf fighting a group of white mercenaries with peculiar staff, enhance with strong light magic. Their attire also resembles that of the church (I hope someone is watching this... but should they manipulate the watcher like 100 years ago...) [Old dwarf] Another chantless spell coming from them, but the old dwarf isn''t one to fall without a fight. He takes it like a champ, even deflecting it back towards them "That old man!" [White attire A] "He is strong!" [White attire B] "Hmph, he is just a non human, we of the human race should prove our superiority!" [White Attire C] "Yeah!" [Others] As the barrage of light magic from afar begin to take it tolls into the old dwarf body, his knee begin to giveaway (I might not be as strong as the rumour traveler king, but...) [Old dwarf] The old dwarf begins his chant, channeling all his earth mana magic to his axe before smashing it to the ground, creating a large pitfall, no, a separation that divides them. Some of the unfortunate men find themselves in the dark pit below, only to met their end due to the height from which they fell "Come at me!" [Old dwarf] "I should take that invitation" [?] "You, how come you''re still alive!" [Old dwarf] "Right back at you" [?] "Agnes!" [Old dwarf] As he begin to swing his axe, all he sees is a black curtain, covering his vision before he find himself stumble into the ground "Why you!" [Agnes] As a last ditch effort, he made a large spike that penetrate the sole of Agnes foot right into her hip "Tch! This fool! Just perish!" [Agnes] (Be safe, all of you...) [Old dwarf] With her darkness magic, she makes a large anchor like structure and begin to pierce the old dwarf head, killing him on the spot "Mrs Agnes" [White Attire C] "We are sorry for our incompetence" [White Attire A] "Just go and find those slaves!" [Agnes] "Yes!" [Others] The white attire resume their cat and mouse game. (That said, isn''t here where she is right now... They better find those slaves fast before the slaves meet her) [Agnes] She tried to stand back up with the help of the healer team that try to heal her but... "DAMN YOU KARONLIR!" [Agnes] _________________________________________________ Director of Orphanage, basically those who oversee and take good care of the orphanages, both in Estel and Malsia, as well as the future orphanage that we will open. An immediate question that they ask when I designated Mira as the director is, why not me? I can and if possible I would like to be one, but given how I am usually tasked with various important jobs from not only Estel, but now Malsia as well, I opt not to. Plus, between Mira and me, she is the better choice as her experience in merchant will surely help manage the Orphanage, as compared to me who only knew how to fight. Heck, even back on earth, I am no one special, so it shouldn''t take a genius to see which one of us is the better person for the job. Of course, Mira is reluctant at first, plus she also has her merchant job to do, and to secure an additional fund for the orphanage, surely it will be a headache for her. Thus, I gave her the Crystal spawning block that I got inside the Gift from Earth dungeon. Just like how the zombie spawning block spawn zombie, and how the marine spawning block spawn marine monsters, this block will spawn crystal, but not a crystal monster (as those thing do exist), but instead just your regular crystal. Name it, diamond, gold, titanium, fantasy material like vibranium, mytrhil, it can produce it in an instant (well, not exactly instant, you have to give an enormous amount of mana, especially earth and fire mana as well as golem mana, and it will take some time to produce the said material. That said, when compared to the natural process, you can say that it is instantly made). With me giving her the right to bare and use this item, her problem as a merchant is solved (or so she said, but I''m sure this will only cause her to have frequent future headache), but hey, at least she can continue to be a merchant and generate an income for herself as well as the orphanages. I will also receive a fixed percentage of sell through my account with the merchant guild, so an added bonus for me! That said "How exactly this little miss here will handle such important item?" [Malsia merchant guild master] He seems reluctant to give up, well... "I will leave it to her, it''s up to her how she will use it." [Ash] "Then why not to us!" [Noble] "Simple, I don''t know any of you. Mira however, is someone I know, and someone who can take good care of the orphanage" [Ash] "We can also take good care of the orphanage" [Malsia merchant guild master] "Maybe yes, maybe not. Whatever it is, I don''t want to take any unnecessary risk" [Ash] "Just give it to us! Us in the Ministry of Finance can put that thing to better use, and also can take good care of the orphans!" [Noble] "Nope, plus, isn''t this thing mine. I can give it to whoever I want, even destroy it if I so wanted to" [Ash] "!" [Other] I won''t, it is a valuable resource for the orphanage, so I won''t. That said, they really are persistent. I just hope they will keep quiet and leave "Then we can simply have her working under us" [Noble] "That won''t be necessary" [Haliza] "Princess!" [Nobles] "She''s my friend, and the castle already shown support for the Orphanage under my guidance. So, she''s one of my worker, and should you touch her, I will ensure a capital punishment serve in the pretext of harassing a royal worker" [Haliza] "Then, have her married into one of us noble, surely we can guide her better!" [Noble] "Horny old man, just know your place will you!" [Ash] "What is that!" [Noble] Yup, I snapped a bit. Can you blame me, she''s treating one of my coworker like an object, so of course I will snapped "I will say this only once, the spawning block will be handled by the Director of Orphanage, and should anyone of you have any sort if complaints, then we can have a private "talk" among us. Of course, for your safety, you may bring however many "guards" that you want, but don''t expect them to leave the same" [Ash] "Your highness, he is threatening us noble!" [Noble] "Shouldn''t he be prosecuted!" [Noble] Oh boy, this have turned into a mess, me and my big mouth. King Estel might favour me but I don''t know much about King of Malsia "Like he said, it''s only a "talk", so you don''t have to worry much about it" [King Malsia] "But..." [Noble] "Moving on, I will first congratulate Mira as the first Orphanage Director in this country, please do your best in doing your job" [King Malsia] "Thank you your highness, I will do just that!" [Mira] Hoo... so he does back me up. Guess with him having seen my work firsthand do help. Plus, I''m sure it is also due to King Estel letter, saying about my "unique" personality. Haliza and Diana must also have their fair share of stories about me and they definitely have told him about it. That said, I do hoe he wouldn''t take advantage of Mira, since his daughter and Mira are friend. (I''ll just have to wait and see for that) [Ash] I hope nothing happen. Should he take advantage of that, I''ll just ask Mira and all the kids to move to Estel then, as easy as that "As for Mr Ash here, could you explain about the new portal stone that you find, peculiar" [King Malsia] "I will your highness" [Ash] Guess it''s my turn to talk (formally that is) "As we knew, the portal stone that I previously found serve as a mean of transportation from one place to another. A good example is the King Behemoth case, as well as the recent Ghost monster attack at Estel, from which those monsters uses the portal stone found in Malsia" [Ash] The one that take interests in it nodded unconsciously, recollecting back the info that they know, while the other, let just say they mind their own business "But this one, what peculiar about it is that, the monster have undergone some changes as they get transported. I don''t know whether it''s just a coincidence or not, but the puppet golem master that I fought do feel strange, it magic core simply deactivated, as opposed to being destroyed. That said, it might be a one time event, but it''s worth noting it down" [Ash] "Can the corrupted Thanatos be attributed to this as well?" [King Malsia] "Maybe, maybe not, since I''m more inclined to say that Agnes is the one responsible for it. And if we want to further theorize this, Agnes might have done something to it, and thus, the new peculiar portal stone" [Ash] "I see" [King Malsia] That''s about it I guess for my report. It might be only a fluke, might be not, but nonetheless an important one. You don''t want an army of peculiar monsters suddenly barge into your country "That said, may I buy the two magic core that you manage to get at the dungeon?" [King Malsia] This feel nostalgic "For fortress defense magic?" [Ash] "It is" [Haliza] "Sorry, but I have to refuse it. I wanted to use both of it for the Orphanage" [Ash] "!" [Other] "How nostalgic" [Diana] Chapter 103 - Second Housey and Birdy (Pterodactyl) _________________________________________________ [In the middle of Open field dungeon] "Grandpa Karonlir..." [Young dwarf] The young dwarf can''t help himself. As he keeps on running, his tear fall like that of a pipe, reminiscing all the time he once shared. He knew that in this case, he should stay positive and hope for the best, but he can''t "No..." [Young deer girl] The young deer girl also feels the same, albeit she''s to tired too even cry right now, what''s more, she is being carried in the back by the adult man. "Ughh!" [Teenage girl] "That is!" [Adult man] "Are you alright!" [Teenage boy] "I''m fin... ugh!" [Teenage girl] "They''re coming!" [Adult man] "That mean grandpa really is..." [Young dwarf] They all give up on running. They didn''t even say a word but deep inside their heart, they all know that running away now will only be pointless "No... please spare us" [Teenage girl] "Are they going to catch us again? And make us do that again..." [Young deer girl] "It''s alright, everything will be fine..." [Young dwarf] The white attire men come, and "Take this!" [White Attire C] "Ugh!!" [Adult man] "And this deer girl, how dare a non human defy us" [White Attire E] "That hurt, please stop..." [Young deer girl] "Please don''t" [Teenage girl] "Shut it..." [White Attire B] "Huh?" [Others] ""Kyaaaa!!!!" [Teenage girl, young deer girl] "That woman, isn''t that!" [White Attire A] A mysterious light blue sword that slices the neck of the white Attire man went back to it master, a mysterious woman in a light blue attire, resembling that of a Baju Kurung _________________________________________________ "The king of Malsia..." [Rean] "Is right In front of us..." [Elise] "Your, your highness..." [Seo Ah] "Please rest assure, I am merely here to see how the Behemoth Slayer will use the two A rank magic core for fortress defense magic" [King Malsia] "Same as me. I''m interested in it as well" [Malsia Head Magician] ~Gulp~ "Do your best Brother Ash, or else your head will be..." [Farhah] "Yeah, that will never happen, so don''t be nervous" [Ash] (Big Boss already passed out!) [Thug B] (Hoi, not only him!) [Thug D] (Seriously...) [Qudus] "Oh just relax all of you it''s not like the king here will try to harm you. At best, he will only imprisoned you" [Ash] ~Play along~ "Ohh, I might so" [King Malsia] ~Scared~ "!" [Guards] "Brother Ash!" [Oldest boy] "Don''t talk like that, or else your head will..." [Zerolith] (Zerolith! Don''t say that out loud!) [Kara] "I''m hungry..." [Charlotte] "Same here..." [Youngest girl] "Please! Forgive them for their rudeness!" [Seo Ah] "This isn''t going anywhere..." [Ash] "Still, I''m surprised, this must be how most people see us royal" [King Malsia] "No, no we aren''t!" [Karon] "Truthfully, yup" [Ash] "Your highness, my brother right now are sleep deprived, so you don''t have to take what he said seriously" [Mara] "Hahaha, looks like they really see us royal as a guillotine" [King Malsia] (WE ARE DOOMED) [Thug F] (Goodbye everyone...) [Elise] "I''m hungry..." [Charlotte] "Same here..." [Youngest boy] (Charlotte, please keep quiet!) [Rean] (I really want to cover her mouth, but I''m to afraid to move) [Elise] "Charlotte and you two, let us eat first" [Diana] "Yay!" [Charlotte] (Ignorance sure is blissful) [Kana] "Should I eat together with them? As a way to further bond with them" [King Malsia] "!" [Guards] "That''s a great idea your majesty" [Malsia head Magician] "That''s literally the worst idea you can do right know" [Ash] Yeah, they will never appreciate that idea. I knew it. Look, their eyes are practically begging me to refuse the invitation. I can just troll them right now and have his majesty here eat with them, but no, his aura as a king is just too prominent. I''m sure those kids won''t be in ease while eating with him. Even if they eat, they will just forget to chew properly, so they might choke on the food, so no, bad idea. They can eat with the princesses though, maybe because they''re still young and appear to be more friendly as compared to the dignified king "That''s too bad" [King Malsia] "You should shave then, dad" [Haliza] "No way! This is a man pride!" [King Malsia] ~Scare~ "Exactly like my dad..." [Diana] "Well, you guys have two options, either go out there and eat but misses seeing me using fortress defense magic or the other way round. I''ll like for the latter sincerely speaking since this is educational material here" [Ash] "Hungry... but will see first!" [Charlotte] "Good" [Ash] Since this isn''t going anywhere, I''ll just explain to them about the fortress defense magic like how I told Diana and Qis the last time. The instructions that I put into the puppet master golem magic core (which I painfully and somehow activated it back) also the same one that that Housey have (actually, there''s one additional instructions or should I say features that I am experimenting with, but I must go to Estel and do it to see whether it''s a success or not), so after repeating back the step, and the bright light glow "Housey!" [Savel] "So this is the second Housey!" [Singa] "Housey?" [Elf boy] "Well, Housey is our house flying orb!" [Savel] "That sure is a simple explanation" [Qis] "He is not wrong you know" [Mira] "Housey! Want to pet!" [Charlotte] "... ..- .-. ." [Housey] "Guess it name is Housey then" [Ash] Charlotte really do love to name things. Look, the second Housey here already accepted it name. Plus, now, all the younger kid wanted to pet it (while forgetting that a certain someone that they''re terrified with is still here), while the older group reminded them of their manner (since that certain someone is still here) "That easy..." [King Malsia] "I braced myself but to think that it is that easy..." [Haliza] "Please tell me more about it!" [Malsia head Magician] "Alright, alright! Don''t be so close to me, your breath tickle!" [Ash] Geez... maybe if he is a she, I will tolerate it... yeah no, it just plain gross,and I can''t believe I just thought of that. Still, there''s nothing much to explain, so he is left unsatisfied. Well, time to move outside "And now for Malsia''s Orphanage very own golem!" [Ash] "Knighty!" [Charlotte] "No! The great warrior of light with mega sword!" [Savel] "No, the great giant fire beast lion!" [Singa] "No, the tree of life!" [Elf boy] "I will support that!" [Elf girl] "Me too!" [Farhah] "You guys, I haven''t even started yet..." [Ash] They seem excited, this make me wanted to troll them a bit "Oh looks, the king is displeased" [Ash] "!" [Kids] And they''re quite now, instantly. That sure is funny but ~Sad~ "Sorry about that" [Ash] "No, it''s fine" [King Malsia] "Shave... shave... shave" [Haliza] "I''ll definitely tell my father the same" [Diana] Still, I actually don''t have any idea of what golem should I make. Well... (We got Behe, a land monster. My favourite ice shark missiles golem as a sea monster so the next one should be...) [Ash] Yup, it''s decided then (Gather around this magic core, oh my air mana. Condensed yourself and give birth to a new golem) [Ash] Imagine it, imagine that dinosaur shape, and give it as much air mana as possible. And since this magic core do come from the giant golem, I reckoned it can even take the advance mana of air, vacuum. So, I should supply it with my vacuum mana as well "It glowing!" [Farhah] "Such enormous amount of mana, plus, he just used that much mana for fortress defense magic" [Malsia head Magician] "Not yet... Steel mana!" [Ash] I should just add some steel mana for further reinforcement and "It''s a big steel bird! How awesome is that! Can I ride it? Can I? Can I?" [Zerolith] ""Me too, me too!" [Eldest boy] "Hey, ladies first!" [Mara] "Shut it tomboy!" [Zerolith] "Say what!" [Mara] (They have forgot that the king us still here...) [Kara] Hahaha, they''re excited, plus, I just can''t get enough of their amaze look at my steel pterodactyl model, and as for Charlotte "Birdy!" [Charlotte] "Pterodactyl" [Ash] "BIRDY!" [Charlotte] "PTERODACTYL!" [Ash] "BIIIIRDYYY!" [Charlotte] "PTERODACTYLLLL" [Ash] "Ash, she''s just a small kid, and Birdy is easier to pronounce. If you disagree, I''ll just use my power as the director here to name it Birdy" [Mira] "Pterodactyl..." [Ash] "Birdy!" [Charlotte] "You win this time..." [Ash] "Still, what an amazing golem! Please tell me more about it!" [Malsia head Magician] "Impressive. Estel sure is lucky to have you around" [King Malsia] ~Bird screeching sound~ "Pterodactyl, please keep quite" [Ash] ~Silent~ "Birdy!" [Charlotte] "Yes, my sweety Charlotte, Birdy" [Ash] Too bad, but it will always be pterodactyl inside my heart "Huh, hey! What is this Big Steel Bird doing here!" [Kanji] "I''m sorry, but did you guys just dragged the unconscious Kanji outside as well?" [Naoto] "Maybe..." [Thugs] And the unconscious Kanji wakes up Chapter 104 - Crystal factory _________________________________________________ [In the middle of the open field dungeon] A light blue sword can be seen glowing brightly in the hand of its owner. The owner, having a lifeless eye, will only react to a hostile intention, and with the white Attire men having such intention "..." [Baju kurung lady] "She is, isn''t she the SS rank monster of the open field dungeon!" [White Attire A] "You mean her? The one where..." [White Attire C] "Fall back! We can''t win against her!" [White Attire E] The group of white attire men, having sense that they''re no chances of victory quickly fall back, but, a wall of ice surrounded by a raging sea current prevent them from doing so. "Such power..." [Adult man] In awe, everyone can''t help but to appreciate the contrasting landscape that appears before their eyes. A wall of transparent iceberg surrounded by bluish sea in the middle of open field. "Damn it!" [White Attire A] "Take this!" [White Attire D] They try their best to break the iceberg, but it proves to be difficult even with their enhanced staff. The lady with a lifeless eye simply walk towards them slicing each and everyone of them until two persons remain (If I''m not mistaken, she will only react to hostile intention, so...) [White Attire A] "Please, forgive me. I have a son and daughter back home. Please spare me!" [White Attire A] But it falls to deaf ear, or not. The lady can clearly felt that he is just lying, and still holding a grudge over his fallen comrades, and as for the other one "Shit! This is the only way!" [White Attire G] With a peculiar portal stone at his hand, he tries to transport himself away from here (If Mrs Agnes can do it, so do I) [White Attire G] And with the nick of time, he managed to escape from a certain death _________________________________________________ I''m stuffed. As someone with enormous amounts of mana, I''ll really appreciate a mana potion that can fully restored one mana in just one consumption, just like those rare items in the game. But nope, here I am having to gulp down 25 expensive mana potions of various qualities and effects just to get back half of my mana. Of course, all of them looks at me, worrying about my condition "Brother Ash, please don''t drink more! You will get mana intoxication!" [Kara] "Kara is right! You are already sleep deprived and now you want to have mana intoxication!" [Mara] "Don''t worry, my body is sturdier than most people. The only downside now is I''m too tired gulping down this mana potion one by one, and my jaw hurts" [Ash] Yeah, it''s like seeing someone taking pain killer, 25 at the time. If I see that back on earth, I''ll force that guy to come with me to the hospital, it basically suicidal. But not me, I guess when Goddess Achalasia say that my blessing will make me OP, this is one of it. "Can''t you just wait until tomorrow?" [Seo Ah] "I thought since your king is here, I''ll just show him the factory" [Ash] "The what?" [Elise] Well, easier to show them then explaining it in this case. I brought them all to the unused space behind the mansion and with my earth magic, I''ll make a big size cement hut here. Just when I am about to get started "!" [Others] "Good job Karon!" [Ash] "Thanks" [Karon] Such a nice boy, he must have noticed the earth mana that I''m about to unleash. He is a quiet boy, but I can tell that he just didn''t want me to expense any more mana. Still... "Here, drink this potion" [Malsia head Magician] ~Shaking head~ "Here, take this" [Ash] ~ Nod~ "I see..." [Malsia head Magician] Well, he is a shy boy, so I''m sorry if that hurts your feeling, plus, it''s logical that a child will not take something given to him from an unknown person. Even if you''re the head magician and famous for that, you''re just a stranger in the child eyes Well, what important is that I get myself a hut. It size might be smaller than the one that I will make, plus there''s no ventilation. Plus, it''s quite rough. Well, instead of doing it by myself, I guide Karon and other interested children on what to do, in which they gladly did it "Here, make some window here and there" [Ash] "Yes!" [Young girl] She makes a circular window, and then "Karon, use glass magic" [Ash] "Yes!" [Karon] And we got a glass window. Erinmorlin must be proud of Karon, seeing as how almost effortlessly Karon made one. "Here, use this and pour some light magic" [Ash] "For light bulb Isn''t it?" [Elise] "It sure is" [Ash] "Right!" [Elise] "We can make it as well!" [Young boy] "Alright, alright, some spare light bulbs will never hurt" [Ash] Just when I wanted to tell them "I make some wooden tables and chairs with them!" [Farhah] "It''s hard..." [Elf girl] "Just how did she make it effortlessly" [Elf boy] "Because I''m strong!" [Farhah] "Thank you the three of you" [Ash] "Rean, can you..." [Elise] "Install it? Sure!" [Rean] "Rean, let me do it. I felt uncomfortable seeing someone younger than me doing all the work" [Kanji] "That make the two of us" [Rean] Well, they try to be the one installing it. But... "Thank you Singa!" [Kara] "You''re welcome!" [Singa] ""Ehhh!!!"" [Rean, Kanji] "You guys sure take some lovely time arguing, so we asked Singa instead" [Elise] The girls just ask Singa to use his space magic, teleport and install it. Yup, simple, problem solved. "..." [King Malsia] "..." [Guards] "Something wrong?" [Ash] "Our common sense, it''s crumbling..." [Malsia head Magician] (We have become what we used to call Brother Ash) [Elise] (Agree) [Rean] "I heard that you know!" [Ash] ""Sorry!!"" [Rean, Elise] How rude, my little brother and sister sure need a scolding or two about talking behind people back. I wonder is it because of the influence of people closest to him. Well, Claude and Rafiah are fine, so that just leave... no, of course not... I hope... Well, I will just blame Diana, she''s close to them as well "How rude!" [Diana] "Yeah, yeah mini Gizzere" [Ash] "Kids, don''t follow his bad example! Got it!" [Diana] "Ehh..." [Young boy] "Brother Ash is cool!" [Cat boy] "And strong!" [Cat girl] "Oh my, did I hear it wrong" [Diana] (Scary...) [Seo Ah] "It has been some time since I last saw that scary smile" [Ash] "And this is exactly what I say, don''t follow his manner of speech or else everyone will hate you!" [Diana] "Yes!" [Kids] "Ouchy..." [Ash] Yeah, hate to admit but I guess she''s right about this kind of thing ". ...- . .-. -.-- - .... .. -. --. / .-. . .- -.. -.-- ..--.." [Housey] "Yes, everything is ready Housey" [Ash] "I do know you understand Housey since you are the creator, but it sure is mysterious as to how" [Haliza] "Yeah, even with us together performing the fortress defense magic, only one of us can actually understand them, and we still can''t figure it why" [Malsia head Magician] "I see" [Ash] ".-- . / .- .-. . / --. . - - .. -. --. / -.. . .-. .- .. .-.. . -.. / .... . .-. ." [Housey] "Yeah, we are getting derailed, sorry about that. But, you sure are more assertive than the Estel''s Housey" [Ash] Well, time to integrate the Crystal spawning block here. Well, all I need is to link Housey here to the crystal and also give large amount of Earth, fire and golem mana to it. All the finer details like the amount it can make at one day, the quality of materials etc, I''ll fine tune it later based on Mira''s feedback. And most importantly, I''ll give it more mana to make the crystal that Diana''s ask. "And done, Diana, if you would" [Ash] "Sure" [Diana] "Huh? Why Diana?" [Haliza] "Well, I had asked her to help me for quality control, and she agreed to it" [Ash] "I see" [Haliza] A lie, but I have to. The real reason is simple, I wanted this crystal spawning block here to process and make eleven set of what Diana is currently wearing to mask her blessings, and thus give it to those ten with Rafiah included. And... "So fast!" [Mira] "This sure is fast, you can get rich in no time!" [Guard] "Not quite, don''t you understand the basic of economics!" [Mira] "No, no. I mean..." [Guard] "Well, it is fast because I purposely give it huge amount of mana just to test run it. Think of it like your normal human, sure, it can run quickly from one end to another in record time, but it requires more energy and that person will become tired and the quality of it works will deteriorate for a while. The same applies here" [Ash] "I see" [Qis] Well more importantly, we got ourselves the crystals now. That''s good. Ohh, one last thing "Mira, pour your mana to Housey and the Spawning Block now" [Ash] "Huh?" [Mira] "I have put some seal with it as well. That way, only those that are certified can use it. So, I''ll register your mana, that way you can have total control of it as well" [Ash] "I see. I will then" [Mira] So far, only the two of us can use it. Based on Mira feedback, I might increase the number of people that have total control over it. "Can I test it?" [Mira] "Sure" [Ash] "Then, a simple one first. Please make a set of dining glassware" [Mira] Oh, it is a simple one. And after around 10 minute of waiting "This many" [Haliza] "Perfect, now I don''t have to worry about dining set!" [Mira] "She is in full director mode already" [Ash] "That''s good then. Plus, I thought of the same thing as her just now" [Kana] Like Kana said it is a good thing. "Alright, how about this. A set of platinum armor" [Mira] It shines so brightly and at the same time "Ughh!" [Ash] "Ash!" [Diana] "I''m sorry, are you alright?" [Mira] "Yeah, I''m fine" [Ash] That really caught me off guard. Guess with Mira tone just now, Housey must have thought that it is an urgent request, so they use my mana to compensate. "Thanks Savel" [Ash] "You''re welcome" [Savel] Savel gave me a tissue for me to wipe my mouth. As for the vomitus, Housey clean it off for me. Plus "It becomes dim" [Kara] "Guess it overworked itself" [Zerolith] "I see. Still, we get some valuable data from it" [Mira] Well, like Mira said, we get some data out of it. And "I''m tired, I will go to sleep first. Sorry that I couldn''t send you off properly your highness" [Ash] "It''s fine. You should get some rest for now. You do have the mapping job to be done tonight after all" [King Malsia] I''m glad he is quick to understand. "I''m sleepy as well" [Cat boy] "Same here..." [Charlotte] "Let sleep together..." [Savel] "Yeah" [Singa] Well, no good. I can''t let them sleep with empty stomach. So "Let have some light tea first then we nap together? [Ash] "Yes!" [Younger group] "I shall join in as well" [King Malsia] "Dad, we have works to do!" [Haliza] "Right... excuse me" [King Malsia] I feel bad, but nice job Haliza Chapter 105 - Before leaving _________________________________________________ [Somewhere in the middle of open field dungeon] "We are save!" [Adult man] "Thank you very much pretty sis!" [Young deer girl] "..." [Baju kurung lady] They all gathered around the mysterious lady, not realizing that the one In front of them is classified as an SS rank monster. "Eh, where are you going?" [Teenage girl] "..." [Baju kurung lady] Without saying a word, the lady simply walk. She didn''t even bother replying to the question thrown at her "What should we do?" [Young Dwarf] "We should follow her for now" [Adult man] "Right!" [Teenage girl] And so the four of them follow her. The young deer girl try to talk to her, saying various things like who is she, how is she so strong, is light blue her favourite colour, favourite food etc, but to no avail "Say something!" [Young deer girl] "..." [Baju kurung lady] "Hmm!" [Baju kurung lady] Frustrated as she might, she still holds the hand of the mysterious lady, and the lady seems not to bother about it. She tried to play around, even pinching one of her fingers, but the reaction remain the same "..." [Baju kurung lady] "Pretty lady, you''re funny" [Young deer girl] Nothing, not even the smile of the young deer girl is contagious to her. Of course, this strange behaviour of her causes anxiety to the other three until "She stop" [Young dwarf] _________________________________________________ That''s a nice nap. Birdy (Pterodactyl) cold steel body sure is comfortable. After the light meal that we have, I noticed that Birdy here didn''t have any nest (since you know, nest = bird home), so Farhah and the other uses their wood magic to make one for Birdy. Seeing as to how happy Birdy is, I just went there straight, and with how Birdy uses it air mana to cool it body, I fell asleep right there itself. But (Maybe that''s why I have that boulders dream) [Ash] Yeah, all the younger group also copied my action. They''re sleeping soundly right now, and I don''t want to disturb any one of them. ~Very soft screech~ "Thank you" [Ash] With it air magic, Birdy lifts Singa and Charlotte from my body, and place it back after I exit the nest. I don''t think there will be any problems leaving them here, it''s cloudy today and Birdy make it comfortable for them, so let just let them sleep. As for me, I ask Mira if she needed anything else to buy. Since there aren''t anything else to buy, I just simply went outside to but several C to B grade magic core. That sure put some dent into my wallet, but not that much. Maybe I should start farming those things at my training hall. Reason I have to buy it? I wanted to make three final thing for the orphanage here before leaving, that''s the autonomous bus golem, swimming pool and some polaroid camera (this have been delayed for quite sometime as well). If possible, I would also like to make some pistol for Mira and Kana, as a self defense tools for them. (I should just start doing those things tomorrow) [Ash] Right now, I have to map the ancient tunnel. . . . ~Yawn~ ~Slap~ "Gotcha!" [Ash] "No,let me go!" [Farhah] "Somebody help!" [Elf girl] "I have come to rescue the princess!" [Singa] "And you will have the mightiest of companion, a dragonewt!" [Savel] "As well as the greatest magician!" [Young girl] ~Strike together~ "Alright, that''s enough! Don''t get in Brother Ash way" [Seo Ah] "Come, let us play somewhere else" [Rean] "Oh no, enemy reinforcement" [Savel] "Come my comrade, we will die in honour!" [Cat boy] "Strike!!!" [Singa] "SINGA!" [Elise] "No! She''s too strong!" [Singa] "Now now, Your Brother really is drowsy. You don''t want him to hurt himself while making the bus golem right" [Kana] "!" [Younger group] "Better say sorry to him" [Mira] ~Yawn~ "It''s fine" [Ash] Finally, some peace. Right now, I am making a bus golem. It isn''t that hard since I have done it before, so I just trace back the step taken and done it like before. Well, it is easy but ~Disappointed look~ (Sorry Karon, I keep on forgetting about you...) [Ash] I should let them test drive first, then make a pool. Mental note, don''t forget about Karon! I should ask Mira and Kana to drive . . . The test drive went perfectly. Guess my skill have improved. ~Despair look~ (That sure is over dramatic...) [Ash] Well, onto the next one "Karon, let us make the pool" [Ash] "YES!" [Karon] (Such visible happiness) [Ash] "Me too!" [Charlotte] "Finally, I can swim once more!" [Zerolith] Well, the pool also didn''t take us that long to finish it. In fact, it''s still 1030am. So, I still have plenty of time for the Polaroid camera and the pistol. "Better get started" [Ash] While leaving the kids (with Kana and Birdy watching them), I went to one of the unused room. There, I simply have to do some try and error to make the polaroid camera. Well, I should model it first with the pinhole camera, it is part of science experiments back at school. . . . ~First trial~ "Nope" [Ash] Pitch black, guess my light magic core have some issues. What a waste. . . . ~Second trial~ "Oh wow" [Ash] The image is small, but it''s working! . . . ~Third trial~ "Hmm... I can make a better image" [Ash] Have to improve the quality of the pictures . . . ~Tenth trial~ "Finally!" [Ash] Well, time to tell them, or maybe not yet. "Kara, Mara, come here will you!" [Ash] ""Yes"" [Kara, Mara] They responded to my shout, and once they opened up the door, a flash of light greets them "Perfect!" [Ash] ""Brother Ash!!"" [Kara, Mara] "Oh my, what an embarrassing picture" [Ash] ""Stop it!!"" [Kara, Mara] They try to snatch it away from me, but to late, I already store it inside my item box. And to distract them "Here, take these four cameras and uses them. Then tell me your opinion on it" [Ash] ""Ehh! You finally create the camera!"" [Kara, Mara] "Sure do" [Ash] I give it to them and ~Flash~ "There, our first picture" [Mara] "You can have it Brother Ash. We always wanted to take your pictures first" [Kara] "You guys..." [Ash] I''m moved. Guess I''ll just give them the pictures that I stored just now Once they''re outside, I immediately started to make the pistol. Still... (Is that Diana and Haliza there? Guess they must have gone crazy over the Polaroid camera) [Ash] They sure are loud. Guess that just show how excited they are. well, just have to concentrate on making the pistol, but... "No good, I can''t" [Ash] Well, I try various model and various prototypes. Still, none of it works. Power, distance, reload, recoil, sturdiness, if one model succeed on one aspect, they fail on other. Guess I should brainstorm it with other later. "Ash, dinner ready!" [Mira] "Coming" [Ash] After dinner, I went back to map the ancient tunnel Chapter 106 - Leaving Malsia _________________________________________________ [Somewhere in the middle of Open field dungeon] "That blue attire lady, just why did she stop in the middle of the road?" [Teenage girl] "Not only that, she didn''t even moved an inch" [Young dwarf] The four of them, after tending to each other wound, decided that it is better for them to rest for a while. Each one of them are from different countries, but headed towards Kiserre for a common reason, but unfortunately "To think that we all survive this..." [Adult man] "But my siblings are still..." [Teenage girl] "I hope mother and father are doing good" [Young deer girl] "Well, as for me, with Grandpa Karonlir gone..." [Young dwarf] "Sorry, it''s insensitive of us" [Adult man] "No, it''s fine. Plus, he always say that his time is long due. So I guess with him dying just to protect us, it''s an honour that his life ended just like all of his friends from back then" [Young dwarf] "Just what kind of person is this grandpa of yours?" [Teenage girl] "Well, he always says that he was blessed before and have helped the ten heroes hundred years back to ward off the devil invasion, but sadly he lost his blessing" [Young dwarf] """WHAT!!!""" [Others] "You mean, the ten heroes that defeat the fallen god?" [Young deer girl] "Not that one. That''s way back then, who knows how many hundreds or thousands years back" [Teenage girl] "Still, just how did he lost his blessing?" [Adult man] "He said that some shrewd lady from the church snatch it away from her" [Young dwarf] "Is that even possible?" [Teenage girl] "Who knows. But, with what we experience... no about to experience, it doesn''t surprise me that he is telling the truth" [Young dwarf] "..." [Others] "Still... we need to plan our next action" [Adult man] "?" [Others] _________________________________________________ "Thank you Qudus for helping me out" [Ash] "No problems. Plus, I get to become a Trainee Geographer thanks to you, so it is my way of paying back" [Qudus] After getting his citizenship from Haliza, Qudus wonder around for a bit thinking what he would like to do. With Haliza''s suggestion, he pursuit his study in geography, that way he can uncover more of the ancient tunnel and it related secret. This time around, I won''t handle the map to the king since he is quite busy today, instead, this (incomplete) map that shows the ancient tunnel details is handed over to the scholar at the royal library. He seems happy about it but quite sad at the same time since it''s incomplete. Well, there are few reasons why I left it incomplete, first, even though the king order me to map the ancient tunnel, in reality, he just wanted me to dispose of the monsters that are roaming around there, as it could pose threat should it find its way into the surface. Second, I had left the mansion back at Estel for quite some time, and I am getting worried about Rafiah, Claude, Housey and Behe. Not to mention, I still have some works left to do once I get back there. Lastly, this map only serves as foundation for a more details map that these scholars will make. "Here''s the payment from the kingdom" [Scholar] "Thank you." [Ash] "Welcome, but should you find yourself interested in continuing mapping it, do come back to us" [Scholar] "I will think of that" [Ash] Well, obviously no, but it''s free money. So, maybe if I am desperate enough, I''ll come and do that job once more Along the way, I buy myself some warm milk just to refresh myself before breakfast and once I went back, I can see that all of them are waiting for me. "You guys should just eat first you know" [Ash] "They insist on waiting, plus today is your last day here" [Kana] "Are you... really leaving" [Youngest girl] "Yeah, but I promise that I''ll come visit. At least once a month" [Ash] "Promise?" [Cat boy] "Promise" [Ash] ~Growl~ "Elise, how rude!" [Ash] "IT WAS YOU!" [Elise] "Hahaha" [Others] We have our breakfast. Mira cooks the same fried rice that we had with them the first time we met all of them back then What started as a request to uncover the mystery of the ghosts monsters attack ended up with me uncovering more mystery. But, it was worth it, plus, I managed to save these kids here, and gave them a chance to grow up in a loving environment. (I do wonder if someone would like to adopt them?) [Ash] Well, if that happen, I''ll just think about it later, but for now, you could say I am quite reluctant to do so. I mean, they''re treated rather harshly back then, so I would like for them to heal the wound in their heart first ~After breakfast~ "This goes here" [Blonde boy] "Sis Kara, please help me write this one" [Young girl] "Sure" [Kara] "Ahh, shall we draw a crown?" [Cat girl] "A bow and arrow would be cooler" [Elf boy] Right now, they''re preparing a gift for Haliza as I watched them over from the comfort of Birdy''s nest. You could say his cold steel body couple with how the wind blows around it make one drowsy almost instantly, and with how I am working hard yesterday, this just seems like to be a perfect reward for me ~Screeh~ "Yes, please take care of them. You too Housey" [Ash] ".. / .-- .. .-.. .-.." [Housey] After that, I started to train them to use chantless magic with the help of other, and once evening come "..." [Malsia''s Orphanage kids] "Come on, what is with that sad face" [Ash] "You''re making the same face though" [Mira] "I believe all of us are making that sad face" [Kana] "No I''m not!" [Kanji] "Boss, please be honest" [Thug D] "This is an emotional moment" [Thug F] "Will it really hurts you guys to be honest" [Naoto] "To tell the truth, I''m grateful that I met all of you. I would never imagine I can receive a citizenship right here" [Qudus] "Better study hard there" [Haliza] "Yes!" [Qudus] "Same here. I always wanted to meet the behemoth slayer, and now, I can follow his foot step. I''ll be sure to take good care of them!" [Kana] "Someone blushing" [Diana] "Shut it!" [Ash] "As for me... I guess I really am grateful for making this mansion lovely again. I''m sure my parents, no everyone parents will watch over all of us here from heaven" [Mira] "Mira..." [Haliza] "..." [Diana] "The king is nice to you though princess..." [Qis] "You can just forget about your siblings, right now, you have 35 of them" [Ram] "I guess that''s true" [Diana] Huh, I almost forgot what she''s facing right now. Disapproval from other nobles and fellow royal, and yet here she is, still smiling at them. She sure is strong "Or if you''re lonely, you can always find yourself some good man! I know, how about Ash here" [Haliza] "Rejected. I would like to keep my peaceful life" [Ash] "Wait... did he just..." [Haliza] "Reject that offer..." [Mira] "Hit me, I might be drowsy" [Thug A] ~Thug B punch his nose~ "I can hear some crack" [Thug C] "Seriously..." [Thug E] "Well, this is the second time someone proposed the same thing, and his reply the same way back then" [Diana] "SERIOUSLY! WHAT''S WRONG WITH YOU!" [Seo Ah] "We are getting a bit side tracked here" [Ash] Well, I don''t think they will listen, so "This is..." [Haliza] "An album, made by all of us here in the orphanage, to show our gratitude for you" [Ash] Haliza quickly open up the album and see multiple photos of the children from orphanage, spending time together with her, and in the center of the album "It''s empty?" [Haliza] "That because all of us will take one final picture, together and paste it there" [Ash] "What a splendid idea!" [Haliza] She sure love it. Good thing I modified the Polaroid camera and install a timer function through my time magic. All of us (Birdy and Housey include) take one last photo together, and paste it inside the album "How come I don''t get one?" [Diana] "Alright, I''ll promise I''ll make you one" [Ash] "Promise?" [Diana] "Promise" [Ash] "A wedding album will be nice" [Haliza] "It sure is" [Mira] (Agree) [Kara] "Sigh... well, I guess that''s for now. I will see you guys later" [Ash] "Bye-bye" [Malsia Orphanage kids] "Bye-bye" [Estel Orphanage kids] And with that, we enter the Camper van golem and start driving back home Chapter 107 - Mermaid kingdom _________________________________________________ [Somewhere in the middle of the open field dungeon] The four of them sit down, forming a small circle so that they can talk what they would like to do in the future. It''s obvious that each one of them wanted to save their love one at Kiserre, not wanting them to meet the horrible fate that they barely managed to escape, but as of now, they''re powerless. "Isn''t there anything we can do?" [Teenage girl] "As of now, our own safety should be our top priority" [Young dwarf] "Agree. We might be safe now here, but that doesn''t mean that they will stop chasing us down. Right now, we are in the position to tell the world what had transpired in Kiserre. We can''t possibly go back only to be captured, and we can''t allow ourselves to be captured by them before telling others about what happened, so right now, there''s one thing that we can do" [Adult man] "And that is?" [Teenage girl] "We become a traveler and stay here" [Adult man] "Huh?" [Dwarf man] "Traveler?" [Young deer girl] "What, what do you mean!" [Teenage girl] "I''ll explain. Right now, as he said, our own safety comes first, so how about we live here near that mysterious lady as a traveler. She might not be our ally, not to mention her behaviour is suspicious. I mean, she literally stands there doing nothing!" [Adult man] "But she''s a good person!" [Young deer girl] "I know... she did protect us back then and should the same happen again, I''ll say there''s a good chance she will do the same again" [Adult man] "I see, that way, there''s no guarantee but that''s better than nothing" [Young dwarf] "Then, how about telling others about what happened?" [Teenage girl] "Obviously, we can''t go to Estel as there''s risk we ran into them once more, so, what we should do is..." [Adult man] _________________________________________________ ~Humming~ ~Follow along~ Right now, we just cross the middle half of the rock and sea dungeon, making this the Estel''s side of the dungeon. With nothing else to do, and with me having zero confidence singing in front of Ram, Qis, Diana and others, I just hum something, and the younger group as usual, begin to imitate my action ~Sing~ ~Eyes widen~ "That''s nice" [Elise] "It sure is!" [Mara] "I wonder if I can sing as good as the princess" [Kara] "Her voice is as good as an elf!" [Farhah] "Huh?" [Charlotte] "Elf are said to be natural born singer" [Rean] "The more you know" [Zerolith] "You just know that didn''t you Zerolith" [Ash] ~Gulp~ "Looks whose talking" [Qis] ~Gulp~ "Is it true..." [Karon] "No way! Brother Ash is smart!" [Singa] "Yeah, there''s no way he wouldn''t know that!" [Savel] ~Louder gulp~ "What a warm environment" [Ram] "Yeah, glad I insist on not taking the rude captain back along with us" [Ash] "Agree" [Qis] "That''s rare" [Ash] "I simply agree to it. Plus, you also knew how he behaved towards The Princess" [Qis] "Well, it can''t be helped. Plus, the situation dictate that he should be there at Malsia" [Diana] "Kids, don''t be like that rude captain when you grow up, promise?" [Ash] "Promise!" [Kids] Let just stopped discussing about it right now. It will only sullen the mood, plus, we can''t let the kids be involved in political matter (and for them, they might not want to involve a traveler with their internal issues). Well, I might live there, but I still haven''t given up my status as a traveler, I''m sure there''s a reason as to why Goddess Achalasia started me as a traveler. "Huh?" [Ash] "What is master doing there?" [Rean] "With Sis Alice nonetheless" [Zerolith] "Could it be!" [Elise] ""They have started dating!!"" [Kara, Mara] "Want to congratulate them Qis, Ram?" [Diana] "For what..." [Qis] "Hmm, maybe it''s because of that. But, let just stop first and ask them" [Ram] "Right" [Ash] With the camper van golem parked, we went off and greet them. Surely they knew the owner of this golem, so they are expecting us to come down, nonetheless, we greeted each other. And "I see, it is hidden now" [Samurai Jacks] "It is" [Ash] As I expected, Jacks knew about it as well. Alice and Ram there have a confused face, but they just slide it off. "Well, can I know why both of you guys choose to date here, out of all the places available in Estel?" [Ash] "It doesn''t make sense, but maybe that''s because I''m a princess and you guys are adventure and receptionist, so maybe your idea of dates are different from mine" [Diana] "WE ARE NOT DATING!" [Alice] ~Sad~ (Hey Singa, why is Mr Jacks sad?) [Savel] (I don''t know) [Singa] ((((Poor Mr Jacks)))) [Kara, Mara, Karon, Farhah) (One sided love...) [Zerolith] (That is rude!) [Elise] (Stop it, all of you!) [Rean] "Rean is right, you guys shouldn''t talk behind people back like that!" [Ash] "WE ARE SORRY!" [Kids] "Honestly, they''re becoming more and more like you Diana..." [Ash] "Oh, don''t you dare say that is my fault!" [Diana] "Ohh, if it is me, I will just say it straight to his face" [Ash] "That is even worse!" [Diana] "We are getting side tracked here..." [Jacks] "Sigh... Is it because of the sudden change in the monster ecosystem?" [Ram] "Yes, vice guild master ask the two of us to conduct some research here for that reason" [Jacks] "Care to explain?" [Ash] Ram explain it to me. Basically, some of the adventures have noticed a decline in monster activities, like less and less of monster coming into the surface for example. At first, they thought of some strong monster shows up slaughtering other monsters, but that doesn''t seems to be the case here, and Jacks also thought of the portal stone might be involved, but he can''t sense any of it. I try to confirm it as well, and I couldn''t find one, when... "No wonder the mermaids aren''t there" [Charlotte] "Huh?" [Others] "Can you repeat it Charlotte?" [Ash] "Well, there''s no mermaids playing around back then, and now as well" [Charlotte] "Hmm..., could it be the mermaid kingdom?" [Ash] "Do such thing exist?" [Alice] "My master did tell me it exist" [Ash] There are some info about it from Goddess Achalasia, but no that much. I guess she would rather have me find it by myself. Typical of her "Can you locate it?" [Jacks] "..." [Ash] "You can''t?" [Ram] "Well, I can try, but, I''m not that strong enough" [Ash] "What do you mean?" [Qis] "Well, first, I simply don''t know where is it. If it''s at the bottom floor of the sea, then I would have to fight an S rank monster by myself, maybe even an SS rank monster, and I don''t want that" [Ash] "I see. Well, if that the case, it couldn''t be helped. Jacks, Alice, I''ll help you a little bit more, then we will go back together" [Ram] "I''ll help as well. As for all of you, please be a good kids and don''t cause any problems to Princess, got it!" [Ash] "Yes!" [Kids] The four of us scan the floor once more, and even proposed a theory here and there, but to no avail, we can''t get to a definite conclusion. With that, we invited Jacks and Alice to ride back home with us Chapter 108 - Rean register with the adventure guild _________________________________________________ [Somewhere in the middle of the open field dungeon] It''s been few days since the group of four started their life as a traveler. With the open field dungeon generally hosted a weak monster as compared to the other dungeon, with also varieties of natural food resources, they didn''t struggle as much as they initially expected. They use the young dwarf earth magic to make a small hut with two rooms to divide into men and women room. It isn''t that far off from the main road as they need to make sure they didn''t roam far enough (as the chances of encountering a dangerous monster will then increase, plus, they are afraid the lady in blue can''t make it in time should anything happens to them). "Hey pretty lady, you know, today we encounter a group of goblins! They''re strong but we are stronger!" [Young deer girl] The young girl as usual, will play and talk with the mysterious lady, but as usual "..." [Baju kurung lady] "And then, and then..." [Young deer girl] But that didn''t even stopped her from becoming closer to her. When the weather is too harsh, or when there''s rain, she will find a big leaf and cover both of them, and yet "..." [Baju kurung lady] At the hut "See, I told you not to play when it is raining!" [Teenage girl] "Wanted... to meet her... tomorrow" [Young deer girl] "Geez..." [Teenage girl] "Haha, rest first, I promise you I''ll bring you there tomorrow" [Adult man] "Really?" [Young deer girl] "Only if you sleep now, otherwise, no" [Young dwarf] "Ok!" [Young deer girl] And she quickly falls into slumber. The next day, the young deer girl condition stabilized, she stills has a fever and runny nose, but as promised, the adult man bring the girl to meet her friend "Hello! Good morning" [Young deer girl] "..." [Baju kurung lady] "As usual... Huh?" [Adult man] A soothing light comes from her hand when the young deer girl hold it, and in an instant "Huh, I feel better!" [Young deer girl] "Seriously!" [Adult man] "Thank you!" [Young deer girl] "..." [Baju kurung lady] "Well, thanks I guess..." [Adult man] "..." [Baju kurung lady] As he didn''t know what to expect, he becomes flustered a bit, while the young girl run in a circle, thanking the lady, when "Huh... that looks like a carriage!" [Adult man] "Is it safe?" [Young deer girl] "They didn''t look like someone from Kiserre, and not from the church, so I guess they should do" (should I tell them? Can they be trusted?)[Adult man] With only one way to find out, he asks the carriage to stop _________________________________________________ ~Bzz Bzz Bzz~ No good, the signal strength is still weak. I can communicate with Mira the other day only for around 15 second, and the audio and video quality is just that bad (still, this is considered as a huge success if you ask me. Needless to say, Diana and all the other react like they''re seeing something out of this world) I install the function of communication back at Malsia while using fortress defense magic to create second Housey back then, and do the same to our Housey here. I thought with this, Mira or Kana can tell me should anything happen, that way I can sprint my way to Malsia, or you know, just to see how the kids doing there, but I just couldn''t get a strong signal ever since then. I do experiment a bit here and there, asking Gizzere (after handing out the Polaroid camera prototype) and Diana to help. So far, I get a good result by placing a few magic cores at a strategic location, but it is still in trial phase, so more experimentation are needed. Needless to say, both of them wanted to invest some resources to make this a reality, but I should present them with a good result first, something that I impose for myself. I don''t want to let them become frustrated should this invention of mine fail. "Brother Ash, come on now!" [Charlotte] "Charlotte, let him get ready first" [Rafiah] "Ok!" [Charlotte] Well, that''s my cue to stop for today. Today is the day when Rean will be registering with the adventure guild, and all of them are excited to accompany him (well, except for Rean himself and I can totally see why) (Well, as the eldest one here, he should just give up) [Ash] Plus, it isn''t just Rean who rejected the idea. Kadeus (the centaur kid) as well as Ray (Borg and Lin''s son) also feel the same. Again, I can totally understand their reason. As for Lily (the succubus girl), she just giggle, and she didn''t mind it at all. Ok, I can''t find myself to understand her reaction, I guess she just thought it as something cute? "Have you guys eat? If not, I can prepare some light tea and biscuits for you" [Claude] "It''s alright. Plus, we can''t wait to register with the adventure guild..." [Kadeus] "Well, yeah..." [Ray] "I can already imagine what they will say..." [Rean] "Haha, don''t worry too much about it" [Lily] "Well if they have the nerve to laugh at you, they will find themselves 6 feet under the ground" [Ash] ""''...""" [Rean, Ray, Kadeus] ~Giggle~ "We should move now" [Elise] "Right..." [Rean] Well, we all take the bus golem to get there, and once inside "Ahh Rean! Congrats!" "Your brother finally let you register huh!" "And look at the crowd! That some support you have there!" "Mine mine, he is with a cute girl" [Female Paladin] "Agree, just what you would expect from Ash little brother and Lin''s son" [Female elf adventure] "Man, I wish I could see Rafiah now" "Wait, that mean she''s alone now!" "There''s Claude there as well though..." "Sigh... can''t all of you keep it down for a sec" [Alice] Those at the adventure guild didn''t really tease Rean and other as much as I expected. Maybe because I am here? Or maybe because of the training hall thing, since I did provide them with such good looting ground, plus, Rean and the other also learn from the adventure that comes there, so naturally they will have a good relationship. Looks, the three boys can''t help but breath a sigh of relief, while Lily keep on telling them, "See, I told you didn''t I?". As Rean and the other registered themselves, Ram decided to come In front and talk to me "Huh, so he is registering today" [Ram] "Yup, isn''t there supposed to be a test or something similar?" [Ash] "No need to, he already proven himself capable by defeating a horde of zombies at the training hall, so that''s good enough" [Ram] "I see" [Ash] "Well, I could use the training hall in the future sort of like a test for newbie adventure. Is that ok with you?" [Ram] "Sure" [Ash] "Thanks. Ohh, and one more thing, have you heard a rumour about a group of traveler at the open field dungeon?" [Ram] "Hmm?" [Ash] What rumour? As I am about to ask Ram "Registration complete! Congratulations all of you. And since all of you are rather well adapted to combat, Guild Master Ram decided to start you guys with Rank G straight away. Rean can become E rank adventure straight away truth to be told, but in our opinion, it is much more better to learn from the bottom and work your way up. Anyway, good luck to the four of you!" [Alice] """"Thank you very much!!!!"""" [Rean, Ray, Lily, Kadeus] Everything proceeding smoothly, and (Huh, what a coincidence) [Ash] Should I join? Chapter 109 - First request part 1 _________________________________________________ [Somewhere in the middle of the open field dungeon] "I see, no wonder they''re acting strange. Plus, I do here a bizarre rumour here and there regarding what happen behind Kiserre''s back alley" [Merchant] "Yeah, please tell the other to be careful. But above all, prioritize your own safety first, don''t want any of them coming after you" [Adult man] "Got it, you be careful of the monster right there as well, though it is mostly harmless" [Merchant] (There? Where?) "Got it!" [Adult man] The merchant left after hearing the information given by the adult man, leaving the blissfully unaware adult man wondering just where is this monster he is talking about, not realizing that the one that save them is in fact, classified as a monster by most. He continues to accompany the young deer girl to play with the mysterious lady, hoping to come across other trustable person as to increase the number of people aware of what''s happening inside Kiserre. Minutes turn in hours and "Let just go back, shall we" [Adult man] "I want to play more..." [Young deer girl] "Well, you are cured of your fever, but that doesn''t mean you shouldn''t rest!" [Adult man] "Fine..." [Young deer girl] Waving bye-bye to the lady, they went back to their hut to rest. There, the teenage girl and the young dwarf were surprised as the young deer girl is in perfect and healthy condition. "Well, then I guess we should just store this herb here for future use" [Young dwarf] "Agree" [Teenage girl] _________________________________________________ Right now, we are quite a distance away from the middle road, on the 6th floor inside this 36 floor dungeon extending from Estel to Kiserre. Rean, having registered as an adventure, quickly took a raid activity organized by the guild. There is a goblin den with possible Goblin spawning block nearby, creating a large number of low ranking goblin with it. Ohhh lucky me, or so I thought but since this is a request put up by the country, the spawning block will be given to them. Well, it''s only fair as they''re the one that put up this request. The one that takes this request are mostly the newbies adventure, with Jacks and a female paladin acting as instructors, seeing from a far, giving some guidance on how to handle the situation and also to interfere should things go wrong. Well, it''s a low ranking goblins after all, so sending some high ranking adventure should do the trick, but the guild also have the responsibility to train the newbies. As for me let just say I am a meddlesome outsider who along with the two instructors, will guide the newbies, free of charge of course. I will mostly focus on the four of them, but I wouldn''t mind helping others as well. As for the other nine siblings of mine, Ram give them the green light to join in as well but "We wanted to see Brother Rean first adventure request!" [Farhah] "True" [Karon] Well, I can respect that. They simply wanted to cheer Rean from the sideline. Well, just seeing and cheering wouldn''t be good, so I thought of giving them some task, that is they have to tell me the point on which Rean, Ray, Kadeus and Lily can make to further improve themselves. That way, they can develop some observation skill as well, plus, they might give out a unique perspective that only they can caught. After walking for some time, we arrive at an area filled with trees that are connected with one another by a bridge like structure which are made up of their branch. From a single glance, this look like multiple trees but in reality, I would say that there are no more than 20 trees here. One main tree must have form multiple trees surrounding them and to communicate/to share nutrition with each other, the bridge are formed. "Over there...!" One of the female archer shout, spotting a single goblin running away, but "Haaa!" [Rean] Rean simply dash toward the goblin and quickly slice it neck through. The goblin tried to put up some fight initially, but it club is also sliced through along with it neck ""Good job"" [Jacks, Female paladin] "Yup, that way, this goblin wouldn''t alert the other" [Ash] "I see" [Elise] Not only my siblings, other newbies adventure also nodded, learning something new "Well, let us get going then!" [Kadeus] "Wait Kadeus, we shouldn''t! We should first scout other area and eliminate any other patrolling goblins! That way, we can successfully perform a surprise attack later on" [Ray] "Agree. They might be weak, but they''re monster nonetheless. Plus, they have the advantage in number" [Lily] "You guys heard the two of them. I suggest that all of you split into smaller group first and cover the area here and there, and slowly make your way through, until you reach the spawning block" [Female paladin] "Indeed, but do be careful, this is their territory. Just like how a country will put a defense to better protect themselves, so do them" [Jacks] "Understood!" [Adventure] That sure are educational. If it is me, I might simply burn all of the trees. And should I wanted to be eco friendly type of guy, I will simply launch a frontal assault. Jacks and the female paladin might do the same, but for them, they''re still learning and it would be better for them to learn this way. I follow Rean and some other adventure. They quickly take care of the goblins that they come across. I must say, both Ray and Lily really did a great job spotting the goblins through their search magic. I can understand as Ray parents is an adventure, and as for Lily, she might simply be talented on utilizing neutral magic. Succubus generally have a tendency to use mirage magic though, so she who follow the same trait will obviously use it later As we keep on advancing, both Rean and Kadeus compete to see who can kill the most number of goblins, and so far, Rean is in the lead by a margin. Well, his blessing have been awaken, not fully but I guess it started to manifest. Good thing the bracelet did wonder on hiding it. "Those two, I could have sworn they just registered today!" "That Rean guy, he is strong!" "I wonder if he is single <3" [Blond female adventure] ~Blush~ "Haha, let just keep going" [Ash] I could just let them talk, and even let the girl who takes interest in Rean try to flirt with him, but they''re in the middle of a quest, and they''re still weak, so I should let them take this more seriously As we when deeper and deeper, we can finally see the spawning block, with a weak king goblin in the middle. Guess this block really do spawn weak goblin only ~Nod~ ~Nod~ ~Nod~ ~Nod~ with the other group lead by the other two instructors arrive at their respective location, they nodded with each other, signalling to start the ambush. I can understand they nod to each other, but Singa, Savel and Charlotte imitating them is just cute With a darkness spell from Rean, and a mirage spell from Lily, they severely disturb the basic sense of goblins, from vision to hearing, thus, giving the adventure the opportunity to strike first. The king goblin, trying to give a command to his underling, fail on doing so as the chaos is simply out of his control. "Kadeus! Ray!" [Rean] ""Got it!"" [Kadeus, Ray] With Rean clearing the path for his two friends, Kadeus with his axe and Ray with his sword slices the two limbs of the goblin king, before delivering the final blow by stabbing the king right into his heart. "And done!" [Ash] With the goblin king kills, the spawning block didn''t show any sign of activities, and the surrounding goblins being taken care of, Jacks and the female paladin are about to brief them on what to do next when suddenly "Look out!" [Ash] A mysterious portal open just above us, and a figure of a deranged white attire man can be seen falling from it Chapter 110 - First request part 2 A mysterious white attire man who suddenly fell down from a portal which suddenly appear just above the goblin spawning block. His attire resembles that of the church, but most importantly (His appearance... just what happen. I can tell that he is human but...) [Ash] One look and you might think that he have gone through hell. He is quite skinny, almost emacerate. Not only that, there are patches of black plaques all over his face, but most importantly, just what kind of aura is he releasing? "You guys, stay back!" [Female paladin] "Ash, let''s go!" [Jacks] "No, both of you, get all of them out from here. I''ll handle this alone" [Ash] ""!!"" [Jacks, Female paladin] "Just go!" [Ash] I can tell that this white attire man here is quite strong. Maybe as strong as Jacks, so, that''s why a fight between us will involve other as well. I don''t want any of them to be drag when I am fighting, and the two instructors knows that well. They already tell the newbies adventure to go, when "!" [Blond female adventure] A beam of light and darkness magic is shoot from the weird staff. To block it, I simply teleport like how Singa usually do when he''s training, and use my scythe to block it (Hmm... the light magic part, I can tell that it is from the staff, but the dark magic? It wasn''t) [Ash] "Thank, thank you!" [Blond female adventure] "Welcome, now hurry up!" [Ash] "Right!" [Blond female adventure] With his staff pointed upward, the white attire man summon arrow after arrow of dark and light magic, or at least about to. His magic might be strong, but it couldn''t be more obvious as to what he is about to do, so I simply trap him with earth dome magic, layer upon layer of it and an explosion happen. Guess he got a taste of his own medicine (It''s quite obvious he isn''t thinking straight, no, is he think at all?) [Ash] It isn''t a joke, he sort of like, just fire off his magic randomly. "Guess I can finish this quickly!" [Ash] He is weakened right now, so this is my chance. I dash through the mountain of goblin''s corpse and just when I am about to deliver a finishing blow to him, I can sense that all of his mana are concentrated in one place, in his heart. I don''t know what he is about to do but I get this feeling that I shouldn''t let him do that. I quickly slice his neck with my scythe, only for it to get re-attached back by the strange dark magic. Creepy. And as the mana is becoming more and more concentrated as time goes on, I try to use sealing magic, but it isn''t nowhere strong enough. This strange dark magic, it is the one that prevent it. (Let me handle it, Ash) [Vincent] (Father!) [Ash] Just like how mother appear back then, this time around, it''s my father who turns up to save the day, and just like how mother with her strange ascended mana cure Qis at first, father did the same. He first seal the mana of the white attire man and then drive out the strange dark magic from his body. (What did you do!) [Ash] (You can say that I simply cleanse him) [Vincent] (That didn''t even answer my question!) [Ash] (Ohh but it does. Still...) [Vincent] Father simply tap my shoulder before hugging me (It''s been awhile) [Vincent] Yeah, it is. (It is) [Ash] Guess that important question can wait, and just when he has his fair share of hug, he simply disappear (Guess your blessing from God of Death isn''t strong enough yet) [Vincent] (But I don''t have any idea how or what to do...) [Ash] The Thanatos back at Malsia didn''t even give a single clue. Mother also simply say to keep on doing the homework given by Goddess Achalasia, so at least give me some sort of clue (Try and ask Mahsuri what happen) [Vincent] (Who is that?) [Ash] (You already knew about her) [Vincent] And father disappear, and father says something, to ask someone name Mahsuri, someone that I already knew... there''s only one that come to my mind now. "Ughh..." [White Attire G] Guess this white attire man is still recovering. He looks like he is in pain. And as for the goblin spawning block... (Sigh... what should I tell them?) [Ash] I can''t explain how I cure this man, and also why the goblin spawning block get destroyed (well, I can for this one, but it would be a pain, so maybe I will just compensate them with something later on...) With my light magic, I tied the white attire man with a light rope. Just to be on a safer side, I took away his staff and put it inside my item box, seal his movement and mana by using my sealing magic and put him inside an earth cage with a wheel that I make on the spot. As I push the cage, I can see that they''re all waiting for me "Brother Ash" [Zerolith] "What happen back then!" [Jacks] "It''s a long story, so Jacks..." [Ash] I bring out my bus golem, and attach the earth cage to it "Can you send them back first, there''s something that I would like to check. And about this guy, he is no more of a threat, but do be careful" [Ash] "Where are you going?" [Rean] "To the 18th floor, there''s something I would like to confirm there" [Ash] "You mean her?" [Rean] "The SS rank monster?" [Female paladin] "That''s dangerous!" [Kara] "Plus, what can you confirm from her? All I knew is that she never talk, just stand there in the middle of the road, and would attack at random!" [Mara] "Let just say it''s certain someone intuition" [Ash] "Her?" [Jacks] "Yup" [Ash] "Understood. You guys, we are going back!" [Jacks] "Can''t we follow him?" "We would like to see him fighting an SS rank monster!" "Sure, if you want to get caught in an explosion that can kill you instantly, then be my guest" [Ash] "..." "Guess it''s a no then" [Ash] After I force the ten of them (well, more like 13 of them as Ray, Kadeus and Lily also share the same concern) and have Jacks and the female paladin to accompany them, I dash myself through the dungeon, using acceleration magic along the way and once I arrive at the 18th floor, I simply walk straight using the main road where I can see a young deer girl playing with a lady, wearing a light blue baju kurung Chapter 111 - Ash vs Mahsuri Mahsuri, a lady whose look like a grown up version of Charlotte, with her light blue hair and attire resembling that of a traditional wear of the Malay, Baju Kurung. During that night where Diana, Qis, Rean and I had a talked about the blessings from Goddess Achalasia, Diana mentioned that Mahsuri here might be one of the original ten heroes that drove the fallen god into nothingness. She doesn''t have any proof to back her up, other than her intuition telling her that. One would normally not believe in her, but, she is blessed with the same blessing, and her intuition regarding this sort of thing is usually correct. Plus, father also mentioned that I had already knew who this Mahsuri person is, so I have no doubt she''s the one From the info that I obtained, nobody seems to know why she will always stand there, in the middle of the road. She didn''t disturb anyone, though that doesn''t mean she''s harmless. For those foolish enough to challenge her into a fight, she would draw her sword and instantly defeat the challenger, and for those even foolish enough to show any sort of murderous intent near her, that person will soon be greeted by death. She had long been labeled as a monster, an SS rank one for that. Even the oldest citizen of Estel couldn''t really tell since when did she was labelled as such. Plus, nobody really knows that much about her as she doesn''t even utter a single word. "Mister, why are standing here?" [Young deer girl] I guess as my mind wandering around about Mahsuri, I incidentally walk toward her. Just as I were about to answer the question "Ash? Vincent and Maria''s son?" [Mahsuri] ""!!"" [Ash, Young deer girl] "SHE TALKED!" [Young deer girl] I thought she will always be mute. And here I am, wondering how I will get any sort of information from her, but guess this settle it. But wait, before that "No, no, no. I mean, yes, I am Ash, the son of Vincent and Maria, but how did you know about it?" [Ash] "..." [Mahsuri] "Hey mister! What did you do!" [Young deer girl] "I sincerely have no idea" [Ash] Is it because of my blessing? No, if that''s the case, other heroes should have long talk to her. Maybe because of father and mother? Possible... wait (Does that mean, this scythe with my parent''s soul inside and the God of Death blessing make it possible?) [Ash] Only one way to find out, I should draw my scythe and present it to her first . . . "No, bad idea..." [Ash] I''ll get killed instantly. She might not be a monster, but if one were to take into account the rank she got, it basically suicidal to do just that "You''re still weak..." [Mahsuri] She suddenly draw her light blue sword and "Cupid, stay back..." [Mahsuri] "Huh, umm?? Yes?" [Cupid] So that young deer girl name is cupid, but more importantly, just hold on for a sec "Wait..." [Ash] She dashed toward me, and swing her sword with water mana imbued into it. I just block it with my scythe imbued with earth magic for better defense but (Holy shit! This literally feels like a raging wave hitting me all at once!) [Ash] This, the force behind her swing, it simply massive! Before I knew it, I was pushed by it. Losing my posture, I use my flying magic to land properly but "Earth wall! Earth wall! Earth wall!" [Ash] She sent in wave of water right toward me, and the multiple earth walls that I cast didn''t even slow down the current. "Tchh! Ice Shark missiles!" [Ash] I might get pushed back (both literally and figuratively), but that doesn''t mean I should stay on the defensive side. With six of my shark missiles trying to attack her, she simply calls her own "Tyrant Megalodon" [Mahsuri] "Ahh..." [Ash] I might be the last person that is allowed to say this. Even with my blessings, the ability to use all type of magic, as well as modern science knowledge, but her power, it simply unfair... That Tyrant Megalodon of her, it plain massive. The largest shark ever recorded is around 10 meter, belonging to a prehistoric Megalodon back on earth. While Megalodon do exist in this world, I believe none can be as large as her 25 meter Tyrant Megalodon golem, that basically the size of a blue whale... Well, there''s only one thing to do now "I give up!" [Ash] "..." [Mahsuri] Phew... glad she understood. Her face though, she''s plain disappointed in me I guess... "You''re still weak. Get back here once you''re stronger" [Mahsuri] "Guess I can''t get any answer from you" [Ash] "Is it over?" [Cupid] ~Nod~ With Mahsuri nodding her head, Cupid there run back towards her side. Kid, there''s a massive shark swimming around her, you could at least show some sign of fear. "You''re strong! Plus, how come you suddenly talk?" [Cupid] "That scythe of his, and blessing" [Mahsuri] Kid, thank you for clarifying it on my behalf. Ohh, that kid is signaling me to come to her side, but I''m sorry. I''m too scared right now to do that though. "Don''t worry, won''t attack" [Mahsuri] "Alright..." [Ash] Guess I can believe in her word. "Hey Mister! You''re also strong, not as strong as..." [Cupid] "Mahsuri" [Mahsuri] "As Sis Mahsuri here! Plus, she trusts you, so I guess I can tell you about what happened at Kiserre" [Cupid] "!" [Ash] I see, so the group of four traveler that Ram mentioned to me, the group that''s residing in this floor, she''s one of it. How could I not make the connection with the information I received "Alright, but can you show me the other as well" [Ash] "Sure!" [Cupid] I believe there''s an adult in their group. It''s better to talk to an adult regarding this matter She wave bye-bye to Mahsuri. Having nothing better to do (and let just say for my own safety as well), I follow her actions and wave bye-bye to Mahsuri as well. Mahsuri in return, did the same with a smile on her face. I guess that''s meant for Cupid here, well maybe even me, she did know I am Vincent and Maria''s son. But (Just what''s their connection to her?) [Ash] Guess the only way to find out about it is to beat her... (Yeah, impossible...) [Ash] I should really train myself more. "We are here! Mr Bond, Kronbir and Elsa, we have a guest!" [Cupid] It''s a small hut made from earth magic. I guess this is their home. Chapter 112 - Suspicious Muse? [Elise point of view] Their first adventure request have gone well. Seeing as how much Rean have improved really motivate us all to do the same! I wonder if improve that much, can Liyana, Mile and I be selected as one of the female knights, just like Sis Qis. Still "Just how did a man fall from the sky?" [Zerolith] "No clue. But this is brother Ash we are talking about, he should finish the job by now" [Mara] "Look, there he is!" [Kara] "See, I told you!" [Mara] "That''s actually impressive..." [Rean] "Not as impressive as you <3" [Blond female adventure] "Haha... ~awkward~" [Rean] "Hey! Don''t do that to him!" [Elise] "Jealous?" [Blond female adventure] "No!" [Elise] We are siblings, so there''s no way for us to develop such feeling. It just that, seeing her doing thing like that to Rean make our blood boil, like she''s taking someone precious away from us "Oh come on, where''s the harm" [Mara] Apparently, Mara didn''t share the same sentiment as us. I''m sure Kara feel the same as I am but too shy to express it, and as foe Farhah "Yeah, she''s acting suspicious..." [Farhah] Well, that aside "Can you send them back first, there''s something that I would like to check. And about this guy, he is no more of a threat, but do be careful" [Ash] "Where are you going?" [Rean] "To the 18th floor, there''s something I would like to confirm there" [Ash] "You mean her?" [Rean] "The SS rank monster?" [Female paladin] "That''s dangerous!" [Kara] "Plus, what can you confirm from her? All I knew is that she never talk, just stand there in the middle of the road, and would attack at random!" [Mara] "Let just say it''s certain someone intuition" [Ash] "Her?" [Jacks] "Yup" [Ash] "Understood. You guys, we are going back!" [Jacks] I don''t think Brother Ash will hear us out, so I guess the best we can do right now is to just when back home first. Plus, we can watch what he''s doing using the watcher. Inside the bus golem, we give our opinion on what Rean and his friends can do to improve themselves. I don''t think Rean need that much feedback, but he could workout more on his blinding spell according to Zerolith. Kadeus have good upper arm strength, so he should utilize that more, although Mara rudely say that he should work out his brain more. Ray is a little bit hesitant most of the time, but once he overcome that, he will be better. Lily, on the other hand can use illusion magic to lure out that goblin, and that suggestions come from Savel, who also have strong mirage mana affinity and frequently employ said tactic "How about me?" [Blond female adventure] "Well you... who are you actually?" [Elise] "Oh, where''s my manner. I''m Muse, nice to meet you" [Muse] "Nice to meet you as well Muse" [Rean] "My my, trying to get close to me aren''t you <3" [Muse] "Sigh... this girl..." [Elise] "Muse, stop it" [Female paladin] "Yes!" [Muse] Oh she stop, apparently, she''s her master, just like how Rean and Mr Jacks are. Well, she stops only for about a minute though before continuing flirting around with Rean. "Well well well, someone blushing" [Mara] "Haha, agree" [Lily] "Rean..." [Ray] "Rean!!!" [Kadeus] "You''re so cute when blushing <3" [Muse] "Brother Rean, cute?" [Singa] "Can you please stop..." [Rean] "Just a bit longer" [Muse] "Grrr..." [Farhah] "Poor Rean" [Karon] Well, this continues until we exit the dungeon, on which Mr Jacks and the female paladin (as well as the other adventures including Rean and his friends) report the request result as well as the incident back then to Guild Master Ram. Once they''re all done, Mr Jacks with Mr Ram transport the prisoner to the nearest soldier post. As for us "You''re joining us Muse?" [Lily] "Why not?" [Muse] "Not really, I''m just glad to have another female companion" [Lily] "The feeling mutual, well not to Elise, Kara and Farhah though" [Muse] """!!!""" [Elise, Kara, Farhah] "You better stop teasing them before they hate you for good" [Mara] "That mean I can continue to tease Rean <3" [Muse] "Well, just be careful, Ray and Kadeus will feel jealous" [Mara] ""!!"" [Ray, Kadeus] ~Giggle~ Well, the fourteen of us decide to watch what Brother Ash are doing on the watcher. Other adventures that are interested join us as well "May I join you guys?" [Alice] "Of course you can Sis Alice" [Savel] "Thank you" [Alice] Apparently, Guild Master Ram ask Sis Alice to wait for Brother Ash here, once he exit the dungeon. Well, that could only mean "Brother Ash will go to the castle afterward?" [Singa] "Most likely" [Alice] "I wish I can enter the castle as well" [Savel] "That''s..." [Charlotte] Charlotte, who eyes have been glued to the watcher the entire time, pointed out to the watcher that show Brother Ash, and that''s... "That''s Mahsuri?" [Elise] "She looks like the grown up version of Charlotte!" [Zerolith] "She sure does" [Lily] Everyone here agree. She does look like adult version of Charlotte. And right now, there''s a young deer girl just beside her, when suddenly "She attack Brother Ash first!" [Karon] "But Brother Ash didn''t do anything wrong!" [Farhah] Not only she looks like Charlotte, her water affinity also the same, no, way higher than Charlotte is, and Rean looks like he''s thinking something. "Rean, what''s wrong?" [Elise] "Nothing..." [Rean] He has been hiding a secret or two from us lately, I wonder why. It hurts us but we couldn''t really forces him to spill out the secrets "Such big shark!" [Kadeus] "It dwarf the ice missile shark" [Savel] "I wonder if I can make one as big as her?" [Charlotte] "I''m sure you can" [Singa] "You guys! This isn''t the time for that! Brother Ash is in danger!" [Kara] ""!!"" [Singa, Savel] "No he''s not! He will come back safely!" [Charlotte] "Let us hope so" [Lily] And just when our worry peaks, Brother Ash looks like he''s giving up, and the fight stop abruptly between the two of them "Phew..." [Elise] "Guess he''s just all talk" "Yeah, I expected much more from him" "Look, giving up when fighting a lady, how embarrassing" "I bet he will say something like, at least I survive fighting her, kahkahkah" "!" [Kids] Some adventure, knights and merchants are belittling Brother Ash. How dare them! "Actually, this just prove that he''s strong" [Muse] "Agree" [Alice] "!" [Other] "Most of the time, her opponent will be knocked out cold or killed in an instant, literally. But, for him to actually put up some fight, no, even blocking one of her insanely powerful attack is a feat many couldn''t achieve" [Ray] "Guess those who bad mouthed him just now aren''t good enough to see this fact" [Muse] "What do you say blondy!" "Ohh, you got a problem with my kid''s friends?" [Borg] "Father! Mother! Mile, Kat and Blanc! Uncle Syah and Aunt Mimi as well!" [Ray] "Even Mr Flinar and the other trio, and the female elf adventure" [Farhah] From the look of it, they just exit the ice dungeon. They must have received some work there. But, couldn''t they leave Kat and Blanc behind, it''s dangerous. Then again, brother Ash did the same to the younger group... As for the bad mouthed guys, they simply left. Guess they''re afraid of them "How was your day Ray?" [Mimi] "Well..." [Ray] As Ray explain to them what happen during the goblin subjugation request, I can see that Brother Ash is currently talking with a group of four people, and he brings out the camper van golem and ask the four to accompany him. "We should wait here" [Rean] "Agree" [Elise] "I''ll wait for you forever <3" [Muse] "Sigh... Muse" [Elise] I give up Chapter 113 - And getting another job once more _________________________________________________ [At the headquarters of the church] [Saintess Rumia point of view] "I see, thank you for the info" [Saintess Rumia] It''s evening and Saintess Rumia just received the information gathered by the intel from the church regarding the suspicious situation happening at Kiserre (The saga, thank god she noticed about if first) [Saintess Rumia] As she flipped through the letter that she received from The Saga back then, she could not help but feel sad, just why did human can do such a thing in the name of the goddess (Saint Louis is heading there, and The Behemoth Slayer might be dispatched by Estel. Haa... so Saint Louis, The Behemoth Slayer and The Saga will be there) [Saintess Rumia] Such terrifying force, she thought (Well, throw in the female paladin Aries, and they will be a terrifying force to reckon with) [Saintess Rumia] The red hair saintess thought to herself ~Knock~ "You may come in" [Saintess Rumia] "Please excuse me, but there''s a letter from The Demon Kingdom for you" [Servant] "I see, thank you for delivering it to me" [Saintess Rumia] "I''m just doing my just, O Saintess" [Servant] The saintess open the letter once the servant leave, and "Ehh..." [Saintess Rumia] _________________________________________________ Right now, there''s four people inside my camper van golem, there''s the muscular black hair adult man (Bond), the silver hair lean body dwarf (Kronbir), the teenage girl with a brown hair (Elsa) and finally the young deer girl (Cupid). At first, the three of them are suspicious of me, well that can''t be helped but after Cupid telling them about my fight with Mahsuri, their jaw dropped, before agreeing to join me as we head back to Estel. (Well, I can''t just leave them here) [Ash] Well, I should discuss with Diana what can I do to help them. Should the castle didn''t have any plan to accommodate them, I can just help them by my own. Maybe for starter I can let them used the empty room inside the orphanage, or if they didn''t want to bother me much, I can just help them by paying the rent in Alice''s parents inn first. Well, let just hope Diana know what to do first ~Zzz~ "Cupid! Wake up! That''s rude!" [Elsa] "Don''t worry, this golem of mine are designed so that one can fall asleep inside of it" [Ash] "Such luxury" [Bond] "Mind if I have the banana cake?" [Kronbir] "Kronbir!" [Elsa] "Sure, and give it to her as well, her word and face didn''t match" [Ash] ~Blush~ "Kahkahkah, got it" [Kronbir] As the monotonous travel continue on, I can see a monster here and there at the distant, which reminds me of (Well, how will I explain the spawning block getting destroyed by my actions...) [Ash] Yeah, please let there be a spawning block nearby, is what I thought, but that thing is an S class loot right there, so me getting three of them in a row is either a sheer luck or like I previously mentioned, someone else luck. "There''s the exit. Well, I might be a traveler like you guys but welcome to Estel" [Ash] "Ohhh! I can''t wait to see Estel!" [Cupid] "Just when did you wake up?" [Ash] Well, they have to register entering the country first, and after that "Just as I thought, or maybe not. What are you guys doing here, Syah and the family, as well as the trio" [Ash] "Well, they''re just watching you through the watcher, and as for me, I have a request" [Lisa] "And that is?" [Ash] "You will definitely be call to the castle and then they will send you to Kiserre to investigate! So, please take me with you" [Lisa] "That''s just you jumping to the conclusion" [Ash] And I pray hard that will not happen, but it is soon be destroyed by the most politest knight I know to ever exist "..." [Rude Captain] "Sigh... this is getting repetitive" [Ash] "I told you" [Lisa] So, to summarize, a significant event --> Diana call --> me getting a job --> the kids disagree --> me doing the job after telling them don''t be sad And again, why him. Plus, by this point "Bye-bye Brother Ash" [Charlotte] "Charlotte..." [Ash] She already prepares herself for my absence. That actually hurts way more than I thought. "Sigh, let just go Lisa. You to Alice. Bond, you''ll come with me, and as for the other three, please make yourself at home. Rean, take them to the orphanage, just use the bus golem" [Ash] "Really!" [Rean] "Not fair, I want to drive it!" [Zerolith] "No, me!" [Mara] "Can I?" [Karon] "Elise, if they''re misbehaving, just punish them" [Ash] "Yes" [Elise] """!!!""" [Mara, Zerolith, Karon] And there they go. As for me, I''m just glad that I won''t take the same carriage as the rude captain. The four of us make our way through the street using the camper van golem and as usual, the guards station at the castle gate let us through (after the inspection of course). Once we enter there''s Diana, with Qis, Ram and Jacks waiting for us. Diana, please don''t do that smile, it''s scary "Why hello there, Ash" [Diana] Yeah, I should run "And where do you think you''re going, Ash?" [Diana] "Somewhere, far away from a certain princess" [Ash] "Oh, I''m not mad. I''m definitely not mad because a certain someone destroy the goblin spawning block" [Diana] "Well, that''s good then. I have a date with my bed, so bye-bye" [Ash] "Well, I''ll send the bill later to your house, or..." [Diana] "The bill, thank you" [Ash] "Hmmm... that''s smart, but you might want to reconsider it. I can just ask Gizzere to do something nasty, leaving you penniless" [Diana] "I know you wouldn''t, but damn, that''s scary" [Ash] "My, thank you" [Diana] Yeah, I don''t want to take the chance. She''s not someone that I want to make an enemy of "Sigh... alright, alright. I''ll go to Kiserre" [Ash] "Ohh, I didn''t even ask you to go there, but lucky me" [Diana] "You little!" [Ash] ~Sigh...~ "Such a long sigh" [Alice] "If only she does that to the noble and knight that opposes her, instead of you know, to me" [Ash] "Hey!" [Qis] "Now, now, he''s right you know" [Diana] (Is it really alright for him to talk to a royalty like this?) [Bond] (You''ll get used to seeing it) [Lisa] And just like that, I''ll have to go to Kiserre. But first "Let us hear what this gentleman have to say, shall we" [Diana] Chapter 114 - Angelic and Devil "Angelic transformation!?" [Lisa] "Maybe, from the way they casually talked among themselves, that''s what one of us, Mr Karonlir interpreted it" [Bond] "So, they''re trying to become the angel race? Like Yefefiah?'' [Ash] "That''s not it. It''s based on the old folklore of ancient time. Well, just like how people interchangeably used the term devil and demon, the term angel and angelic are also interchangeably used. Just like how the devil are said to be the follower of the fallen god. The angelic, who, you guess it, mostly comprises of the angel race, are said to be a follower of Theia, the god of light" [Lisa] "I see, basically... Devil = old god follower, mostly comprises of demon race Angelic = Theia follower, mostly comprises of angel race "Still, that doesn''t explain the hundreds, if not thousands of slaves that''s being brought. Not to mention, the kidnapping of the homeless and orphan in surrounding counties" [Nice noble] "You''re right. Not only slaves, even people like me, whose goal is only to turn over a new leaf in a foreign country get kidnapped for their own good. I believe there''s more of them like me, no, even their own regular citizens might get involved" [Bond] "Well, the only reason I can think of is..." [Diana] "Sacrifices, experimentation, guinea pig, free slaves, I can think of several bunches of reasons honestly speaking, and they all seem probable" [Ash] "..." [Bond] "Ash! Mind your manner!" [Crow] "So.. sorry. I didn''t mean to make you feel like that" [Ash] "No, I am just deluding myself by thinking my family will be alright. But..." [Bond] "Sorry... I can''t promise you, but I''ll do everything that I can to save them" [Ash] "Thanks..." [Bond] Way to go, me, for making him sad. I have no excuse for my rude behaviour this time around "Still, like Crow say, just why did they gather them around? Perhaps you could tell us more about it" [King Estel] "I''m sorry your highness. Truth to be told, I am just a lucky guy in this unlucky event. I''m lucky enough to be only confined in a single day, managing to escape from their grasp by sheer coincidence, but my family however..." [Bond] "Sorry to bring back your bad memories, but how did you manage to escape their confinement? I believe you did say you''re placed somewhere in an underground prison" [King Estel] "It''s with the help of an old dwarf name Karonlir. His grandson said that he''s actually blessed by Goddess Achalasia blessings 100 years ago, helped drove away the devil invasion, but sadly lost his blessing. As to how, I''m not sure, we just went to a tunnel and suddenly, we are inside the dungeon, and the rest, is like how I tell, how I met Mahsuri and we started to live as a traveler" [Bond] "So an ancient tunnel was used. But..." [King Estel] "Can a dwarf really lived that long?" [Ram] "His grandson said that an Elf from Estel give him a longevity medicine. That elf is said to be his companions" [Bond] "That sound like..." [Qis] "Claude..." [Alice] "Most likely" [Diana] And all of them suddenly look at me, staring in disbelief. Crow, the nice young noble (one of a few nobles that I didn''t mind hanging out with), give a nudge to my elbow, telling me to say something "Well, Claude didn''t really tell us all that much about his old master" [Ash] "Ask him later on" [King Estel] "Yes, your highness" [Ash] Still, who could have guessed that one of Claude''s master friends was involved in this situation. "Hmm..." [Crow] "Something wrong Crow?" [Diana] "Well, one of the nobles at Kiserre did invite me to a tea party that he will held. So, Ash, will you come with me as a bodyguard?" [Crow] "That''s a great idea!" [Diana] "Can''t I just enter Kiserre like how I enter Estel and Malsia?" [Ash] "Well, you have been "squabbling" a lot with the old follower recently, and the fact that Kiserre comprises of some hardcore old follower, they will most likely kick you away from their country right at the dungeon entrance" [Crow] "Then, what difference will it make if I go with you?" [Ash] "Well, here''s my plan. I will ask few servants and bodyguards of mine to come along with me, and you will blend as one of my bodyguards. We will Depart tomorrow and by estimation, we will arrive there during the peak hour. That way, only I will get scan by the goddess orb. The servant and bodyguard of mine, will be scan as a group rather than individually, that way, you can slip in and enter Kiserre" [Crow] I see, that''s a great idea. Just like back at Malsia when all 45 of us enter the dungeon, they just scanned as a group rather than one by one to save up time. "Crow, mind if I slip one of my guards as well?" [Diana] "Of course your highness" [Crow] "So, that guard of yours will assist me?" [Ash] "That, or he could just went solo" [Diana] "Well, the more the better I guess" [Ash] "Well, shall this fail, you could just search for the ancient tunnel that the group used to escape. Any idea where is it?" [Ram] "I''m sorry, but I am unsure of it. We are being chased with our life on the line, and I can''t even remember where we pop out or how many floors we ascended during our escape" [Bond] "It''s fine, knowing that an ancient tunnel exist is good enough for me. I can use this information to secure an escape route for the slaves" [Ash] "Thank goodness... and here I thought, me escaping all by myself, leaving others behind is..." [Bond] "There''s nothing wrong with it." [Crow] "!" [Bond] "You are here, still alive and fighting for their sake right? The only way that you could make them angry about is by you totally abandon them, but you''re here, still fighting. So, just leave the rest to us, you have done your part" [Crow] "He''s right, you can leave it to us" [Ash] "You guys... thank you, and please save them!" [Bond] (You heard that? Alaric) [Diana] (Loud and clear, princess) [Alaric] Well, it has been decided that Lisa and I (after she begged Crow to let her in as well) will leave by tomorrow morning, so let just go home first. I''ll tell them what happen and also I''ll have to ask Claude regarding his master. Chapter 115 - Claudes advice Its night time, and the four guest of mine are having a wonderful time. Cupid, Charlotte, and Farhah can be seen playing house while Kronbir is playing hide and seek with Singa and Savel (and obviously the two of them are having an overwhelming advantage). Elsa is with the other girls as she taught them how to cook. Even Rafiah are taking note about it. Rean and Karon right now are training with Behe as to better coordinate themselves As for me "I see. So, Mr Karonlir have met his end..." [Claude] "So you really do know him" [Ash] "What a small world" [Bond] "Well, I did know that my master was blessed as well. But, I''m not sure whether his blessing is that of the original ten heroes or other blessing, just like..." [Claude] "Like?" [Bond] "..." [Ash] Now that I think about it, I never tell Claude anything about my blessing. Sensing that there''s some strange air of tension around us, Bond here quickly left, giving some quickly made up excuses "So, what other blessing did you have" [Claude] "Goddess Achalasia blessings, and the God of Death blessing" [Ash] "And the blessings are for?" [Claude] "To support the ten heroes..." [Ash] "I see... so those ten really are..." [Claude] "How did you know? You just mentioned that you didn''t even know about your master blessing. But how could you tell about them?" [Ash] "I noticed it after Rean fight with the sphinx, and seeing as how you''re currently doting and protecting them, I couldn''t help but think that the ten of them will be chosen" [Claude] Claude tried his best to hold his tear. I can tell that clearly, his shaking arms, his red eyes, he doesn''t want to lose someone special to him once more, and both the time due to the devil invasion. I told him about the promise that I made with Goddess Achalasia and God of Death, and "That reminds me. What sort of blessings did you receive from God of Death?" [Claude] "I''m not sure. Reincarnation is one thing, but as for the rest, it got something to do with my scythe. I still haven''t unlocked the scythe full potential, so I can''t really tell much about it, but I do know that I can borrow the power of those who are death, as long as their souls is inside of it, with my parents being the case" [Ash] "Huh? Reincarnation? Parents soul?" [Claude] "Well..." [Ash] I tell Claude about my life back on earth. About my abusive uncle and aunt. About how Goddess Achalasia and God of Death giving me a chance to be reincarnated into this world. About my short and brief meeting with both of my parents through the scythe power. And about how the Goddess is testing me to find the answer to what''s happening all by myself as a test for me to gain second blessings from her. "..." [Claude] "Claude?" [Ash] "I''m sorry... this is too much to take" [Claude] "You don''t believe in me?" [Ash] "I do, but it''s just shocking. But, I can tell you my opinion" [Claude] "About?" [Ash] "About the test. I guess the answer to what you''re looking for, and the answer to unlock the scythe true potential and thus bringing out The God of Death blessing itself, lies in finding out about your parents true identity" [Claude] "Huh?" [Ash] "Think about it, all this while, your parents have been the center of almost everything that''s happening around you. That''s why, the first step is to find out who they are. Even Mahsuri, the lifeless monster instantly recognize you as their son, surely they had at least met before, and by extension, she had met withyou before. And if Princess Diana intuition is true, regarding how Mahsuri is one of the original ten heroes..." [Claude] "That mean my parents have at least met them at one point in their lives!" [Ash] "Exactly" [Claude] "But how!" [Ash] "I''m not sure, but... I will try and help you find out about it." [Claude] "Huh? How will you do that? Wait, you don''t mean..." [Ash] "The secret chamber, that even Housey couldn''t access, I''ll try to find the way of accessing it" [Claude] ~Gulp~ The secret chamber that Claude''s master made. It has been sealed with a very strong and powerful sealing magic, that even the fortress defense magic couldn''t touch it. It is the secret that only the both of us know "Is that really alright?" [Ash] "Well, I''m sure my master wouldn''t mind about it, if it is for protecting someone close to me" [Claude] "Claude... thank you. I''m glad, I''m glad you''re the first person that I told everything regarding this situation of mine" [Ash] "Even Princess Diana didn''t know about it?" [Claude] "I didn''t tell everything to her, yet" [Ash] "I see, well, this is a rather shocking thing, so I guess it makes sense not telling her all of it at once" [Claude] It strange, it felt like a load have been lifted from my shoulder. I guess Claude really does act like a grandfather, I didn''t know about my grandparents back on earth, but I can tell that this must be how having one feel likes. I''m truly grateful to have Claude in our side, and how he is there, for the ten of them "Dinner is ready!" [Mara] "Well, let us go" [Claude] "Sure, ohh, I almost forgot!" [Ash] "You going to Kiserre?" [Claude] "How did you know?" [Ash] "They already predict that, and I already tell them the usual, but I guess it isn''t needed this time around as they have got used to it" [Claude] "That''s rather sad..." [Ash] Well, better eat and talk with them. I don''t know how long this job of mine will take, and "Ohh, isn''t it your turn tomorrow to teach at school?" [Rafiah] "CRAP! I forgot!" [Ash] "CRAP! CRAP!" [Charlotte] ~Pinch~ "That hurts!" [Charlotte] "Don''t say that ever again!" [Kara] "Right..." [Charlotte] "You too" [Claude] "Right..." [Ash] Well, what should I do. I can just ask someone to replace me, but that wouldn''t be fun. "What''s with that smile?" [Karon] "I just thought of a great assignment for all of you" [Ash] "Assshymen?" [Singa] Chapter 116 - Kiserre _________________________________________________ [At Malsia] Naoto, an A rank adventure who is always being nominated with a job from the royal family, being called by Princess Nurhaliza "I see, so you want me to infiltrate Kiserre and find out what''s happening there" [Naoto] "Yes please, and if possible, you should capture "that person" alive, so that we could prosecute him" [Haliza] "So, that person is there, but this might be hard" [Naoto] "Well, Ash will be there as well, plus, that should only be your secondary objective. The primary one should be investigation as to avoid any unnecessary conflict in near future" [Haliza] "Understood, I''ll accept this job" [Naoto] "Thank you for your hard work, Naoto" [Haliza] _________________________________________________ "So this is how you look like" [Ash] "..." [Alaric] Alaric, he''s one of Diana''s twelve hidden guards that for some reason, will always accompany her. Even with one search magic, they''re quite hard to be exposed, as expected of a royal hidden guards. He''s from the Beastman race, the vampire race. I''m sure with his black hair and pale face, the maid inside the castle goes crazy. He also has a large bat wings protruding out from his back as well as a long fang (maybe, but I guess that must be a small one if the folk fore tales of Dracula back on earth can be trusted, since, the tip just barely visible) Still, "Are you sure you''re fine with this? This is Kiserre, you know. They aren''t exactly the non human friendliest human I know of" [Lisa] "Just what one would expect from the old follower" [Ash] "I can take care of myself perfectly fine" [Alaric] ''But..." [Lisa] "I can just do this" [Alaric] He hides both his wing and fang, but that still does not wipe off the worried look from Lisa''s face. "I can do this as well" [Alaric] He then transform into a bat "Huh, a regress beastly transformation. Can you do the evolved beastly transformation?" [Ash] "Secret" [Alaric] "I''ll take that as a yes" [Ash] To replied to me just now, he had to transformed back into his normal form. All beastman, by right can perform two type of transformation. Regress beastly transformation and evolved beastly transformation, but most of the time, we just refer it as beastly transformation. The regress version is more predictable and consistent as they will just changed to the animal they''re closely related, and as for Alaric, it''s bat. For the kids, Elise will become a fox, Singa will change into a lion and Savel into a lizard (albeit they still haven''t mastered it completely). As for the other version (that is the evolved beastly transformation), it''s slightly difficult to say. They''re said to be the higher and more powerful version of their current form (and that''s why the term evolved is used here) and can differ from person to person as they''re variation even among the same species of beastman. For example, Elise might change into the mythical nine tail fox, or maybe a ghastly fox. Who knew. The only sure way to know is for them to transform into it "Still, I''m not convinced!" [Lisa] "..." [Alaric] "Lisa, he''s one of the royal bodyguard, I''m sure he''s more than capable to take good care of himself" [Ash] "But, I''m worried" [Lisa] "Don''t worry, I''ll take good care of myself, plus..." [Alaric] "Plus..." [Lisa] "I don''t plan on dyeing yet" [Alaric] His eyes, it looks like he have some big ambition that motivates him to work harder than the rest, but... (God, forgive me for thinking about it, but that''s a splendid death flag right there...) [Ash] Well, to prevent that, why don''t I take the initiative to discuss with him on what we should do "Say, how about we discussed something" [Ash] "It''s fine. Just like how you prefer to go solo most of the time, so am I. We can just meet at a regular basis where Sir Crow is staying, or some new location to avoid being sniffed" [Alaric] "Alrighty then" [Ash] Guess that settle it nicely ~Gate open~ "Sorry for being late" [Crow] "Well, that''s fine and all but..." [Ash] "Ohh, I have to brought this many people and carriage with me. I''ll also act like a spoiled child near the Kiserre entrance, that way, all of this will allow the two of you to enter safely" [Crow] "So, you act like a typical noble son then? Like that idiot noble that I knew of?" [Ash] "Well, yes..." [Crow] "..." [Guard] "..." [Lisa] "..." [Alaric] "Huh, can''t wait to see for myself" [Ash] Well, off we go then. Near the entrance "Well, that''s to be expected" [Ash] "Why didn''t you wake us up!" [Mara] "Yeah! We want to send you off properly!" [Farhah] "Bad boy! Bad boy!" [Charlotte] "Yeah! Bad boy!" [Cupid] "That''s cute!" [Lisa] "I wonder who did she copy" [Ash] "Well..." [Rafiah] "Well, she''s growing..." [Diana] "..." [Liyana] "And the three of you? I can see why Flinar and Erinmorlin is here, but not the three of you. Plus, you have noble school to attend, right Liyana" [Ash] "Well, it''s cancel for today, and so I dragged her with me after knowing that. She wanted to meet with you, but midway through, we stumble upon the bus golem and here we are" [Diana] "I see, well, Elise, did you tell her about the assignment?" [Ash] "I did" [Elise] "Well, good" [Ash] It will be great if that assignment bore some result, otherwise, it will simply be a good practice for them "Take good care of her, will you" [Flinar] "And don''t do anything funny to her" [Erinmorlin] "I won''t, but the other way around could also be possible" [Ash] "Hey!" [Lisa] "Alaric, watch her out" [Diana] "Understood" [Alaric] ""What understood!?"" [Ash, Lisa] I can''t tell from her voice, whether she ask Alaric to monitor or Lisa. She sure is an expert in this kind of thing As the younger group have their fair share of hug and sending off me with bye-bye gesture (waving their hand like there''s no tomorrow, which is honestly cute), we enter the open field dungeon and stay on the mid road until "So that''s Mahsuri" [Crow] "Mind if I talk to her for a bit?" [Ash] "Just be careful. I was informed about what happened yesterday" [Crow] "I will" [Ash] I approach her cautiously. With my hand right in the air, signaling her not to attack me. Annoyed (or maybe not, but this is what I imagine she felt like as she dashed towards me) "What is it?" [Mahsuri] "Well, Cupid ask me to say hi to you, and..." [Ash] "And..." [Mahsuri] I explained to her regarding my job, and "I don''t know if that''s possible, but please take care of them" [Ash] I don''t know why I have to say that, but it just doesn''t feel right if I didn''t ask her. "..." [Mahsuri] Guess it''s impossible "Understood..." [Mahsuri] "Thanks!" [Ash] That sure is a surprise, but a welcome one As I go back to the now pale group of people (excluding the already naturally pale Alaric), they keep on asking me what happen, for which I explained to them . . . "There''s the entrance. You two, act natural!" [Crow] ""Understood"" [Ash, Alaric] As Crow approach the bewildered guard, he begins to put up the act of a spoiled noble child. Demanding his envoy to be treated better than this, cutting the line etc etc, for which (He really is a good actor!) [Lisa] (Is he really acting though...) [Ash] (I have the same doubt) [Alaric] Well, it''s just too convincing, so bravo to him if it''s really an act, plus "Alright, alright sir, you will pass through first" [Guard] "That is what I would like to hear you mere guard" [Crow] Yup, I can''t tell whether it''s his act or not, but i do know he is one of the good noble, and just when we pass through the goddess orb "So, this is Kiserre!" [Lisa] Chapter 117 - What to do _________________________________________________ [At certain district in Kiserre] A young man can be seen talking to the merchant at the district "Thank you so much, and can I have this mango juice" [?] "Sure, and come again" [Merchant] The young man takes the mango juice and sip it out bit by bit as he started to analyze the information that he managed to get (There''s still no concrete evidence to suggest the two fallen prince of the Demon Kingdom, no the traitor of the Demon Kingdom to be here and involve, but...) [?] The ashen hair man stop for a while (That still doesn''t exclude them from the list of suspicious people) [?] But, what puzzling him the most right now is how did this section of the church, that is the old follower can cooperate with someone from the Demon race (Do they share a common goal? If so, what?) [?] As he keeps on sipping out the mango juice, he can see a group of people, most likely from Estel, with a noble at the centre (I wonder if The Behemoth Slayer is among them) [?] For now, he should just stay low (Hmm... that is...) [?] _________________________________________________ So this is Kiserre, as compared to Estel or Kiserre, this one have the same motive as that of the Modern Vatican. And what strikes me the most is that (There are all human...) [Ash] Well, even back at Estel and Malsia, non human population are small in number as most of them reside in the Beast Kingdom and Demon Kingdom, but you could see one non human easily, but here, it''s totally zero (Well, better start using my scan magic) [Ash] As I am about to use my magic, something strike me odd, and prevent me from using it (This feeling... someone, no, there''s two of them, and one of them is... Agnes?) [Ash] "What''s wrong?" [Crow] "Someone, watching us... there''s two of them though" [Ash] "Agree, but, I couldn''t pinpoint them out" [Alaric] "Stay calm, it might just be their soldier and knight watching us as part of their patrol" [Crow] "Maybe, but I didn''t like this feeling" [Ash] "Then, the two of you should lay low for a while. Come with me to the noble mansion first" [Crow] ""Yes"" [Ash, Alaric] I guess that''s for the best. Didn''t want our cover to be immediately blown up before we start our investigation As we make our way to the noble mansion, I couldn''t help but keep on noticing that we are being watched. Alaric feels the same, and what strike me odd is that the two who watched us, I got this feeling they aren''t from the same side. One give a feeling similar to Agnes, while another one give quite the opposite feeling And when we arrive at the mansion, I could tell that the two spying eye have left. And, we are now greeted by the butler of the mansion, and from the look of it, the butler didn''t seem to be enjoying our presence. I wonder why, but Crow''s friend however "It''s been a while since we last saw each other!" [Noble] "Yeah, I miss you there" [Crow] They''re having a fun time greeting each other, guess that''s normal. But (That butler really is suspicious) [Alaric] (Is he spying on us? Or is he observing us?) [Ash] (Huh? What''s the difference?) [Lisa] (One is to see whether we are a threat, and the other one is to see whether we are of use to him) [Alaric] (You mean, kidnapping us!) [Lisa] ((Most likely)) [Ash, Alaric] I must say, I didn''t expect that I will find a clue this fast, and neither thus Alaric. I guess it just a lucky stroke for us. All of us (except for Crow) are guided to one big room, so that we could all lay down for a while. Once we are inside "So, did you guys found anything?" [Worker A] "Well..." [Alaric] Alaric and I explained to the worker that comes with us. They''re someone that Crow trusted so that''s why we can share certain information to them "I see, well, the butler did seem suspicious, but the noble son didn''t give the same impression" [Worker B] "Agree" [Bodyguard A] "Maybe the head of the house and the butler knew something, while the son doesn''t. Not everything should be kept open, even among family member" [Worker C] "I see, that is a possibility" [Ash] Guess I should ask Crow to investigate this noble house further. If it were me, I didn''t think I will do half a good job as Crow did. And when dusk greet us all, Crow decided to book us all a large inn near to the mansion, and once again, when we are all inside, "I see, so you two haven''t felt the spying eye ever since then, and the butler, just like you mentioned, really do feel off" [Crow] Crow lean back, thinking for a moment before "You should just stay here, and start the investigation when you are sure they''re not watching you anymore" [Crow] "Agree, but should this persist..." [Ash] "You will go and "greet" them personally?" [Alaric] "That''s risky" [Lisa] "Agree" [Crow] "Well, that''s true, but what other option do we have?" [Ash] "How about we ask the adventure guild here for help" [Lisa] "Well, about that..." [Crow] Crow seem to know something, wonder what happen "Well, if the rumour that my friend heard are true, the adventure guild master and some good profile adventure are contracting some "mysterious illness", and thus they''re being "treated" by the church" [Crow] "I see, and I bet the guild master replacement is someone well connected with the old follower" [Lisa] "That seem to be the case" [Crow] "This is hard" [Alaric] "That make it simple" [Ash] ""!!"" [Crow, Lisa] Huh, look like we have two conflicting opinions here "Well, I could just "ask" this replacement "nicely" for some juicy information, what do you guys think?" [Ash] "It''s risky" [Alaric] "And we are still being watched" [Crow] "But the information that we will get is good" [Lisa] "Then, I should "greet" the replacement after everything settles down" [Ash] "Fine... but promise me, don''t do anything too reckless" [Crow] "Well, what he is about to do is basically reckless" [Alaric] "Agree" [Lisa] Well, given the option, I do believe this will be risky, but the pay off will be good. Still, we still have to consider the watching eyes, and "They aren''t watching?" [Crow] "No, they still aren''t" [Alaric] "Well, just to be on a safe side, we should wait for another one or two day to confirm it" [Lisa] "Sure" [Ash] Better be safe than sorry Chapter 118 - Ash vs the replacement guild master _________________________________________________ [At certain district in Kiserre] "Now then, would you mind giving me some info?" [?] The ashen hair man, after cornering a member of an old follower. The ashen hair man realized that this old follower had his eye on the group of people coming from the open field dungeon, and he instinctively tries to protect the group. He followed the group (together with the old follower) before ambushing him. Of course, the old follower did notice the ashen hair man, and even decided to confront him first, but alas, the ashen hair man prove to be far more difficult than what he initially expected, as he is quickly overwhelmed by the ashen hair man light magic "You! You are!" [Old follower] "Well, go on. I have the patience to wait" [?] "Like hell I will tell you!" [Old follower] With a strange cube in his hand, he smashes the cube to the ground, creating a very bright light that are supposed to blind those around him but (Well, just have to pretend it works on me I guess) [?] The ashen hair man, with astronomical high affinity towards light magic, didn''t even flinch but have pretend that it does work, and... "Yup, he''s gone, just as I plan" [?] In truth, he can just subdue the enemy in front of him, but decided not to, since his objective is to ensure the group of people coming from Estel is safe, plus "Hope you will help me, Behemoth Slayer" [?] _________________________________________________ Our group, having sense that there''s no more of those watching eye, decided to investigate the Kiserre''s branch adventure guild, with Alaric and I having to disguise ourselves. With Lisa help, we make a simple request of searching for a lost object, and as the receptionist processed the request (There he is) [Alaric] (Proudly showing the guild master tag) [Ash] (At night, we strike) [Alaric] (Understood) [Ash] Or so he says, but the one that will be task to beat and capture him will lie on me, while Alaric will be securing the parameter, making sure there''s no reinforcement coming to help him With the two of us stalking the guild from afar (as Lisa excuses herself, since she will help Crow in investigating a number of nobles), we begin to search for possible location that are well suited for our operation. Luck will be the main factor here, as we just begin the investigation, so we don''t even know whether he will take the route that we selected or not, or how many people are with him. Nonetheless, if the optimal conditions are met, we will strike with no hesitation With night approaching, and the adventure leave the guild one by one, our target began to take his leave as well. He is accompanied by two strong looking man. He himself look quite weak, but I reckon he can still put up a fight, and as for the other two, I''m sure I can beat them swiftly should the surprise attack works, but we have to make sure they wouldn''t run and called for help As they use one of the alleys that we scouted earlier this morning, the two of us quickly nodded to each other, with Alaric begin by securing the parameter (and transform himself into a bat afterward). And when he signal that everything is clear (Silence) [Ash] I cover the alley and the surrounding area with a large silence spell, as to preventing any noise that the replacement guild master will make (Now!) [Ash] Since I''m sure that they didn''t even notice what we have just done, I decided to attack the man holding a sword from behind. With my scythe, I quickly slice both of his arms as to preventing him from using his sword. The three of them, obviously confuse as to what is even going on, tries to retaliate. The guy with an axe tries to reach his weapon, but (Fire arrows!) [Ash] The two fire arrows that I used hit his eyes. Bull''s-eye! His scream sure is deafening, but never mind that, I quickly did the same and slices his arms, and "Haa!!" [Swordman] "What the!" [Ash] His arms, did his arms just regenerate!? How!? Well, no problem ~Slice~ There, back to square one. And as for the replacement guild master, aah... his staff, it''s the same as the one that''s use by the mysterious falling guy back during the goblin raid, which reminded me (I forgot to give it to the magician for analysis...) [Ash] Well, I''ll just give it to them later. Still (Huh, so that''s one of the functyion of the weird looking staff) [Ash] I''m not sure whether it enhances one magic, or it have it own healing properties, or maybe even both, but "No wonder you can quickly regenerate their arms" [Ash] What a great staff! Should it prove to be harmless, I will take it from them and give it to the staff user among my siblings. "Die!" [Axe user] ~Yawn~ And back to square one (once again) "Well, this is way easier than what I predicted" [Ash] Not gonna lie, it is. The replacement guild master, with his only option being calling for help while keep on firing light spell towards me, begin to act desperately. He then fire off a large light ball magic toward the sky but "Huh!?" [Replacement guild master] "Too bad" [Ash] Guess Alaric must have block it. Well, that light ball magic wasn''t meant to deal a lethal damage, it''s more like a signal for help, hoping someone to rescue him. So that''s why, I don''t think Alaric, being one of the royal bodyguard, will get hurts from it "Go away from me!" [Replacement guild master] As a last ditch effort, he fire off a concentrated light laser magic at me. Well, it is strong but "No way!" [Replacement guild master] Well, I just create a new item box space and use it to shield myself from his attack. Hmm, guess I can store the attack and unleashed it back when needed. I wonder if that will work. As the replacement guild master try to fire off another attack, I simply throw my scythe towards him, targeting his arm, and "Ughh!" [Replacement guild master] With his arm gone, and his staff on the ground (which once again, being stored inside my item box), I quick tied all of them up and "Not bad, plus, can you teach me the silence spell" [Alaric] "Sure" [Ash] As the two of us begin to tidy up the scene, a lady in her 30s come and greet us. Just like Mahsuri, she wore a baju kurung and a scarf covering her hair resembling that of the Malays, only this time, it''s black in colour, and with a south eastern asian feature on her face, and "You two really are strong" [?] ""!!"" [Ash, Alaric] Just where did she come from, neither of us can detect her, and more importantly, she''s strong... "Ohh, don''t worry about it. I''m not your enemy, in fact..." [?] She bring out her adventure card license and ""The Saga!!"" [Ash, Alaric] Chapter 119 - Assignment part 1 [Mara point of view] "Alright! Let us begin the assignment!" [Diana] "Yes!" [Other] With Brother Ash gone (having went to Kiserre for god knows why this time), his class is replaced by Princess Diana, monitoring and guiding us with the assignment that Brother Ash left us with (Monitoring and guiding are what it is supposed to be, but...) [Mara] None of us have any clue on how to make this assignment a success. "This is hard" [Muse] "Agree, and it''s nearly impossible for us to do it ..." [Liyana] "I would rather go and slay some zombies inside the dungeon now..." [Kadeus] "Now, now. Don''t give up just yet, Ash told all of us wasn''t it, that it isn''t necessary for you to complete this thing" [Alice] "True, but..." [Mara] "I''M BORED!" [Farhah] "I WANT TO SLAY SOME GOBLIN!" [Zerolith] And the first wave of boredom struck us all. Zerolith and Farhah, they are the same as I am, can''t sit in one place for too long. Look, the younger group, and Cupid as well as some other smaller kid also started to show some sign of boredom, but I guess with the Princess, her royal guard and Sis Alice being here, they are still motivated. Speaking of motivation "I guess this is how we should do it" [Kara] "I see, well, but wouldn''t it decreases the reach?" [Rean] "That''s true!" [Kara] "But that wasn''t a bad idea, I''ll try experiment with it" [Karon] "I''ll help" [Elise] "Me too, it''s worth exploring" [Ray] They''re completely engrossed by it. Well, I guess they''re the diligent type of students, you could say almost a complete opposite from us ~Shatter~ "Aah!" [Neighborhood girl] "Oh no..." [Singa] "Are you alright?" [Qis] "Yes, yes I''m fine. But..." [Neighborhood girl] She looks almost ready to cry. Can''t blame her, that is a C rank magic core. It price is something that one wouldn''t give to a kid so easily, in fact, if I were to tell that Brother Ash have given us all the permission to use any magic core regardless of rank to any outsider, they will think that I am lying, but here it is, a neighborhood is currently using it to complete the assignment given to us "I''m sorry... I''m sorry" [Neighborhood girl] "It''s fine. I''ll just get us another magic core" [Qis] "But..." [Neighborhood girl] "It''s fine, so promise me not to cry" [Qis] "Ok..." [Neighborhood girl] Ooh! She will be using the spawning block to fight a C rank monster! Now that''s exciting! "I''ll help!" [Zerolith] Apparently, Zerolith have the same idea as I am "Me too!" [Kadeus] "Let us work together!" [Farhah] Kadeus and Farhah also felt the same "Let''s go!" [Mara] As long as I can skip this boring assignment, then I wouldn''t mind it a bit. Sure, if we were to complete this assignment, the impact it will have is tremendous, but, it''s just tedious "Someone just wanted to skip the assignment" [Mile] "No we aren''t!" [Farhah] "Right..." [Elise] "Now, now. I can actually sympathize with them" [Muse] Well, screw it. I''m too bored right now, so let me just help or watch Sis Qis with her job, or so I thought, but "That''s fast!" [Elsa] "Man, I still can''t believe how these kids can handle such a valuable magic core, and not to mention how they can just produce a magic core almost instantly" [Kronbir] "You just have to defeat the monster spawn by the block, and that''s that. This seems almost too good to be true..." [Bond] "And they can almost use chantless magic... isn''t it supposed to be super hard, and yet..." [Elsa] "No kidding, if I were to tell someone about this place and all the thing that we had just watched, they will just take it as a joke" [Kronbir] "Maybe they will even say we are crazy" [Bond] Our three adults guest still can''t believe what they just saw. Who wouldn''t? But for us, this have become a norm, and I just couldn''t imagine me leaving without it. "AHHHH!" [Farhah] "I''M BORED!" [Zerolith] "You two!" [Qis] ""Sorry..."" [Zerolith, Farhah] Good grief, they really can''t stand still for too long isn''t it. Even if you''re bored, don''t just do that, it will just disturb other "Sigh..." [Diana] "This is really hard..." [Rafiah] "If my master was around, surely he will be sitting there on his table for hours, even day..." [Claude] Even the adults group are having difficulty, and the younger group on the other hand "Meow!" [Behe] "Let play house with us Behe!" [Cupid] "Yeah, you can be a fish" [Charlotte] "Meow?" [Behe] "Knock Knock! Is the restaurant open?" [Savel] "It''s a house! Not a restaurant!" [Kat] "This look interesting" [Mara] "You have given up aren''t you" [Kara] "Totally" [Mara] Well, I don''t mind playing house right now just to escape from this assignment. Look, Farhah already immersed herself, playing the role as a granddaughter, while Charlotte and Cupid still arguing who got to be the grandmother (I should just join the younger group) [Mara] "Mara, can you help us here" [Liyana] Or so I thought, guess I''ll just continue helping them. "So, if we use our neutral mana here to catch the radio wave here, it should be possible right?" [Rean] "True, but I can also use either thunder magic or light magic for it" [Mara] "You can already use thunder magic!" [Liyana] "Not that much, just getting started" [Mara] "Still, I reckon we should just try it. At least we should target to achieve a stable communication from one room to another" [Karon] "Agree" [Ray] "Still, even Mara is a diligent type, I''m surprised" [Kadeus] "Same here" [Zerolith] "Sis Mara, since when..." [Farhah] "You guys should really keep your mouth shut!" [Mara] . . . [3 hours later] "We did it!" [Diana] "I can clearly see and hear you from here, your highness" [Alice] "Guess all our hard work pays off" [Kadeus] "I feel so proud of myself" [Zerolith] "Me too!" [Farhah] "You guys..." [Elise] "I can''t believe you have the nerve to say that, when all you have done most of the time is slacking around!" [Mara] "Well, they do help us around, as comic relief" [Muse] With that, our first step to properly make a "telephone" is done. Well, we do have to use Housey as the transmitter and receiver, but it''s still considered as an achievement "Still, your brother really are a genius, coming up with such a wild idea" [Kronbir] "Just who is he?" [Elsa] "He is Brother Ash of course!" [Charlotte] "Yeah, didn''t he introduced himself" [Cupid] "That wasn''t what they''re asking" [Bond] It''s true though... just who is Brother Ash actually is. Now that I think of it, we didn''t really know that much about him... "I''m bored" [Savel] "Well, how about we test this inside a dungeon tomorrow?" [Qis] "We can use the first floor of the ice dungeon. They''re plenty of adventure there, so we should be safe" [Alice] "ICE DUNGEON!" [Charlotte] "Here we come" [Singa] Chapter 120 - Assignment part 2 [Savel point of view] We are all excited! This will be our first time stepping into the ice dungeon. Apparently, after we make the telephone a success inside the mansion, we are now going to test it out outside the mansion. The purpose of this assignment is for us to develop the telephone, that way we can talk with Sis Mira and Brother Kana back at Malsia. That must be fun! I can talk to the Second Housey, I can talk to Birdie, I can talk with other friends there as well! Maybe we can even talk with Princess Nurhaliza should she have the time. Sure, Princess Diana is fun and nice, but Princess Nurhaliza is way funnier and love playing with us. I wonder why? Could it be because Princess Diana never had a chance to play tag when she was younger? Impossible! We can play tag everyday inside the mansion, surely Princess Diana with all her servants can play tag as well as hide and seek inside the huge castle "Savel, we are leaving" [Elise] "Coming!" [Savel] Looks like we are leaving by using the bus golem. Now, it''s Sis Mara turns to drive it around. They sure are lucky! Singa and I also wanted to try and drive it around but no, they say we are still small, and we should just wait until we turn older! Unfair! Unfair! Unfair! ~Chug~ "Haa... orange juice is lovely. Want some Savel?" [Charlotte] "Ok!" [Savel] "Hey! Don''t drink too much of sweet juice! Your teeth will go bad!" [Kara] ""Sorry"" [Savel, Charlotte] "You guys are bad boys and girl" [Singa] ""No we are not!!"" [Savel, Charlotte] "Singa, you shouldn''t eat too much of sweet as well!" [Elise] "!" [Singa] As we move towards the city centre, we can see the usual building. We sure love to travel a lot now, as compared to before where they will hurt us just because we don''t have any changes to ride the carriage. Now, everything changes, but I wonder why they''re still people hating us? Do they want to ride the bus golem so much as well but they didn''t have any changes? Impossible, the bus golem is free! And here we are, and it looks like some of them are already there. Rean''s friends, and Liyana, as well as Princess Diana and Qis with Sis Alice. They''re all here, ready to test out the telephone "Alright! Let test it out here first, without Housey help" [Diana] "Yes!" [Elise] And they test it out. The surrounding adventure, curious as what is going to happen, form a circle around, and when they see that there''s an image of Princess Diana from the magic core that have been modified to a telephone, they''re all in shock! "It''s working!" [Elise] "Elise, try and do the same!" [Rean] "Princess Diana, please close yours" [Zerolith] "Sure" [Diana] "This is so exciting!" [Farhah] "I, I want to try it as well" [Karon] "Sure, come here Karon" [Diana] "Right!" [Karon] """Not fair!!!""" [Singa, Savel, Charlotte] "The three of you as well" [Diana] """Yaaa!!!""" [Singa, Savel, Charlotte] And the four of us squeeze Princess Diana so that we can be seen by Sis Elise. The other are with Sis Elise, as she''s trying to connect her telephone to Princess Diana "Hello?" [Elise] "Looks like it''s a success" [Qis] "SIS ELISE!" [Charlotte] ""Hello!!"" [Singa, Savel] "Well, the quality is a bit low as compared to what Ash is capable of" [Alice] "Well, Rafiah and Housey can''t consecutively produce an A rank monster from the spawning block, and even a B rank monster tired them off. So this should do for now" [Diana] As the three of them continue talking with each other, Singa and I keep on waving through the phone, and "Let test it out inside the dungeon!" [Ray] "Oh Rean, can I test it out with you, of course, just the two of us, in private <3" [Muse] "Ehh..." [Rean] "Can we join?" [Singa] "Of course you can" [Muse] "Yaa!" [Savel] "Phew..." [Rean] "Ohh, I''m so "glad" for him" [Kadeus] Off we go, towards the ice dungeon, but, why is there so much of adventure around? "Because of the sudden change in activity of monster throughout the three dungeon" [Gizzere] "Ahh, grandma Gizzere" [Farhah] "You come for the telephone?" [Savel] "I am, and it looks like it''s a success. Good job everyone" [Gizzere] As we all received the compliment from Grandma Gizzere, "Can the change in monster activities be attributed to the Holy Beast, Ice Dragon?" [Liyana] "Holy beast?" [Cupid] "What is that?" [Kat] "Dragon! Like Savel?" [Blanc] "Well, let me explain!" [Mara] "Go on, we are counting on you" [Kadeus] "He must have forgotten about it" [Zerolith] "Looks whose talking" [Mile] "Rean, will you forget about me shall I leave your life?" [Muse] "Umm... never?" [Rean] "Oh Rean <3" [Muse] "Oh my" [Lily] "Sigh... moving on" [Mara] The 7 holy beasts, they''re said to be a beast that''s capable of ending a civilization all by their own, and that''s before they''re even bestowed power by the goddess, granting them the title. While the Holy Beast true purposes are unknown, there can be more than seven of them at a time, but they''re still collectively known as the 7 Holy Beastd. Right now, the known 7 Holy Beasts are Represent Fire, the Hell Tiger, that''s said to be larger than that of a King Behemoth, Har. Last spotted near the Beast Kingdom Represent Water, the Ancient Ice Dragon, said to bring an end to the world by freezing everything. Reshir, Last spotted in Ice Dungeon Represent Wind, the Rampaging Garuda. Thunder ensure wherever it goes. Said to be ever migrating Represent Earth, the Tyrant steel Ant, Drant. Lead an army of ant as large as a teenage sphinx. Just like Garuda, it''s ever migrating Represent Mirage, the Fairy Queen, Titania. While fairy are said to resemble a child in appearance, the queen resembles that of an adult woman. Reside in the tree of life itself Represent Darkness, Az the time keeper. An old man that''s said to control time itself. Location unknown Represent Light, Angkasa. Description unknown Location unknown. Angkasa and Az are the only two Holy Beasts that are known not to be stripped the title of Holy Beast "And the Ice Dragon, Reshir are said to rest here, inside the Ice Dungeon" [Mara] "So cool!" [Savel] I wanted to meet the Ice Dragon! My dragonewt blood, it''s boiling with excitement "Hey Savel! Don''t run!" [Rean] Since they''re all talking about the telephone, I might just as well go inside the dungeon by my own. The guard, seeing as how I am with Princess Diana, didn''t even bother to check me. Once inside, I can see a lot of people! There''s adventure, there''s merchant, and some people that I recognize. Aren''t they Sis Rafiah friend? But, more importantly "It''s cold!!!..." [Savel] "And that''s why I said don''t run! And quick, use your adaptation magic!" [Rean] . . . "Savel?" [Rean] "Rean, what''s going on!" [Elise] "Savel!!!" [Rean] _________________________________________________ Huh? Where''s this place? It''s dark "A dragonewt, and more importantly, the ten heroes. Still, what a small child you are" [???] "Who''s there!?" [Savel] There''s no answer. Just where did this voice coming from? "Too bad, your affinity are mostly Mirage, but nonetheless, I shall grant you my strength, albeit only a tiny portion of it for now, dear future hero" [???] "Hero!?" [Savel] What Hero? And it''s starting to get cold, and there are something that''s entering my body? No, it felt like one of it is entering my body, while another one is being released? Like a power that''s deep inside of me getting awaken "I''m scared, what is this!?" [Savel] "While I''m at it, I might as well as give a portion of my power to that blue hair girl. Her water affinity sure is high. As expected, she is after all the... but they might get angry..." [???] What is this voice talking about, I can''t make any sense of it, and it hurts!!! _________________________________________________ [Rean point of view] All of us are now in panic, unsure of what''s happening to Savel, and suddenly, Elise shout, calling my name "Rean, Charlotte, Charlotte just collapse as well!" [Elise] "Quick, bring them out from here!" [Diana] "Yes!" [Other] What''s happening to them!? Their skin, are cold, not only because of their surroundings, but also because of their mana, and more importantly "Princess! Savel, he is!!!" [Rean] "This is!" [Qis] "So, he''s the second one among you..." [Diana] "And what''s this tattoo?" [Rean] The bracelet did a good job on blocking it, but the three can still clearly felt the blessing of the ten heroes coming out from Savel, but more importantly, let just get out from here! As we bring the now unconscious Savel and Charlotte out, I can sense a malice intention coming from somewhere, and wasn''t that . . . (So, that filthy dragonewt! Curse him! Why should a non human got it from the Holy Beast! I should tell our leader) [Old follower A] Chapter 121 - Saint Louis and The Saga, Khamishah _________________________________________________ [Inside the church in Kiserre] So, he really is here" [Agnes] "Yes, and to think that he attacked me when I was watching a group of people from Estel, truly, a cunning man" [Old follower] "Still, is our man of interest there?" [Agnes] "That, I am unable to confirm..." [Old follower] "Such a useless fellow" [Agnes] "Mrs Agnes!" [Old follower] With a syringe in her hand, dhe quickly stabs the man carotid artery in mere second "No, no, please, don''t take back the goddess blessings" [Old follower] "You can''t even get a simple job done, you''re simply unfit for Goddess Achalasia blessings" [Agnes] "No please, please I will try my best" [Old follower] "Too late" [Agnes] The old follower, sensing that his blessing given to him by Agnes is now taken back by the same person, suddenly felt a strange thing happening to him "This is..." [Old follower] "Ohh, and let me tell you something, that wasn''t your goddess blessings, instead..." [Agnes] Upon hearing the truth, the old follower succumb quickly into despair, and the response just make Agnes even more delighted, however "No, such vile things, inside of me all this time!" [Old follower] "Vile..." [Agnes] Angry from the response that she received, Agnes lash out, taking out her rod, she pierce the skull of the old follower, before making it explode by using her explosion magic. The brain matter, the eyes, all of which are quickly eaten up by a hell hound who smells blood ~Sigh~ (That Saint aside, I guess The Behemoth Slayer really is here. And not to mention, The Saga as well. Not to mention those two idiots fallen prince) [Agnes] She only smirks, and proceed to laugh all by herself with the hell hound wagging it tail by her side _________________________________________________ In an abandoned building, somewhere far away from the castle at Kiserre, Crow and his bodyguard as well as Lisa are now being guided by Alaric (in his bat form) Using his echolocation after becoming a bat, Alaric ensures that the group will get here as soon as possible, without being caught by a patrolling guard. Once they''re there "That was quick" [Ash] "The patrolling guards, they sure are didn''t give a damned about their job" [Alaric] "Somehow, I get this feeling you''re angry as a fellow professional" [Lisa] "Agree" [Bodyguard A] With all of them are here, they quickly take their seat. Crow looks around the building, noticing a crippled men being gag with a worn out cloth lying at the corner of the building, and just opposite of him, is two unknown people, an ashen hair man and a lady with a black scarf. "You are!" [Crow] Not being told that they''re two more persons waiting for them do surprise him, nonetheless, he quickly recognise those two "Alaric, Ash! What''s the meaning of this! Why didn''t you tell us Saint Louis and The Saga, Khamishah are here with us!" [Crow] "Saint Louis and..." [Lisa] "The Saga, Khamishah..." [Bodyguard B] Bewildered by the two prominence figures just In front of them, the group can''t help but to keep on staring at them, which understandably make those two a little bit uncomfortable, but they''re slightly used to it by now "Well, it isn''t fair only my jaw dropped, so that''s why I asked Alaric not to tell you guys" [Ash] "And Alaric, you accepted it!?" [Crow] "..." [Alaric] "Sigh... how can I trust you in the future if you hide such an important information..." [Crow] "Now, now, that''s all in the past" [Ash] "..." [Alaric] Alaric looks defeated, well, he didn''t say no when I ask him to do that, so I thought he was ok with it. Well, never mind that "Still, it''s better for us to introduce ourselves first, don''t you agree" [Ash] "Right, I''m sorry. Where are my manner, I am..." [Crow] As we introduce ourselves to the two guest, The ashen hair man (Saint Louis) as well as The SS rank adventure, The Saga Khamishah also introduced themselves and we begin to share what all of us have got, starting with Mrs Khamishah "The Kiserre guild master, was one of my masters that I am close with, and before he suddenly disappeared due to the "illness", he send me a letter through the Mini Garuda, that could transverse the dungeon and from there, I quickly dispatch myself toward Kiserre" [Khamishah] "What did he writes?" [Lisa] "Well, Kiserre still doesn''t have any slave law enacted, so it isn''t uncommon for slaves to be brought here, but, he found it strange that there''s high number of slaves being brought here and yet, there''s no sign of them being sold or used anywhere" [Khamishah] "Meaning that the slaves must be kept somewhere for some unknown purpose?" [Ash] "That''s what he concluded as well, sadly, that''s all the letter explained, and when I arrived here at Kiserre, he was already replaced" [Khamishah] "I see, and how about you, Saint Louis?" [Ash] "As for me, I simply came here after Saintess Rumia received the letter from Mrs Khamishah here. At first, I came here under the pretext of an official visit, but sadly, I didn''t uncover anything at all, and thus, I sneaked out from my carriage and quickly come here for covert operations" [Saint Louis] "I see, and as for us..." [Ash] I tell them regarding the incidence back then, where I met with Bond and the other three, and telling the two of them how Bond manages to escaped, become a traveler and reside on the 18th floor of open field dungeon, with Mahsuri protecting them "An ancient tunnel, I did come across some of them during my job, but, I don''t think I ever heard or saw one here in Kiserre" [Khamishah] "I also can''t detect any of it during my official visit" [Louis] "Interesting..." [Lisa] That sure are interesting, the two of them are strong, and maybe, just maybe they aren''t well suited in this kind of job (which honestly speaking, is impossible), thus, they unknowingly missed the ancient tunnel. But, "You also can''t find any of it?" [Lisa] "Yeah, I can''t. I even use earth sonar magic as well as plant root magic to boost it, but nonetheless..." [Ash] I can''t find any underground ancient tunnel. They''re surprise by it as well. I did tell them a couple of reasons as to why that could happen, maybe because it''s so deep underground that my magic didn''t reach it, or maybe there''s a special barrier that blocks my magic, or maybe because I''m simply tired from all the traveling that I had accidentally missed it while using my scan magic As for Alaric, he tried to use his echolocation ability from a far as to get a sense of idea on what is underneath the church, but sadly, he to failed on grasping any information "Well, that''s why we have our three friends here to tell us everything today" [Khamishah] ~Gulp~ Oh the look of terror that the three men are showing. Not gonna lie, I sincerely feel sorry for them, but "Need any help?" [Louis] "No need. A saint hand should always be clean" [Khamishah] Yeah... scary "I''ll join in" [Alaric] "Well, I''ll help as well. By putting silence spell that is" [Ash] "Much appreciated" [Khamishah] Just what will she do to them... Chapter 122 - "Sick" _________________________________________________ [Naoto point of view] After exiting the Rock and Sea dungeon, I am currently at Estel. With the info that Mira got from her merchant network, she notices that there are several nobles in Kiserre that have been actively buying slave through legal method. That''s nothing strange to be honest, if that''s me I would consider it as a normal thing, but not for her. Her point of view regarding this matter is quite opposite as compared to mine "What if this noble house buy slaves in large number just to cover up other houses illegal activities?" [Mira] That''s what she concluded. So, that means not only should I look into the one buying the slaves, but also the houses they''re closely related to. "Make way!" [Qis] Hmm... isn''t that The royal bodyguard for Princess Diana, what is she doing? More importantly, what''s with this commotion I should see it for myself first . . . (That''s!) [Naoto] Wasn''t that Ash little siblings? Why is the dragonewt boy and the blue hair girl collapsed? (And where is Ash?) [Naoto] Something definitely happens, but... (Sorry, I can only pray for you) [Naoto] If I go and help them now, it will make it even harder for me to enter Kiserre. After all, Kiserre do have a bad relationship with Royal from Estel, and should the word that me helping them spread, I won''t be able to enter Kiserre as easily as I am now. (Sorry, this is for the greater good...) [Naoto] Sorry... ~Bump~ "Haa, I''m sorry, I am lost in thought" [Naoto] "It''s fine, the fault is with me as well" [?] A female paladin. I bump into one. I do know that there''s an adventure in Estel who is a female paladin, but I don''t think she is the one, and looks like she''s going to Kiserre as well "Excuse me, may I ask you something?" [?] _________________________________________________ "I see, so in conclusion, we are back to square one" [Ash] After some presumably intense interrogation by Khamishah and Alaric, I can summarize few findings 1) In order for them to shut the guild master, the church and some nobles who have been complotting behind the scenes kidnapped him and several adventures as well. He is then being replaced by this person here in exchange for wealth 2) The nobles houses that are behind this, they''re all having a good connection with the first prince of this country (according to Crow and Lisa), and as I predicted, they also donated large amount of money to the church, under the pretext of donation 3) He doesn''t know where the slaves and those being kidnapped are placed at, or for what purposes. "Not exactly, that just mean I should investigate the noble houses that they mentioned" [Crow] "Same here" [Lisa] "Well, good luck, it''s literally back to square one for me" [Ash] I mean, I can just use my scan magic and wonder around aimlessly until I find a lead, but I don''t think that''s the best idea right now. Infiltrate the church and do the same as what I did with Kanji and Seo Ah, a possibility but I doubt I can do it the second time. Surely they must have taken extra precaution ever since the incidence back at Malsia. Should I help the other? That seems to be the best option, or so I thought "You want me to infiltrate the castle?" [Ash] "That''s correct" [Khamishah] "I''m sorry, but are you really an SS rank adventure, I thought someone with that rank will be smart. Don''t you have any better idea?" [Ash] ~Grab~ "Well, listen to me first will you?" [Khamishah] "Yes, yes maam!" [Ash] And she released my collar. That sure is scary... Who would''ve thought that she can easily lift me up like that Her reasoning was simple, just "ask" the first prince up close and personal "Are you really the saga?" [Ash] "What''s that!?" [Khamishah] "Nothing..." [Ash] Yeah, this isn''t like me going to kidnap those three. This is me literally going against the entire nation, and one wrong step and a war might broke out between Estel and Kiserre. "Well, but I do reckon the prince won''t entertain you, instead, how about you ask the sick queen" [Khamishah] "Pardon?" [Ash] "Well, I did visit the queen the other day. In truth, I already healed her back to normal, but she keeps on falling sick for some unknown reason" [Saint Louis] "Then you want me to kidnap a sick person!" [Ash] "No, use a spell on her while she''s half asleep and slip into her mind, that way we can learn something" [Khamishah] "But I never perform any memory dive spell before" [Ash] "Ohh, that''s a pity, and here I thought the fame behemoth slayer who can use all type of magic can pull it off" [Khamishah] Aaahh... this pattern. She''s trying to provoke me isn''t she? It''s a famous way for any author back on earth to use this method, as a cheap way to provoke the character to do the job they supposed to do. Sadly, it won''t work on me "Cheap provocation, plus, you did realize one slip and war might break loose?" [Ash] "I did, but I have my own reasoning to believe that it will succeed" [Khamishah] "And that is?" [Ash] "Well, this isn''t really well known fact but, I did catch a rumour of the queen asking for an investigation regarding this matter, and suddenly, she fell sick, and what''s more, Saint Louis himself can''t completely heal it" [Khamishah] "I see..." [Lisa] So in other word, she''s being silence by her own son? It sure looks that way. Plus "The guild master "falling sick" after investigating this incident, and the queen follow suit as well. Surely, not a coincidence" [Alaric] "But why didn''t she mentioned anything about it when Saint Louis visited her?" [Bodyguard A] "Because she couldn''t. Not because of a spell or anything, but simply because the condition aren''t suitable" [Saint Louis] True. This country still firmly believe in the old teaching of the church, and that''s why someone like Saint Louis, who abolished those teaching aren''t exactly welcome here, but as the head of the church, he still hold some authority over them. I reckon he must have used those to force an official visit the other day, and then slip out to continue his investigation. "Alright, I will try. But don''t expect any results from me" [Ash] "We are counting on you" [Khamishah] "Are you really The Saga..." [Ash] "Ohh... got any problems with my rank?" [Khamishah] "No..." [Ash] Chapter 123 - Infiltrating Kiserres castle part 1 At night, I begin my mission as to infiltrate the castle. My target is either the prince or the queen, maybe even both. The King might also be worth targeting but I reckon he will have more personal surrounding him, so it might not be the wisest of idea to do so. Still, I wonder how Khamishah manages to get all this info? She doesn''t look like some noble born person, alas she knew the layout of this castle as if she was here multiple times. (Could it be, just like How Diana forces me to do her job, she was the same back in her day?) [Ash] If so, no wonder that brute of an adventure knows it well. She did say she once trained here under the supervision of the "sick" guild master, so it makes sense. But still, I hope she can infiltrate the castle by herself though, not relying on me, but I guess it make sense. She''s clearly more adapt in battle than I do, and I can''t see her as the type to stealth around for a long time (maybe she can, if the target is a monster). Alaric will be better suites for this job though, but as someone who is stronger than him, it''s better to send me even though I can''t sneak around as good as he is. As for my role here, I guess I might be considered as a jack of all trade master of none (There''s the castle wall) [Ash] Using my mirage magic back then, I illustrated the castle layout (with Khamishah telling me the layout) and save it inside of a spare magic core in my item box. At first glance, it outer layer almost resembles that of the Estel and Malsia castle, but inside, it''s quite a straight path as compared to the maze like layout in Estel. (Well, time to deactivate the fortress defense magic surrounding the castle) [Ash] Since the fortress defense magic made by them required several magicians as well as several magic tools, you might expect that it will be better than Housey. In certain aspects, that might be the case, but the result of it would be some inequilibrium in magic outflow as they''re all having different Mitral organnelles, and thus it influences the fortress defense magic as well. This inequilibrium is what I will be targeting to infiltrate the castle (And done) [Ash] I must said, this one is better made as compared to the one that Malsia head magician showed me before. There are sign of it being newly reinforced, but by what? I can''t recognize the material (I do know Goddess Achalasia doesn''t give me all the knowledge when she blessed me, but this sincerely makes me worried) [Ash] Better take note of it Now that I have infiltrate the castle, I should cover myself with darkness magic and sneak around. I have to use the shadow and avoid any bright area (This sincerely feels like I''m in video games, only difference, if I''m caught, I can say goodbye to my peaceful life) [Ash] Well, better head to the resting chamber here. Khamishah did say sick royal will be quarantine there. As I sneaked around and try to sneak in through one of the windows, I can see what I presume to be the prince (based on his attire as well as the fact that other around him keep on following him) and some peoples with church attire. From the look of it, they must have finish a long and important discussion. As much as I would like to hear it, I have to give up on it, he''s heavily guarded now and I don''t think I can sneak in unnoticed. Alaric might be able to do just that with one of the advanced spell of Vampire clan, shadow dive and by extension so do I, but sadly, I don''t think my darkness magic affinity is high enough for me to perform it as efficient as he is (Better move my ass quickly) [Ash] As I ascend upward to the second floor of the castle, I can see the maid are all walking around, they might be going back to their room to rest for tonight. Maybe I can steal one of the maid uniform and change myself into one . . . (Maybe, maybe not) [Ash] Even maids have their own specific and designated job if I''m not mistaken, and should I take any uniform and walk around at the area that they''re supposed not to, it will only lead to my own demise. Well, take the guard uniform then maybe? Surely they are the same, but... (On a second thought, no as well) [Ash] Sure there might be plenty of guard here, but I''m sure they recognize each other, or at least recognize that I''m someone who is out of place. Plus, night shift worker tend to know each other better. Not to mention, should I "patrol" outside the area and wonder around, the result will be the same as me taking and wearing the maid uniform (Guess I''ll just sneak around like this) [Ash] As I walk around, heading towards the chamber, I activate my scan magic, but I do have to be careful as well, since I''m sure the knight and especially the magician can detect it. So I have to make the wave of mana sent out be as thin as possible. Not to mention, some of the fortress defense magic magic core that I didn''t interfere with might catch my scan magic As I keep on making my way to the chamber, I can hear the castle worker keep on gossiping with each other, some about the prince, some about the head church, but nothing useful so far. I mean, maybe one or two of it like how the prince sent out some marriage proposal to Diana and Haliza, but I''m sure the two of them rejected it "Poor prince, keep on sending the marriage proposal" [Maid A] "He is handsome, but his reputation isn''t that good. I''m sure the only way he can make them his wives is by conquering their countries" [Maid B] "True, but..." [Maid C] "Let just hope that won''t happen" [Maid D] Huh, interesting. Not the rejection part, but the sudden pause part, looks like they''re talking about some taboo topics Again, another mental note, plus the chamber is up ahead, should just hurry . . . (So, two guards station just outside the door. Hmm... how should I approach this?) [Ash] Make them sleep? Not a bright idea, someone might come around to check them and should they found them asleep, they will just barge through the door to make sure the Queen is safe. Blind them? No, they will make ruckus Illusion. Good. But of what... (Should I combine invisibility magic with illusion? Cast an invisibility spell on myself and use illusion magic on them so that they will not see nor hear me open up the door) [Ash] That seem like a great idea, let do just that As I cast the invisibility spell on myself, I thought (Why didn''t I used this spell on the first place...) [Ash] Well... Moving on, I walk towards them and quickly applies the Illusion spell on the two guards simultaneously, the illusion of nothing is currently happening, and everything is going fine. (Well, moment of truth...) [Ash] As I open up the door, the guard didn''t even bulge, guess the illusion spell turn out fine, and there''s the sleeping Queen, and... (Curse? This somehow reminds me of the guy who fell from the sky back in open field dungeon, albeit this one is far weaker...) [Ash] Well, never mind that. I should just dive and see from her memories I should put my hand to her forehead, when suddenly "Who''s there?" [Queen] "!?" [Ash] Chapter 124 - Persistent fever [Elise point of view] Savel and Charlotte, from what Sis Rafiah and Yefefiah told, they''re currently experiencing mana intoxication. The two of them are currently experiencing high fever, due to their body constantly experiencing absorption and rejection of this external mana. ~Heavy breathing~ "Just hang in there" [Kara] "Their fever, it still haven''t reduced..." [Mara] Like the two of them say, Savel and Charlotte are still struggling to fight the fever. "Brother Ash..." [Charlotte] "Where is he?" [Savel] "He''s coming, he will come!" [Farhah] "That''s good" [Savel] "Hope he will brings us something delicious" [Charlotte] I don''t know whether they believe in what we told or not, but that''s for the best. Some of the adventures voluntarily went to Kiserre to inform Brother Ash about their conditions. But, going there alone is one thing, finding Brother Ash itself is another issue, and even if they manage to find him, it will create another issue itself as he will definitely rush back, leaving his job behind. I''m happy that he will do that just for our sake, but at the same time, I''m afraid of the consequences that will follow shall he did that (No, Savel and Charlotte, they''re way more important!) [Elise] But... "Charlotte, Savel, hang in there!" [Cupid] "Time to change their clothes" [Elsa] "I''ll help, Elsa, you take care of Charlotte" [Bond] "I''ll prepare some water, so that we can reduce their temperature" [Kronbir] The four of them, their families are still there, getting caught by those in Kiserre. Especially Cupid, I don''t want her to become an orphan like us... it''s just a painful life "It''s night already, let them have some rest" [Claude] "Can we stay?" [Karon] "Can we?" [Singa] "Only until they fall asleep, then you guys should sleep as well" [Claude] "Yes!" [Other] Well, we should all accompany Savel and Charlotte As we keep on accompanying those two, telling stories about an old tale, about some distance fairy tale that my parents use to told me, I notice that the icy bluish dragon tattoo mark on their head started to glow brightly once more (Savel having the bigger and brighter one as compared to Charlotte), and that would mean """Heal!""" [Elise, Kara, Mara] ""Ughh..."" [Savel, Charlotte] "Here some extraction potion that we made" [Young healer A] "Here, let me give them" [Yefefiah] "Same here, you guys continue using the heal magic" [Rafiah] """Right!!!""" [Elise, Kara, Mara] "Zerolith, we will cast some blind magic to them, that way they can fall asleep faster" [Rean] "Ri.. Right!" [Zerolith] "I''ll use some wood magic and make some flower, will that help?" [Farhah] "Of course it will help" [Elsa] "What are you doing Mr Claude?" [Young healer A] "I''ll use my illusion magic, showing them a pleasant scenery, that way I can distract them from their fever" [Claude] "If only I can help more..." [Kronbir] "It''s fine, this is way more than enough" [Claude] "But..." [Kronbir] As we keep on treating Savel and Charlotte, the tattoo mark begin to... disappear? "It''s integrating into their bodies!" [Rean] I see. Will this spell disaster for them? I can only pray that it isn''t. "Looks like they''re asleep" [Bond] "Thank god" [Yefefiah] "You guys should go to sleep as well, I''ll take care of them" [Claude] "But!" [Singa] "Singa, if you keep on bothering them, their fever won''t come down" [Elise] "She''s right, you love them, don''t you? So, let them rest properly" [Elsa] Poor Singa, he is the closest to the two of them, so it only natural that he will be this worry, but it is for their own good, so it can''t be helped As we step outside, Sis Rafiah and Yefefiah begin to tell us what they think have happen "That tattoos mark must be the cause" [Young healer A] "I can''t say for sure, even Princess Diana, Mr Flinar and the other are flipping through the book just to rule out the causes but..." [Yefefiah] "It''s highly probable" [Rafiah] Just what is it, it suddenly appears on them, and if I have to falter a guess, Rean would ~Slam!~ "Rean! Zerolith!" [Kara] "What the hell do you think you''re doing to Rean! Zerolith!" [Mara] "SHUT UP!" [Zerolith] "!" [Zerolith] Zerolith shout, and Grandpa Claude quickly comes out from the room. Mr Bond tries to stop Zerolith but "Oi Rean, you know something didn''t you! Just what is it that you have been hiding from us!" [Zerolith] "That''s..." [Rean] "Answer me!" [Zerolith] "Zerolith! Calm down!" [Karon] "The two of them are still sick! You will wake them up!" [Claude] "But!" [Zerolith] "Sorry Zerolith..." [Rean] Rean quickly loosens the grab, and escape "I can''t... at the very least, not now..." [Rean] "Rean..." [Elise] "Damn it!" [Zerolith] Zerolith storm off to one of the empty rooms. Sis Rafiah follow suit "Are you sure?" [Mara] "At least I can just hear him out right" [Rafiah] "It''s alright, I''ll do it, so please take care of the two" [Claude] "All of you go back to your room, it''s night already" [Bond] "But..." [Kara] We look at each other, look at the room on which Savel and Charlotte are resting, and then "Rean, is it something that you really can''t tell us, no matter what?" [Elise] I just have to ask. All of us have known each other even before Brother Ash come, so I believe we shouldn''t be so secretive among ourselves, at the very least, that''s what believed, but "Sorry, one day, I''ll promise Brother Ash and I will tell you guys in the future, so please, be patience" [Rean] "Fine!" [Mara] And now Mara is the one storming off, we Kara just behind to calm her down I guess Rean really won''t tell us anything. That''s too bad, but I guess he must have his own reasoning. I won''t blame him but that doesn''t mean I am satisfied with it, in fact, I''m far from satisfied, even downright disappointed with him _________________________________________________ [At the church in Estel] "Are you sure?" [Old follower leader] "I saw it with my own two eyes" [Old follower leader] "I see, curse that orphanage!" [Old follower leader] "So, shall we strike them down now?" [Old follower C] "The behemoth slayer aren''t here, so we should be able to do it" [Old follower E] "Yes, we should" [Old follower leader] "Understood" [Old follower B] Rafiah''s friend, shouted with confidence, but deep down inside of her (I should really warn Rafiah about this... at least she should escape by her own) [Old follower B] Equippng the new staff that they develop, they begin to plan their next course of action _________________________________________________ Chapter 125 - Infiltrating Kiserres castle part 2 That really scares the crap out of me! I thought she was asleep, but for her to instantly wake up all of a sudden, and not to mention quickly noticing me, that sincerely scare the crap out of me, enough to give me a heart attack for real NO! MORE IMPORTANTLY "Slee..." [Ash] I should just use a sleeping spell and put her back to sleep. If it didn''t work... let not just think of it, she might be my target and what I am about to do can be considered as a dirty work, but hitting an old gray hair lady about the same age as Gizzere is a big no (well, if she is a true asshole, maybe a little, but no) "Listen to me first!" [Kiserre Queen] "!" [Ash] Now this is new. This give me a flashback during my second meeting with Diana. The queen royal aura is sincerely better than Diana, so much that I flinched for a second and abode. Well, Diana is a princess and she''s young, so I guess it''s a bit of unfair to compare the two of them "Good, and don''t worry... I won''t call anyone" [Kiserre Queen] "?" [Ash] Is this a trap? But, I can''t feel any sort of bad intention coming from her. Maybe because she''s use to trick someone, so much so that someone like me who is still wet behind the ear could not notice it "You''re probably here because Khamishah ask you, isn''t it?" [Kiserre Queen] "Yes" [Ash] "Sigh... that girl" [Kiserre Queen] A positive sigh, as she still able to smile despite her condition. Guess the two of them really are close, and if that really is the case "Then can I ask what''s happening behind the scenes, here in Kiserre?" [Ash] I''ll be straight. She might trick me, or she might not even trust me to tell all the truth, but I don''t think any of that could happen. Maybe I''m too naive here, but should worst come to worst, I could just use memory dive spell, not caring about the sever side effects of it "First thing first, how about you introduce yourself young man. We do have enough time l, until the morning sunshine where they will put another curse onto me" [Kiserre Queen] "So, what Saint Louis speculate was true then..." [Ash] "I think he did notice it during that time, but given the circumstances, I don''t think he could do that much" [Kiserre Queen] True, someone like him should be able to notice it in an instant, and even if he removes it and put a spell to prevent any other curse, they will simply use other methods to silence her. Oh, almost forgot "I''m Ash, a traveler, but people nowadays refer me as The Behemoth Slayer" [Ash] "Giving your identity straight away, what a strange move, but I appreciate it" [Kiserre Queen] "Well, I get this feeling that I could trust you, but indeed, it is a naive move on my part, Your Highness, Queen Rinz" [Ash] Well, since we are now operating with trust, I don''t think I should hide it. A risky move from my side, but she should know that I can silence her anytime (even though I don''t think I will do it, and let us pray it will not happen) "So, regarding your question. I couldn''t tell what exactly are they planning, but, I do know those who are involved" [Queen Rinz] "That''s more than enough. We can figure it out later" [Ash] "There are three main parties that are involved in this project of them, my son with few nobles, the church lead by the head priest here, and the two fallen prince of the Demon Kingdom" [Queen Rinz] "What a strange combination" [Ash] "Indeed it is, but given their goals, or at least one of their goals, I don''t think it is that strange" [Queen Rinz] That''s the Queen for you. "And that is?" [Ash] "To create an army, for war purpose" [Queen Rinz] "With Estel?" [Ash] ~Nod~ This, this is more serious than I thought. And wait, did Diana and her father predicted this? Maybe, maybe not, but more importantly "So, they will use the slaves here and force them to fight?" [Ash] "No, someone from the church, can turn them into a monster, and could control them" [Queen Rinz] "That''s like... Agnes!" [Ash] "You know her?" [Queen Rinz] "I do" [Ash] I tell her about my encounter with Agnes back at Malsia, as well as the fact that she''s someone with the fallen god blessing, and can transform a person into a monster "I see" [Queen Rinz] She might look calm, but I can tell that she is surprise to hear it "If that''s the case, then, why did the church coorperate with her?" [Queen Rinz] "Sorry, but even I don''t have any idea" [Ash] Honesty is the best policy here, so let just say that "..." [Queen Rinz] "Your highness?" [Ash] "Ash, can you help me?" [Queen Rinz] "Put a stop on their plan?" [Ash] "That, and infiltrate, no, attack the castle" [Queen Rinz] "I''m sorry, but can you please repeat it, your highness" [Ash] "You didn''t hear that wrongly, since the slaves and all the people getting kidnapped are placed inside the castle, at the royal prison" [Queen Rinz] "I see... but it''s still suicidal" [Ash] "Don''t worry, I can deactivate the fortress defense magic for all of you" [Queen Rinz] "You can? To tell you the truth, it is well made that it actually cause some inconvenience to me, so the only way you can deactivate all of it is by... No way..." [Ash] "So, can we discuss this further?" [Queen Rinz] "Hmm!" [Ash] And so the two of us put on our thinking cap and start to brainstorm together on what to do. It''s still suicidal, but given that Saint Louis, The Saga and me myself are all here, a quick surprise attack should do the trick. The Queen can also provide support through the fortress defense magic. As I updated the layout of the castle (as to include the royal prison location), something crossed my mind "Aren''t you over trusting me?" [Ash] "Well, she did ask you to meet me, isn''t it" [Queen Rinz] "But I could just bluff back then" [Ash] "You still have a lot to learn if you still haven''t noticed the mana signature that she woven into your clothes" [Queen Rinz] "!" [Ash] What the, now that she mentioned it, there''s some trace of mana in a form of thread, and it is Khamishah''s mana! When, and how did she do it? "She is The Saga after all" [Queen Rinz] ~Gulp~ I might be blessed by Goddess Achalasia, but if the two of us were to fight, I''ll lean more on her winning the fight, and considering how I didn''t even notice it uptill now, the chances of me winning goes even down, but on another note (Guess that mean I have a strong ally backing me up) [Ash] That''s a relief Chapter 126 - Forces _________________________________________________ [Naoto point of view] So that''s the special orb granted by the new saint and saintess to them, no wonder she can afford to disguise herself lightly. Usually those high profile individual will resort themselves to some extreme disguise just to travel incognito, but she isn''t As the two of us take our first step into Kiserre, the sight of sea of human greet us, and as expected, there''s no sign of non human in this old follower country. We should start our investigation, but first thing first "So, this person that they called The Behemoth Slayer, we ought to find him first" [Female paladin] "I believe that''s for the best" [Naoto] The guard station at the Estel side of the open field dungeon, they slip out Ash whereabouts. They thought that I, among with other adventures that knew his whereabouts were to tell Ash about his siblings condition. Truthfully, I only knew that they''re collapsing after they enter the ice dungeon, nothing more, nothing less. Still, I do think meeting him now will be considered as beneficial as we can ask him what he had learned so far As we keep traveling to find ourselves an inn, we keep on hearing about the mysterious disappearance of the replacement guild master. From what I can summarize, the first guild master contracted an illness alongside some highly trustable adventures and thus are currently treated at the church. And now, the replacement had gone missing, adding another layer of insecurities among the public (I should ask some scholars for more details) [Naoto] That lady right in front of us seems like one, as she keeps on writing down notes after notes, as if to preserve this very moment to pass it down for the next generation to read. I should ask her "Lisa? Is that you?" [Female paladin] "Aries!? What are you doing here! No, I can tell but why!?" [Lisa] So, they already knew each other _________________________________________________ "Yup, that''s when I put my mana signature onto you" [Khamishah] "As expected, and Queen Rinz can detect it herself but not me. Now I''m feeling down" [Ash] "Don''t be harsh on yourself. Queen Rinz is an unexceptional magician after all" [Khamishah] "Still, can''t you just ask him directly? You know, I will put some of my mana onto your clothes so that The Queen will know I''m sending you here" [Crow] "Where''s the fun? Plus, this should be a valuable lesson for him" [Khamishah] "Right..." [Ash] Yeah, lesson learn, be vigilant all the time "Your plan with Queen Rinz are simple, but for only us to storm inside is..." [Alaric] "Agree, even with her support, this should really be swift" [Saint Louis] "Not to mention, shall this person you call Agnes decided to turn all of the slaves into a monster at that moment..." [Bodyguard B] "We are screwed. Maybe the four of you can survive but the rest of us will probably not" [Bodyguard A] "Yeah, that''s why we need as much help as we need" [Ash] The Queen did give me the royal emblem and stamp as a way to persuade other into joining this, but I reckon that will still not be enough. Furthermore, we need to consider some spies among those whom we recruit "Well, in any case, we should try our best to recruit only those that are considered trustworthy" [Crow] """Well...""" [Saint Louis, Ash, Alaric] From the list of nobles given by Queen Rinz, Crow can persuade the other houses (preferably those which are not in term with them and are highly trustable). It might not be that much, but it''s still better than nothing. As for the three of us... "Yeah, how?" [Ash] "Now that you mentioned it..." [Alaric] "The three of us are all alone" [Saint Louis] "Wait, I can understand the two of you, but Saint Louis, not you too?" [Crow] "Pretty much everyone around here doesn''t support me, and those who are have likely been caught by them, and met similar fate with those slaves" [Saint Louis] "My, my apologies" [Crow] Yeah, the three of us doesn''t have that much connection here. I mean, I reckon those two will have one or two, but as for me, it''s totally zero We will just have to do our best then. If we can''t recruit anyone, we might as well weaken them before the day comes for us to storm the castle. Alaric and I can just go around now and attack the knight and soldiers, wounded them as to prevent them supporting the castle during that day, but, we couldn''t ask the saint to do the same "How about the dark guild?" [Bodyguard A] "That''s too risky, plus, think of the aftermath" [Alaric] "Also, I accidentally destroy them during my visit, so..." [Saint Louis] "And how did you accidentally destroy them..." [Ash] As it turns out, the two fallen prince of the demon kingdom uses the dark guild as a mean to enter this country, and since Saint Louis during his official visit stumble upon them, he defeated them hoping to squeeze some information, but alas, they''re hardcore and won''t even bulge a bit. They even shut down their brain voluntarily as to avoid memory dive spell (which honestly, is admirable). They are currently being imprisoned by the country, which mean they''re now either working with them or being turned into guinea pig. Both sound probable. With their healing technique, they can just "reboot" their brain (albeit I reckon not all of them), and have them work for the country while the rest will just become a guinea pig "Well, better start working I guess" [Ash] "Same here" [Crow] ~Knock~ "I''m coming in" [Lisa] Ohh, it''s looks like Lisa is here, and quite early. I wonder why, and isn''t that "Long tine no see Naoto, I reckon Haliza and her family requested you to come here and investigate what happen here" [Ash] "That''s the case" [Naoto] "Wait, Naoto, as in the A rank adventure from Malsia, who''s call as the elemental archer!" [Bodyguard A] "That''s correct, however, there''s one more powerful person with us today" [Naoto] "That''s!" [Crow] "Ohh, it been quite some time since we last met, Female paladin, Aries" [Saint Louis] "Pleasure all mine, Saint Louis" [Female paladin Aries] This, this is one hell of a group... "But with the two of them are here, that mean our chances of success will increase" [Ash] ""??"" [Female paladin Aries, Naoto] "Ash, slow down a bit. At least introduce yourself before jumping into the topic" [Lisa] "Yeah, sorry..." [Ash] Chapter 127 - Preparation Again, another big shot come and knock on our door, and this time, it''s the famous female paladin. Contrary to her affliction to the Demon kingdom, she''s a human. Those with the title of paladin are usually someone with strong light magic that''s recognize by both the church and the kingdom they''re affiliated with, thus both the church and the kingdom had an equal right to dispatch them. How will they use them is none of my concerns, but apparently the Female paladin Aries here is actually recognise by the new saint and saintess, Saint Louis and Saintess Rumia, as well as by the winning and current king of the Demon kingdom, Druser. What remain mystery for me is just how did someone as controversial as her (especially those among the avid old follower) can enter Kiserre easily, but I do remember the saint and saintess gave them some sort of power to manipulate the goddess orb, so maybe that''s that And another thing is, what''s her relationship with Lisa? An old acquainted perhaps? Or maybe siblings, they''re both sharing the same long blonde hair and blue colour eyes, and their mana almost resembles each other, another possibility that I can conclude based on my observation, which make Lisa past all the more mysterious. (Well, none of my problems) [Ash] I should just focus on the task given at us right now. As The three of them take their seat, we recap back what we have discussed. And... "If that''s the case, The Saga here and I can search for trustworthy adventure left in Kiserre. Plus, I''m sure there''s some adventures from Estel and Malsia currently staying here as well" [Naoto] "That sure help me" [Khamishah] Looks like the two of them have settled down on their role, and thus, that leave us with "I wonder if we can scout the ancient tunnel. I do know a few of them, since an old dwarf had shown it to me the last time I was here" [Aries] "Excuse me, but could the old dwarf you refer to is actually Karonlir, or Erinmorlin perhaps" [Ash] Well, they''re the only two old dwarfs that I knew, and sincerely speaking, I didn''t even met Karonlir, just his grandson Kronbir, but "It''s Karonlir, have you met him before?" [Aries] "Well..." [Ash] Her aura is sincerely soothing, almost like that of a strict elder sister. I always thought that someone called as Paladin will have a knightly attitude (well, the female paladin adventure back at Estel sure act that way as far as I know), but never mind that, I just tell them ,and to those that have heard of it a few time like Crow and Lisa, it''s like hearing a broken tape from my mouth as I keep on telling the same story of how Bond escape which lead me to think "So, if this Karonlir guy do showed you the ancient tunnel, so Bond and the other aren''t "just luck" to escape there alive" [Ash] "Most likely, I''m sure he had it figured out way before. He''s no strategist but neither a fool" [Aries] Well, I guess right now we just have to scout the ancient tunnel, but before that "You''re right about it" [Crow] "So can you guys do it as well?" [Ash] "Sure" [Alaric] From the report that they gather, there''s no slaves that''s transported directly to the castle, so most likely they use the ancient tunnel that connects the church, few noble houses and the castle as a mean. So, what I did was simply ask them to take this magic core imbued with my mana as a reference for me to map out the ancient tunnel later on, and put it somewhere near the noble houses. That way, it will make my job easier and efficient I give them several of those magic cores, especially to Crow since he can put it inside the house itself, and imbued it with different type of manas 1. Neutral mana = neutral, neither a suspect nor an ally 2. Earth mana = Work with the prince according to Queen Rinz. I use earth mana as I plan to use earth sonar magic to scout the ancient tunnel, that way I can easily detect it 3. Fire mana = Suspicious 4. Water mana = possible ally 5. Wind mana = others, could be other noble houses or few key points area like the adventure guild, church etc 6. Light magic = Castle periphery With that, we went out and do our job. Crow and Lisa will be responsible for asking the help of possible allies among the nobles. Khamishah and Naoto on the other hand, will ask few adventures to join our causes. As for the rest of us, to the tunnel we go (as well as putting the magic core in few key points area). As for the entrance "Huh, didn''t expect that" [Saint Louis] "Well, that will explain how we still haven''t found any trace of those two traitors of the Demon kingdom" [Alaric] "Possible, but if the dark guild have been using it for some time, that mean most of them had escaped from your onslaught" [Ash] "I agree" [Aries] Who would''ve thought that the entrance is somewhere near the old base of the dark guild. Well, I didn''t As we enter the ancient tunnel (through some hidden door), we begin our scouting by splitting into four as to cover more area. Well, since I''m the only one with earth magic, most of the mapping will be done by me, but that not to say their help aren''t huge . . . As our deadline come to an end, and with tomorrow morning being the day of assault. We gathered one last time to confirm our strategy Naoto will lead the adventure (with a new underground tunnel being dug by me just beneath the adventure guild). Their main purpose is as a support to the noble, especially to make sure that none escape from being caught The noble, lead by Crow (since he''s the one that I entrusted to hold the emblem and stamp given by Queen Rinz). Their personal knight are responsible to apprehend the noble and the church members involve. I don''t know how Crow manages to get quite a few houses with him, but I guess the emblem and stamp play a huge role in it, not to mention the honour given by the queen should they succeed. Maybe he''s also a big shot among nobles. As for Alaric, Aries, Khamishah, Saint Louis and I . . . [Guard in front of castle point of view] A black cat crosses in front of me My shoelace being snapped The crack in my mirror become larger I have a bad feeling about this, but this morning is just like any other morning, with my slacking partner guarding the front gate of the castle. This job of mine, It''s a huge honour to our family as our family history mostly comprised of common foot soldiers, but for me to be appointed as a knight, not to mention a guard that''s guarding a castle, surely it''s the sign of something good for my future generation, but (Just what''s this bad feeling that I keep getting) [Guard] As I keep on warding off this bad feeling, a group of five caught my attention At the center of them is a blond teenage with a black attire and a strange weapon At his side, a pale middle 20 man. I never see a vampire before but, I''m sure he is one of them. Just what in heaven name do he thinks he is, freely roaming around inside our country! And then, there''s someone with the new church attire, isn''t he... SAINT LOUIS! What is he doing here! And the two ladies, one of it, the traditional wear, the baju kurung and the black scarf covering her hair, isn''t that The Saga, Mrs Khamishah... The last one, a blonde long hair paladin, fit the description of the Traitorous human, refer to us the unholy or fallen paladin, Aries! Just what are they doing! "Halt!" [Guard B] My slacking friend drew his sword when he realise something bad will happen, I did the same. (Is this the bad feeling that I keep on getting from this morning?) [Guard] And the blond hair black attire teenager, did he just smirk at us. As he lifts and straightens his hand, 6 sharks golem were summoned and "GO! Ice missile sharks 2.0!" [Teenage male] Will I... lose my job... Chapter 128 - Orphanage under attack part 1 [Kara point of view] It''s a beautiful morning to start the day! The sun is shining brightly but the weather isn''t that hot as, it''s just a nice feeling that I love, where the temperature is just nice enough, not too hot nor not too cold. The birds are chirping, singing the sound of nature as usual, for which the sound of it is like an alarm for Farhah to wake up, but more importantly "I''ll make some salty chicken porridge for today" [Kara] "I''ll help" [Elise] While it''s called salty chicken porridge, it isn''t that salty at all, it just that, we will add a little bit more salts as compared to usual, and that little pinch of salt is what makes it so addictive for those who are sick, so those two will surely appreciate it (Let just hope they will not be addicted to it) [Kara] As the two of us went down, going to kitchen, we were beat up by Sis Rafiah and Rean. They already finish making the salty chicken porridge, and as for Mr Bond and other (excluding Cupid which is still asleep), they''re making breakfast for us alongside Grandpa Claude. "Ohh... hmm would you like to take these and feed them?" [Sis Rafiah] ""It''s alright..."" [Elise, Kara] Guess we are too late, guess we can''t personally cook and feed them, and just when Savel and Charlotte are starting to feel better, I can''t show this big sister side of mine to them. (Guess Sis Rafiah and Brother Rean are the better older siblings here) [Kara] But that doesn''t mean we will not follow them, instead, we walk right In front of them, making sure there''re no obstacles like toys etc that can potentially causes the two of them to slip. Don''t want their hard work and effort to drain just like that. Elise also opens the door since the two of them have their full, and inside, Singa can be seen happily talking and playing with Savel and Charlotte. The three of them really are close, and it''s no surprise to say, that we are all happy to see the three of them playing together As Sis Rafiah and Rean sit on the chairs, they begin to hand feed Savel and Charlotte. The bowl aren''t that large, so the two of them might want more of it "Can you both please take extra porridge for us?" [Sis Rafiah] ""Sure!!"" [Elise, Kara] The two of us run before "Elise, Kara! Don''t run!" [Rean] We are ashamed of ourselves for getting too excited... Sis Rafiah on the other hand giggle, covering her mouth, which honestly causes us to feel more ashamed. Singa, Savel and Charlotte are just happy, finally seeing us getting scold for running around. Guess it''s a sweet revenge for them . . . "Open your mouth Charlotte" [Kara] ~Aum~ "You too Savel~ ~Aum~ "Singa, don''t make too much mess when eating!" [Rean] "Alright..." [Singa] We take an extra plate since Singa is drooling. Sis Rafiah wanted to feed him but Singa refuse And when they''re finished, Savel and Charlotte ask us if they can join us all in dining table "Sure, but don''t push yourself too hard ok?" [Rafiah] ""Yes!!"" [Savel, Charlotte] They''re overjoyed hearing that. Usually, they will run, race with each other, but right now, they''re carefully planning their steps, one at a time. (They just regain their vigor... but this is fine) [Kara] Rather than seeing them lying down in bed, consistently grunting in pain, weak when the fever consumes them, this is far better. And when they''re all downstairs ""Whoaa!!!"" [Savel, Charlotte] ".--. .-.. . .- ... . / -... . / -.-. .- .-. . ..-. ..- .-.." [Housey] They both laugh as Housey use it magic to make them float, and place them properly in their chair "Meow?" [Behe] "We are healthy now Behe!" [Savel] "Healthy Healthy!" [Charlotte] "Meow!" [Behe] Behe looks happy. When the two of them are sick, Behe keep on rubbing his head to both of them, spending most of his time together, even at night. Behe must have also felt worried just like us "Do you guys want anything extra?" [Elsa] ""Salty chicken porridge!!"" [Savel, Charlotte] "And they''re addicted" [Zerolith] "But it''s tasty" [Mara] "Agree" [Karon] ~Vigurously eating~ Thank god Sis Rafiah and Rean make way too many extra, I guess they must really like it. Farhah can''t even stop now as she keeps on eating only porridge, not even bother eating any other thing that''s prepare by Mr Bond, Kronbir and Sis Elsa. "Farhah, if you don''t stop now, Savel and Charlotte won''t have anything left to eat" [Sis Rafiah] "!" [Farhah] "Right, we will stop!" [Cupid] "That''s good, it''s for the sick" [Kronbir] Cupid also comes to love the salty taste of this porridge. "It''s time for us to eat, but first, Zerolith, if you would" [Grandpa Claude] "Yes!" [Zerolith] And we begin giving our prayer to Goddess Achalasia before we eat. The ten of us will never forget to do this, she after all have blest us all with each other to begin with. Losing our family is without a doubt, a tragic event, but at least we are not all alone. Now, we have a roof for shelter and a wonderful and kind adults taking good care of us. . . . The taste of the roasted salty butter duck is also addicting. Apparently, this is one of the traditional recipes by group of dwarves who live besides lake. Kronbir tries to make it at first, but fail halfway through, but luckily Grandpa Claude still remember how to make it, and here we are, eating such tasty food. Even the recovering Savel and Charlotte demanded more and more of it. This food is usually best complimented with some sweet food, and in this case, we use the sweet milk Just when we want to clean the table, a visitor arrive, and that''s... "Rafiah, can I have a moment with you" [Old follower B] It''s Sis Rafiah friend. She always comes here, worrying about Sis Rafiah, but, something amiss. I can''t exactly explain what is it, but even Sis Rafiah is becoming more alert than usual "PLEASE, JUS..." [old follower B] ~Shock~ Housey, sensing something off, immediately electrocuted her. All of us stares, in disbelief, but what even more shocking is that "Thi... this is! What''s the meaning o..." [Old follower B] She passed out, can''t even complete her sentence. But more importantly, a bolt of light magic struck Housey. Being a high quality magic core, Housey won''t be defeated easily, but rather than defeating it "Mirage block!" [Grandpa Claude] "Darkness slash" [Rean] The two of them, having figures out the true purpose of the bolt of light way before us quickly interfere with it, but "Ughhh!!!" [Grandpa Claude] "Earth wall" [Karon] ""Darkness wall"" [Rean, Zerolith] "What''s happening! Talk to me!" [Sis Rafiah] Being a ghost, Grandpa Claude is weak against light magic, so Rean, Zerolith and Karon try to protect him. Sis Rafiah shake her friend vigorously to wake her up, but to no avail and "..." [Housey] Housey, he has been sealed, and the protection that Housey offer to Grandpa Claude against the natural sunlight quickly diminishing "Quick, go hide yourself!" [Mr Bond] "Right, take care of them..." [Grandpa Claude] and a moment later, a group of people enter our house "That bitch, falling right into our ploy" [Old follower E] "And there''s Rafiah, playing Big Sister with the..." [Old follower A] Sis Rafiah and Rean, they quickly launch an attack. Sis Rafiah attack are block by the leader while Rean''s one connected, slicing through his eyeballs "DAMN YOU BRAT!" [Old follower A] Chapter 129 - Orphanage under attack part 2 [Rean point of view] "Rean, buy me some time" [Sis Rafiah] "Will do" [Rean] It''s a good thing that Brother Ash have thought this far ahead. He knew that the church really is against the idea of a human and a non human living together under the same room. Not to mention, we have a twin among us, something that causes them to despise us even more. Brother Ash will usually give more mana to Housey than usual when he''s going out, so I don''t think Housey will be severely damage, more like a temporary shut down, but (For them, I guess this is way more than enough) [Rean] Calm down, be like Ray, slowly analyzing the situation. If this is done as an act if hatred towards us or Brother Ash, they wouldn''t even be bother to use Sis Rafiah''s friend as a meat shield. That strange staff with her, it must have been tampered and redesign specifically to deliver a blow toward Housey and thus seal it away. She''s a suitable candidate, she can freely come in and out from the orphanage (as compared to other members of the church), and thus, she must have leakad out a thing or two towards them for the success of this operation "Light spear!" [Old follower A] ~Slash~ A spell directed towards me, I guess this man must be really piss with me right now "Ohh... he''s strong" [Old follower leader] "Light spear! Light spear! Light spear" [Old follower A] A multitude of spell being released, but "MEOW!" [Behe] Behe, being a child of a Light Behemoth, simply block it for me, before unleashing a wave of light mana to interrupt with the staff "Damn you!" [Old follower goon A] A torch is thrown toward us, and along with it, is a container reek of oils "Now! Explode!" [Old follower goon C] . . . "Nice job Charlotte!" [Rean] "Hmm!" [Charlotte] She might be having a fever right now, but throwing a water spell or two is still a small thing for her. They even tried to set fire to our garden, so Charlotte simply use a mini shark missiles of her, but "It''s the same size as Brother Ash one!" [Elise] "It''s good then!" [Mara] "But Charlotte is!" [Kara] "Savel, what are you doing!" [Zerolith] "Ughh..." [Savel] While Charlotte controls her water shark missiles, Savel throws multiple Ice javelin imbued with his own mirage magic "When did you!?" [Karon] We all wonder the same, not to mention the power behind it, it might not be enough to fatally damage the goon, but "What, what are you doing!" [Old follower F] "Die heretics!" [Old follower G] The one being hit by the Ice javelin, all of them are in a state of confusion, hitting each other. (Now!) [Rean] Flame, gather around my blade "Watch out!" [Old follower C] "!" [Old follower leader] When the enemy is in a state of chaos, it''s a perfect time for us to strike! And by taking the head of their leader, the chaos will become uncontrollable, that''s what Master Jacks had thought me ~Neck slice~ "Rean!" [Farhah] "Tchh!" [Rean] I wonder why, I kill a person, and I should feel bad about it, but... I simply don''t, and more than that, I''m simply piss by the fact that one of them shield the leader "You have done well my child" [Old follower leader] "Lea..." [Old follower A] "Here, I will heal you" [Old follower leader] "Not today!" [Kronbir] With a vase in his hand, he tries to knock the leader head, but, a spear was thrown from outside by the goon and pierce his shoulder, """ATTACK!!!" [Goon] "What should we do?" [Kara] "Everyone, stand back!" [Sis Rafiah] "Right!" [Rean] Looks like Sis Rafiah is ready, and a giant stomp can be heard coming from the training hall. (Looks like Housey and Grandpa Claude is still fighting with us) [Rean] They might be weaken, but that doesn''t mean they wouldn''t help us. With Sis Rafiah acting as a mediator, they must have summon that thing "It''s, is that a!" [Old follower E] "A giant commander zombie!" [Goon] "But it''s still an undead, so light magic should do the trick!" [Old follower C] ~Smirk~ Sis Rafiah simply smile, hearing those words. They all concentrated on defeating the zombie summon by her, burying it with light magic after light magic but "It, it ate the light magic!" [Goon F] "What, what kind of creature is that!?" [Old follower F] Still, it movement is quite fast for a monster, not to mention Housey influence is weaken right now, how did this zombie have so much power behind it attack? (Did Sis Rafiah do something and tamper the zombie?) [Rean] That''s only possible if one is a witch... so could she be one? Better ask her next time. I don''t want to disturb her concentration, she did a wonderful job controlling the zombie, warding off our unwanted guest "Die!" [Goon C] ~Stomp~ "RAFIAH!" [Old follower A] "He''s back!" [Singa] "I thought Rean already finish him off?" [Elsa] ~Stab~ "Out of my way you damn brat!" [Old follower A] A hard blow to my scalp, and not only that, a close range light spell that blown me away. That''s unexpected, it''s almost like he enter a state of berserk "Rean!" [Sis Rafiah] "You should worry about yourself more!" [Old follower leader] "Not on my watch!" [Bond] Mr Bond tries his best to defend Sis Rafiah. But... "Mr Bond!" [Cupid] With the strange staff, the leader simply chain him to the ground, before delivering a blow that knocks him out flat. "Ohh... he''s tough. One would normally die from it" [Old follower leader] Get up! Get up! Get up! Have to protect them at all cost! "Water sphere!" [Charlotte] Charlotte put up a defensive barrier to protect us all. Just in a nick of time to safe Sis Rafiah from the fist of her own friends "Everyone! Fire some spell from behind this barrier!" [Rean] "Right!" [Other] And so as per my instructions, they fire off some spells to ward them off. Everything is going smoothly so far until "Just in time" [Old follower leader] "?" [Rean] ~Loud explosion~ "The zombie!" [Sis Rafiah] "This, this is simply outrageous. That''s why such valuable tool can''t be left in a hand of a commoner, much less to a traveler" [Knight captain] "Agree, come. We shall take it from them" [Duke''s wife "Just when did they?" [Zerolith] I see, it''s naive of me to think they would just attack alone. That''s the Duke family, the one where their son try to abduct and force marriage upon Sis Alice "Here, I will lend you all the goddess aid!" [Old follower leader] A stream of light pour out from his staff, enhancing all of his allies, and thus "Take this!" [Old follower A] ~Sonic burst~ The wall of water, it''s gone now. It''s simply too strong for Charlotte to handle it, and the zombie "Tchh!" [Sis Rafiah] "Got you!" [Old follower C] "Sis Rafiah!" [Farhah] "Ze.. Zerolith!" [Sis Rafiah] "Ohh... admirable, for a devil like you to safe other" [Old follower E] The two of them, they''re pierce by a single spear, and they''re loosing blood! "Stop it!" [Rean] I''ll gather all the flame that I could and drove them out "Hot! Hot! Hot!" [Duke''s soldier] Not enough! I''ll use the blessing as well! "This dark flame!" [Knight Captain] "Everyone, attack that dark hair boy!" [Duke''s wife] "Yes" [Other] This is bad, but (If it means that they wouldn''t hurt them, then bring it on!) [Rean] "Freeze my enemy, ice age" [Savel] A cold wind, gradually becoming stronger and stronger, coming from Savel, and the icy bluish dragon tattoo, it''s activated, plus (He looks like he can transform into a dragon anytime soon...) [Rean] I thought a dragonewt evolved beastly transformation doesn''t exist... and I don''t think Savel have shown it before. "Keep it up Savel!" [Singa] "Right!" [Savel] That''s what he said, but "It stops..." [Old follower A] "Now!" [Old follower leader] The tattoo mark, disappear, guess there''s a limit to it All of them drew their weapon and try to stab each one of us. Cupid tries to beg them for mercy, offering herself but "A deer horn will fetch a good price wasn''t it..." [Duke''s wife] She grab Cupid''s horn, trying to tear it off. Elsa and Kronbir, who tend to Sis Rafiah and Zerolith quickly try to protect her but ""Ughh..."" [Kronbir, Elsa] "Don''t you dare touch my lady!" [Knight Captain] They''re... no... "Behead them!" [Duke''s wife] Stop! Stop! Stop! "STOP!" [Charlotte] Charlotte burst. A tsunami of water, not knowing friends or foe, strike us all. Now, she''s the one having the dragon tattoo mark on her cheek "This is too much!" [Old follower leader] He snapped, and bring out a strange stone. That''s "The portal stone!" [Rean] This is bad, he is closed to Savel, Charlotte and Cupid, should he retreat by using it, they will get dragged along . . . (No, I''m sure he wanted to drag them with him!) [Rean] I won''t let you take my family away from me "Charlotte stop! Get away from him!" [Rean] "NO! NO! NO! STOP HURTING US!" [Charlotte] A beam of light illuminate the hall, and I can hear the leader say "Objective secured" [Old follower leader] "DON''T!" [Rean] But it is too late, they''re all gone, along with Savel, Charlotte and Cupid . . . _________________________________________________ [In the middle of the open field dungeon] (Something bad is happening. If I''m not mistaken, that direction is a country called Estel, and another one is called Kiserre) [Mahsuri] The monster which always standing in the middle of the road weigh her option, thinking where should she headed for disaster blooms on both side (It''s decided...) [Mahsuri] She begins to move _________________________________________________ Chapter 130 - Kiserres castle under attack part 1 [The first prince of Kiserre, Fawan, Point of view] It''s morning, a normal citizen would usually wakes up during this time and start their work, but not me. Thanks to the blessings given by Mrs Agnes, my body doesn''t require any need of that, in fact, I am now free from the mortal needs. Truly, a wonderful blessing, even if it means accepting the fallen god blessing into my body. To hell with Goddess Achalasia, she''s an unfair goddess to begin with, and yet, my fellow citizens still worshiped her. (But it shouldn''t be long before this country follows that of the new god, Me!) [Fawan] And I should simply use any mean necessary for that, even if it''s mean giving my body to the fallen god, but that doesn''t mean I should forever be under him. Once I have garnered enough power, the world doesn''t need the ten heroes to ward off the devil, as I will simply crush that god myself! ~Loud Banging sound~ (What was that?) [Fawan] It sound like the steel gate in front of the castle sustain some damage, but from what "Your highness, the castle, it''s under attack!" [Knight A] "Tell me more about it" [Fawan] So, someone is foolish enough to launch a frontal attack. Admirable, but a foolish act nonetheless. (Once that person is dead, I''ll simply ask Agnes to process it) [Fawan] From the top of the castle, the captain of the first knight squad report to me about the situation. Looks like there''s only five people that are responsible for it, however "Give me that magic scope" [Fawan] "Yes, your highness" [Head Magician] Using the magic tool develop by our magician, one can not only see an object of their interest from a far, but also some basic information about them. It''s a very powerful tool that allow one to analyze the opponent as it''s imbued with the goddess orb. It might only be a fragment of it, thus it doesn''t show all the details necessary, but it should be more than enough (Ash, The Behemoth Slayer, The Guardian of Children, and the Great Scythe Magician) [Goddess orb info] So, he''s that traveler that opens the orphanage at Estel and Malsia. He''s young as the report say, and truly, what a strange weapon he is currently using. The report that said he can use all type of magic without even chanting appears to be true as well, as he keeps on unleashing spells after spells without breaking a sweat (Tch! Naturally gift person!) [Fawan] Calm down... I should check the other as well (The new saint, Louis. Head of the church and Achalasia religion. Saint beloved by the Goddess Achalasia) [Goddess orb info] So, the saint really are here. And yet he manages to slip out from our radar. One would think that a saint will behave nicely, but alas, here he is, using army of light golem to do his deed. (Khamishah, The Saga. Strongest human of this century) [Goddess orb info] So she''s here as well. She''s a little bit older than I am but I still remember she come in and out of the castle, making herself at homes here. Such impudent and ugly sight of her. The way she controls her neutral mana however, still a sight to behold though. And like usual, she preferred to use her fist. How unladylike (Aries. Paladin beloved by God of War) [Goddess orb information] And the so called peace loving Paladin is here as well. Her naturally calm attitude is nothing but a mask once she entered a battlefield, where there, she become silence like a mute, and started to kill her enemy one by one. One wouldn''t talk about the modern history without mentioning the two famous Demon King Druser and his trusted Paladin Aries. Still, I wonder why she''s focusing more on damage control, rather than going all out just like how she was once, during the three demon princes succession war (Alaric, The Vampiric royal guard. Master of shadow stealth) [Fawan] Could he be one of the twelves hidden guards that''s employs by her? My knight and magician did mention that they could always felt something threatening them when they''re near Princess Diana. Looking at her fight, his title is well earned as he keeps on slicing the throat of my guard silently after merging from their shadow. He looks the weakest as compared to other, and that speak volume to how immensely powerful this team is (This group of naturally gifted peoples! I HATE THEM! I HATE THEM! I HATE THEM!) [Fawan] I HATE THEM WITH EVERY INCH OF MY BODY This is why I hate Goddess Achalasia! To hell with her and all the god and goddess in this world. Simply giving power and blessings to those they like while leaving us in dark. Why would they do that is out of my logic, but I can''t just stand them, and by extension those naturally gifted people like them! Here I am, rebuilding this country, one step and stone at a time, sacrificing my body, my poor citizen, the gold and jewelry from the treasury, and even my parent, just for the sake of building a powerful country, where I can rule as a god, where everyone is equal and free from all this blessing bullshit! The only blessings that they need is from me "And they will be my stepping stone!" [Fawan] "Your, your highness, is everything alright?"[Head knight] "Everything! And what are all of you doing, go down there and kill them!" [Fawan] "Yes!" [Other] "And why is the fortress defense magic isn''t functioning! They should be executed by now!" [Fawan] "Some, someone interferes with it, your highness" [Head Magician] "That must be dear mother" [Fawan] Another naturally gifted magician. She''s the one after all creating and enhancing the new first generation of fortress defense magic, so she still hold some authority to it even after countless modification by others. The sight of her, telling me that all of this is just wrong still making me nauseated. A wonderful talented naturally gifted person! Screw her! "Stop her! And kill her if necessary!" [Fawan] "But, your highness" [Head Knight] "Did I ******* STUTTER!" [Fawan] "Yes... your highness" [Head Knight] Tchh! "Still, this shall be a nice opportunity to test it out, right?" [Agnes] "Indeed" [Fawan] And another nauseating being is here. I don''t know how she does it, but she can simply appear and disappear at will. If not for the benefits that she offer to me, I would immediately execute her myself, but nonetheless "Bring out that thing right now!" [Fawan] "Yes!" [Knight] Now, let see whether all this experiment of us bore a fruit or not The first line of defense, pseudo strengthen undead behemoth (Feast the five of them as you please) [Fawan] Chapter 131 - Kiserres castle under attack part 2 It''s enormous alright, this behemoth like monster In front of me. Judging by it mana and appearance, there''s a sting of undead into it. Maybe a witch was called to modify it? Kana can strengthen and weaken monster at will while Rafiah can alter some properties of monster under her control, and from the looks of it, this undead behemoth got both of it. It''s definitely an A rank monster, maybe even an S rank monster, but weaker than the King Behemoth that I fought before. Maybe I can categorize it somewhere between an A and S rank monster. Hey, if there''s S, SS, and even SSS, why can''t there be an A, AA, and AAA right? ~Roar~ "Stand on your guard everyone that''s no ordinary foe" [Aries] "Mind if I solo it?" [Ash] "!" [Other] "Sure, you''re The Behemoth Slayer after all" [Khamishah] Well, I just wanted to test myself, how strong I have come ever since the last fight with King Behemoth and Corrupted Thanatos. Both are classified as an S rank monster, and I couldn''t defeat both without a helping hand, so this should be a good test for me, not to mention (I still have Mahsuri to take down as part of my test, so if I can''t solo this monster, I can say goodbye to my chance of defeating Mahsuri) [Ash] ~Dash~ ~Stomp~ "Exploding earth needle!" [Ash] The first spell that I use, the target is an A rank behemoth during that time. It sure packs some power and can severely damage the behemoth leg back then, now it does the same, although not as much damage as I was hoping for ~Dark beam~ (Time for an experiment!) [Ash] I open my item box magic, and let the dark beam accumulate inside of it, close it and dash toward the behemoth, once the gap is close, it tries to shoot another dark beam, this time, instead from it eyes, it will be coming from the behemoth mouth (Guess all behemoths share some similar pattern when attacking) [Ash] With it mouth wide open, I open back the item box, putting it literally inside the mouth, where both the beam of darkness from the item box and the one that''s to be launch collide with each other. This behemoth try it best to overwhelm the dark beam that I released from inside my item box, so it shoot out more and more of it, but (Too slow!) [Ash] For once, I can just store that attack inside my item box then release it back, creating an endless cycle of it. And two, even if that plan didn''t work, "You''re wide open!" [Ash] Whether the behemoth understand what I say or not, I''m not sure, but it dodges my scythe attack, sacrificing it jaws and cheeks as the last beam of darkness pierce through the it. ~ROAR~ A behemoth cry, a death cry for that matter. It will become more serious now, and not only that "What is this energy?" [Alaric] "It''s coming from below!" [Saint Louis] "Do you know about it?" [Khamishah] "I''m afraid I don''t, how about you Behemoth Slayer?" [Aries] "Not quite, it''s neither from a witch nor from corruption, the closest I can guess is..." [Ash] It''s like, when Agnes turned that man into a giant monster back at Malsia. That''s the closest comparison that I can make, only this time it''s more refined and powerful (Well, I will not just stay silent while you''re gathering this much energy) [Ash] Wind mana Water mana Thunder mana Combine water and thunder, become a storm! Light mana "Take this!" [Ash] With all of those combines, I throw the scythe, targeting the neck of the behemoth. Hoping for a one shot kill. In retaliation, it uses it paw that''s imbued with that sinister energy as a sort of protection (When one place is strengthened, other are weakened) [Ash] And it holds true even in this case. Using my newly enhance ice missile shark (for which I get a good mana stone and core from an underground lake inside the ancient tunnel), I targeted it eyeballs. Three to the right and three to the left The cute sharks of mine (well, at least Charlotte and I appreciate it cute scales), tear off the superficial membrane covering the behemoth eyes before digging in even deeper. My baby, now become ferocious for a moment... Well, sharks are ferocious creature to begin with, but not mine, they''re gentle! ~Roar~ "Oh no you don''t!" [Ash] Of course, which idiot creature wouldn''t retaliate when they''re literally eaten alive, so it uses it paws to stomp around and fire off randomly some magic, for which a few lucky shot manage to hit the magic core of my main shark golem! Well, I can just repair it later, but (If this goes on further, it will become disadvantageous for us all, plus who knew how long can Queen Rinz hold the full force of the castle) [Ash] I have my ice shark missiles with me. Well, it''s a good thing that I manage to get ahold of the good magic core and stone inside the tunnel. That way, I can do this (Change yourself into liquid and take the form of a giant spear!) [Ash] And the magic core reacted to my command, all the ice missile shark combined together and form a giant spear, and "Shoot!" [Ash] They pierce the skull of the behemoth, from one eyeball to the next, creating a hole along with it. I swear the brain matter is rotten, but (Not yet) [Ash] It''s better to overkill this thing (Now, gather around my scythe!) [Ash] And they gather, with their power, I threw my scythe once more, this time through the mouth. To maximize the force, I used wind magic alongside acceleration magic and turn the water properties into a volatile acidic water. Once my scythe pierce the abdomen and comes back to me "Fire rope!" [Ash] A fire spell is use by me. Once again, the target is the wide open behemoth mouth, and ~BOOM~ "Light dome" [Saint Louis] "Thank you O saint" [Alaric] "You''re welcome" [Saint Louis] "How come you cover them but not me?" [Ash] "You reap what you saw" [Khamishah] Guess that''s true. There''s sudden short rain of blood and unfortunately for me... What''s more, I can''t collect the behemoth magic core, 1000% sure it''s destroy alongside the explosion "Guess your title aren''t just for show" [Aries] "I still have a long way to go, but I''ll take that compliment as a sign of my growth, so thank you very" [Ash] The last time I fought a behemoth, I was injured both the time, but I manage to win this fight unscathed, so I really have improved "Let us go and free Queen Rinz ASAP" [Khamishah] "And regarding what you want to say about the mysterious energy, you can talk while we rushed there" [Aries] "Yes!" [Ash] Chapter 132 - Orphanage under attack part 3 [Rean point of view] I have failed... "It''s hurt..." [Rafiah] "Zerolith! Zerolith! Hang in there!" [Mara] "..." [Zerolith] "You two, quick, get some clothes. We will stop their bleeding" [Mr Bond] ""Right!!"" [Elise, Kara] "Savel... Charlotte... Cupid... They''re gone" [Singa] "Meow..." [Behe] "Your wing are burned, are you alright Behe?" [Farhah] "Meow!" [Behe] "That''s good" [Karon] I have failed, to protect our home I have failed, to protect my little siblings I have failed, to protect my promise to Brother Ash I have failed "Rean, are you alright?" [Elise] "..." [Rean] Please, leave me alone for a bit... I don''t know what kind of face am I making right now, maybe a sad face, or maybe a face of a disappointed people. Whatever it is, I''m sure I don''t want to see myself in such a horrible state. I don''t want to see, the face of someone that failed to protect his own home, face of someone that failed to protect his own siblings, face of someone, that failed to uphold his promise "Rean..." [Elise] "..." [Rean] Elise, she looks sad, of course she would. Who wouldn''t in this case I''m sorry ~Slap~ "!" [Rean] "Now, is not the time to indulge yourself with your own sadness!" [Elise] "!" [Other] "If Brother Ash is here... He would immediately go and find them!" [Elise] If Brother Ash is here, this wouldn''t happen. In fact, he would''ve perfectly capable of stopping each and everyone of them all by himself, while smiling, telling us everything will be fine. But now, just look at this... Our home is a mess. The floor is still wet, there are multiple crack in the floor. The flower vase are broken, the album hang in the wall utterly demolished. Everything is in a state of mess "Get up!" [Elise] "I''m not as strong, as he is..." [Rean] "Of course! We aren''t strong, and all of us are awfully clear about that!" [Elise] "..." [Rean] "..." [Kara] "..." [Mara] "..." [Karon] "..." [Farhah] "..." [Singa] "Brother Ash himself said that he will teach all of us, he will train all of us, until we are all capable enough to make some meaningful changes to this world!" [Elise] Brother Ash will always say that, as a motivation to us all. Truthfully, can I even become half as strong as he is? He had told me multiple times that he will train me so much so that I will eventually surpass him, but now... "Plus, Charlotte, Savel and Cupid, aren''t you the least worried about them! You do realise what will happen if we waddles some more!" [Elise] "!" [Other] That''s right... How could I, be so stupid! "That''s why, If Brother Ash is here, first thing after he cures us all will be dashing out, immediately searching for them! We might be slower and weaker, but we will definitely do that! We are gonna save the three cute little siblings of us!" [Elise] "Haha..." [Rean] "Wh.. what?!" [Elise] "That''s exactly what Brother Ash will say" [Rean] First thing first, to heal the now unconscious Sis Rafiah and Zerolith. They''re in a dire state. Not to mention, even Kronbir is injured, but thank goodness that he isn''t that severely injured. Other sustains some minor injuries. All of us can use healing magic to some extent, but the best will be asking for a professional help. Sis Yefefiah will gladly help us and for that, I should go to the castle myself, but... (We don''t know when they will strike once more...) [Rean] "Are you guys alright?" [Lily''s mother] ""Rean! You guys!!"" [Kadeus, Lily] "We come as soon as we heard something going on, not to mention, just what in the hell happened here!?" [Kadeus''s father] "You guys!" [Rean] Nice timing "Kadeus, Lily, can you guys go to the adventure guild and ask for help! Any help will be appreciated especially that of a healer!" [Rean] ""Understood!!"" [Kadeus, Lily] "Mr and Mrs, can I ask you to please take care of them while I am out!" [Rean] "I will but..." [Lily''s mother] "Where are you going?" [Kadeus''s father] "To the castle! I''ll ask Princess Diana herself for help!" [Rean] "!" [Other] "I''ll come along" [Bond] "No. I will go alone. Ohh, Kadeus and Lily, tell guild master Ram that I''ll go to the castle" [Rean] The guard at the gate might not give me the opportunity to enter the castle. Brother Ash is a whole different story, but it''s not everyday occurrence that someone can enter the castle. Even Guild Master Ram and Gizzere can enter should they have some business with the Princess . . . Taking the bus golem (Which thankfully is still intact), I quickly drive there myself, and park the bus golem quite a distance away from the castle gate. Well, I just hope I won''t resort to use that reckless plan of mine (I''m sure this is what happen when you''re with Brother Ash after a long time) [Rean] "Halt!" [Guard A] "You aren''t allowed to enter without any business!" [Guard B] "Please! I need to see Princess Diana!" [Rean] "And what business do you have with her?" [Guard B] "The orphanage is under attack and I need to talk to her about it!" [Rean] "So, you''re one of the orphan..." [Guard A] He looks at me in disgust. I don''t even need to ask why as I''m sure he is one of the avid follower of old teaching. Another guard however, seems nice and also shock to hear about it "Huh? Rean? What''re you doing here? Wait..." [Liyana] "Li.. Liyana!" [Rean] Now that I think of it, nobles received their formal education inside the castle. What a good timing "Liyana, please, ask Princess Diana to come to the orphanage now!" [Rean] "Rean... What happen! You are injured! Not to mention, you act strange!" [Liyana] "The church, and the duke personal guard, they attack the orphanage, and kidnapped Savel, Charlotte and Cupid! Plus, Sis Rafiah and Zerolith, they''re dying!" [Rean] "Say what!" [Liyana] "Kidnapping!?" [Guard B] "Yeah right" [Guard A] "I''ll tell Princess Diana straight away" [Liyana] Thank goodness I don''t have to resort to some violence to enter the castle or else I can say goodbye to my head, with guillotine as the method After a while "Rean! Is that true!?" [Diana] "Quick! We shall rush there right now itself!" [Qis] "Agree!" [Young healer team] "To think such horrible fate happen" [Young knight A] "Tchh... this is why I can''t stand them" [Young knight B] "Come! Let us go!" [Young captain] "Yes!" [Young knight squad] Huh, there''s some new faces that I never see before. "Rean, how do you come here?" [Diana] "Bus golem, I parked it over there" [Rean] "That far!" [Diana] "Why is that?" [Yefefiah] "Don''t tell me!" [Young Captain] "Rean, you can''t think of..." [Qis] "Hahaha..." [Rean] "Sigh... Ash really is a bad influence" [Qis] "Why?" [Liyana] "Nothing..." [Rean] I can''t tell the Princess, the reason I came here alone, is that by chance I can''t get an audience with her, I''ll just ram the castle gate using the bus golem and then search for her during the commotion. Chapter 133 - Orphanage under attack part 4 [Diana point of view] "Thank you for taking care of me, Princess" [Liyana] "It''s fine, plus, I have a lot of fun as well" [Diana] And there she goes, going back to her home after our tea session. Since it''s boring for me to have my tea break alone, I just drag her with me, which as usual, cause her to panic a bit. Honestly, Linda''s little sister really are cute. Linda is more hyperactive back than, while Liyana here is more timid. Plus, she''s a shy girl which makes her an easy target of bullying especially by other noble girls. This couple with her inability to accurately control her magic causes to lose confidence in herself, but that all changes after she met Ash. Now, she can control her magic, performing chantless magic, and makes new friends at Ash school (Well, there''s no official name yet, but I suppose that will do) "Sigh..." [Diana] "I wonder if we can stop her arrange marriage" [Qis] "We will have to try our best" [Diana] Liyana might not know about her elder sister relationship with the three of us since her parents must forbid her from asking anything about Linda. But, I do remember her mother being nice to me, and now that I look at it back, she only does it to quickly rose up the noble rank. How naive of us back then. (And now, they wanted to force Liyana to marry him...) [Diana] The three of us must stop it no matter what! One of the ways is by having her joining the newly group of knight that I form, The Valkyrie. It''s Ash the one who came up with the idea of Pegasus riding knight consisting of all female members. It''s a great idea. The members are all still a novice, but I''m sure with the right mindset and training, they will be a fierce group of warrior that will leave their mark on the kingdom history. Plus, I should ask Elise and Mile to join them as well, but of course, the three of them should prove themselves first and foremost (Now then, I should look at the letter from Haliza and Rumia) [Diana] "Here''s the letters" [Qis] "You sure know me the best" [Diana] She has been serving me faithfully, plus, we are close to the point that we can read each other like an open book. Just as I am about to tear the letters, Liyana come in knocking my door in a hurried manner. "Princess Diana, Mrs Qis, the orphanage! The orphanage, the church and the duke attack them!" [Liyana] ""Say what!"" [Diana, Qis] "Rean, he is there outside the castle gate, he''s injured, and yet he comes to ask for help! Rafiah and Zerolith are dying, and, Charlotte, Savel and Cupid, they''re being kidnapped by them!" [Liyana] "They crossed the line!" [Qis] "AGREE!" [Diana] This is too much. I can understand that they hated Ash for his behaviour, but to attack those kids are just absurd! But... (Is that really the case? With Savel and Charlotte getting kidnapped, I have a feeling that might they aren''t attacking the orphanage due to hatred alone) [Diana] Putting the motive aside, "Qis, the young healers, they''re right now having class with Mr Flinar right? Tell them what happen and we should all rush there!" [Diana] "Understood!" [Qis] "Liyana, wait outside near my carriage. I will call The Valkyrie to come with me" [Diana] "Valkyrie? I mean, yes, understood" [Liyana] The three of us goes our separate way, with me going to the new office where the Valkyrie will use Once I reach there "All of you, come with me!" [Diana] "Princess Diana! What happen?" [Bladel] Bladel, the young captain of this Valkyrie group. She''s 23 years old with short purple hair and pitch black iris. "Well..." [Diana] I quickly explain the situation to them, and "Kidnapped!" [Bladel] "Not to mention, when their guardian is away" [Young knight A] "We should all hurry up! Get yourself ready in under three minutes!" [Bladel] "Yes!" [Others] "I''ll wait for you outside near my carriage. Meet me there once all of you are done" [Diana] "Yes Your Highness" [Young knight B] I should also tells my father, but right now, he''s extremely busy, so I should just write a letter and have one of the guards deliver it for me. I should also tell Guild Master Ram and Gizzere, but knowing Rean, I can safely assume he must have asked someone to call for help from the adventure guild, so the two Guild Masters will surely come as well "You guys ready to depart?" [Diana] "The healer group are ready" [Flinar] "The Valkyrie group are ready" [Bladel] "Right! Let''s go" [Diana] The guards open the gate for us, and the first thing that greets me is Rean, who is all bruises, especially around his temporal region. Goodness, they had a lot of nerve to do that! But more importantly "Rean! Is that true!?" [Diana] "Quick! We shall rush there right now itself!" [Qis] "Agree!" [Young healer team] "To think such horrible fate happen" [Young knight A] "Tchh... this is why I can''t stand them" [Young knight B] "Come! Let us go!" [Bladel] "Yes!" [Valkyrie] "Rean, how do you come here?" [Diana] "Bus golem, I parked it over there" [Rean] "That far!" [Diana] "Why is that?" [Yefefiah] "Don''t tell me!" [Young Captain] "Rean, you can''t think of..." [Qis] "Hahaha..." [Rean] "Sigh... Ash really is a bad influence" [Qis] "Why?" [Liyana] "Nothing..." [Rean] Is he seriously considering ramming the castle gate as one of the options? Ash, you bad big idiot brother! I can''t believe he manages to make Rean think of a suicidal plan! For now, let just pretended it never happens. Even Qis and Bladel have the same face, trying to slide it off as not to cause any more trouble to Rean Along the way, I can see a group of people, they''re heading towards the orphanage as well. From the worried looks they have, I can guess that they''re all adventure, coming to help back the orphanage. That''s good then! The more help we get, the better. Rean even stop the bus golem to pick them up. They''re even a couple of Mother and son, which if I''m not mistaken are the clothing shop owner, as well as Alice''s parents. Looking at this scenario, I can''t help but to think the orphanage, they really are blessed. (I will do my best to help all of you, so please, hang in there, just for a while longer) [Diana] Chapter 134 - Kiserres castle under attack part 3 "I see, so the mysterious energy that strengthens the behemoth most likely come from the fallen god, am I correct?" [Aries] "That''s the impression that I got" [Ash] "There''s no other plausible explanation at this moment, but your explanation and theory are solid" [Saint Louis] "I have never heard of a person capable of doing such drastic changes to monster, the most a witch can do is alter their stats or change some of the properties" [Alaric] "Then we should also consider a witch so powerful that he or she can toy around with monsters" [Khamishah] "Right" [Ash] Khamishah theory may also hold true, but the thing is, the mysterious energy that strengthens the behemoth just now feel awfully similar to what Agnes do, when she transform a person into a zombie back at Malsia. Sincerely speaking, I get this feeling that that behemoth just now, is actually a human transform into one and following the same logic, all the mysterious energy are from the slaves capture by this kingdom. Even if a real behemoth is used, they still can use the slaves as a fuel to further strengthen it, which also can explain the mysterious energy that we felt "Halt!" [Guards] ~Wall pushing them~ "She really does make our mission easier" [Ash] "Still, we don''t have enough time" [Khamishah] "I''ll just go ahead first and see what''s happening" [Alaric] "Careful" [Saint Louis] "I will" [Alaric] And Alaric start using his shadow dive. Our objective? Is to make sure Queen Rinz is fine. She''s after all the one requesting this mission, and not to mention, if she''s dead, then what we actually do is nothing short of declaration of war toward Kiserre, and every single one of us will be targeted. So, us saving her is also for the sake of ourselves, so that she can back us up After securing and making sure Queen Rinz is fine, then we will take her with us, to stop his son, and we have to make sure that we can arrest him to stop all this madness. Then only we can go and save those slaves. It''s a pity that we have to ignore all of them, but this is the most efficient way. Not to say their lives is less valuable than us, but even if we save them but unable to save Queen Rinz or capture his son, then they might get capture once more "O thunder, come forth an..." [Magician A] "Too long!" [Ash] There, I''m sure he wanted to use some high tier thunder spell, but against me who can just shoot magic at will, he basically has a sign that says, please shoot me with whatever magic you like, not to mention "This thread!" [Knight B] "Run!" [Magician C] "Oh, I don''t think so" [Khamishah] With her neutral mana, Khamishah simply makes a long visible thread and attached it to their armor, pull them in one simple swift before punching each one of them with her fist (which of course, strengthen by strengthening magic). It''s no exaggeration that I can actually felt it as well. The power behind her punches, maybe like getting hit by a motorcycle or a car? Either way, you don''t want to be on the receiving end of it Aries on the other hand, mostly suppress them with her lance. It quite gigantic, but she carries it around like it was nothing. She didn''t do as much damage as compared to the rest of us, but that doesn''t mean she isn''t being helpful. Well, her role is more like a tank, so with the enemies being weakling (at least for us), she didn''t need to do much Saint Louis, she can freely control his light magic. His high affinity towards light magic and the way he can playfully use any spell under the light magic just remind me Charlotte using her water magic. Hope Charlotte can become as strong as he is. Plus (I remember one of Rafiah''s friends comparing my light magic to Saint Louis, but this is...) [Ash] It''s unfair. His light magic skill are way above mines. I mean, he''s literally commanding an army of light soldiers to do his job while he make sure all of us are buff with some spells. Now that''s overpowered "Alaric is just up ahead!" [Khamishah] "He''s fighting two powerful enemies! Quick!" [Ash] "Mrs Aries!" [Saint Louis] "Understood!" [Aries] Saint Louis quickly buff Aries with a high grade speed boosting spell, and Aries quickly dash toward Alaric. I did the same just to support her, and follow suit With her shield out, she block the incoming sword from a knight before using her lance to push him back. The magician tries to cast a spell towards her, but Alaric quickly throw a knife toward him, which break the barrier surrounding the magician, but the force and speed behind the knife reduced significantly. Well, the first knife at least, as the second one hit right in the middle of the nose. That, gotta hurt no matter what "You, you''re strong!" [Head knight] "I could say the same to you" [Aries] Well, I doubt that. Right now, Aries simply bash her shield multiple times, and with each successive attacks, I can hear the sound of sword slowly getting chipped away until ~Breaks~ "Damn you!" [Head knight] "And take this!" [Aries] Instead of stabbing him with her lance, she uses the blunt side to knock him out flat, before once again. If it were me, I''ll triple sure, and bash his head as well, but alas, one blow is enough to knock him out cold "This spell!" [Head magician] "You''re finished!" [Alaric] With the barrier surrounding the magician gone, Alaric quickly use his shadow dive, drag the magician along with him, before diving back out alongside the magician, before throwing him off "That''s better" [Alaric] "You sure suck his mana dry" [Ash] "Need to, consume too much mana" [Alaric] "Still, they''re quite powerful" [Aries] "My guess is that they''re the head knight and magician. If it weren''t for my initial surprise attack from the shadow, thing will get even tougher" [Alaric] "True" [Ash] Plus, I have this feeling that the two of them aren''t here to protect Queen Rinz, more like silencing her. ~Door open~ "Your highness! Are you alright?" [Khamishah] "I haven''t seen you in a while, Khamishah" [Queen Rinz] It''s looks like she''s doing fine. Well, I don''t want to be that guy who spoil a reunion, so maybe I can spare a minute or two to let them talks "Your highness, I''m sorry but we need to hurry" [Alaric] "You''re right, sorry to take your time" [Queen Rinz] "I''m 100% sure I''ll get scolded if I''m the one that says that!" [Ash] "Well, you''re the youngest among us all, so maybe that''s why" [Saint Louis] Now that we have make sure Queen Rinz is fine, we should bring her to "meet" her son safely Chapter 135 - Kiserres castle under attack part 4 [The first prince of Kiserre, Fawan, Point of view] Goddammit! Can''t the two of them even subdue an old lady which was put on a curse? So much so for being the head knight and magician of this country when all they do is idling around most of the time, and yet when they''re needed the most, they show a disappointing result. Guess this is what you get by appointing them as the head based on their social status From the special orb that the court magician make, he let out a rant. Plus (Since mother purposely shows it to me, she must have thought of something!) [Fawan] This orb which utilizes the fortress defense magic in order to function properly, can show anything that''s happening within the castle (that''s the area which is cover by the fortress defense magic), and right now, since Queen Rinz already taken control of it, Fawan is correct regarding this matter (And looks like they''re coming this way. Logical indeed) [Fawan] Then, let me entertain you further! I have already injected father with the artificial blessing from Agnes, as well as all of his bodyguards. They should buy me some time. (I can also use them) [Fawan] Taking out a small container containing a twin homunculus, Fawan smashed the container into the floor, causing the contents to leak out, and from there, what appears to be two small figures at first started to grow rapidly in size, with one being a boy and another being a girl. The boy with the white hair colour having a heterochromia (with left eye having a blackish iris while right eye having a white iris), and as for the girl, she has a black hair and an opposite heterochromia as compared to the boy. Their appearance resembles that of an eleven years old child "..." [Boy Homunculus] "..." [Girl Homunculus] "Now you twin homunculus, go and kill those six!" [Fawan] Eventhough brimming with artificial blessings from the fallen god, the twin homunculus are like dolls, not reacting to anything around them, and thus "Tchh!" [Fawan] Stupid homunculus ~Strong kick~ "Can''t you even follow a simple order! KILL THEM!" [Fawan] "..." [Boy homunculus] "..." [Girl homunculus] Once again pissed off by their reaction (or nill reaction), he takes the orb and throw it to the boy. Not even bothering to dodge, the orb hit the scalp of the boy, causing some minor bleeding "Why you!" [Fawan] ~Door forcefully open~ "!" [Fawan] What the! "Phew, we have arrived" [Ash] "Fawan, you sure disappoint me" [Queen Rinz] That useless father and his bodyguards, looks like their mere increase in strength didn''t buy me any time at all. "What''s with that face! You disappointed with me! To hell with that!" [Fawan] You who are born with great potential to become a magician and queen, couldn''t possibly understand what I have gone through just to build this country! Not to mention "Unlike dear uncle, you who are too soft..." [Fawan] ~Scythe thrown~ ""!?"" [Twin homunculus] "You bastard!" [Fawan] "No, I don''t any interest in hearing your family problems, so can I proceed to beat your ass down right now so that I can go home and sleep" [Ash] "Why you!" [Fawan] "Noble sure have a limited vocabulary when they''re angry" [Ash] "Ash, you''re being disrespectful Infront of his mother" [Saint Louis] "Opps..." [Ash] This disrespectful traveler, a mere traveler had the nerve to talk to me like this! I do know most traveler are nothing but a barbarian which lives in dirt and have no civilization, but to think that this is the level of disrespect that I get, it''s simply unbelievable! "You, don''t you know who you''re talking to!" [Fawan] "Yup, and if you have any other speech, please summarize it in 10 words or less before I proceed to beat your ass" [Ash] "You disrespectful shit! I am Fawan, the future king that will one day conquer Achalasia! You should..." [Fawan] "Bla bla bla bla bla bla. Anything else I miss?" [Ash] "List..." [Fawan] Wait, where''s that vampire? Could it be "Gotcha!" [Alaric] Shit! I will be drag inside my own shadow. So all of this is just a distraction! I can''t accept this "DO SOMETHING!" [Fawan] "..." [Boy homunculus] "..." [Girl homunculus] "You useless!" [Fawan] Tchh! Agnes giving me a useless twin! All they do is staring at me without doing anything. The artificial blessings are wasted on these two things "Nicely done Mr Alaric" [Queen Rinz] "My pleasure" [Alaric] "What about my distraction?" [Ash] "You actually enjoy doing it aren''t you?" [Khamishah] "Plus, you basically talk rudely In front of nobles like always" [Alaric] "Like always?" [Aries] "Hey!" [Ash] They pisses me off! Do they really think they have won the battle! Not yet! I refuse to lose to them! (Oh Fallen god! Hear me out, if you really exist, then give me all your power to defeat those six!" [Fawan] "Now then Fawan, I believe we should have a talk" [Queen Rinz] (Tchh! What do I expect from someone called as the fallen god! He can be defeated by mere human long back, and have failed to make a come back ever since then!) [Fawan] But, for all his uselessness, there''s something that he can still do. This blessing given by Agnes, and the artificial blessings that are created! "COME TO ME!" [Fawan] "!" [Others] ~Energy surging~ "What, what''s happening?" [Khamishah] "Hoi! Are you two alright!?" [Ash] ~Twin grunting~ "What did you do, Fawan!" [Queen Rinz] "This is like that behemoth just now!" [Saint Louis] "Only difference is..." [Khamishah] "Mr Alaric! Together!" [Aries] "Understood!" [Alaric] HAHAHAHAHA! This is amazing. Finally, those slaves and all of them are useful for once. Plus, I shouldn''t just use it on me, how about to my other loyal subject as well? Heck! With this, I can produce the blessings inside myself and distribute it further! "Ultimate light arrow!""Great light arrow" [Saint Louis, Ash] They''re attacking me aren''t they? "Too late" [Fawan] They''re so tiny now, and "Where, where did they come from!" [Ash] "Alaric, bring the queen to somewhere safe!" [Khamishah] "On it!" [Alaric] HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA "NOW THEN, LET US BEGIN THE GAME!" [Fawan?] You, all of you, I will shred each and every one of you, until your very soul is destroy and exist no longer in this world! I swear by my own name that I should deliver just that! Chapter 136 - Orphanage under attack part 5 [Diana point of view] "Everyone, may I have your attention please!" [Diana] With that single line, all those who had gathered here focus their attention to me. Adventures, merchants who profited from the training hall, acquaintance as well a those from around the neighborhood, they''re all here right now just to lend a hand toward the orphanage "I know we are now running out of time, with each passing minute, the threat surrounding the three of them will only become larger, but that''s exactly why we should discuss what each and every one role is rather than blindly rushing in" [Diana] After Rean told me about the incident, my intuition straight away tells me that those three are currently imprisoned by the church, and we have to use the underground tunnels to get there, but we are running out of time, so that''s why "We will divide ourselves into three groups accordingly, so listen carefully and choose as to what team are best suited for you" [Diana] First group, direct frontal assault to the church. "Isn''t that dangerous?" [Adventure A] "Plus, what about your position?" [Merchant A] "It''s fine, the orphanage are under my subject, and them assaulting and kidnapping the kids is a direct declaration of war toward me, and if we act now, they will have no time to properly rest" [Diana] ~Gulp~ There are several problems and lies in that statement. Technically, they''re only my students but attacking someone associated with the royal will face a consequence, but Ash himself doesn''t want this orphanage here to be right under him, not anyone else. Needless to say, I can just force Ash and the orphanage to come under my wing should they charge a legal action toward us. As for my position, truthfully, it will hurt me a lot, at least among the noble and the old follower which dead set on hating me. They hold the majority of power among the administration and thus, it will be harder for me in the future, but, I don''t plan on relying on them at all. Ever since the endemic disease incident, my popularity had rose up especially among the citizen, and various changes that I made alongside Ram and Gizzere have been popular even though they come with resistance from certain site (with the school project for commoner in orphanage being the most popular one). Not only that, I have been gathering people from all sort of life such as the young healers, the dwarf engineers and The Valkyrie, with more to come "Alright, I''m in" [Samurai Jacks] "Same here!" [Female elf adventure] "I will join in as well!" [Patrolling Guard C] "We better prepare our equipment first then, or it will come back to stab us" [Spearman adventure] "Agree, but given the time, a quick and simple inspection should do" [Axeman adventure] "My shop is just nearby. Take whatever you need, I''ll give a huge discount" [Merchant B] "Is that alright?" [Samurai Jacks] "It is. The training hall here has saved my business, so it''s time I do the same to them" [Merchant B] They started to gather in a single group. Good. Plus, me, Qis and the other hidden bodyguards will be joining this group as well "Next, I will need the largest number of people in this group as they will be further divided into two" [Diana] They''re the "scouting and stopping team". Some will enter the tunnel just to prevent the church members from running away. Some will scout the Duke''s army from afar and stop them through small distraction so that we can delay the army from coming to the church. I don''t really want them to fight the duke army directly as casualty are ensure should two large groups started to confront with each other. Still, they''re adventure, so they should be able to access the situation and act as they seem fit. As for stopping them with brute force (officially speaking) "Can you do it?" [Diana] "Leave it to me your highness" [Bladel] "I''m counting on you" [Diana] "Yes!" [Valkyrie A] "We will not let you down!" [Valkyrie E] Looks like the Valkyrie will handle the duke army should they''re mobilize to help the church. As for those volunteering in this second group "I''m in" [Syah] "I''ll scout the tunnel. Hey dwarf there, help me will you" [Mimi] "You don''t even need to ask" [Dwarf adventure] "I''ll join the Valkyrie when they''re fighting!" [Borg] "Much appreciated" [Bladel] "Distraction huh... just leave settings a simple trap or two to me!" [Hunter adventure] "And should the pedestrian get accidentally involved, I will guide and save them, only the lady though!" [Swordman adventure] "Do your job properly!" [Ram] "I''m just joking!" [Swordman adventure] As they all started to gather, I will tell the third and last group function. They''re to stay here in the orphanage and help them, as well as protecting them should our enemies are foolish enough to launch a second attack "I''ll be in this group" [Lin] "Same here" [Alice] "We will leave guarding the orphanage to you" [Lily''s mother] "Count me in!" [Patrolling Guard A] "I can help to clean the orphanage" [Clothing shop aunty] ""Let do our best then!!"" [Alice''s parents] "I''ll repair anything for them" [Erinmorlin] "We will continue to heal Rafiah and Zerolith" [Yefefiah] "In that case, I''ll take a look at Housey" [Flinar] "Well, I will stay here and settled anything that requires legal compensation then" [Gizzere] Looks like almost all of them are ready. I should give some times for the indecisive one to decide "You aren''t helping them?" [Muse] "I..." [Female paladin adventure] "Well, the duke and the church are the one recognizing you, that''s why you can become a paladin, but is that really alright?" [Muse] "..." [Female paladin adventure] "That''s too bad, but master being here did give us some sense of security" [Muse] Looks like Muse are talking to her master, and as for these two (or three should I say) "You sure about that?" [Qis] "We are!" [Rean] "Please, let us join the first group!" [Elise] "Meow!" [Behe] I can let Rean enter the assault group given that he had proved himself in the past, but as for Elise. I did want her to become a member of Valkyrie group in the future, but is it really alright to bring her as well "What do you think Qis?" [Diana] "Alright, but promise me to be extra careful" [Qis] ""Right!!"" [Rean, Elise] I can guess why Qis let Elise enter the assault group, basically the same reason as mine "Alright! For those who are still indecisive, make your decision quickly! Otherwise, I will put you in the third group!" [Diana] Time is moving fast, plus, I need them to prepare themselves whether it''s preparing their equipment or taking a good look at the underground map (Whether we succeed or not, I have a feeling that today will be marked as one of importants day in history of Estel) [Diana] O goddess, please, lend us your strength Chapter 137 - Orphanage under attack part 6 _________________________________________________ [Old follower A point of view] What was that? That isn''t just some normal teleportation from a space magic. First off, I have never heard of teleportation magic that can carry this much people in the first place. The best feat of teleportation magic that I do know is one of the previous saints carrying up to four people at a time with his teleportation magic. The only one that could smash that record is one of the original ten heroes, but that record isn''t well documented Second, teleportation magic is a spell under space magic, which is a subcategory of light magic, but this doesn''t even feel remotely close to that, plus, is it even magic And most importantly, I swear to goddess that all of us just enter some forbidden space, that''s the best word that I can use to describe it. No wonder Mrs Agnes and her friends forbid us to casually use this portal stone "It hurts" [Deer girl] "Come on, get me the regeneration potion. I would love to keep on getting a young antler horn" [Duke wife] "Yes ma''am" [Knight] Huh, she''s crazy, but not that I care. That deer girl just bought herself the wrath of us human, plus "Please don''t" [Dragonewt boy] "Silent!" [Mob A] "Hey, how about we pick off this young dragonewt scales as well?" [Mob C] "It isn''t that worth it as compared to adults dragonewt, but it''s better than nothing I guess" [Mob C] Agree. Not only this worthless dragonewt boy is an eyesore, he received the power of the holy beast, Reshir as well. Such holy power aren''t meant for the likes of them. How my blood boil when he had the nerve to even use that power to us, the true follower of Goddess Achalasia "STOP IT" [Blue hair girl] "Incoming!" [Old follower C] "Tch!" [Old follower A] This blue hair girl will release her tsunami power once again. This is bad, we are currently underground, she will just drown us all "Useless child!" [Knight B] With the back of his axe, the knight quickly hit the girl head. The girl manages to block it, but nonetheless, a child power can''t win against that of an adult. Still, what usually lethal even to us adults is considerably reduced thanks to her blocking it with her power "Now now, this child also receives Reshir power, if possible, I want her alive" [Old follower leader] "My apologies dear saint" [Knight B] That''s right. That little girl also receive the same power. If we can convince her to join us here in the church, that would be great "Brother Ash... please..." [Blue hair girl] "Hmph, such useless cries" [Duke wife] "Hey, what are you doing" [Mob C] ~Kick block~ An ice wall protecting the three of them. That sure is sturdy enough to block my kick "Breaking her spirit of course" [Old follower A] It''s for the greater good. Such girl shouldn''t be there with whom know from where traveler playing house. She has a better and brighter future should she join us, and for that "Come on, called your brother!" [Old follower A] I have to break her spirit, for her own good. Still (No matter how much I attack her, she still manages to block it with her chantless magic. Normal adult should run out of mana by now, this child truly is amazing) [Old follower A] Shit! I''m running out of energy. "Fool. You should just leave this kind of thing to us" [Duke wife] "Right" [Old follower A] I wonder what she will do? She looks bored when I keep on kicking them, so maybe she wants some better entertainment Wait, that cage, isn''t that a cage full of bloodhounds, don''t tell me "Spray this blood to them" [Duke wife] "By your command" [Knight C] ~Hound~ The bloodhounds, they will attack those kids. Didn''t she heard what the saint said? Don''t kill the blue hair girl! But "As expected, I wonder how long will you last" [Duke wife] "I see" [Old follower E] Such a tactic, just what you would expect from a noble "Now little girl, I can let you out alive shall you forfeit those two. A fair exchange" [Duke wife] "NEVER!" [Blue hair girl] "Admirable, but don''t regret it" [Duke wife] With the vicious bloodhounds keep on pounding the ice and water wall created by the blue hair girl, I can''t help but to admire the girl raw power. Her mana is tremendous and her affinities toward water and ice magic is just spectacular! "What are you chanting?" [Old follower C] "Now! Light spear!" [Old follower A] The sooner we break her will, the better, and for that, I shall assist in every way possible . . . This girl still hasn''t given up yet. How long do you plan to do this? We even use an actual weapon, but she keeps ongoing protecting her friends. But ~Heavy grunting~ "Hehe, soon..." [Old follower A] ~Bells ringing~ This is, if the bells ring like this, that mean, someone is attacking us! and "Savel, Charlotte, Cupid! Are you guys alright?" [Female adventure] """Aunt Mimi!!!""" [Three children] Where did they come from!? _________________________________________________ [Diana point of view] "Nicely done Jacks" [Diana] "Thank you your highness" [Samurai Jacks] "Halt!" [Church members] "Shut up!" [Female elf adventure] With the steel church door being cut neatly by Jacks, the elf started the attack by firing off her arrow. "Princess Diana! What is the meaning of this!" [Duke wife] "Quick, called the reinforcement!" [Knight A] As expected. Thank goodness I ask the Valkyrie to stop any reinforcement from coming earlier on. They should be waiting in strategic location to ambush the reinforcement alongside a group of adventures "Please, calm down your highness. May I know what reason do you have, doing all of this?" [Old follower leader] Calm down!? Calm down he says! "!" [Others] "Your, your highness..." [Old follower leader] How dare he said that with that stenches mouth of his! Playing innocent all the time! Playing the victim card when things go wrong and quickly claims all the good deeds coming from them! (This aura... it''s like back at that inn... only stronger) [Elise] "Listen here, all of you!" [Diana] "!" [Others] "By my name and position, I, Diana command all of you to capture each and every one of them. They had the nerve to do as their please in the land govern by my families, and for that!" [Diana] With my right hand imbued with light mana enhance with the goddess blessings, I fired off a buff spell to all of us "They should be punished accordingly! For staining the good name of this land, and for staining the good name of our graceful goddess!" [Diana] "Yes!" [Others] "Go forth, and may the goddess be with you!" [Diana] And thus, our counter attack starts. With the staff given to me by father, I shall aid in this process "Diana! How there you! You can''t abuse your power!" [Duke wife] "Said the corrupted noble" [Diana] "You! Don''t you dare to defy your aunt!" [Duke wife] Bringing the family care here wouldn''t help! In fact, I have long been disgusted by the tainted soul in my families. Father is an exception of course, but other than that, my mother, my step mother and siblings, all of them "Light chain!" [Diana] "Duchess!" [Knight A] Her knight tries to protect her, but too bad "Ughh!" [Knight A] "You are in the way!" [Qis] Qis quickly slice him up. "Re, release me!" [Duke wife] "Haa!" [Knight D] ""Useless"" [Diana, Qis] Our ice and light magic combination blew him off. Originally, it supposed to be ice by Qis, wind by Alice, water by Linda and Light by me, but for now, only two of us should do "Rean, Elise, check the floor on that room! Your siblings should be held somewhere underground, and the entrance should be in that room!" [Diana] ""Yes!!"" [Rean, Elise] "You aren''t getting away kids!" [Old follower F] "You pitiful kid!" [Old follower G] "Meow!" [Behe] ~Light laser~ "Tchh...!" [Old follower F] "You guys!" [Diana] "Understood!" [Hidden guard] With his throwing knive, he blinded the two of them by taking away their eyes before ~Slash~ ~White fire~ Rean quickly slashes the two of them, with Elise then proceed to finish them off by using light and fire combination magic, creating a burst of white fire that slowly eating the skin of it victim Once inside, they make a lot of noise, probably searching for the entrance. They can just use scan magic though, but I guess they must be in a hurried that the logical idea didn''t cross their mind, and ""It''s here!!"" [Rean, Elise] "Good! All of you, finish them off quickly!" [Diana] "By your wish!" [Samurai Jacks] Jacks unsheathed his katana, concentrating all of his wind mana into his palm, he quickly makes a circular motion, unleashing both his sword and wind magic to slice off all ofhis enemies while skillfully avoiding us. With that skill, he should be considered as an A rank adventure. "Now, quickly!" [Diana] "Yes!" [Others] "Still, why didn''t you do that from the beginning?" [Female elf adventure] "Conserving one mana should be prioritized in a long fight" [Samurai Jacks] "Mehh, quickly defeating your enemies is far better" [Female elf adventure] "Two different schools of thought" [Axeman adventure] . . . ~ROARRR!~ "What is that!" [Spearman adventure] "It''s coming from underground!" [Diana] "This is..." [Qis] "Savel, Charlotte, Cupid!" [Rean] "Mimi! And the other adventures as well!" [Female elf adventure] A female serpent monster, a Draikaina emerge. With its long and humongous body, one swipe from its tail obliterate us all, and with her multiple hands, she started to paralyze her victims before (They, they will get eaten!) [Diana] Quickly! Quickly! Quickly! I have to save them! "Ughh..." [Charlotte] The protective wall that Charlotte use to cover them all is now gone, what should I do "Elise! Elise!" [Rean] What''s wrong? Don''t tell me . . . "Elise...?" [Diana] Chapter 138 - Kiserres castle under attack part 5 _________________________________________________ [Naoto point of view] "This is the last one!" [Estel adventure] "Good, bring them as well" [Naoto] It''s a tiring morning as our raid toward the nobles mansion that are involved in a series of slave trafficking as well as serial kidnapping of Kiserre''s citizen meet with as expected, many forms of resistances, from their personal armies giving us trouble to the suicidal slaves that are forced to fight us in order to protect their loved ones. But "Now we just have to believe those in the castle" [Crow] "True, but..." [Lisa] "The church, no, the group of church that are said to be Achalasia Externa, they''re here aren''t they?" [Naoto] "Most likely, plus, this country is an avid follower of an old teaching, so there''s rat hiding everywhere" [Crow] "Shall we raid the church as well then?" [Kiserre''s noble] "No, Queen Rinz didn''t order that, must have her reasoning" [Crow] The reason. The only reason I can think of is that she doesn''t want her citizen to rage over the news that she''s ordering the attack on church members. Logical, plus, a covert operation is more beneficial in regard to this matter "UWAAAA!" [Opposing Noble] "What, what is happening!?" [Malsia adventure] "Are you alright sir?" [Lisa] The noble, and some of the slaves, they''re being surrounded by some mysterious energy! And what more ~Chain break~ "Ughhh!" [Kiserre''s adventure] "Pin him down!" [Noble] "UWAAA!" [slave] "Stand back!" [Naoto] That slave tries to use boulder magic and shoot it randomly. With my arrow imbued with thunder stone, I shoot the arrow right above his clavicle, damaging his brachial plexus, rendering his arm useless but Hoi! Hoi! Hoi! Hoi! That noble, what is he doing!" [Malsia''s adventure] "He''s trying to devour the slave!" [Lisa] "Just what''s happening!" [Crow] "Look, at the castle top!" [Crow''s bodyguard] "That is!" [Lisa] A Drakon! A gigantic male serpent which is said to possess thousands of arms. This is my first time seeing it plus (Where did it come from?) [Naoto] Not to mention "No doubt about it! That Drakon is the source of this mysterious energy!" [Naoto] "Agree. I don''t know how but the best we can do right now is to paralyze all those who are affected. Let the five of them in the castle handle it" [Lisa] "You heard the lady! Quickly restraint all those who are affected!" [Crow] "Knight! Protect the citizen and don''t let them get involved!" [Noble] "Adventure as well!" [Naoto] "Yes!" [Others] Stay safe the five of you and defeat that monster (With that size, power and the current political situation, and not mentioning the malice it brings, it should be classified as an S rank monster, maybe even an SS rank...) [Naoto] _________________________________________________ Looks like our plan to piss the prince backfire. The queen did mention that son of his is easily susceptible and tend to lose control when he is angry, so we thought it would be the best to exploit his weakness and bring him down quickly, but "This Drakon, it''s enormous!" [Saint Louis] ~Roar~ "Oh no you don''t!" [Ash] It tries to grab the twin with its giant hand. Obviously I would not allow that. Quickly grabbing those twin, I fire off an explosive bomb magic that are targeted in between his nails and ~BOOM~ ~Nail scattered~ "Gross!" [Ash] "Are you two alright?" [Aries] ""..."" [Twin homunculus] No response. Not, not exactly, they''re staring intensely to my scythe, this somehow reminded me of... "Shield!" [Aries] ~Dark punch block~ "Counteract!" [Aries] With the prince trying to attack me while I am distracted, Aries quickly safe my ass and counteract quickly "Thanks!" [Ash] "Don''t get careless!" [Khamishah] "I won''t!" [Ash] And "I have bring the queen somewhere safe, she''s currently with her trusted retainer!" [Alaric] "Good. Bring this twin to the queen as well, and stay there and protect her!" [Saint Louis] "Understood! Ash, quickly!" [Alaric] "Right" [Ash] If we are gonna fight this monster, we need as less distraction as possible, so Alaric guarding the queen and the twin is a smart choice from Saint Louis, but that makes only the four of us fighting this prince turn Drakon ~Dark ball continuously shooting at them~ "Shield!" [Aries] "Great light ball" [Saint Louis] With Aries protecting us and Saint Louis counteracts the dark magic ball, Khamishah and I in turn start to once again, attack the Drakon. It''s enormous that for sure but that just leave us with more playground to attack and turning his size to our own advantage "HAAA!" [Ash] ~Clang~ "Such hard scales" [Ash] My Scythe will be rendered useless, so I should opt for blunt forces like Khamishah did with her neutral mana enhance fist. She quickly torn the scales before using it as a projectile that attacks the soft mucosal layer of the Drakon mouth, nose, ear and eyes. (I will follow the same tactic!) [Ash] But instead of my fist, explosion magic ought to do the trick as well, and to further augment it (Fire explosion magic, earth combustible magic, oxygen rich air, time acceleration magic, strengthen it all with neutral mana!) [Ash] "GREAT EXPLOSION!" [Ash] ~BOOM~ A double edge sword as I myself get blown away by it but "Time stop! Tailwind! Time acceleration!" [Ash] All the numerous scales that are blown away were quickly used by me to attack the soft layer of that Drakon. Well, the prince is still smart enough to block it with a dark shield magic though but "Light armor!" [Saint Louis] "Defense up!" [Aries] "Acceleration!" [Ash] "Thank!" [Khamishah] With the three of us buffing her up, Mrs Saga over there quickly torn the shield apart using her fist before ripping the Drakon nose into two (and right in the middle for that!) "Ice missiles shark!" [Ash] The main shark will bring Khamishah to safety while the other will use this opportunity to strike down the Drakon weak spot. The flesh from the nose is quickly getting frost bite by my ice shark, and so does the eyes! "Light armor!" [Saint Louis] "Light soldiers!" [Saint Louis] Saint Louis quickly use his light magic to start attacking as well, and as for Aries "Ash, use that explosion magic and direct it to my shield!" [Aries] "Right! But be careful" [Ash] "I will" [Aries] It''s obvious what she will do, but given that this enemy is a tough nut to crack, I guess being reckless is a good option as well, plus, she seems adapted to her style of fighting. Definitely not something one would expect from a paladin "Great explosion!""Shield!" [Ash, Aries] All the kinetic energy are being absorbed by her shield, but alas, some of it escape and injured her right arm which is quickly cure by Saint Louis "Mrs Saga!" [Aries] "Right! Mana rope!" [Khamishah] "I''ll give you both a boost! Power enhance! Acceleration!" [Ash] With this, Khamishah quickly throw Aries right toward the Drakon face and "Giant knight, light golem! [Saint Louis] The Drakon try to pin Aries down with his multiple arms, all of which are blocked by the golem "We are not done yet! Light steel, and heatwave!" [Ash] I cover the golem with a steel armor, and with the hand having multiple sharp protrusion, and the high temperature coming from my heatwave magic melt the regenerating scales of the monster, before gripping it through his flesh ~Roar~ """Go!!!""" [Ash, Khamishah, Saint Louis] "Counteract, multiplies!" [Aries] A blown right in the face! Quickly destroying the monster face, leaving the brain intact right in the middle of it, and "That''s!" [Khamishah] "The magic core" [Saint Louis] "Not only that! The prince is inside of it!" [Ash] "Great light spear, light magic, imbued in my lance" [Aries] With the two magic thrown right into the magic core, it should be a guarantee win for us but ~Strong darkness beam~ "Shield!" [Aries] Aries quickly cover herself before hitting the floor, damaging her armour, and "Earth needle!" [Ash] "Take my hand!" [Khamishah] "Appreciate it" [Aries] This prince sure doesn''t know when to give up. But first "White and dark flame!" [Ash] Have to prevent the head from regenerating, that way we can deliver a true final blow and "All this monster, are they?" [Aries] "I''m positive it is!" [Ash] Just like how Agnes turned a human into a monster back then, all this monster ranging from undead to an orc, defiled and deformed it may be, are once a human and "KILL THEM ALL!" [Fawan] "Get ready!" [Khamishah] Chapter 139 - Kiserres castle under attack part 6. Plus, Lara and Nara _________________________________________________ [Alaric point of view] ~BOOM~ Another loud explosive sound can be heard coming from up above. Knowing all four of them, I''m sure things will be alright. It isn''t an exaggeration to say that those four are probably one of the strongest mortal to ever live in this decade, maybe even century. Only the other S rank adventure and few notable and noteworthy people a candle against them ""Ughhh..." [Twin] "It still hurts?" [Queen Rinz] No response. This twin is a mystery. All of us here can feel the same aura and energy coming from that prince reside within them, but they managed to hold it well. Plus (Just then, are they reacting to Ash?) [Alaric] Maybe it got something to do with his title as the guardian of children, of the fact that just like Princess Diana, he is blessed with a blessing ~Sudden surge of enegies~ "This is, it''s coming from the prison!" [Queen Rinz] "What! What is that thing!" [Royal retainer A] It''s a human...? I can tell that it is a human but ~Eyes being bitten~ "!" [Others] (Why are they cannibalized each other!?) [Alaric] Whatever they are, they are strong! Stronger than a regular goon at least, plus "It''s coming!" [Royal retainer B] "The target is... ughh!" [Queen Rinz] "Your highness, she''s affected as well!" [Royal magician A] "Must be because of the curse! Stand back everyone!" [Alaric] Just like what Queen Rinz about to say, they''re targeting the one with the highest amount of same energy, and in this case (Have to protect the twin and the queen) [Alaric] I don''t know why the twin still able to hold themselves pretty well with all those malicious energy within them, but right now they''re the target of these... "things" because of it "Shadow bind!" [Alaric] With my specially designed throwing knives, I targeted their shadow to bind their movement before (Vampire magic: Life force drain) [Alaric] While other vampire required the targeted person bodily fluids, most easily available being the blood, someone like me only need to touch them before ~Collapsed~ (Good but...) [Alaric] There''s still this weird energy oozing out from them (The four of you, quickly!) [Alaric] "Get ready!" [Royal retainer B] "More incoming!" [Royal retainer A] "I''ll give you some buffs!" [Royal magician B] "Then I''ll debuff them all!" [Royal magician A] _________________________________________________ [Crow point of view] "Incoming from the left!" [Knight A] "Gotcha!" [Estel adventure A] "Nicely done!" [Lisa] "Quickly, immobilize them, but don''t kill any of them" [Naoto] "That''s easier said than done!" [Knight B] "True, but they''re the subject of our protection, as well as the subject under your highness protection, so we as a noble and knight should do our best to stop them!" [Noble] "True" [Crow] This people/things, they keep on coming. Waves after waves, immobilize them is an issue, they breaking out afterwards and start to attack at random is a whole other issue "Sir Crow!" [Bodyguard B] "I know! Hey, all of you knights there! If you want to reduce your punishment, then fight with us!" [Crow] "!" [Others] "That''s dangerous!" [Noble] "We don''t have much choice. If you corporate with us, with this seal and stamp in my hand, I will personally beg Queen Rinz herself to reduce it, but do anything funny, death will be your only punishment!" [Crow] "..." [Capture knight] Looking at each other, they all reach a mutual silent agreement "Release them!" [Crow] "Yes" [Bodyguard A] "Now quickly!" [Crow] "Yes!" [Capture knight] "Have to keep on watching them, extra work load here" [Crow''s noble friend] "Indeed, but it should be worth it" [Crow] I hope so _________________________________________________ Tchh! Just how many of them, plus (That Drakon head, it finally regenerated fully!) [Ash] "DIE DIE DIE DIE" [Fawan/Drakon] "Shield" [Aries] "Dark hurricane" [Fawan/Drakon] "Shield, absorb!" [Aries] "Tchh!" [Aries] This monster attack, it becomes stronger with each passing second, plus "It finally able to talk huh" [Ash] "Yeah, if this keep on, we are doom" [Saint Louis] "Then let finish it quickly" [Khamishah] With the stone pillar from the palace, Khamishah simply use it like a rod, clearing of all these things. What a bad ass, and Rean wanted to become like her... he has a lot of things to do, but I''m sure he can achieve an even greater result (This feels like!) [Ash] "INCOMING!" [Ash] A giant mindless abyss centipede break through the floor, and "Tchh, another one!" [Aries] "It''s core feel like an S rank monster" [Saint Louis] "I''ll handle it, you three focus on the Drakon" [Ash] """Roger!!!""" [Aries, Khamishah, Saint Louis] I said that, but just how will I able to handle this thing, god knows but I have to do it ~Ram~ "Tchh!" [Ash] Big, fast and strong. This is a bit of bad news, plus the scale is just as hard as the Drakon. Guess my target will be... ~Purposely getting devour~ "What in the Goddess Achalasia name is he doing!" [Khamishah] ""Focus!!"" [Aries, Saint Louis] Ughhh... gross, plus the acid and digestive enzymes quickly kicks in, glad my adaptability magic work perfectly (Now, there''s three magic core, an S rank one for that. Plus, it doesn''t seems contaminated with that energy, so...) [Ash] It''s mine then! "Acceleration magic! Boost" [Ash] Guess the only way out is moving forward, but doesn''t the digestive system end with... (Oh look, the first magic core!) [Ash] Lucky me! Well, there are resistances but that should be expected, plus (Earth and wood magic core huh... this is nice) [Ash] So nice that I forgot that my final stop will be... (Ohh, a magical seed, and so many of them!) [Ash] Abyss centipede grows by devouring and joining with each other, so one of them must have eaten this many magical seed. I should store them inside my item box, plus, I can use some of it to defeat that Drakon (There''s the second and third magic cores!) [Ash] It''s of a different type. One is that of purely earth S rank magic core and another is purely wood. Well, store it, store it (And that''s the...) [Ash] "GREAT EXPLOSION!" [Ash] Well, the moment I snatch all three magic core, it''s basically death. I have to thank the parasitic nature of this energy which constantly challenging the magic core, making my job way, and by way I really, really, really meant way easier than it should be ~Mountainous punch~ "Shield" [Aries] "I appreciate it!" [Ash] ~Dark spear stab~ "Tchh!" [Ash] Shit, a direct hit to my abdomen, luckily I managed to react and quickly use defense up and cure magic at the same time "Now you have done it!" [Ash] Taking the magic seed, I enhance it with using every last bit of my mana and "Ice missiles shark!" [Ash] Using the ice missile shark, I ask them to implant those seed right into the Drakon flesh, and "Now! GREAT FLORA MAGIC! Chrono Mellontik¨®s" [Ash] Moving the time around the magical seed forward, bud started to grow and (Quickly! Give everything that you got!) [Ash] Fire, water, air, thunder, earth, steel, poison, confusion, sloth, defense down, attack down, neutral, light, dark, space, time, mirage. Just give the bud of the magical seed all the properties that you can think of so that I can slowly wear that monster off "!" [Fawan/Drakon] "Ohh, you''re reacting!" [Ash] The bud quickly sprouts into a small tree before making planting their roots right into the flesh. Some become poisonous magic plant, some become fire plants, and it all depends on which magical properties they absorb the most. And now, they slowly release their mana into the Drakon, damaging it. The poisonous plants poison it, the ice plant freeze it, the sloth plant make the monster slower etc! Good, give everything that you got! "Tchh! How annoying" [Fawan/Drakon] Well, a strong monster like you should have a high defense against this kind of thing, but when those things are injected directly into your bloodstream, than it''s a different story "HOW DARE YOU!" [Fawan/Drakon] Now the effect finally kicks in! Gathering a ball of mass made out of dark energy, it quickly shoots it at me, but "Shield" [Aries] "Thanks!" [Ash] And I quickly give her a boost, her destination, the chest "Counteract multiplies!" [Aries] ~BOOM~ A hole can be seen, with some part of the lung and heart still intact "Khamishah!" Catch!" [Ash] "Understood" [Khamishah] Giving some of the seeds to her, she quickly pierces the heart and implant the seed directly inside one of the chamber before quickly retreating (Now, to do it once again) [Ash] "DON''T!" [Fawan/Drakon] "I don''t think so!" Giant berserker, light golem!" [Saint Louis] Saint Louis quickly use her light golem, nice! The monster is becoming weaker and weaker "O lance in my hand, reinforced yourself and become even stronger than titanium, than orechalum and become the strongest metal to ever exist! Steel magic!" [Aries] Ooh! She can do more than being a tank! But wait... (Her eyes... like an... insect? A chimera? No, she''s a human, no doubt about it, but I wonder what happen?) [Ash] "HAAAA!" [Aries] ""Attack boost!!"" [Ash, Saint Louis] "Don''t you...!" [Fawan/Drakon] "Gotcha!" [Khamishah] With her neutral whip magic, she restraints all the arms of the monster and thus "NO NO NO NO!" [Fawan/Drakon] "Take this!" [Aries] Piercing the head in one shot, Aries quickly grab the monstrous magic core before shattering it into pieces, leaving the first prince, Fawan open As for the Drakon "It disintegrated..." [Saint Louis] "Not only that!" [Khamishah] "Yeah, the people, those energies are starting to leave them" [Ash] "You guys really did it!" [Alaric] "Hey! Don''t suddenly use my shadow!" [Ash] Alaric, the queen and the twin. I guess Alaric didn''t want to leave the twin behind with someone that he doesn''t trust. Well, good "I''m tired..." [Ash] Let me get a rest for a moment. Look, the queen are slowly approaching her son, and as for the twin ""..."" [Twin homunculus] "You want this?" [Ash] They stare intensely at the scythe, sincerely reminded me of Mahsuri. ~Move to left~ ~Head follow~ Huh... this is fun ~Move to right~ ~Head follow~ Then how about this? ~Store scythe inside item box~ ""..."" [Twin homunculus] They look ready to cry... now I feel bad, but "Are you two alone?" [Ash] ~Nod~ "No family?" [Ash] ~Shooking thier head~ "Your name" [Ash] ~Shooking their head~ "Sigh..." [Ash] Can''t leave a children in need alone, can''t I "Lara, Nara" [Ash] The girl will be called Lara, and the boy, Nara. Now I have a quadruplet. Kara, Mara, Lara and Nara "Lara?" [Nara] "Nara?" [Lara] "Yup, and call me Brother Ash" [Ash] ""Brother Ash??"" [Nara, Lara] "Perfect!" [Ash] Well, can''t leave them in a country which is basically fanatical with the old teaching. "Arrest him!" [Queen Rinz] """"Yes!!!!"""" [Alaric, Aries, Khamishah, Saint Louis] Guess it''s over... (Oh yeah... Bond, Kronbir, Elsa and Cupid families... have to search for them) [Ash] "I hope they''re alright" [Ash] ""Alright??"" [Lara, Nara] "Yup, let us pray for that" [Ash] Chapter 140 - Orphanage under attack part 7 _________________________________________________ [The Valkyrie leader, Bladel point of view] For a lowly knight like me to be recognized by Princess Diana herself, and not to mention, being appointed as the leader of the newly founded Valkyrie, is the greatest honour of my life. Women in the army and those who are in the field of magic, are always being look down as we are smaller in number and most of us are weak as compared to our male counterparts. This is totally different as compared to the adventure, while their female adventure are small in number, the ration between male:female isn''t that staggering, plus, most of the male adventures treated their female colleagues as an equal. And making our job even harder is that there''s only one prominent female figure among us, and that''s Qis, the personal and main bodyguard for Princess Diana (We will prove ourselves to be just as capable!) [Bladel] With the heirloom of my family, I will prove it, and first, to tackle this situation "Who do you think you are! We are the Duke''s army, and if you know the consequences of blocking us, you better move!" [Vice captain of Duke''s army] "How cocky, still, by our lord order, we won''t let a single one of you pass!" [Bladel] "!" [Duke''s army] Better get ready and "Tchh! Gentlemen, charge!" [Duke''s army vice captain] "YES!" [Duke''s army] "Valkyrie! Adventure! Stand on your ground!" [Bladel] And thus, the two unit collides. We have the advantages in number, however, we are told not to kill the opposing unit, they however, have every intention on doing so, which will make our victory all the more satisfying (Night Blade! Help me!) [Bladel] With a single charge from my family heirloom sword, a strong slash of darkness magic push those armies away. (If we fan get our own personal pegasus, this will be cooler) [Bladel] But, let just prove ourselves first . . . "Tchh! You lowly adventure!" [Duke''s army vice captain] "Haha, don''t mess with us adventure" [Borg] "And aren''t you the guild master! Do something about it!" [Duke''s army vice captain] "I am, I don''t want your army to employ dirty tactic and dragging the innocent with it" [Ram] "!" [Duke''s army] "Way to go boss!" [Hunter adventure] "That''s the spirit!" [Bladel] We are slowly getting the upper hand when suddenly ~Loud Roar~ "What is that!?" [Ram] "It''s coming from the church!" [Valkyrie A] "I got a bad feeling about this" [Swordman adventure] "HEY! HEY! HEY! HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING" [Duke army A] "He''s going insane!" [Duke army C] "Night blade! Bind him!" [Bladel] ~Darkness rope~ "GAAAH!" [Duke army B] That guy literally tore off his friends ear by biting it, plus "Just what is this energy?" [Valkyrie B] "Tchh! Everyone, apprehend those who are acting strange! Plus, watch each other back!" [Ram] "Yes sir!" [Adventure and Valkyrie] Good decision from the guild master, we can''t just kill them just because they''re acting suspiciously, and thus, we started to bind them one by one (They suddenly become stronger!) [Bladel] "ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!" [Borg] Another shouting, and this time "AAHH..." [Ram] "That is!" [Bladel] An SS rank monster, with a blue scarf covering her hair, holding a blue sword. What is she doing here!? _________________________________________________ [Adventure Syah, point of view] "Charlotte, Savel, Cupid! Are you guys alright!?" [Mimi] """Aunt Mimi!!!""" [Savel, Charlotte, Cupid] Descending from the old sewer that Ash uses during the endemic disease, we navigate the underground drainage system with the help of a dwarf. That dwarf apparently is close with another dwarf called Erinmorlin that help to repair this country drainage system, and one of the pathways seems to be connected to an ancient tunnel that in turn, connected to the church "Who are you!" [Old follower A] "YOU BASTARD! RELEASE THEM!" [Mimi] Overflowing with emotion, Mimi and other female adventures charge ahead. Usually, I will stop her from doing that reckless action but now, I can''t help but to do the same "Earth spear!" [Syah] "Light spear!" [Old follower A] Our magic collides. That strange staffs they''re holding, it''s powerful alright, but ~Slash~ We still has the advantage through this surprise attack As the two side collides with one another, Mimi and I instructed Charlotte to hold the water barrier for a little while longer, and she quickly abides to it "Apprehend them! No, kill them!" [Knight] "Use the children as a bait!" [Old follower A] ""DON''T YOU DARE!"" [Syah, Mimi] I can''t tolerate such action, thus, with Mimi charging ahead, I prepare a spell to make my earth spear larger and stronger, and "Mimi! Dodge!" [Syah] ~Nod~~Dodge~ "Ughh!" [Old follower A] Two earth spear penetrate the feet of the old follower, and "Keep ongoing!" [Dwarf adventure] "We are winning!" [Mimi] """Go Go Go!!!""" [Savel, Charlotte, Cupid] They''re cheering on us, which makes us even more spirited! Even these vicious bloodhounds aren''t nothing! "Hey, what is he doing!" [Dwarf adventure] That old follower that I impeded, he brings out a strange stone... A PORTAL STONE. The one responsible for the undead and ghost monsters attack back then! He poured out all of his mana into it, even his life force "Stop him!" [Syah] "On it!" [Mimi] But "Too late!" [Old follower A] Consumed by a strange and malicious energy, the portal stone bring something unbelievable out, and with it thousands arms, they grab each of us. (This is!?) [Syah] A water wall... must be Charlotte doing, no more importantly A Drakaini! A giant female serpent that''s said to have thousands of arms. With not enough space, it quickly ascend upward, and quickly the view change and the water wall magic disperse, and (A strange magic... is that... Elise!?) [Syah] _________________________________________________ [Elise point of view] I hate it. Why are they so cruel to us! They take away everything important from us, and to cover it up, they play the religion card and said all of this is by the will of Goddess Achalasia. Nonsense! They only did that because of their greed! And now, because of their actions, my siblings, my siblings, they will be killed! (GODDESS! I Know you are out there! Please, help me! Help us!) [Elise] . . . Hahaha... of course, who am I to ask her... (You appear to be in distraught young hero) [?] (Who''s there!) [Elise] There''s an old male voice communicating directly inside my mind, just who is it? (Your blessing aren''t awaken, Yet. Not to worry, I will awaken it, and I will also lend you a portion of my dark magic. Too bad, you have zero affinity to it, but that shouldn''t pose a problem. I should also share some of it to that Black hair boy over there and your demon siblings back at home) [?] "Elise! Elise!" [Rean] What''s happening. This is like Savel and Charlotte back then... plus, they''re two different powers within me right now. It''s painful, and my body temperature keep on rising, but ~ROAR~ "Ughh..." [Rean] (There''s no time to waste!) [Elise] "Meow!" [Behe] "Behe, help me!" [Elise] Since that strange voice did tell me he will lend me a portion of his power, I wonder if this will work "Chrono Mellontik¨®s!" [Elise] A time spell to move time forward. It''s a high tier spell, even Brother Ash has difficulty controlling it, but I couldn''t afford to fail. Not with their lives are on the line "That is..." [Diana] "An adult Elise, no, more importantly!" [Qis] So this is what I will become in the future, an evolved beastly transformation of mine, the mysterious elusive nine tail fox, and as for Behe "Roar!" [Behe] "Let''s go!" [Elise] An empress light behemoth, said to be the goddess pet, and the trusted companion of the ten heroes back then The Drakaini try to push Behe back as Behe charge straight to it. Behe simply blocks it with its wing before "Heaven and hell fire!" [Elise] I need to detach its arm and free them all! ~Burn~ "ROOOARR!" [Drakini] It''s far stronger than I thought, but it''s working "Darkness bed" [Rean] "Thank you Rean!" [Elise] We safely rescue them, time to kill this thing "Behe! Light laser!" [Elise] "Roar!" [Behe] I should help Behe with it. As we keep on charging our attack, so does the Drakaini, and just at the last second ~Poof~ "!" [Others] "Elise! Watch out!" [Rean] No, please, just one more second! Please, I (I, I don''t want to die!) [Elise] The darkness laser, it will surely kill us all Please, please, please "Brother Ash! Save us!" [Elise] "Sadly, he isn''t here" [?] ~Explosion~ The darkness laser... it''s being pushed back inside of the Drakaini mouth by torrent of raging water, and not only that "Foolish Drakaini. Being a servant of a foul god" [?] The caster keeps on sending more and more water into the Drakaini stomach until ~Burst~ Gross... the abdomen, the flesh, the blood. It stinks. Thank goodness for the large amount of water diluting it "You did well holding it out young hero, but now..." [?] An adult woman with a blue scarf covering her hair, with a blue sword and a traditional wear resembling that of a baju kurung. Her face looks like that of an adult Charlotte "Your brother asked me to take care of you, so, just leave it to me" [Mahsuri] Chapter 141 - Orphanage under attack part 8 [Diana point of view] Elise... and Rean as well, it isn''t that obvious like that of Savel and Charlotte, but I can see a faint blackish tattoo of their back of the hands, emitting dark magic. (So now, four of them are blessed with the original ten hero blessings, and they also receive the blessings from the holy beast) [Diana] As for Charlotte, she just awaken it good thing she wore the bracelet that can hide her blessings from other people, but I can still sense the blessings, as for Elise, the moment the tattoo appear, her blessing awaken alongside it. I wonder if the holy beast that governs the dark magic, Az, awaken her heroes blessing on purpose "Chrono Mellontik¨®s!" [Elise] And now we can add another affinities for her magic (originally, she only has affinities toward fire and light magic). She doesn''t have any affinity toward dark magic but, the blessing from Az must have added the affinity towards dark magic, thus enabling her to perform Chrono Mellontik¨®s spell. A spell to move time forward, into the future and "That is..." [Diana] "An adult Elise, no, more importantly!" [Qis] A nine tail fox, so she can become a nine tail fox through her evolved beastly transformation. She''s pretty as an adult, that I must say. Her long brown hair with elegant and majestic tails will bring jealousy to all women seeing it, and as for Behe, it skin become even smoother, with a nice chalk white colour and a large pair of wings. That''s an empress light behemoth! A higher variant of a normal light behemoth, which by itself, is an S rank monster (Their enemy might be that of a Drakaini, but, they should be able to fight them!) [Diana] I hope so! They''re holding themselves well! Go Elise! We are counting on you! They even managed to free those who are captured by the Drakaini, and now, they''re gathering mass of light magic to finish the Draikaina off, and in response, the Drakaini did the same by gathering it dark magic ~Poof~ "!" [Others] "Elise! Watch out!" [Rean] The Chrono Mellontik¨®s spell! It wore off! Of course it would, the mana demand is simply insane and Elise literally just started to use dark magic, thus, even with Az blessings, it''s no wonder it worn off so soon. Now both Elise and Behe are back to their original age Please! Someone! Save them! They will die! They will seriously die! "Brother Ash! Save us!" [Elise] A cry of help to her beloved brother, but sadly "Sadly, he isn''t here" [?] ~Explosion~ What was that! What just happened? Someone with a powerful water magic just stop the Drakaini and (No way! That''s Mahsuri! What is she doing here?) [Diana] Is she an enemy? No, if she is, she wouldn''t even bother helping us, my guess is that "Your brother asked me to take care of you, so, just leave it to me" [Mahsuri] Bingo! She''s a powerful monster, but now, having her with us is reassuring (Still, calling her a monster is way off... my intuition couple with my very own blessing tells me that she really has a connection with the ten heroes, but how she managed to live this long... nobody knows) [Diana] The main body regenerate back quickly and ~Mountainous Punches~ Since Elise become smaller (and the fact that Mahsuri water magic is strong), the fire vanquished in an instant, thus, the Drakaini able to regenerate her arms and started to attack Mahsuri "Tyrant Megalodon" [Mahsuri] Calling her golem out, the Tyrant Megalodon quickly devours the arms of the Drakaini, but there''s simply too much for it to handle alone, and Mahsuri realized it, thus "Great Megalodon! Ice missiles shark!" [Mahsuri] Not only she calls out other golems of her, she also has the same golem as Ash, albeit this one is simply larger! When and how does she created it, and from where do she obtained the magic core for it! "Chomp that snake!" [Cupid] "Chomp Chomp!" [Charlotte] "I... I can use this as my next illusion!" [Savel] There''s so much I wanted to retort on their statement. First, please, have some sense of fear... there''s literally a shark feasting festival In front of you that can even make adult wet their pants and yet you three are excited about it. Second, that chomp sound they make is cute but reality is often disappointing as the scene In front of me is far from cute. Third, just what do you mean you wanted to use it as your next illusion. Plus, aren''t you guys tired and injured! (Better than them all pain and sad I guess...) [Diana] "RAAAR!" [Drakaini] The Drakaini, fed up with the endless fight with the shark decide to use a dark bomb spell to ward them off. It pack a power behind it as the golems quickly dodge it reflexive. Losing it patient, it started to make a large dark bomb to destroy them in one shot, and Mahsuri responded with "Adamantoise! Shield them" [Mahsuri] """Turtle!!!""" [Savel, Charlotte, Cupid] ~Boom~ The giant turtle, adamantoise manage to shield us all. Thank goodness. Still, someone taking advantage of this fight to run away "Light rope!" [Diana] "Wind rope!!" [Jacks] "Ice rope" [Qis] "Dark rope!" [Rean] "Re... release us!" [Old follower leader] "SILENCE!" [Diana] "!" [Others] Nice try, but you won''t get away ~Rubbles being tossed~ "Adamantoise!" [Mahsuri] Thank you for shielding us. The Drakaini started to use it enormous tail imbued with Dark and poison magic to fight Mahsuri, and rubbles started to fly everywhere as a result of it "Let us move out!" [Female Elf adventure] "Agree! It simply too dangerous for us to stay here any longer" [Diana] Two powerful entity fighting each other and we are stuck in the middle of it. We have to plan our exit carefully "That won''t be necessary" [Mahsuri] "?" [Other] She mean? We shouldn''t escape? Why is that? "Pseudo Leviathan" [Mahsuri] Leviathan, a powerful sea whale/dragon creature that are fear for it massive length and strength, and now, she bring out a golem of it. There''s a pseudo in the name, but that doesn''t make it any less impressive "All of you, attack!" [Mahsuri] ~ROAAR~ All her golems let out a war cry. The leviathan begins to wrap the Drakaini around, constricting it tightly. The Megalodon and Sharks crunch the expose part of Drakaini uptill the flesh, and the Adamantoise shield us all "There''s the magic core. Corrupted by the fallen god" [Mahsuri] Gathering all her mana into her blue sword, the sword is now envelope by a torrent of raging water before ~Jump~ She quickly jumps toward the magic core direction, it''s in the head of the Drakaini, being exposed by the flesh eating Megalodon and Sharks ~Stab~ With her stab, a gush of vertical water pillar appear, tearing apart the flesh of the Drakaini pieces by pieces, from inward to outward and ~Shatter~ "Is it over?" [Cupid] "It is" [Mahsuri] She solo the Drakaini. Such frightening power she has, not to mention with all that golems of her "Ouch..." [Cupid] "Who hurt you?" [Mahsuri] "Those people in white, and that knight..." [Cupid] "I see. Kill them!" [Mahsuri] "!" [Others] By her order, the golem quickly react. But "Please, hold on a second!" [Diana] "Princess!" [Qis] "Why should I?" [Mahsuri] No good... I need to convince her to stop. "Please stop it! They''re in a wrong but, killing them will cause more harm!" [Diana] "Explain yourself" [Mahsuri] "I''m a princess of this country, please, let me arrest them! They''re conspiring with others, having a bigger scheme that we are still unaware of, so please, let me at least interrogate them first!" [Diana] "..." [Mahsuri] The golems stop and "Very well, I can trust someone with that blessing" [Mahsuri] ""!"" [Diana, Qis] "?" [Others] So she can feel the goddess blessing inside of me. "You heard the princess! Go take care of them Jacks and Syah" [Mimi] "Yeah, we ladies are to tired too move" [Female elf adventure] ""Seriously..."" [Jacks, Syah] ~Collapse~ "Rean! Elise!" [Diana] "They''re having fever!" [Savel] "Fever!" [Charlotte] "Sis Mahsuri..." [Cupid] "Sure" [Mahsuri] With her ice missile shark, she carries those kids first as well as simultaneously using cure magic on Rean and Elise. As for us "I, Princess of Estel, hereby capture all of you here in view of hurting my subject as well as conspiring behind the king''s back" [Diana] "Diana!" [Duke''s wife] A glare, not that I care of it "Qis, can you handle it?" [Diana] "I sure can, but where are you going?" [Qis] "Can''t let a "monster" like her roaming around freely. She will only cause panic" [Diana] "Understood" [Qis] That, and I wanted to ask her something Chapter 142 - Aftermath "I see now, thank you" [Ash] "No, thank you good sir for saving us all" [Slave A] "Yeah, if it weren''t for you, who knows what will happen to us all" [Slaves B] "You''re welcome" [Ash] "Alright next please!" [Knight A] Right now, I am opening a photo booth. Why is that, well it happeyn when I ask the now free slaves whether any one of them knows Bond, Kronbir, Elsa and Cupid. Since it''s rather ineffective, I brought out their photos and shown them to ease my process. When Queen Rinz saw it, she asked me to take the photo of all the slaves that are captured and brought in outside from Kiserre, and those photos are to be hang in a board where the families member can then search their current status (alive or dead) and where they''re placed temporarily. There are around five temporary centers to help those slaves and each center have a board, and within each board, I divide it into alive and deceased to ease the process. This whole process is kinda like how a country back on earth will handle thing when a big disaster happen. ""..."" [Lara, Nara] "Sorry, you must be bored, but hang in there a little bit longer" [Ash] ~Nod~ We have been doing this for three day straight and both of them have been following me ever since. From capturing the prince to rescuing those who are captured, giving treatment, going in and out for meeting, interrogation and now this. Now that I think of it, they aren''t that tired, for a child of their age, they''re holding off well. "Ros... Ros!!!" [Lioness A] "Big sis is..." [Young Lion A] "Can you please take care of them, I will go to the mortuary to take her..." [Lion A] "Yes!" [Young Lion B] So, another one huh, still "It''s dangerous for you to go alone. Hey guard there, bring him there" [Ash] "No, you don''t have to..." [Lion A] "And do you want your wife there to buried two bodies?" [Ash] "!" [Lion A] It''s harsh for me to blurt it out directly, I can phrase it better, but I won''t since he ought to think of his own safety. This country is a fanatical when it comes to the false old teaching and someone like him (a lion beastman) will only get treated harshly shall he walks all alone. Queen Rinz has thought of that, so that''s why she ask only those adventures, soldiers and knights whom aren''t that fanatical to help around, and among them who helped, are those who family members that were freed by us, thus, they''re way more than happy to serve the Queen as a form of gratitude "Let get going sir, I will guide you" [Soldier A] "Thank you" [Lion A] Sigh... good. I don''t want to see more of that, instead I would rather see something like that "Kirt! Kirt!" [Red haid man] "You really are alive!" [Brown hair man] "Of course! What do you think I am!" [Half man half beastman] "Hahaha, I''m so glad!" [Brown hair man] "Man, when we heard you are getting kidnapped by the dark guild and the slave trader, all of us are so worried!" [Red hair man] "Even the True Beastman Group approach us, suspecting us of killing you!" [Brown hair man] "Shit got really bad huh... but thanks for not giving up on me!" [Half man half beastman] "Well, come, beer on me!" [Red hair man] True beastman group... I do remember Lisa telling me about that terrorist group. They are... "This is the last one" [Knight A] "Alright, smile" [Ash] ~Teenage boy smile~ "Perfect, now fills in your details and we will start distributing these photos to other centers" [Ash] "Thank you!" [Teenage boy] "Welcome, ohh, did you by any chance knows any one of these?" [Ash] Time to show him Bond, Kronbir, Elsa and Cupid photos, but unfortunately "I''m sorry" [Teenage boy] "It''s fine" [Ash] A negative... that means... (I should bring them here and let them take a look at the deceased photos then) [Ash] Problem is whether they can take the news or not, plus, some of the corpses have been so badly mutilated that I don''t even want to take photos of it. A stuff of nightmare is a perfect word to describe it (I don''t know how to break this bad news to them though... What I am afraid the most is that they fall depressed, and Cupid is only five years old, nearing six just like Charlotte, I wonder if she knew about life and death concept) [Ash] My stomach hurt just from thinking about it, I don''t want to tell them but I have to. I couldn''t ask Crow, Lisa, Alaric or any of Crow''s personnel to do it though, that will be rude and heartless ~Light tap~ ""Alright??"" [Lara, Nara] "Sorry, it was nothing" [Ash] Well, can''t tell them about it. Let a child be a child "Sir Ash, they will be conducting a meeting at the adventure guild soon, so please be there before noon" [Knight B] "Got it" [Ash] I need a breather but whatever, let just go straight to the guild. I should take the carriage provided to me . . . "You''re late" [Khamishah] "Sorry, these two are hungry" [Ash] ""Not hungry?"" [Lara, Nara] "ANYMORE! Yeah, they are not hungry anymore" [Ash] "Well, we do have some foods here with us. Please have a seat" [Queen Rinz] "Huh? What are doing here, your highness?" [Ash] "Confirming something" [Queen Rinz] "Then I guess all of you are also here to confirm something from me" [Ash] ~Nod~ "Just what is there left to be confirmed? I thought the meeting back then have covered almost all of it" [Ash] "..." [Others] "What''s wrong with all of you!" [Ash] Just what is happening? Why are they so serious? They''re looking at each other uncomfortably, plus they''re worrying about something, no, about someone (I don''t like this feeling... Not even a tiny bit of it) [Ash] "Ash, listen here, the orphanage..." [Crow] . . . "ASH STOP!" [Naoto] "Quickly, follow him!" [Saint Louis] "That face he makes, just like what I had predicted!" [Crow] "Your highness!" [Khamishah] "Go after him!" [Queen Rinz] "I shall go as well!" [Alaric] "Don''t be so harsh, he is carrying those twin with him" [Aries] "Still... can you blame him for making that face. I don''t want him to go on a rampage but I do understand his feeling" [Lisa] "..." [Other] Chapter 143 - Hectic _________________________________________________ [Farhah Flashback] "Listen here Farhah, you are still to young to understand this, but know well that within you, are the last blood of our proud Elf species, the..." [?] . . . "There they are! Kill them! Take their blood for our Goddess!" [?] "Take Farhah and run!" [Male elf voice] "Da..." [Farhah] "JUST GO!" [Male elf voice] . . . "Mom, I''m hungry..." [Farhah] "Mother earth hasn''t response to us yet, so let us keep praying" [Female elf voice] ~Growl~ . . . "Hehehe, such rarity!" [Beastman A] "Plus, that symbol, so this mythical elf clan do exist" [Beastman B] "Perfect gift for our True Beastman Group" [Beastman C] "Stay away from us!" [Female elf voice] . . . "Search that kid!" [Beastman D] "Oii kid, if you don''t come out, your mother will be our new toy" [Beastman E] "Farhah Run!" [Female elf voice] ~Stab~ "See, see, her blood really are white!" [Beastman A] (Mom...) [Farhah] "FARHAH RUN!" [Female elf voice] ~Tree sprouting~ "YOU BITCH!" [Beastman C] . . . ~Stumble~ "Father... mother. O mother earth which reside in the great tree of life, help me!" [Farhah] _________________________________________________ [Farhah point of view] A nightmare... no my own memories from back then, and now "You''re having hard time sleeping?" [Lin] "Nope! I sleep like a log!" [Farhah] "That''s good, but if you''re still tired, just go and get some more rest" [Lin] "It''s fine! I want to help around more" [Farhah] "Alright, how about you clean this area here with us" [Lily''s mother] "Anything but that!" [Farhah] "Hey, don''t run away!" [Female adventure] I''m to lazy to swipe the floor, so let me just do this "Mini tree golem! Swipe and clean this area for me" [Farhah] "!" [Mini tree golem] That should do the trick, now to help clean the garden In front. The flowers are all burned by those guys suddenly attacking us, almost like (FARHAH RUN!) [Mom voice] "You look terrified. Something happen?" [Gizzere] "No. Nothing happen. I''m just too bored" [Farhah] "Sigh..." [Gizzere] The old lady sits at the wooden chairs and start patting my head. It felt... warm "You''re still a child, so it''s alright to just tell us isn''t it. Then again, maybe because its the fact that you''re still a child that you do things like this" [Gizzere] "Hmm?" [Farhah] "You''ll understand it once you grown up" [Gizzere] Grandma Gizzere really talk complicated things all the time. She must be a genius. Even Brother Ash and Princess Diana rely on her almost all the time, so maybe "Grandma, why did people kill each other?" [Farhah] "!" [Gizzere] "Why can''t they just let us live in peace? Is it because we are different?" [Farhah] "Getting philosophical isn''t it" [Gizzere] "Philo??" [Farhah] What kind of tree is that? "Then, I''ll ask you one question. Why did all of us here help cleaning up the orphanage?" [Gizzere] "It''s because they are nice people" [Farhah] Nice people help each other and bad people will bring each other down. "True, but not quite" [Gizzere] "Huh?" [Farhah] Is there any other reason? "Now another question. What drives you to help the flowers in this garden?" [Gizzere] "Because..." [Farhah] Because I''m nice? Because I like flower? No, if Grandma Gizzere is the one asking, there must be something that I can''t grasp at all. Think Farhah think! "I give up... just tell me the answer" [Farhah] "Haha, you''re still young, so try to use your brain a bit, or else it will be rotten once you get into my age" [Gizzere] "But elf life longer, so I shouldn''t worry much about it!" [Farhah] "Haha, how many times do I heard that now" [Gizzere] Grandma Gizzere stand back up and stretch herself. That look nice, I want to do the same ~Crack~ "Ahh... how nice, my back..." [Farhah] "Geez, I''m the one that suppose to say that" [Gizzere] "Haha!" [Farhah] Well, time to help cleanse the mansion, with my mini tree golem that is. "Farhah, can you please bring this bucket of water upstairs?" [Kara] "To Sis Yefefiah? Right away!" [Farhah] Quickly quickly! They''re treating Sis Rafiah and Zerolith so I should assist in however way possible! "Here''s the water!" [Farhah] "Thank you" [Flinar] Sis Rafiah and Zerolith, their bleeding have stopped. That''s good (Take Farhah and run!) [Dad voice] (See, see, her blood really are white) [Beastman voice] "What''s happening!" [Yefefiah] "That glow in Zerolith back of hand! Just like Savel and Charlotte!" [Farhah] "His temperature are rising! Quick, bring that water!" [Yefefiah] "I''ll use my water magic to cool his body as well!" [Young healer A] Something really is happening to us. Mother earth that resides within the great tree of life must have planned something for me, but just what? Meeting all nine of them, and then meeting Brother Ash. Learning chantless magic and now this. Is my blood really that important, or simply a curse? "Farhah..." [Rafiah] "!" [Farhah] "It will be alright... don''t worry" [Rafiah] She''s still smiling even when her body is this weak. Why? Your friend tried to kill us and yet, I should be mad but why! "Don''t worry Farhah! We will save them both!" [Yefefiah] "She''s right" [Flinar] "Please!" [Farhah] I should contribute as well, but "It''s fine, leave it to us. You should have some more rest" [Flinar] "But..." [Farhah] "How about you go and cook them something? That would be nice" [Young healer B] "Got it!" [Farhah] Leave all the cooking to me "WHAT IN THE WORLD!" [Erinmorlin] "Huh?" [Farhah] "Something happening downstairs?" [Yefefiah] "I''ll take a look!" [Farhah] Quickly quickly! Something interesting must have happened for uncle Erinmorlin to shout out that loudly and "REAN! ELISE! SAVEL! CHARLOTTE! CUPID!" [Mara] "Thank goodness you guys are safe!" [Singa] "But hold on..." [Karon] "Isn''t that..." [Muse] ~Gulp~ "Don''t worry. Everything is fine" [Diana] "Princess!" [Liyana] Rean and Elise are both too tired right now, they''re still sleeping, and "They''re having fever as well!" [Singa] "Wait! Just hold on a second! Just what is going on here?" [Erinmorlin] "Agree. Why is Mahsuri here?" [Ray] "..." [Mahsuri] "Hey! Don''t talk rudely to Sis Mahsuri!" [Cupid] "How rude..." [Farhah] "Sorry, but still!" [Ray] "Alright, calm down everyone. I''ll explain but first, Mrs Mahsuri, please put the two of them in sofa there, and please heal the two of them upstairs" [Diana] "..." [Mahsuri] ""Please!!"" [Charlotte, Cupid] "Sure" [Mahsuri] "She really doesn''t respond much to me anymore..." [Diana] Mahsuri put the two in the sofa. They''re having fever but not as bad as Zerolith right now. "Let them sleep" [Diana] "Where is their room? We can put them there" [Kadeus''s father] "I''ll help" [Lin] "Right this way!" [Kara] And upstairs, where Mahsuri, Charlotte and Cupid goes "WHAT IN GODDESS ACHALASIA NAME!" [Yefefiah] "Thing sure are hectic..." [Lily] "True but..." [Farhah] If everyday, we can live like this, helping each other out, then, I won''t mind if it''s hectic Chapter 144 - Dream? Vision of future? _________________________________________________ [Rean point of view] It''s dark in here. Where am I, and isn''t that "Elise! Zerolith! Are you guys alright!" [Rean] They''re just there, floating around in this never ending darkness. I''m positive they''re also shouting something at me once they realize I am here as well. Sadly, we can only see each other, that''s all. I try my best to walk or swim or fly toward them, whatever action possible to make myself closer to them, but alas, it''s unfruitful, when suddenly "Alright everyone! Stand on your ground! This is Brother Ash we are talking about, and we have to give everything we have got to take him down!" [Rean?] "Right!" [Other] Eh! Is that... me? No, it can''t be, right? Plus, that guy looks older and most importantly (What do you mean taking down Brother Ash, and plus, Brother Ash didn''t seem to age that much!) [Rean] And there''s around 20 of us fighting Brother Ash alone! I can recognize some of them, from Elise to Charlotte, they''re all grown up! Princess Diana is also there, but who is the other eight? For once, there appears to be a male and female twin pair I guess among them, someone that looks like a female paladin, a saint and some lady who looks very strong, I get this impression that she''s an adventure. There''s also a vampire and as for the other four, I can''t tell much about it. "Careful!" [Charlotte?] ~Ice wall block~ "Thank you!" [Karon?] Brother Ash try to kill Karon! That scythe of him is just centimeter away from Karon? neck "Impressive, I knew he is strong but now, it''s just ridiculous" [Strong female adventure?] "Roar!" [Behe?] And is that Behe! I just realized it! He takes the form of empress light behemoth just like before and "Buy me some time, I''ll give everything that I have to..." [Diana?] Just what is happening now! I need to see all of it, plus even Elise and Zerolith seems to be dragged out . . . "BROTHER ASH!" [All] _________________________________________________ [Rean point of view] It''s heavy and ~Bump~ "Ouch!" [Rean] "Wakey wakey sleepy head!" [Farhah] "Sleepy head!" [Singa] "Head sleepy!" [Charlotte] "Fine, fine, but you could at least wakes me up properly" [Rean] """NO!!!""" [Farhah, Singa, Charlotte] What a confident NO. I guess I should just wake up early every day to avoid this, which got me thinking "!" [Rean] "He is awake!" [Farhah] "Farhah, it''s rude to shout like that!" [Rean] "Sorry" [Farhah] She isn''t But last time I remember, we are in the church, fighting the Drakaini, Elise and Behe transform, I use dark rope to bind them and then... what next? And that strange dream just now, I can''t remember it properly but I do remember Elise and Zerolith is there with me, but is that even Elise and Zerolith to begin with? Couldn''t they just be part of that strange dream "Finally awake huh!" [Kadeus] "Still, such impressive recovery" [Ray] "Oh darling <3, I couldn''t sleep last night thinking about how much you have suffered" [Muse] "There she goes again" [Farhah] "Now now, it''s true that everyone have been worrying about them" [Karon] "Wait, can you guys just tell me what happen?" [Rean] "Well..." [Lily] I see, so after Mahsuri come and save us all, Elise and I collapsed most likely due to our fever. Mahsuri been carrying us around from the church to the orphanage while treating us along the way. She also cure Sis Rafiah, her friend, Mr Bond, Kronbir, Elsa as well as Zerolith albeit minimally, but that''s enough for Mr Flinar and the young healers to save them, for which they''re now stable "Thank goodness" [Rean] and I have been asleep for one whole day. "And what about the other?" [Rean] "If by other you mean Princess Diana and other adventures, well they''re currently arresting those responsible for the attack and frankly, they''re way too busy now" [Liyana] "I see, and is Grandpa Claude and Housey alright?" [Rean] "They''re fine. Housey can auto heal itself and once Housey had sufficient mana, everything going smoothly from there on, including healing Grandpa Claude" [Mara] That''s good news! As for the last one "Brother Ash still isn''t here?" [Rean] I do remember some adventures going to Kiserre when Savel and Charlotte collapsed back at the ice dungeon, and again an adventure going to Kiserre to inform him that our home is under attack but sadly "We still haven''t heard anything" [Kara] "Maybe the adventure got stuck with something big, or the adventure simply taking his time" [Ray] "Possible, plus going there by foot do take some time" [Liyana] I see... I wonder what''s going on at Kiserre now, and that dream I just saw... was it a vision of the future? For now, let me clean myself "Can you guys go out first? I''ll clean myself first and go downstairs in a couple of minutes" [Rean] "Want me to help <3. I insist on helping!" [Muse] "I appreciate it but NO!" [Rean] "Naughty boy <3" [Muse] "You know that''s not what I meant!" [Rean] "There she goes again" [Ray] "Now I''m piss seeing them like this" [Kadeus] "Lewd..." [Farhah] "Lewd lewd" [Charlotte] "Now now, we should just go out. Muse, that includes you" [Lily] "Fine... but I might sneak around, maybe?" [Muse] "And here I thought us succubus are more flirtatious" [Lily] Now that they''re all out "So, do you saw that dream Zerolith?" [Rean] "Yeah, it''s hazy, but..." [Zerolith] Well, Zerolith have been awake for some time but he chose to keep quite about it, maybe to embarrass to say I''m Up! "I do remember all of us attacking Brother Ash, just why?" [Zerolith] "Who knows. We should ask Elise as well" [Rean] "Right" [Zerolith] Elise should be awake by now as well. She strains herself much more than any one of us do, so in a sense, I kinda want her to sleep and rest more, but alas, her big sister pride will not allow it. Not that I am one to speak, I have my pride as the eldest as well . . . "Sigh... thank god you guys are alright" [Bond] "Yeah... compare to the useless me... Anyway! Eat a lot will you!" [Kronbir] "Yeah, eat as much as you guys can!" [Elsa] "Don''t force yourself too much though, these foods are meant to help all of you recover quickly, but nothing good happen when you become glutton" [Grandpa Claude] "True, everything should be done under moderation" [Rafiah] "Say the girl who summon a B rank monster and strain herself afterward!" [Yefefiah] "Still, are you sure you don''t want to join us?" [Erinmorlin] "There are more than enough for all of us here" [Flinar] "..." [Mahsuri] She just sitting there in the sofa, looking at us. I heard that Princess Diana ask her something about the ten heroes but Mahsuri here simply refuse to answer her and now have been ignoring the princess "Charlotte, Cupid, can you?" [Elise] ""Leave it to us"" [Charlotte , Cupid] "I''ll join as well" [Savel] "I''ll go as well! Don''t leave me!" [Singa] Haha, the three become even closer now, look, Singa become jealous a bit I hope this can continue but.. (Alright everyone! Stand on your ground! This is Brother Ash we are talking about, and we have to give everything we have got to take him down!) [Rean?] Just what is that "Delivery to the mansion!" [Soldier] "-.-. --- -- .. -. --." [Housey] Some of the furniture arrives. Better eat quickly and help to cleanse and repair the mansion Chapter 145 - Going to court? [Rean point of view] "Alright, the cabinet is over here" [Rean] "Such nice plates!" [Charlotte] "I wonder if I can make more artistic and durable one?" [Karon] "Sure you can!" [Farhah] "And the chairs are all here" [Rean] "Jump! Jump!" [Singa] "Woohoo!" [Cupid] "Singa! Cupid! Don''t jump into the new sofa!" [Elise] ""But..."" [Singa, Cupid] "No but!" [Elise] "Do you want to change the dining table as well?" [Furniture guy] "Hmm... Grandpa?" [Rean] "I don''t think so, but Wouldn''t mind a spare or two since we almost always have guests with us" [Claude] "Then I''ll sell you a cheap one" [Furniture guy] "Is it really alright?" [Kara] "Don''t worry, Grandma Gizzere did say she managed to find the highest quality furniture for us for the lowest price possible, plus, I''m sure Brother Ash wouldn''t mind all this" [Zerolith] "It''s under the account of the orphanage rather than his own, but..." [Mara] "Run run!" [Savel] "Hey, the plates almost got broken!" [Charlotte] "Sorry" [Savel] "Sigh... can you guys play somewhere else for a while?" [Rean] "No!" [Farhah] "It''s fine, I can bring them to the training hall with Behe" [Rafiah] "I''ll follow" [Elsa] And the younger group goes to the training hall together with Sis Rafiah and Elsa. Right now, we are in the middle of renovation. Personally, I think that this is all a waste of resources and money as Housey can simply repair all of it with its fortress defense magic, but, there''s a limit to how much it can be repaired, and repeated usage of it will ultimately lead to the same thing, that''s why Grandpa Claude decided to just spurge some money on it. He is one of the people that Brother Ash entrusted the orphanage fund, with the other being Sis Mira backs at Malsia, so I guess it''s fine With the basic furniture all check, it''s time to renovate other necessary things, and that''s "What material should we use to fortify the gate and the fences?" [Adventure] "Well, Brother Ash will usually bring the highest quality materials to be use, but..." [Karon] "Money..." [Kara] "Yeah, plus, why buy it when he can bring it to us for free" [Mara] "Wonder if we can ask Sis Mira for it" [Elise] "Oh yeah! The Crystal Spawning block Malsia!" [Zerolith] "But, it''s hard alright for them to make it in such large quantities" [Rean] "Guess you should ask your brother opinion for it" [Kronbir] "If only the telephone can be use" [Kara] "Now I wanted for that assignment of us to be finished!" [Mara] "Well, let just see the bus golem and the training hall one last time" [Rean] The bus golem have been damaged as well, but with Housey auto repair and Mr Erinmorlin expertise, it''s in a good condition. Mr Erinmorlin had test drive it but just to be extra sure of it, plus, he himself ask me to drive it around "Karon, it''s your turn" [Rean] "Right!" [Karon] His eyes sparkle with excitement, well, who wouldn''t. Hearing the bus golem sound, the younger group came running around it, and Farhah hijack Karon''s position as the driver "FARHAH!" [Elise] ~Gulp~ "It''s dangerous! Don''t run around" [Zerolith] "It''s true, but..." [Kara] "Coming from him, it doesn''t sound convincing at all" [Mara] "Zerolith is right! It''s dangerous so don''t do it again!" [Rean] "Right..." [Farhah] "Hey! I''m also older, why didn''t she listened to me!" [Zerolith] "It''s the elder aura" [Elise] Well, that''s true, plus, Zerolith rarely become strict with them, so the younger group won''t take him seriously After the test drive, Karon gives his feedback, saying everything is fine with it. Good "You guys sure are lively this morning" [Diana] "Princess!" [Other] "Why did you come here?" [Charlotte] "Well... is Claude here? I''ll like to talk to him. Bond also" [Diana] "Yeah! I''ll go tell them!" [Savel] I wonder what happen? As we walk with her toward the dining table, Princess Diana begin to talk "Court!" [Claude] "That''s right. We can charge the Duke household and some prominent figures of the church, and for that..." [Diana] Princess Diana begin to look at us. Her face that''s happy with a bright smile outside turn into a heavy one. The mood also become more serious "Can you guys go to the court?" [Diana] "Sorry, can you please repeat it once more?" [Claude] Grandpa Claude must be shocked hearing it, even all of us couldn''t believe it at first but "Is it really necessary for us to go there?" [Rean] "Unfortunately it is. If possible I don''t want any one of you to undergo any trial but those guy insist on it" [Diana] "They''re trying to defend themselves, saying that they''re the victim here, a usual card that they always use" [Qis] "The adventures and soldiers that have been helping you agree to go to the court to give their statement, but yours should be the most important one" [Diana] "What are the chances that we can win?" [Kara] "And the chances they will receive appropriate punishment?" [Mara] "That''s the hard part... they''re simply corrupted, which is why, my father will be the judge himself" [Diana] "!" [Others] King Estel himself will be the judge? That''s scary alright. We never met him before. Only Brother Ash had met with him (and quite a lot actually), and when we ask him about the king, he always says that King Estel isn''t what he imagined King really is, giving the impression of a nice king, albeit when he is serious, his royal aura burst out, and that''s when even Brother Ash scared of him "And when is the trial?" [Claude] "This is another problem, they insist on doing it yesterday but father manage to push it, well... tomorrow" [Diana] "And how about their safety?" [Claude] "Those clowns should know very well not to mess when the king himself become the judge. They already incur the king wrath, so you can rest assured on safety aspects" [Qis] "I will also ask the Valkyrie to guard all of you until tomorrow, and of course, during the trial itself" [Diana] "..." [Others] "And as for us?" [Bond] "The same. You guys are the victim as well" [Diana] We look at each other, with quite a long pause. A court, it should be necessary for us to attend it, given it legal aspects, but, for them to be expose to it at such young age, it''s scary but "Alright, but please make sure they really are safe" [Claude] "Thank you Claude, I will" [Diana] "We also have prepared some nice clothes for you to wear tomorrow, and..." [Qis] "And?" [Mara] "Don''t worry! I''ll be there for all of you! Whatever happen, please trust the princess!" [Qis] "Right!" [Other] Princess Diana then proceed to eat together with us. She brought in a lot of food not only for us and the neighbour, but also for the adventure and knight that have been helping us as well. You could say that it''s almost like a feast That night, us in the older group have difficulty falling asleep, mainly because of the stress and anxiety, thinking what will happen tomorrow morning. The Valkyrie footsteps can be heard marching around, making sure we are safe, well, Mahsuri is here, so I don''t think anyone will be sane enough to attack us . . . Morning have come, and with that, we have a light breakfast, prepare by Grandpa Claude all alone with some nice tea to help us relax. The royal carriage has come, taking us along with the Valkyrie. Entering the castle, where the session will be held inside the royal chamber itself instead of the usual court as per the king order. The castle is huge, and so does this chamber, plus, it''s pretty with all the gold and jewelry around. We are then instructed to sit at one corner. There, the princess represent us all in this case. (I hope everything will turn out alright) [Rean] ~Boom~ "What was that?" [Noble] " Turn on the display from the Fortress defense magic!" [King Estel] "Right away!" [Court magician] The display, kinda like a mini watcher then being displayed to us all, and that''s "ASH!" [Diana] "Just what is he doing!?" [Qis] Plus, he looks furious "Call him here, and don''t let any unit engaged with him!" [King Estel] "Right!" [Rude Captain] And the rude captain call him. Tension is ever increasing with silence filling the chamber. The Rude Captain try to talk to Brother Ash but he''s simply get ignore. ~Door open~ "Brother Ash!" [Charlotte] But he isn''t answering, instead "What, what''s happening!" [Old follower A] One of Sis Rafiah friend mysteriously getting dragged up in the air, toward Brother Ash. Brother Ash grab him by his face before (This is!) [Rean] I don''t want the younger group to look at it, so (Blind!) [Rean] (!) [Younger group] "Sorry, but bear with it" [Rean] ~SLAM~ "Ughh..." [Old follower A] That guy got slammed hard into the floor, before "No, not us to!" [Old follower leader] "Somebody help me!" [Duke wife] ~Slam~ "Cure" [Brother Ash] I don''t know why, but all of us are simply to shock to said anything to him. Is that really Brother Ash ~Slam~ "Pleae... release me..." [Duke wife] "Cure" [Brother Ash] I can''t let Brother Ash get into trouble, so "ASH! STOP IT!" [Diana] ~Slam~ "If you don''t, you will get into more trouble!" [King Estel] "Cure" [Brother Ash] It''s no good, he is simply too furious to listen ~Slam~ "Cure" [Brother Ash] "Please, have some mercy..." [Old follower leader] He''s about to repeat it again, I should stop him I dash towards Brother Ash, when suddenly "That''s enough Ash!" [Female adventure] A strong looking female adventure stop him "Release it" [Brother Ash] "No, you should know that this will only cause you trouble" [Female adventure] "Release it" [Brother Ash] "Snap out of it!" [Female adventure] Brother Ash then brought out his scythe, and the female adventure response with "You brought this for yourself then!" [Female adventure] She throw Brother Ash out, into the field... LITERALLY! smashing through the window along the process "By my title as the saga, I swear to stop him, so please, give me some time" [Saga] "!" [Other] The Saga? As in, the SS rank adventure? What is she doing here!? Chapter 146 - Ash vs Khamishah _________________________________________________ [Flashback to Kiserre] [Khamishah point of view] "The orphanage is under attack!" [Lisa] "Are you serious!" [Crow] "I am, though we manage to ward them off" [Estel adventure] "You didn''t tell him yet?" [Alaric] "No" [Estel adventure] "I see now. Mrs Saga, if you mind" [Crow] "Sure, what is it?" [Khamishah] "He might get furious after hearing the news, so can you calm him down?" [Crow] "I will" [Khamishah] "Thank you, and I''ll gather the other so that they could help calm him down should he run amok" [Crow] "Please do so" [Lisa] And after getting everyone involves to the guild, Queen Rinz gave me her stamp, just in case Ash manages to slip into Estel. That way, I can pursuit him legally under the order of the queen. Plus, this should ease me in protecting Ash in any legal way possible (There he is!) [Khamishah] "You''re late" [Khamishah] "Sorry, these two are hungry" [Ash] Now for Crow to tell him the truth "What''s wrong with all of you!" [Ash] He becomes restless, and he get himself ready, even taking back the twin into his arm "Ash, listen here, the orphanage, is attacked by..." [Crow] "ASH STOP!" [Naoto] "Quickly follow him!" [Saint Louis] "Your highness!" [Khamishah] "Go after him!" [Queen Rinz] "I shall go as well!" [Alaric] And thus, the two of us chase after him. He''s fast! He must have combined multiple spell to increase his speed. "Alaric! Catch up to us!" [Khamishah] "Right!" [Alaric] There''s no time to waste, I have to sprint as fast as I can as well . . . He''s not even resting! What''s with his vigor! Even Alaric and I have shown sign of fatigue as we cross the second half of the open field dungeon. At least you should think of the twin with you. (No doubt, not only magic to boost his speed, but also to restore his vigor and stamina as well. As expected of someone that can use all kind of magic) [Khamishah] . . . (There''s the entrance to Estel) [Khamishah] "Huh, behemoth slayer!" [Guard A] "Wait, don''t rush!" [Guard B] he simply passed through them, and as for me "Sorry, but I promise I''ll come later!" [Khamishah] Alaric simply used his shadow dive to sneak inside of my shadow. He should have done that from the start I don''t know where the orphanage is, so with Alaric guidance through telepathy as well as my scan magic to detect Ash''s mana signature, we arrive at a small mansion, there "Claude, please take care of Lara and Nara, I''ll go to the castle!" [Ash] "Wait minute, Ash!" [Ghost butler] "Ash stop!" [Khamishah] I try to stop him, but he simply use short range teleportation to pass through me easily. I should have expected that coming! Alaric tries to bind his shadow but it''s prove pointless as Ash is simply too fast for Alaric to catch up. "Let''s go to the castle!" [Alaric] "Right!" [Khamishah] As we dash through the sea of people, I can see that Ash being held by the castle guard, before he decided to use his ice missile shark to breakthrough the gate (That damned fool!) [Khamishah] He''s so finish! Look, isn''t that the knight captain of Estel, but he simply ignored him and called him a rude captain And then Inside the castle, a blue hair girl shouted his name, but he just ignored her, leaving the little girl dejected. He keeps on slamming and pounding the preparators into the ground while curing them with his cure magic. My words fall into his deaf ear before I decided "You brought this for yourself then!" [Khamishah] To think that he decided to fight with me simply because he can''t think straight. Damned fool he is! I don''t know how to back him up any longer now, so the best I can do is to punch some common sense back into him and hope for the best ~Window shattering~ "By my title as the saga, I swear to stop him, so please, give me some time" [Khamishah] As I leap into the castle field, I prepare myself for battle _________________________________________________ [Khamishah point of view] "Tchh!" [Ash] He''s pissed off. Well, we are the same then. I never see a traveler with such attitude to a royal and noble before. Guess life really is full of surprise "Take this!" [Ash] He throws his scythe towards me, before disappearing "Same trick won''t work twice on me!" [Khamishah] He must have decided to use the scythe as a distraction before using teleportation back into the chamber, but (I''m naive!) [Khamishah] I thought it was a distraction, but he simply teleported right into my back, preparing a thunder spell and "Ugghh!" [Khamishah] A direct him. Damned that hurts, and not to mention "Earth trap! Flora trap!" [Ash] He''s trying to trap me! Like I would let that happen! ~Smash~ A simple earth structure and few trees won''t hold me down, and "Take this!" [Khamishah] "Attack down! Defense up! Deceleration!" [Ash] Two debuff toward me, and a buff for himself to dampen my punches'' blow. Impressive "Mana rope!" [Khamishah] "Tchh!" [Ash] "Got you!" [Khamishah] Now that I have restricted his movement, time to give a hard blow to finish him off. "Thunder! Fire! Poison!" [Ash] "Damn it!" [Khamishah] He uses my mana rope to send various spell back into me. I have no choice but to release the mana rope He''s strong. Not as strong as I am, but he''s strong, up there with few of the strongest people alive. As the saga, I am not only certified as the strongest by the adventure guild, but also by various countries, and there''s only a few other that could done that, maybe around two to three people. If he were to join the adventure guild, I have no doubt that he could achieve the same in few years time, but right now, I''ll put him around the 5th to 7th place, alongside Saint Louis and The Female Paladin Aries "Ice missiles shark! Thunder spear!" [Ash] "Mana shield!" [Khamishah] "I''m not done yet!" [Ash] Ash then uses his mana to make multiple small bubble of various elements, there''s earth, water, fire, air, thunder, dark, light, poison, mirage, everything is here! "Missile guide, bubbles attack!" [Ash] "I don''t think so!" [Khamishah] I can see that this attack will be deadly. It isn''t meant to deal a massive damage toward me, but instead, is used to debuff me, and slowly wearing me down, but "You have to do better than that to defeat me!" [Khamishah] Gathering all my mana into the fist, a single powerful blow is unleash, blowing all the bubbles away with the strong gush of air created by my punch before bursting all the bubbles and dispersing back the mana into the air "You look surprise. That''s a fine attack bit I have seen a monster using it before, and I counteract the same way as I did here back then" [Khamishah] I have no doubt he will surpass me later on. But right now, I''m stronger than he is! He has an opposite battle style as compared to mine. He can use all kind of attack while I mainly focus on my neutral mana as I can''t use any other elemental attack. He can use a strange weapon called a scythe, and here I am, can only use my fist, but (All those years of hardship and training won''t be done in a single moment! I''ll show you the power that have been recognized by other!) [Khamishah] "I''ll show you the power of The Saga!" [Khamishah] "!" [Ash] Focus, use all your neutral mana and channel it equally throughout your body and "!" [Ash] "Take this!" [Khamishah] As my first punch missed the target, he fire off a darkness spear into me, but I simply punch it and "Got you!" [Khamishah] I managed to grab his right foot "Electrocution!" Paralyze!" [Ash] "Ughh!" [Khamishah] Such powerful thunder spell, and not to mention the paralyzing spell but "I''m not done yet!" [Khamishah] ~Slam~ "Tchh! Electrocution!" [Ash] ~Slam~ "Cure!" [Ash] And thus, I keep on slamming him into the ground while he keeps on sending attack after attack of magic into me while curing himself until "HAAAA!" [Khamishah] ~SLAM~ The final one. Looks like I overdid it a little. He looked unconscious, I should ask someone to heal him "!" [Khamishah] "Out... of the way!" [Ash] Such power. So he''s ready for round two. If it weren''t for the situation, I am more than happy to comply, but, right now aren''t the best time for it "Bring it o..." [Khamishah] "STOP IT!" [Princess] ""!!"" [Ash, Khamishah] A blonde princess with ten children behind her approaching us, could they be the orphans "Brother Ash, please stop it!" [Black hair boy] "Rean..." [Ash] "Please stop. We can understand your pain, but we also don''t want you to get into any troubles because of us" [Brown hair fox girl] "We are fine now Brother Ash" [Twin A] "You should really think before doing something! Isn''t that what you always told me!" [Twin B] "Mara..." [Ash] He''s sway by them. Please keep it going! "We are sorry if we make you worried" [Demon boy] "Going all out without right from the start, isn''t that something that you forbid Farhah and I from doing" [Dwarf boy] "And yet you do it yourself! Stupid big brother!" [Green hair elf] "Haha..." [Ash] Just a little more "You are strong Brother Ash, but we are also strong!" [Lion boy] "Yeah! Trust us a little will you!" [Dragonewt boy] "Pfftt..." [Ash] ""Hey!!"" [Lion boy, Dragonewt boy] "Sorry sorry" [Ash] and the last one. She approached Ash without any hesitation before hugging him "Welcome home, Brother Ash" [Blue hair girl] "I''m home, Charlotte" [Ash] "You guys should join in as well" [Princess] "CHARGE!" [Green hair elf] "Hey wait up! That monster adventure just hurt me!" [Ash] and they''re piling up on top of each other... "Thank you Mrs Saga for stopping him" [Princess] "I just did what''s ordered by me from Queen Rinz herself" [Khamishah] Now, how should I back him up? On one hand, I want him to be punished so that he could learn his lesson, and on the other hand, I don''t want to see any sort of capital punishment serve to him "Ooh Ash... welcome home... How I miss talking to you" [Princess] "Umm... bye?" [Ash] "DON''T YOU DARE RUNNING AWAY NOW!" [Princess] ~Slap~ He deserves that one Chapter 147 - Pull the weed, plant a tree _________________________________________________ [At the headquarters of the church] [Saintess Rumia point of view] This should go here, and this should go there The red hair saintess hum as she sorted out all the paperwork that she have to complete by the end of this week, when a knock can be heard "This is the noble from Estel that would like to meet you, O Saintess" [Servant] "Ah thank you, you may leave,and as for you" [Saintess Rumia] The servant quickly leave, leaving behind the nicely trim good looking, gentleman noble from Estel with the Saintess "It''s been quite a while Sir Ceanu Reaves" [Saintess Rumia] "It is, plus, nice to see you finally all grown up" [Ceanu Reaves] "Still on the hunt for talent I suppose?" [Saintess Rumia] "That, as well as..." [Ceanu Reaves] The noble discuss about what have been happening lately "I see. So there''s a possibility that the two traitors of Demon Kingdom corporate with The True Beastman Group. This is bad..." [Saintess Rumia] "Not to mention we still haven''t received any clue regarding the Achalasia Externa group" [Ceanu Reaves] "Well, about that..." [Saintess Rumia] _________________________________________________ I went a little bit overboard, no, it''s by a lot. Now that I have calmed down, I guess the king is being overly nice to me (I will decide your punishment later, for now, you''re under house arrest! Bring him to THAT room!) [King Estel] This is the room that Diana and I got scolded by the king the other day, during the incident with the idiot noble son. Guess another scolding is already underway. Khamishah has been asked by the king to be the neutral figure, as to assist the king on handling out fair judgement upon the Duchess and the church. As for the ten, let just said they''re pale when they heard I will get punished. ~Knock~ "Nobody here" [Ash] "A ghost!?" [Singa] "Grandpa Claude?" [Savel] "For someone under a house arrest, you sure are happy" [Diana] The King, Diana and Qis, Khamishah, and those ten enter the room. Well, not only them, Flinar, Erinmorlin, the two guild master is also here as well "Kid... you might want to get out first, or else you will get scolded by a certain blonde princess" [Ash] "EHH!!!" [Other] "I won''t! Not to you guys at least!" [Diana] "Charlotte, save me" [Ash] "Right!" [Charlotte] Charlotte come and hug me, and with that "What is with that smirk! And Charlotte, move, don''t do that!" [Diana] "Don''t bully her!" [Ash] "Bully bully" [Charlotte] "Sigh... calm down, we just come to have a talk with you" [King Estel] "Hmm... where are Bond and the other?" [Ash] Pretty sure I saw them as well "They''re currently planning on moving out from the orphanage, so I ask one of the estate agent to help them settle in" [Gizzere] "They will live together? Aren''t they going to..." [Ash] "I told them... that your search for their families bore no results. They will still go to Kiserre to search for them, but Bond have decided to take live here taking care of other three" [Khamishah] "I see... are they fine?" [Ash] "..." [Other] "Understood" [Ash] A stupid question to ask, but I can''t help myself to ask nonetheless. Am I too late? Can I do any better to save their families. What can I do to help them? "Right, how about we all have a seat first, like I said, there''s something I would like to talk to all of you here" [King Estel] "The kid?" [Ash] "Bladel, Yefefiah if you would" [Qis] ""Yes!!"" [Bladel, Yefefiah] "NO CHARLOTTE!" [Ash] "Brother Ash..." [Charlotte] "Quit playing around!" [Qis] "Charlotte, there''s a fresh chocolate banana cake in the kitchen, it''s mine but you could take it" [Diana] "Bye-bye Brother Ash" [Charlotte] I lost, to a chocolate banana cake "Save some for Lara and Nara at least" [Ash] ""Lara and Nara??"" [Kara, Mara] "Your new siblings. They''re waiting at home" [Ash] ""Can we go and meet them now!!"" [Kara, Mara] "Eat first and then you can go with The Valkyrie" [Diana] ""Alright!!"" [Kara, Mara] "As you wish" [Bladel] They sure are excited, especially Kara and Mara here, knowing that they will be another pair of twin waiting at home And now, for the scolding... "I won''t. Mrs Saga here have knocked some sense back into you, I hope that should be enough" [King Estel] "Right... sorry. But, to tell you the truth, I still feel like I haven''t rampaged enough" [Ash] "You don''t learn a single lesson aren''t you!" [Ram] "Kidding, but what''s the result? And what punishment await me?" [Ash] "Well..." [King Estel] 1) The Duchess will be stripped from her power, but not from her rank. Therefore, she doesn''t have any power to command her own army to be deployed, as well as losing her position in the castle 2) Those from the church will be exile from the country "Eeh... if you can imprisoned them, at least I can get more information out of them!" [Ash] "True, but knowing them, they will only create more trouble" [King Estel] "Alaric, can''t you assassinate them for me?" [Ash] ""Alaric??"" [Ram, Gizzere] ~Glare~ "Joking" [Ash] "Pretty sure you aren''t" [Khamishah] "Sigh... guess the information we got from Kiserre should do, for now" [Ash] "And lastly..." [King Estel] 3) Ash, house arrest for one month "I am grateful but, what do you want in return?" [Ash] "Ash!" [Khamishah] "From me, nothing." [King Estel] "Well, from you but not from her..." [Ash] "Oh my, you do know me" [Diana] I have a bad feeling about this "Let see, work under me will you" [Diana] "Rejected" [Ash] "Listen first will you!" [Diana] "I don''t want to go out anymore! Who knew what will happen to them the next time!" [Ash] "Just listen! Your job will only be a freelancer" [Diana] "Huh?" [Ash] "First, you do realize that they are more and more guard and knight that have been nice around you, aren''t you?" [Diana] "I do, and they seem indebted to you" [Ash] "That''s because I replaced them with the corrupted one, slowly replacing those knight that''s constantly buying favour from other noble" [Diana] "And?" [Ash] "Well, there is also the fact that they are more and more younger and talented people gathering around, mainly thanks to Sir Ceanu Reaves effort to help us rebuild the kingdom from the nobles clutches" [Diana] "Ceanu Reaves?" [Ash] "He''s the first born of the Duke house. The very same one where one of the son harassed Alice, as well as the Duchess that attack the orphanage" [Qis] "And Flinar, Erinmorlin and Lisa are few examples of people getting recruited by him" [Gizzere] "Really?" [Ash] "It''s true" [Erinmorlin] "Well, I am reluctant at first, but there''s an elf saying, you need to pull the weed and plant a tree both at the same time" [Flinar] "Huh... I can guess what Diana wanted me to do from that saying" [Ash] It''s a pretty straightforward saying, you need to churn out the weed (evil) and plant a seed (good) at the same time, then only the tree will grow "So, what exactly do you want me to do? If like usual , it mean taking care of the orphanage as well as the community around it?" [Ash] "That and some other minor business like school etc. But, we will talk in private about that afterward" [Diana] So basically I am one of the seeds that she planted. Could it be, that she have predicted this the moment she gave us the mansion... scary... "I see... and if I don''t accept it?" [Ash] "Who knows?" [Diana] "Is that a threat?" [Ash] "Maybe?" [Diana] "Sigh... fine. Plus, not like I can be defeated by all of you when The Saga is away" [Ash] "As..." [Khamishah] "Glad to have you then!" [Diana] "Hey! I don''t remember agreeing!" [Ash] "Now then, to our next agenda!" [Diana] "Just wait a minute!" [Ash] Chapter 148 - Artificial blessing _________________________________________________ [At the headquarters of the church] [Saintess Rumia point of view] "So that happen. Just why did mother have to resort doing such a thing" [Ceanu Reaves] "I thought you had your own intelligence info, guess they don''t get you covered on that one" [Saintess Rumia] "Still, this person, The Behemoth Slayer, I feel bad for him, what should I do?" [Ceanu Reaves] "Knowing your princess, she must have forced a job or something into him, but..." [Saintess Rumia] "I know. Based on his strength, shall he decided to go on a rampage, Estel will be severely damage. Princess Diana must have use the orphanage as a mean to keep him in check while providing support to him. I don''t know whether The Behemoth Slayer realize it or not but it just doesn''t stand right with me, and must be more so for her" [Ceanu Reaves] "Agree. She out of all people will understand that" [Saintess Rumia] King Estel and Princess Diana, both of them are trying to drive out the old follower influence from their administration by churning them out, and replace them with reliable people from all over Achalasia. "Now then, regarding our request" [Ceanu Reaves] "To send someone from our side to Estel, is that correct?" [Saintess Rumia] "It is, so is there anyone that comes to your mind?" [Ceanu Reaves] "There are few sure, but..." [Saintess Rumia] With the recent even happening around Estel, Malsia and Kiserre, I should send someone reliable. That way, they can provide support for Diana, spread the correct teaching as well as investigating the Achalasia Externa group. Now then, who among them should I send... (Or...) [Saintess Rumia] "Saintess?" [Ceanu Reaves] "Oh, it''s nothing. It just that, why I don''t come there instead?" [Saintess Rumia] _________________________________________________ "I feel like I had been used by you all this while" [Ash] "True" [Diana] "Sigh... at least you''re honest about it. And before moving on to the meeting, just one last question" [Ash] "And that is?" [Diana] "You aren''t planning to use those kids for your own benefit aren''t you?" [Ash] I''m sure it''s a no, but just to be on a safer side. It comes to no surprise that Qis are about to explode in anger but not that I care "For now, I won''t. Just like you, I wanted the children here in Estel to be nurture and reach their full potential. That''s the most important part in "planting a tree" after all" [Diana] "Good. At least you aren''t wearing any mask when saying that" [Ash] "Ash! You really have crossed the line now!" [Qis] "Relax, your princess here doesn''t even care about it, but you''re right, saying that in front of her own father is a bit rude, so I''m sorry your highness" [Ash] "Hey! Shouldn''t you say sorry to me as well" [Diana] "Let just move on to the meeting shall we" [Ash] "True" [King Estel] "Father! Don''t join him!" [Diana] ~Chuckle~ (No wonder the punishment given is not so severe, he is friendly with the princess after all) [Khamishah] I''m glad that the word nurture really is sincere, coming from the bottom of her heart. Well, she did support us and the orphanage from behind the scene, as well as helping them when I am not here, so I can take her words for that "Right, I guess we should just tell you about what''s happening there first before telling you guys about our finding. I could start with Agnes from Malsia, but at this point you guys already familiar with the story, so it''s best I start with the mysterious guy falling from the sky" [Ash] "During the goblin request?" [Ram] "Yup" [Ash] "And why is that?" [Gizzere] "I''ll tell the significance of it later on" [Ash] And I tell them from the beginning itself. The mysterious falling guy during the goblin subjugation request, how Kronbir say he heard the word angelic transformation, about the Kiserre''s guild master illness (which was explained by Khamishah herself), about the curse being put into Queen Rinz, and about the attack on Kiserre''s castle and the subsequent follow up "Huh... so you want to say that from wherever that mysterious guy falls from, that place is a source of the mysterious energy that affect the country knight and noble?" [Diana] "I do, and knowing that Agnes is involved, I can say for sure that, the mysterious guy and the mysterious energy came from one common source, the fallen god itself" [Ash] "!" [Other] "Yup, and..." [Ash] It''s a good thing that The First Prince, Fawan literally spit out everything that he knows about. He couldn''t care less about what''s going to happen to Agnes and those conspiring with him, so we get some good information from him 1. While the old follower were promised angelic transformation upon the succession of the experimentation, Fawan was promised an army 2. They employ the dark guild to do all their dirty work as well, from kidnapping to taking slaves inside the country. The two traitors of the Demon kingdom are also involved but their current whereabouts are unknown, presumably escape with the member of the dark guild 3. The R&D of the old follower and the group Achalasia Externa really are connected after all. They use the results of the experimentation to built a powerful staff, made out of the magic core of human and non human. The portal stone was also the same albeit we are left in dark regarding the method "Wait? Magic core of what?" [Erinmorlin] "I''m sorry, but could we hear it wrong?" [Flinar] "Unfortunately, you heard it correctly. It strange as only monster has one" [Khamishah] "And Fawan there didn''t know anything about it?" [King Estel] "No, or he could be hiding it, but I doubt that" [Ash] "That''s truly strange, plus, for a Drakon to emerge there and a Drakaini here, could it be a coincidence?" [Qis] "That, I''m not sure" [Ash] "And that mysterious energy, it will cause the human affected to become strong albeit with the drawback of their sanity. What happens to them three days later after the incidence?" [Diana] "Slowly recovering" [Khamishah] "And as for those getting experiment on?" [Ram] "Depend. Some being feed to strengthen the monster, obviously will die. Other who are fused with monster or turn into one meet the same demise. Rest is left with permanent scar and disability, but Queen Rinz promise to help them" [Ash] "Wait, fuse with monsters?" [Gizzere] "The strange behemoth that I fought, I can sense the same mysterious energy as well as human soul inside of them, which let me to that conclusion" [Ash] "How did you know about the human soul part?" [Flinar] "I never tell you this, well except for Diana and Qis here, but I am also blessed with God of Death blessing, so I can sort of feel it" [Ash] "!" [Other] Well, it shouldn''t surprise me anymore that they are surprise hearing about my blessing "And the mysterious energy, we decided to call it artificial blessings from now on, as it isn''t a blessing from the god or the holy beast" [Khamishah] "Yup, almost forgot about that one" [Ash] Is there anything else that I missed? (Alaric? Is there anything else that I should talk?) [Ash] (Since when did you learn to initiate the telepathy...) [Alaric] (Just now) [Ash] (Sigh... How about what Saint Louis and Mrs Aries is planning) [Alaric] (Is that confirm? Well, wouldn''t hurt to talk about it) [Ash] "Saint Louis will be going back to the headquarters and he plans on cracking down the Achalasia Externa group from the R&D, hoping to get a lead to Agnes as well. Paladin Aries will depart to the demon kingdom and will discuss with the demon king Druser about the traitors, as for me, I will help Queen Rinz moving forward" [Khamishah] "I see" [Diana] Well, she beat me to it "For now, we should discuss about what we should do moving forward" [King Estel] "I wouldn''t mind helping here as well" [Khamishah] "Thank you Mrs Saga for your corporation. How about you Behemoth Slayer?" [Diana] "Just say the usual, "you better not skip" directly instead of that glare and smile" [Ash] "Still, did Sir Ceanu Reaves manage to get someone from the headquarters?" [Erinmorlin] "We still did not receive any news about it" [Qis] "Well, that, as well as..." [King Estel] We continue the meeting Chapter 149 - Orphan in Achalasia world _________________________________________________ [At certain country] "Looks like thing went haphazardly there" [Traitor Prince A] "True, but we also got some valuable data out of it" [Traitor Prince B] The two traitors of the demon kingdom, the fallen prince which are right now working with each other talk between themselves. They''re being escorted by their loyal retainer as well as some escapee of the dark guild "Still, who would''ve thought that what Agnes says will be true" [Traitor prince B] "It just that she could analyze each pieces by knowing them first hand and predicted what happen afterward, nothing special about it" [Traitor prince A] "Still, I wonder where she is?" [Traitor prince A] As they keep on walking inside the country, they once again brace themselves to enter another ancient tunnel, going to their next destination _________________________________________________ "They went home already? Well, not that I care, it''s getting late though" [Ash] "Yeah, they are so excited to meet their new siblings. Well, not only them, The Valkyrie and the girl from our group also wanted to met them" [Young healer D] "They eat quickly, not appreciating the sophisticated taste of the royal chef, which left him upset" [Maid A] "Can you say sorry to him" [Ash] "Guess I should join in the fun as well" [Diana] "It''s getting late, are you sure you don''t want to just stay home and rest?" [Ash] "Playing with them is relaxing for me" [Diana] "Do you have anywhere to stay Mrs Saga? We can lend you one of the empty guest room" [King Estel] "It''s a pleasure, but I''m afraid I have to decline the offer since I wanted to see the orphanage as well. With how Kiserre are now, there are bound to have children who have lost their parents. This should provide a valuable experience for me" [Khamishah] "First Diana, then Haliza and Mira, and now you, not that I mind it a bit. Ohh, can you share some of your experience to them tomorrow? It will be a good experience for them" [Ash] "Sure" [Khamishah] Guess Diana, Qis and Khamishah will be joining us for tonight. As the four of us board Diana''s personal carriage, I ask Khamishah a bit about the fate of orphan elsewhere "Such strange question? Surely a traveler like you ought to know better" [Khamishah] "It will not hurt hearing it from your perspective as the strongest adventure" [Ash] "True, you can provide us with some good insight" [Qis] "Well, let me ask you this first, how was your siblings life before getting rescued by you?" [Khamishah] "Abandoned, left completely to fend themselves without any sort of help. Same in Malsia as well" [Ash] ""..."" [Diana, Qis] "Then the same can be said everywhere else, although some countries are treating them worse than what you have described" [Khamishah] "For example?" [Ash] "Sigh... What happens in Kiserre is a perfect example I suppose. Surely, you do realize some orphan from their own country are treated like that. In other countries, they are some being forcefully recruited as a meat shield in war and some who are forcefully drafted into the army, and they can''t even say no to that" [Khamishah] "Tchh! And their closest relative didn''t do anything? How about the other adult?" [Ash] "Truthfully, nothing. They''re only seen as a burden, nothing more, nothing less I suppose" [Khamishah] "And I suppose their number are less because they''re left starved or being abducted?" [Ash] ~Nod~ No wonder there are only ten of them in this whole country... "Something wrong?" [Diana] "No wonder I can get the title from Goddess Achalasia so easily when all I did was taking care of them... Guess this is a shitty world after all" [Ash] "You mean the guardian of children?" [Khamishah] "I don''t remember telling you that" [Ash] "Well, you''re being called more often than not by your title. Behemoth slayer is a common one, but the guardian of children comes close to it, and even before that, you open an orphanage make quite a ruckus " [Khamishah] "Didn''t Kana from Malsia also aspire to open the orphanage thanks to you" [Qis] "A positive ruckus huh. Not bad" [Ash] "Believe it or not, there are some negative one" [Khamishah] "Huh?" [Ash] "I suppose it mainly concerning the orphanage back at Malsia. Since Haliza are the one handling it directly, she is accused of raising an elite group "openly" for her own benefits. Not to mention, Mira selling the valuable crystal spawn by the crystal spawning block. They accused her of using the orphans as a mean to sell her product" [Diana] "True. Some even accuse you of wrong doing from torture to exploitation" [Khamishah] "First I heard of it" [Ash] Guess there really are two side of the coins for everything. I wanted to call it bullshit but there are cases of neglect from the orphanage back on earth. Mira, Kana, Haliza, Diana, and I won''t do such thing but "That''s why you wanted to see the orphanage for yourself then" [Ash] "True. I don''t want any form of negligence to happen just because we rush building an orphanage at Kiserre" [Khamishah] "I see. Well, I am under house arrest for about a month right now, but I will gladly help you with anything" [Ash] "I appreciate it" [Khamishah] "We have arrive" [Driver] "Thank you" [All] It''s dusk, nearing night, but I can see some damage being done here and there. There are also the neighborhood kids still playing around as evidence by the laughter. I should show her all the positive side of this orphanage! Once inside "THE SS RANK MONSTER! What is she doing here!?" [Khamishah] "..." [Mahsuri] "It''s rude calling her a monster!" [Blonde girl] "Yeah!!!" [Others] "She help us save the orphanage and have been here ever since then" [Diana] "She move!" [Kat] "Lara and Nara as well!" [Mile] ""Welcome home"" [Lara, Nara] "I''m home, and..." [Ash] ~Punch in gut~ "!" [Other] "Your weakness causes all of this, and for that, I will be staying here, until they are all strong enough to fend for themselves" [Mahsuri] "!" [Other] "That hurt..." [Ash] but "Welcome! Glad to have you with us" [Ash] Having someone as strong as her all the time by our side will be a huge relief. Chapter 150 - Sworn _________________________________________________ [Agnes point of view] The twin homunculi are with him right now, and here I am thinking that they will react as I hoped they would, becoming useful for me by killing him slowly, but alas, this is exactly how the homunculus in the original era acted like. The blessing from God of Death sure is a strange one "!" [Agnes] Sensing a strange vibe in the air, Agnes react by dodging an incoming scythe attack "So, you have come to be corrupted once more by me" [Agnes] "Try it if you can" [Thanatos] "I sure would" (Is it just me or does this Thanatos suddenly become more talkative) [Agnes] With a special portal stone, she summon a creature out of it "Take this!" [Agnes] But Thanatos simply command "Return" [Thanatos] "..." [Imperfect Homunculus] The imperfect Homunculus return can finally met their creator "What!" [Agnes] "You seem confuse, surely someone like you should know my power by now" [Thanatos] "Tchh! Don''t you dare look down at me!" [Agnes] The blessing from the fallen god started to surround the air _________________________________________________ "I see, they haven''t eaten anything yet" [Ash] "Not to mention, they didn''t speak at all" [Claude] "Why is that, Lara, Nara?" [Ash] ""..."" [Lara, Nara] "Shy? Because they''re stranger?" [Ash] ~Nod~ "Alright you guys! Line up and introduce yourself once more! This time I will facilitate it" [Ash] "Roger!" [Mara] Just when they are all about to move ""Grandpa Claude, Sis Rafiah, Rean, Elise, Kara, Mara, Zerolith, Karon, Farhah, Savel, Singa, Charlotte, Housey, Behe, Mahsuri"" [Lara, Nara] "So you already memorized their name, that''s good!" [Ash] ~Blush~ "Guess we should just give them both some more time to familiarize with the new environment" [Rafiah] "They reminded me of a kitten that suddenly got taken from the backstreet..." [Alice] "That sure is true" [Ash] Well, maybe it''s because they''re special I believe? They''re human but (What''s with the strange magic core inside of them? And Mahsuri has it as well. Oh goddess, are they what you called homunculi?) [Ash] If so, why are they reacting so strongly to my scythe? Are they connection between homunculi and the god of death? ""Hungry"" [Lara, Nara] "Well, you won''t need food and water to survive, but feel free to" [Mahsuri] "Eeh..." [Other] "Huh, so homunculi like you guys didn''t need food, but it''s cruel not to give them anything" [Ash] "EEH!" [Other] "That''s correct" [Mahsuri] "EEH!!" [Other] "That explain a lot, can you tell me more?" [Ash] "Defeat me first" [Mahsuri] "It''s a no then..." [Ash] "Wait, what do you mean by homunculi!?" [Diana] "So, the three of them are..." [Claude] "Beat me, all I know is that they''re a collection of human soul that''s artificially created or inserted into an artificial body. Their salient features is the magic core within them" [Ash] "But that''s just like!" [Khamishah] "Yeah, back at Kiserre, but all we see are failed products, but Lara and Nara here isn''t one" [Ash] ""Hungry!!"" [Lara, Nara] "Hungry hungry" [Charlotte] "Alright, I''ll prepare some warm dinner first" [Claude] "And all of you should join us as well!" [Ash] "Oh boy! Hope you prepare some beer as well!" [Soldier A] "If you drink one in here, I''ll kick you out instantly" [Ash] "Joking..." [Soldier A] Well, homunculus aside "Rean, Elise, Zerolith, Savel, and Charlotte, come upstairs for a while" [Ash] """""!?""""" [Rean, Elise, Zerolith, Savel, Charlotte] "Can we join?" [Singa] "Next time maybe" [Ash] "Your Brother just wanted to check on them since they''re getting hit by the baddy pretty badly" [Diana] "I see..." (Was it though) [Farhah] "Lara, Nara, come eat with us" [Kara] "You can help set the chair" [Karon] ""Brother Ash??"" [Lara, Nara] "I''ll be back, I promise. So help Karon set up the table" [Ash] ~Nod~ Using my room (with silence barrier erected by me), I scan the five of them and... "Sigh... Rean, since when?" [Ash] "Huh?" [Elise] The four of them are confused "Savel since he collapsed at the ice dungeon. Elise and Charlotte at the church itself. Zerolith still hasn''t awaken it yet, so why do you ask him to come along?" [Rean] "Awaken what!?" [Zerolith] "Well, he is blessed with The Holy Beast, Az blessing" [Ash] ""Blessing??"" [Savel, Charlotte] "Just what are you two talking about?" [Elise] Elise has become even more anxious, naturally that spread to Zerolith, Savel and Charlotte as well, as seeing the usually calm and perfect elder sister of them act like that "Well..." [Ash] I explain to them regarding the blessing of ten heroes, as well as my own circumstances and the conversation with Goddess Achalasia and God of Death "Wait, that mean..." [Zerolith] "We are all going to..." [Elise] ""??"" [Savel, Charlotte] Savel and Charlotte gaze at me innocently. They can''t grasped the concept of death yet. Oh god, what should I do... This is to much "I... I..." [Ash] I can''t say it, I just can''t. I can talk to Rean the last time since there''s only him at that time. But now, with them ready to burst into tears, it''s hard. Even Rean try his best to come up with a word, but he failed nonetheless ~Sob~ Elise really about to burst into tear, Charlotte eye started to do the same "I will not let you guy die!" [Ash] """!!""" [Rean, Elise, Zerolith] "I have sworn with Goddess Achalasia and The God of Death itself, I have also sworn to Rean as well, so I will says it once more! You are my little brother and sister, so there''s no way I would let the ten of you met a horrible fate!" [Ash] "But, doesn''t the previous one also..." [Zerolith] "My sworn was blessed and approved by the goddess herself! I won''t break it, and I won''t let anyone belittle it, saying it''s impossible, especially not from you guys!" [Ash] ""Brother Ash..."" [Savel, Charlotte] They burst into tear, with Rean comforting them "It''s alright. Believe in Brother Ash would you. Brother Ash will protect you, and so am I" [Rean] ""Hmm!!"" [Savel, Charlotte] They have calmed down, Rean really help me a lot "You two" [Ash] ~Hug~ "Brot, Brother Ash!" [Elise] "It''s embarrassing..." [Zerolith] "Sorry, but, you two need it as well. I know you''re scared, I myself feel the same, but believe me, it''s going to be alright" [Ash] "Right..." [Zerolith] "Such shy boy" [Ash] "Promise?" [Elise] "Promise" [Ash] "Thank you" [Elise] "Let us join them" [Rean] "Yeah!" [Savel] "Hug, hug" [Charlotte] They have grown up aren''t they. They will become a year older soon. How time have passed . . . "And you still haven''t figured out that this is the blessing from the holy beast?" [Ash] ~Shook~ "Well, it''s obvious for me since Goddess Achalasia did bestow me with this knowledge. For now, Rean, Elise and Zerolith, you have been bestowed with blessing from Az, the keeper of time, which give you or strengthen your Dark magic. Elise have the strongest one among you. Savel and Charlotte, from Reshir the great ice dragon, giving or strengthen your ice magic as well as water magic" [Ash] "No wonder I can use Chrono Mellontik¨®s" [Elise] "Can I try water magic now!" [Savel] "How about tomorrow. For now, let us have dinner first" [Ash] "Right!" [Other] Thank god the session gone smoothly. As we keep going downstairs, Mahsuri just there, sitting at the sofa. Apparently, she didn''t join them before as well. I ask them to go first since I will try to persuade her to at least seat with us "No need. But, just so you know, Vincent and Maria did survive afterward" [Mahsuri] "Huh?" [Ash] What was that? I try to talk to her but no answer came out. Well, she did ask me to beat her first "Fine, but can you please join them as well?" [Ash] "..." [Mahsuri] "Fine..." [Ash] I will ask her each and every time we all eat together, so there''s plenty of occasion left Chapter 151 - Moving forward _________________________________________________ [Agnes point of view] "Ughh..." [Thanatos] There are rubble everywhere, with the area feel with mana from both Agnes and Thanatos alike. One would think that a group of army/mercenary happen to fight here but that''s not the case as there''s only two people involved that causes all this For Agnes I did it, with my power slowly coming back to me, I can finally take down this thing. I still have a long way to go before reaching my peak back, but with all the experimentation and the dumb person following me, I can do it once more "Now, to convert you back" [Agnes] Last time, that witch was with me, so it wasn''t very difficult for me to take this Thanatos down, but now, I can slowly gather back a monster or two for the sake of my master "!" [Agnes] "Don''t celebrate to early" [?] A beautiful lady with a scythe on her left hand and a cube containing Achalasia map in another hand attacked me. That is "So you have came" [Thanatos] "Tchh..." [Agnes] Such nuisance, this personafication of God of Death itself. I can''t fight the two of them at once, better retreat "I''m sorry, but I simply can''t allow you to escape, dear fallen god minion" [?] With the cube in her hand, she tries to block my escape route through the special portal stone (This is bad!) [Agnes] I wonder if that cube is from the god of light? Or maybe from the holy beast Angkasa? Either way, the situation is dire now and behind me, that Thanatos is fast approaching, ready to slice me with his scythe (For my lord! I have to survive! I won''t give up no matter how many times I have to repeat it!) [Agnes] . . . The portal stone in Agnes hand prevail, allowing Agnes to escape from the two personafication of death by breath of hair "She escape" [Thanatos] "I''m sorry dear Thanatos, if only I came early" [?] "It''s alright, lady of the holy death" [Thanatos] _________________________________________________ "Good morning!" [Farhah] "Breakfast ready. Charlotte, how about you ask Mahsuri there to join us" [Ash] "Alright" [Charlotte] There Charlotte go, running towards Mahsuri. But as always, she just stand (or in this case, sit) on the sofa. Only talking or moving whenever she pleases "If only Cupid is here, then I can get you to smile" [Charlotte] "Like this?" [Mahsuri] "Like that!" [Charlotte] Well, at least she''s warming up to us (I hope so). But, Charlotte is right, I wonder what happen to Bond, Kronbir, Elsa and Cupid. I should ask anyone to inform their current situation to me ASAP "Thinking about something?" [Khamishah] "Yeah, about Bond and other" [Ash] "Well, I can ask around later on if you want" [Khamishah] "Please do so!" [Ash] "Sure" [Khamishah] And that''s one down from my list to do, so that just leave me with 1) Telephone. Need to do it ASAP. Well, the frame for it is ready, and the camera function has been installed for video call (but for them to understand, I just said all of it are the function of telephone) 2) Regarding school. Have to discuss with Diana. Whether this orphanage will function as a school or as a community center, depending on that, the plan will greatly differ. Need all other opinion as well 3) I have three S rank magic core and half of magical seed still left with me. Need to determine what should I do with it. Well, I already had one in mind, but by doing so, I can''t give one of the magic core to Mira. Need serious thought in this 4) Final inspection of the mansion. I believe Claude and others have done a magnificent job on this one, but just to confirm it. (Guess I should just see the damage by myself first) [Ash] With that, all of us started our day with a honey pancake breakfast, as usual, Claude really is good at cooking, and couple with his tea making skill, I sincerely forgot that I am now under a house arrest After breakfast, I started to inspect the area that is needed to be repaired, and all of them quickly show me the fences that need attention the most. Well, like they said, I will usually bring high quality material for it, but... (I don''t think I have that much material now, and waiting for it from Mira will just bring a problem for me) [Ash] I wonder if I should just use the magic core and do that? As I weighed upon each option, "Mr Bond!" [Zerolith] "And not to mention you guys as well" [Elise] "Something wrong?" [Ash] "Well, can the three of us talk with you for a while?" [Bond] That was fast! Khamishah really did a great job finding them quickly As Bond, Kronbir and Elsa enter an empty room together with Claude and I (as for Cupid, she''s playing in the pool with other), Kronbir started to talk "I see. Are you sure about that?" [Claude] "We are. We can''t just keep relying on your kindness, that''s why, after we go to Kiserre, we will start moving out and live here in Estel" [Bond] "I will respect that, including your wish to take Cupid with you" [Ash] Apparently, they thought matter relating to an orphan must be directed towards me, I can guess who have said that to them, but I''ll just let that slide. Not to mention, Cupid feels more comfortable with the three of them, so it only make sense for them to keep on watching her "So, when are you guys departing?" [Claude] "We will wait for a carriage to be send from the castle, from there, a group of knight and those whose family members reported missing at Kiserre will depart together" [Kronbir] "Well, there are few centers that are open, so just ask the adventure to ease your process" [Ash] "We were told the same thing by The Saga" [Elsa] "Here''s hoping for the best" [Bond] "Same here, I wish nothing but the best, for all four of you" [Ash] I just wish that their family member is somewhere out there, still alive and well. The chance is slim, and we might be deluding ourselves, but I don''t want to see them all depressed because of losing a family member, I have gone through that and it was hell, so I don''t want the same thing happen to them Chapter 152 - Upgrading Housey, and a fairy? _________________________________________________ [Agnes point of view] Damn it, who would''ve thought the lady of the holy death, Santa Muerte can suddenly show up. Plus, just why did the minion of god of death suddenly decided to become active once again!? The last time it happened, it was back when that bastard Vincent... (Sigh... bad memories one after another) [Agnes] Is Ash the cause of it? If so, how. I need to investigate further "It''s strange seeing you all messed up like this" [?] "Aah, it''s you" [Agnes] The S rank adventure, the hermaphrodite butterfly race beastman, Motra. He/she has a feminine face with an exoskeleton of a male insect beastman. Her/his wing is also different, with one having orange in colour while another one with black "From the looks of it, our plan at Kiserre doesn''t go well" [Motra] "I''ll tell you and the other about it" [Agnes] "Hmm... that''s no good, I want some sneak peek first" [Motra] "Just where are the others?" [Agnes] "Who knows. You aren''t the only one having hand all tied up" [Motra] "Sorry to keep you waiting" [Half giant] "Oh my, to think Zin will bring him here" [Motra] "Well well, if it isn''t the S rank adventure" [Lion beastman] Isn''t he, the leader of the true beastman group "Simba was it" [Agnes] "It''s an honour to meet you all" [Simba] He brings along some followers of him. They sure look strong, good. I can use more strong specimens _________________________________________________ "You are late!" [Cupid] "Sorry sorry, we have a lot to discuss just now" [Elsa] Cupid ram into Elsa, asking her to play together. Adoption, sure sound nice, plus, beyond the scope of race, they really look like sister. Kronbir will become the eldest and as for Bond, the father. One happy family at home "You sure grin a lot" [Khamishah] "It''s a nice sight to behold" [Ash] "That''s true" [Diana] "Do you have some business with me?" [Ash] "Nothing, I just thought it will be nice to give Mrs Saga here a tour around orphanage while explaining each of our role" [Diana] "Is that really all? I got that Khamishah here is a big shot, but surely you can ask someone else to do the job, unless..." [Ash] "There he goes, thinking rude about me" [Diana] "I don''t know what you are thinking, but I just thought you coming here might be due to the school or community center issue" [Ash] "Finally, this little boy have all grown up!" [Diana] "We are of the same age to begin with..." [Ash] "Well, that, as well as giving you this" [Qis] A high quality steel. They must have noticed the fences need some serious repair "And before you start acting rude, it''s free. Take it, no string attached" [Qis] "..." [Ash] "NO STRINGS ATTACHED!" [Qis] "Sure..." [Ash] "It sincerely hurt when all your good work and intention being treated like this" [Diana] "Fine, and thanks" [Ash] Well, with this material, I can further upgrade it. Well, not exactly me but "All of you, come here. I will teach you on how to upgrade a fortress defense magic" [Ash] "Yes!" [Kids] My siblings, the neighborhood kids, even some young magician working as an adventure gather around, and of course Housey is here as well. "Wait, isn''t that..." [Young adventure] "Focus. You can talk to me later" [Khamishah] "Right!" [Young adventure] "I wonder if you can let us do it?" [Liyana] "Sorry, but the material I''ll be using is just too valuable, so nope" [Ash] "I see..." [Liyana] "Haha, sorry, but you will understand once I show you this" [Ash] I bring out the three S rank magic core. One Earth magic core, one wood magic core, and another hybrid between the two, and needless to say, they''re all shock "No wonder I can''t detect the abyss centipede magic core!" [Khamishah] "Well, I do solo it, so it''s mine" [Ash] "Unbelievable... simply unbelievable. Can''t you sell one to me!" [Diana] "Nope, one for upgrading Housey, one for golem, and another for further defense. Even if there is spare, I will give it to Mira so that the orphanage at Malsia can be better protected" [Ash] "Sigh... let me know if you ever change your mind" [Diana] "Well then, time to explain the process. Pay attention as I will ask you some questions at the end of the session" [Ash] "EEHH!" [Others] Well, there are few methods of upgrading a fortress defense magic. First, just make a new one, like building a new PC. Second, like upgrading your PC, bring out the old part and replace it with new one or simply add one. Third, and the method that I will use, is to merge this two magic core. Let said that Housey in the A rank magic core is a data (well, AI is more suitable, but never mind that), I just have to transfer the date from the A rank magic core to the S rank magic core (I''ll be using the half earth half wood magic core), while simultaneously use the old A rank magic core to strengthen Housey new body and "Done..." [Ash] ~Pant~ That sure take a lot of my mana. Almost 3/4 of it "Amazing, to think that the two magic core emerge" [Kadeus] "Not quite, Housey simply move from one body to another, inhibiting the S rank magic core now. The bright light that you see just now is exactly that, while upgrading the components is by merging the two magic core" [Liyana] "That true, 100 point for you!" [Ash] "- .... .- -. -.- / -.-- --- ..- / ..-. --- .-. / ..- .--. --. .-. .- -.. .. -. --. / -- . -.-.--" [Housey] "We can all..." [Kara] "Understand Housey!" [Mara] "So this must be the feeling that Brother Ash get all the time" [Karon] "It''s like another sound inside my mind" [Khamishah] "True" [Qis] "Well, before, I can just sort of understand what Housey was saying intuitively, but now, it kinda feel like there''s another voice. Oh, and you''re welcome Housey" [Ash] So, in a sense, this is also new for me, but more importantly, it''s a success! It''s tiring but now there''s less thing to worry about. Time for the upgraded Housey to do its job "Housey, use that material to strengthen the fences, and can you make a harmless trap plant that only reacts to ill will person" [Ash] ".-.. . .- ...- . / .. - / - --- / -- ." [Housey] "It sure is nice if Housey here can sprout a large tree for me" [?] A voice, plus, I can feel something small landing on my head "Eeehhh!" [Farhah] "That''s a fairy!" [Rafiah] "So cute!" [Elise] """So small!!!""" [Singa, Savel, Charlotte] "Who are you calling small!" [Fairy] "Why are there fairy here?" [Claude] "How rude of you Claude! I have been watching you with Master, even your spooky scheme to ward off potential buyer!" [Fairy] "!?" [Other] Chapter 153 - Avery and Calypso So this fairy here up above my head had been around with Claude''s master. That mean he must have known what happen a hundred years ago! But why did she decide to show herself now? Is it because we upgraded Housey with a half wood magic core? "Quick question, you only able to show yourself now because Housey has a wood magic property, allowing you to pretty much come out. Am I right?" [Ash] "Bingo! Now, I''ll appreciate if you make me a home! Use that magical seed inside your item box!" [Fairy] "Geez, if I say no?" [Ash] "Please, good sir" [Fairy] Now I wanted too bully her "Housey, don''t supply any wood magic to her" [Ash] ".- .-.. .-. .. --. .... -" [Housey] "No no no no! Please don''t! I beg you!" [Fairy] ~Cry~ "Ash..." [Khamishah] "Bully" [Farhah] "Bully bully" [Charlotte] "Yeah, now I feel bad" [Ash] ~Pat~ "Tell your brother to make me some home... please" [Fairy] ~Nod~ Lara, Nara and Karon started to look at me. I open my item box and give the magical seed to Housey, but instead "I want to help!" [Farhah] "Sure! A pure Avery like you will know the best!" [Fairy] "!" [Farhah] "?" [Other] "Huh, I didn''t know that" [Ash] "What is, an Avery?" [Diana] "Nothing! Nothing!" [Farhah] Farhah looks desperate. Guess she wanted to keep that a secret, I have to help her "Oi fairy, enough talking and make yourself a home!" [Ash] "YES!" (He''s mean!) [Fairy] "Brother Ash..." [Farhah] Farhah now looks at me with a begging eye, asking me to keep it a secret as to what is an Avery. Well, few people really know what that it exist and even fewer people know what it was. The fact that someone like Diana didn''t know it shows that her secret will be safe, unless a certain fairy blab it out. Flinar might know it though "Come now my new master! We will make ourselves a home far away from this mean guy" [Fairy] "No I''m not!" [Farhah] "Housey" [Ash] "DON''T!" [Fairy] "Then just make yourself some nice home. Other of course can help" [Ash] "Can we make some flower bed as well?" [Little girl] "Make a Raflesia!" [Little boy] "Farhah, let me help you!" [Kara] "Me too!" [Mile] "Yes please..." [Farhah] "Come on now master, cheer up!" [Fairy] ~Small rock fling~ "It hurt!" [Fairy] "That was a very very very light fling with a small rock, it won''t hurt" [Ash] "Meany!" [Fairy] And she is now seeking protection from Farhah before deciding to start searching for suitable soil "Are all fairies like that?" [Claude] "Well, fairies like her are common. They usually take a form of little girl 90% of the time. The more grown up they are, the more powerful they will become" [Khamishah] "And the Fairy Queen Titania takes the form of an adult woman, can''t fathom how powerful she is" [Ash] "Have you met her?" [Diana] "Nope" [Ash] "And what''s that Avery she''s talking about?" [Qis] "Won''t talk" [Ash] Press me as they like, I won''t talk about it. Farhah wanted to keep it as a secret, so that I should comply. Still, who could have guessed Farhah is an Avery. Then again, those ten are the future heroes, maybe I should have seen it coming (Since she knows my master, maybe she knew how to open the basements) [Claude] (My thought exactly. We should ask her later) [Ash] Looks like we both have the same idea "What are you guys whispering?" [Rafiah] ""Nothing"" [Ash, Claude] ".. / .... .- ...- . / ..-. .. -. .. ... .... . -.. / -- -.-- / .--- --- -..." [Housey] "That''s nice of you. The fences look sturdier now. Thank you Housey. And you as well Diana" [Ash] "You''re welcome. I thought of discussing with you about the school right now, but I am more interested on seeing the fairy new home. Plus, we still have to explain to Mrs Saga here about the orphanage" [Diana] "Please, don''t bother about me that much, your highness" [Khamishah] "Actually, I''m worried about leaving them alone with a bag of magical seed. Sure, there''s adult there still helping around, but they can''t look after all of them" [Ash] "Then let us get going" [Claude] Plus, those who help around aren''t that much. With me being around, there''s nothing much for them to do. Still, I do appreciate all of them helping me, so a party will be nice to show my gratitude. I should invite all of them, from Diana to adventure and soldiers helping us. "Cool! An A rank wood magic core!" [Zerolith] "Haha! My previous master did stock quite a bit of it. Unfortunately, most of them are deteriorating and I could only bring out this one" [Fairy] "Do you want to make a fortress defense magic?" [Ash] "I do! And I won''t need your meany help!" [Fairy] "Sure" [Ash] "Eeh... I mean, if you could help, I would be thankful!" [Fairy] "But you say you don''t need my help" [Ash] "I don''t! But, please..." [Fairy] "I''m too drowsy, maybe later" [Ash] "Fine! I won''t ask your help ever again!" [Fairy] She''s sulking. I will help her but teasing her is fun as well, but the other kids didn''t quite catch my intention (Save for Rean, Elise, Muse, Ray, Lily and Liyana) "Eehh..." [Singa] "Please help her!" [Savel] "Don''t be so mean!" [Cat boy] "Meany meany!" [Charlotte] "Yeah! He''s a big meany!" [Fairy] "Behe, pound her" [Ash] "Meow!" [Behe] "Please don''t! I''m sorry! You''re nice, you are a nice person! So please don''t do that! And help me set the fortress defense magic!" [Fairy] "Hahaha, fine fine. Plus, if I fool around any longer, your last bit of mana will go away" [Ash] "So you did realize!" [Fairy] "Sorry sorry" [Ash] Claude''s master is one of the ten heroes hundred years back, or at least a companion of the heroes, so his partner must be someone amazing. The fact that this fairy here can survive that long without any nourishment from wood magic (or minimal nourishment I suppose) is a testament. So she regaining her power will be a huge help in many help "By the way, what do you want to name it?" [Ash] "Calypso tree! From my name Calypso!" [Fairy Calypso] "Got it. I will link this magic core and the fortress defense magic into Housey, is that alright with you?" [Ash] "Please do" [Calypso] "You already pour your mana into it, so the rest should be done by me" [Ash] Now then, what function should I put? For starter, link it to Housey and give Housey basic functions to it, which is 1. Integrate yourself into the mansion 2. Protect those living inside here 3. Self recovery to destroy part (Ghh...) [Ash] "Mana recover!" [Calypso] "Thanks, but your mana is depleting as well" [Ash] "Here, some mana potion" [Rean] "Thank you Rean, just keep it coming" [Ash] "Right!" [Rean] I feel like throwing up, but there''s two additional function that are needed to be installed 4. Wood aptitude, make it so any fairies can live here... "Let me help!" [Farhah] "Sure!" [Ash] And there''s Farhah go, supplying her own wood mana into it as well, and (By my name, Farhah, and by the power within me as the Avery, O mother earth, strengthen this magic core!) [Farhah] "!" [Ash] (This is... Such peaceful and loving mana) [Khamishah] From inside the house (So that Elf kid really is an Avery) [Mahsuri] More and more mana of wood is coming from our surrounding, into the magic core "Ughh..." [Farhah] "You can rest now Farhah, your control are still lacking" [Ash] ~Nod~ And Farhah quickly sit, while gulping down the mana potion that Karon give her Final function 5. Just be here with us through rain and sunshine, Calypso tree ".. / .-- .. .-.. .-.." [Calypso tree] "It said I will, that mean!" [Mara] "It''s a success!" [Ray] Glad I integrate it into Housey, that way all of us can understand this new Calypso tree. Well, it name is a tree, but there''s no tree, only a floating A rank wood magic core, but "The magical seed! It reacting to the magic core" [Muse] ""Make tree of life!!"" [Farhah, Calypso] "That''s plain impossible. Just make one honey tree please, and surround yourself with sweet nectar that can act as a trap when needed" [Ash] ".- .-.. .-. .. --. .... -" [Calypso tree] ".. .----. .-.. .-.. / .... . .-.. .--." [Housey] "Please help" [Ash] There are bees in this world, and of course they make honey, but there''s also a special type of tree that secrete honey from it trunk, even producing honey fruit. It''s rare but it have been recorded. Well, let try to push it further "Can you make diamond tree as well?" [Ash] ""... --- .-. .-. -.--"" [Housey, Calypso tree] "Guess it''s impossible" [Diana] (Ash, If this is a magical seed, then I can alter them a bit, so how about we make some elemental tree? That way, we can have elemental fruit as well) [Rafiah] (Splendid! Plus, I did use it back at Kiserre, so it totally plausible) [Ash] "You seem excited" [Khamishah] "Well, the training hall will be upgraded with this! Housey, Calypso tree, makes some elemental trees! I will supply the mana..." [Ash] I''m drowsy, and my body is heavy, so much so that I collapse "Right after this, please..." [Ash] "Just rest first will you" [Claude] ~Thumb up~ "Then how about you give me some tour after this? Don''t want to take the princess time" [Khamishah] ~Double thumbs up~ Chapter 154 - Khamishah visiting the training hall _________________________________________________ [At Kiserre castle] [Crow point of view] It doesn''t take a genius to understand how severely damage Kiserre is right now. The royalty that they trust betray them, their own citizen kidnapped for their own benefits and those from outside are getting involved as well. The church where they go to find peace and pray did a 180 degree action, unbefitting for those carrying out Goddess Achalasia will. One side do it for power, another side do it to get ever so close with the goddess of light, Theia through angelic transformation. Needless to say, their citizens are the one getting all the bad things in the end "How could we trust Queen Rinz?" "She got cursed so easily and now, she wanted to rule once more? She is a woman yo begin with!" "Plus, why aren''t they taking any action on the church!" "Are you sure the church is involved? Their statement said they''re the one helping liberating the slave and all" "Don''t you hear what your neighbor said? Her son get kidnapped by them" Those are the topics that have been discussed among their citizens for the past one week. As an outsider, there''s nothing much left for us to do "Thank you to all of you for helping me" [Queen Rinz] The queen bowed to us, to show us her gratitude. The four queen of Estel never bother to show any sign of gratitude, but she''s different "You''re welcome your highness" [Other] We bow back to show our due respect, and a short private ceremony is held to award us with medal of honour, before resuming our talk "So all of you will leave by tomorrow I suppose?" [Queen Rinz] "Most likely. The headquarters will be in total havoc should I wait any longer" [Saint Louis] "I should report all that''s happening here to King Druser personally. Plus, there''s the issue with those two traitors" [Aries] "I will depart to Malsia as I believe there''s not much left for me to do here. Of course, I will report it to the king" [Naoto] "As for Lisa and I, there are really nothing much for us to offer anymore, thus I believe going back to Estel and discussing it with the king will be the best course of action" [Crow] "True, we are sorry we can''t be any more of help" [Lisa] "It''s fine, on the contrary, you guys have been helping me so much" [Queen Rinz] Just as we are about to continue our discussion, a royal maid come to deliver a letter from Mrs Khamishah to the Queen "Oh my" [Queen Rinz] I wonder what happen _________________________________________________ [Farhah point of view] A fairy! How cute! And she''s small as well. It has been a while since I last saw once. Back then, I was with my parents before they are... Now, the fairy demand a new home for her. Tree of life! Let us make a tree of life! "I want to help!" [Farhah] "Sure! A pure Avery like you will know the best!" [Calypso] "!" [Farhah] "?" [Other] "Huh, I didn''t know that" [Ash] "What is, an Avery?" [Diana] "Nothing! Nothing!" [Farhah] This little fairy! How did she knew that? It isn''t strange but I thought the function of this bracelet is to hide something within us? Brother Ash never really explain what is it but I thought my blood as an Avery can be kept a secret with it! Thank god they didn''t know about Avery, but Brother Ash seems surprise about it, and from the looks of it, he knows what is an Avery. "Brother Ash..." [Farhah] Time to use my secret weapon! Begging eyes! Brother Ash biggest weakness when it comes to us, and it works! That''s why we love you Brother Ash! . . . We search for a suitable soil to plant our magical seed, and the place will be just beside the pool, and as per suggestion from Kara, we move it further a bit as to prevent the leave entering the pool, that''s when "Cool! An A rank wood magic core!" [Zerolith] "Haha! My previous master did stock quite a bit of it. Unfortunately, most of them are deteriorating and I could only bring out this one" [Calypso] "Do you want to make a fortress defense magic?" [Ash] "I do! And I won''t need your meany help!" [Calypso] "Sure" [Ash] "Eeh... I mean, if you could help, I would be thankful!" [Calypso] "But you say you don''t need my help" [Ash] "I don''t! But, please..." [Calypso] "I''m too drowsy, maybe later" [Ash] "Fine! I won''t ask your help ever again!" [Calypso] They''re both so childish. Can''t they act all grown up and mature like Mrs Saga there or Princess Diana and her royal guard. After more and more arguing (with Rean, Elise, Muse, Ray, Lily and Liyana chuckling), Brother Ash started the process of making another fortress defense magic, and this time around, he uses a wood magic for it. His mana is quickly decreasing, I should help as well! (By my name, Farhah, and by the power within me as the Avery, O mother earth, strengthen this magic core!) [Farhah] "!" [Ash] It been quite long since I use this magic. I wonder why I suddenly use it? Still, my mana is quickly getting drained, thus Brother Ash asked me to rest. I guess that will do "Here" [Karon] "You''re my saviour" [Farhah] ~Gulp~ The expansive mana potion, I feel bad gulping it down in one go, but I''m too tired because of the lack of mana ".. / .-- .. .-.. .-.." [Calypso tree] "It said I will, that mean!" [Mara] "It''s a success!" [Ray] And now it manipulate the magical seed ""Make tree of life!!"" [Farhah, Calypso] "That''s plain impossible. Just make one honey tree please, and surround yourself with sweet nectar that can act as a trap when needed" [Ash] ".- .-.. .-. .. --. .... -" [Calypso tree] ".. .----. .-.. .-.. / .... . .-.. .--." [Housey] "Please help" [Ash] Guess that will do. The tree of life is where the Fairy Queen, Titania resides after all, and as an elf, no more than that, as a pure Avery, I have to go and visit there one day, as to get her blessing. Brother Ash then ask the Calypso tree to make an elemental trees, and ~Collapsed~ Brother Ash collapse. He does use almost all of his mana, so he should see that coming. Mrs Khamishah here then ask for a tour, for which not only Brother Ash, but all of us join in as well Yesterday, she had the opportunity to see our daily routine for a bit as we explain what we do here. She seems shock when she learned that we are free to study and train here however we please, not working nor we have to pay anything for it. It''s totally free. I guess we really are a lucky bunch During the tour, we show her the pool that Brother Ash made for us, and Charlotte here constantly ask all of us to swim together. Maybe next time ~Sulk~ And she''s sulking. Can''t be help, we have a guest here. Sis Rafiah quickly lift her up and we walk toward the training room. Since it''s weekday, and it''s already past noon, the training hall is open. Usually, the number of adventures and soldiers visiting here are numerous, but due to the recent attack, they stopped coming for a while. I ask one of them why, but they simply say that they wanted to give us some time to recover. Recover what? "I see, to think there are two spawning blocks here, and not to mention, and thank to upgrading Housey, it can now summon an A rank monster without much difficulty" [Khamishah] "As compared to before, it is, but that doesn''t mean we should. It will deplete the mana, and maybe render it useless shall we constantly use it that way" [Ash] So, upgrading Housey has a tremendous benefit to the training hall functionality. Mrs Khamishah here ask to test the spawning block, for which Brother Ash permitted it. Housey spawn an A rank giant commander zombie, but as expected from the strongest adventure, it didn''t take her that long to finish the zombie. "All she does is wrap that zombie around the neck and punch it repeatedly!" [Kadeus] "That, and she keeps applying pressure to the neck, causing the giant zombie to be suffocated" [Ray] "Can zombie even suffocate?" [Kat] "They are undead, but they do behave the same as living being" [Muse] "And as to prevent the zombie from attacking due to desperation, she simply detached the limbs through sheer force" [Rean] "That''s the saga for you!" [Adventure] "I wonder if we can even hold a candle against her" [Ray] "I don''t want to think about it" [Liyana] "Even Brother Ash can''t beat her back then" [Zerolith] She really is strong. I wonder, is there a secret behind her strength. I should ask for it "What''s the secret behind your strength!" [Spearman adventure] "Training" [Khamishah] "That''s all?" [Axeman adventure] "Training and more training. Keep on pushing your limit, identify your strength and weaknesses, do it every day and I can guarantee you, you will see the difference" [Khamishah] "I see" [Qis] Princess Diana bodyguard take a note from the advice. Even someone like her still take an advice! I should jot it down as well! "Interesting, how about a match with me then?" [Mahsuri] "!" [Other] Huh? When did she come? And more importantly "Hey! The training hall will collapse!" [Ash] "Ash, you join us as well" [Mahsuri] "Don''t you hear what I just said!? Khamishah, say something!" [Ash] "I accept" [Khamishah] "EEHH!" [Other] "But the training hall will really collapse!" [Diana] Even the princess is worried about it "Then do it outside, at the dungeon" [Mahsuri] "I can''t, under house arrest" [Ash] "Then I''ll simply drag you there" [Mahsuri] ~Water rope~ "Wait wait wait wait! I''m not ready!" [Ash] ~Dash~ The new twin, Lara and Nara approach Brother Ash. They try to do something "Ooh, so you two can absorb mana, but too bad, you guys aren''t that strong enough yet. Train hard as to increase the proficiency" [Mahsuri] ""..."" [Lara, Nara] "Now let us go" [Mahsuri] "Sure" [Khamishah] "I said wait!" [Ash] We look at each other and "Let us follow them!" [Farhah] "I have a bad feeling about this" [Rean] "Nah, I''m good! And serve him right!" [Calypso] We quickly use the bus golem, and this time, it''s Elise turn to drive us around Chapter 155 - Sibling "taking" a D rank request part 1 _________________________________________________ [Crow point of view] That massive idiot! Just what is in his mind while doing that! I can''t believe he just repeatedly slamming a noble and a priest into the ground non-stop. In front of the king and other noble nonetheless! I just can''t imagine how furious Princess Diana felt, as all her hard work to make that friend of mine being accepted into the high society reduce to dust. Then again, I never really agree to it, since we all know he will simply reject the offer "Fufu, he''s wilder as compared to Khamishah" [Queen Rinz] "Pardon?" [Other] The queen seems to be reminiscing about the past, could it be the time when she was younger and Mrs Saga there just started to become an adventure "By the way, there''s something that I would like all of you to tell to your respective king, and of course, a request to Saint Louis here" [Queen Rinz] "?" [Other] "I''ll send a formal letter right afterwards, but please tell them that I thought of asking them to open an embassy here in Kiserre as to better prepare all of us in upcoming future. As for Saint Louis, please, do dispatch one of your people here to replace the old follower" [Queen Rinz] "That I can, but to think that you graded this threat so greatly as to drastically open an embassy all of a sudden" [Saint Louis] "I can see why, but even us, the demon kingdom?" [Aries] "That''s correct" [Queen Rinz] "An embassy, an excellent idea indeed, but your citizen wouldn''t take light of that idea" [Lisa] "That I''m aware of, that''s why I will gradually work on it" [Queen Rinz] "I don''t think Malsia here will have much issue but for the other three..." [Naoto] "It''s hard, but, given that what happen in Kiserre can happen literally elsewhere, it would be the best for us to have an embassy as to better prepare ourselves" [Crow] "Given the benefits outweigh the risk, that''s why I ask you for that" [Queen Rinz] We look at each other before agreeing to it "In that case, should I inform the Beast Kingdom about it?" [Aries] "It would be my pleasure if you would" [Queen Rinz] _________________________________________________ [Rean point of view] Just how did this happen... we are watching the match between Brother Ash and Mrs Saga vs Mahsuri. It was an intense match albeit a short one where the winner was clearly decided even before the match begin, and then "All of you, including that princess, go to the 10th floor and kill a group of Rock Apes. The other including all the guards, interfere and your head will be on the ground. And Princess, don''t take charge of them, let them be independent" [Mahsuri] If only we watched the match through the watcher, then again, Mahsuri here forced us to come and watched the whole match directly, maybe she had planned it from the very beginning And here we are, at the 10th floor of the open field dungeon. Currently, there are the twelve of us, Princess Diana, Ray, Mile, Kat, Blanc, Kadeus, Lily, Liyana and Muse. Twenty one of us vs a group of Rock Apes. I just hope this will end well. A group of Rock Apes, if process by guild (after taking account the number, types and location of it) will usually be a D rank request if I''m not mistaken, hope this turn out fine (Not to mention, Blanc here is only six years of age, and despite the same age as Charlotte, he''s still weak) [Rean] We will have to try our best to keep the younger one unharmed. Perhaps that''s also one of Mahsuri intention. "I can sense them up ahead" [Lily] "Same here" [Ray] "There''s about twenty of them. One on one, it will be a hard match for us, so we should definitely ambush them" [Rean] "Agree" [Liyana] "True, and can I ambush you in your sleep tonight?" [Muse] "You never change don''t you Muse" [Diana] Huh? Did Princess here know who Muse is? But more importantly "Please don''t say that in front of the younger group" [Rean] "So you want me to say it privately? Of course I can <3" [Muse] "Let just get going" [Elise] "Right" [Kara] Elise here quickly help me change the topic. What would I do without her. As a side note, Mahsuri forbid her from using Chrono Mellontik¨®s, so we can''t exactly rely on it, plus, Brother Ash did warn us repeated usage of that spell can result in premature aging, so it should be treated as a double age sword "Alright, listen up, I have an idea that we can all use" [Ray] "Listening" [Mile] "Well..." [Ray] Ray Idea are 1. Use long range spell to attack them and wither them from a far one by one. Staff user like Princess Diana, Liyana, Muse, Elise, Kara, Zerolith, and Charlotte will do just fine "If only Brother Ash can give us a pistol, that will be the best" [Mara] "It still only a concept though" [Zerolith] True, the concept is there, but Brother Ash still have a lot of unfinished business to do 2. Once they realize they''re under attack, they will rush to attack us, that''s when mirage users come into play, tricking them into attacking an illusion "I''ll do my best!" [Savel] "Same here!" [Lily] "I''m not that good, but I''ll try my best" [Kat] "Same" [Lara] "You guys should discuss what you wanted to use beforehand" [Ray] """"Right!"""" [Savel, Lily, Kat, Lara] Lara and Nara, they can somehow absorb other people mana and use it for their own, and obviously they will use Brother Ash mana for this. So right now, they can use all kind of magic, but Lara here focus more on magic while Nara quickly made a scythe as to imitate Brother Ash 3. Next, set up trap. Pitfall, poison ivy, anything will do, just to wither and kill them "I can make a large pitfall with spikes below" [Karon] "Charlotte, can you fill it with acid?" [Ray] "Ok!" [Charlotte] "Then I''ll put poison ivy along the way" [Farhah] "I can transport any boulders" [Singa] "Then use it to attack them once they''re inside the pit" [Rean] "Right!" [Singa] "I''ll make it slippery as well!" [Liyana] "Please do" [Ray] 4. Lastly, those that''s remain will be dealt by "Leave it to me!" [Kadeus] "We won''t lose to you" [Ray] "Another contest, bring it on!" [Rean] "Hmpph!" [Nara] "To think that I''m the only girl, not that it matters" [Mara] As we are all discussing and further refine the plan "Why are you smiling, Princess Diana?" [Blanc] "Nothing. I''m just happy that all of you can learn and train like this. Please, use this experience to further improve yourself and don''t forget to thank Mahsuri afterward" [Diana] "Yes!" [Other] She really is nice. Although our status are like heaven and earth, she doesn''t mind it one bit and continue to encourage us all "Alright, let do this!" [Rean] "Roger!" [Other] Chapter 156 - Siblings "taking" a D rank request part 2 _________________________________________________ [Crow point of view] "So you two will depart together with us?" [Crow] "We are heading towards the same direction, so why not" [Naoto] "True, plus, it has been long since I last met with my sister here, not to mention the other two" [Aries] "Let us dine something nice at Estel, shall we" [Lisa] "I can''t wait for that" [Aries] I don''t have any objections for that, instead, it will be nice if we can accompany them. The dungeon is a long and mysterious place, and one could get bored traveling all alone. As for Saint Louis, sadly, he will head towards different direction. "Well, before we depart, I thought of visiting that friend of mine one last time" [Crow] "You mean the one where the butler acts suspicious?" [Lisa] "Exactly" [Crow] His father and few of the workers corporate with the prince, and knowing what happen, he can''t help but to arrest his own father and now, his family is undergoing trial. I wish nothing but the best for him While we are walking down the road, a now familiar figure greet us "Aren''t you the guild master that we saved?" [Aries] "That''s correct, and for that, I can''t thank you guys enough for it" [Kiserre guild master] "What''s wrong? You look in a hurried" [Naoto] "Well, remember the underwater lake that the Behemoth Slayer found? There''s a report saying that a weird mermaid came out from it" [Kiserre guild master] "!?" [Other] _________________________________________________ [Rean point of view] (Everyone ready?) [Rean] I said that with a slow and cautious voice. They all reply by nodding their head towards each other (Right! Let us begin!) [Rean] With the long distance attacker started to gather their mana, us five brace ourselves and "Long great light arrow!" [Diana] Princess Diana leads the charge with her spell, and ~Boom~ ~Roar~ Looks like it hit the marks, and soon after, we heard a loud and multiple giant footsteps marching toward us Just like its name suggest, Rock Apes wear or should I say grew up with a natural rock of various sizes and elements with them. Whether they incorporate it to their body or is in fact, part of their flesh still remains a mystery, but that doesn''t change the fact that it add not only to their defense, but also to their attack as the fist is like a rock, and in some cases, literally "Keep it going!" [Kara] "Hmpph!" [Muse] (Haha, this new blessing sure came in handy! I can fire off dozen of spell without even breaking a sweat!) [Zerolith] "Charge complete!" [Elise] "Here go" [Charlotte] With Elise gathering her dark mana into a single spot, it becomes so dense that I could tell that thing is actually heavy, and with Charlotte help, they launch a unison attack. It slow as compared to other attack but ~Hit hard~ ""Two down!!"" [Elise, Charlotte] "Keep it going!" [Diana] "Mirage user! Now!" [Ray] """"Right!!!!"""" [Lara, Savel, Lily, Kat] As per their discussion before, they make an illusion of your typical four group adventure party, with two running away from the battle while another two charge forward. This naturally causes the group of Rock Apes to be divided into two, with one group trying to attack the Illusion charging into them while the other chase after the one running away "I''ll take the one attacking the illusion, Elise, you help me with it!" [Diana] "Right!" [Elise] "The rest of you focus on the incoming apes" [Diana] """Roger!""" [Muse, Liyana, Zerolith] The illusion not only serve as a form of distraction, but also as a form of debuff. While Kat only serve to maintain the illusion (as her other magic is still weak), Savel applies ice magic as well, causing frost damage and status to the apes, Lily causing charm and Lara causing multiple status down like attack down etc. She also apply acidic mist to wither any mineral as to further weaken any minerals the apes have "So they started to realise that this is just an illusion, in which case!" [Zerolith] Zerolith started to apply blind status to each of his dark arrows. It isn''t strong but with that many arrows produce each second, the effect stack up and ~Fall~ "NOW! Charge!" [Ray] "Understood!" [Other] The pitfall that we prepare beforehand, there''s multiple hazards in it, ranging from spikes to poison ivy, as well as acidic liquid, slippery slopes and not to mention multiple boulder being drop from great height by Singa started to kill each one of them The Rock Apes counteract by throwing back the boulder into us but ""Deceleration"" [Rean, Nara] "If it is that slow!" [Kadeus] With a single swing from his powerful upper body strength, Kadeus smash that boulder into pieces. "I can just redirect back the attack!" [Karon] "Shoot some of it to me! I''ll teleport it straight away!" [Singa] "Great idea!" [Karon] Singa open up a short distance teleportation portal right in front of him, connected toward the pit, while Karon shoot boulder magic into it, causing a direct hit toward the Rock Apes below "Stupid apes! If it is like this, I will have no job!" [Mara] "Don''t say that, be grateful that our plan is working" [Ray] "I know I know, guess, I''ll just throw a wind and thunder magic into the pit as well" [Mara] And Mara here jinx it, one of the apes jump straight out of the pit, covered by multiple rocks which fit rather unnaturally for it (Did it just rip others apes minerals and applies it as its own armor?) [Rean] That seems to be the case, as it quickly detaches one of it before throwing it effortlessly toward the mage group "Singa! Use teleportation on me!" [Rean] "Got it!" [Singa] As per my instructions, Singa quickly teleport me right in front of the large heavy mineral. (Concentrate. Apply a steady mana into your sword, and...) [Rean] "HAAA!" [Rean] Combining my fire and dark magic, I make multiple slash with my katana, which not only destroy the mineral, but also serve as an attack the are directed toward the ape. Again, true to it name, it uses earth magic to make a wall but "Too weak!" [Rean] That ape should at least make multiple earth wall or make one high quality one. That ape deserves my attack for looking down at it "Take this!" [Kadeus] "I''ll help!" [Ray] The two started to attack the ape, and "It down!" [Ray] "Tchh! There''s another one! Nara, let us go!" [Mara] "Right!" [Nara] Mara and Nara start to charge toward the escaping ape, with Mara with her high agility takes the lead. She carefully maneuver herself and start to attack with her wind imbued knives, aiming at the joint, slowly killing it, and as for Nara "!" [Other] Nara charges straight into the ape neck, and slice the front part of the neck, not enough to even decapitate half of it, but blood start oozing out before ~Fall~ That was closed. Shall he not use any buff to himself and debuff the ape just to be on safer side, he would certainly get hit by the ape. Plus (Not only he can absorb Brother Ash mana, but that almost look like Brother Ash skill) [Rean] With this, we are nearly finish "Ice missiles shark" [Charlotte] "And we are done" [Muse] "She effortlessly copy Ash" [Diana] Guess we did it! ~From afar~ "Sigh... guess I am being overprotective here" [Ash] "True, and they''re holding way better than I thought" [Khamishah] "I should go and see their condition" [Qis] "If you and those hidden guards go, I''ll attack the princess" [Mahsuri] "Let us not do that, shall we" [Ash] Chapter 157 - Birthday _________________________________________________ [Crow point of view] And here we are, going into the ancient tunnel one last time as to investigate for ourselves the mysterious mermaid that is told to us by the guild master Ash did mention that he found an underground lake, and his upgraded ice missile shark is thank to the magic core he found it here, but alas "There''s nothing here" [Aries] "I don''t know whether that''s a good sign or not" [Crow] "Quite frankly, it felt like a bad sign for me, but then again, let just hope nothing bad will happen" [Lisa] "Agree, best we can do is tell Queen Rinz to send periodic team to check on this lake" [Saint Louis] But I wonder something, Ash did mention that his teacher claims the mermaid kingdom do exist, and there are reports of mermaid showing in Rock and Sea dungeon, but here, never? Does that mean the dungeon is connected to the ancient tunnel way more extensively than what research believe? And if so, how and why did the traveler king does that? It''s strange if it''s only meant to ease the original ten heroes moving around, perhaps, there''s more to this than meet the eye _________________________________________________ After all of us head back to the orphanage, I make a call "Yes, I will..." [Mira] "Greet, see you soon" [Ash] "..." [Mira] "The line disconnected" [Diana] "Such wonder... and here I thought only Saintess Rumia capable of such feat!" [Khamishah] "That makes me want to meet her" [Ash] The line between the two Housey are still weak and unstable. Even with the upgraded Housey, I can only get a minute call to orphanage in Malsia. Other will think it is a major milestone achieve, and in a sense, it is, but as someone from earth who basically have uninterrupted phone call whenever and wherever you go, it''s pretty frustrating, which is why I need to make this telephone ASAP. (And a sidenote also the pistol, the staff user really wanted it) "We can see Seo Ah and other soon!" [Elise] "How exciting" [Kara] "Well, the plan is there but let not get too ahead of ourselves" [Ash] I really wanted to make a party to show my appreciation to those helping us out, and I will be inviting Mira and the other as well. Formal letter is still needed but it''s good that I can head up to her in advance "How about you make it during my birthday?" [Diana] "You will be busy, so no. Plus, I have to show my appreciation to you as well. And no, I don''t want to go to the castle celebrating your birthday, can''t stand those nasty eyes" [Ash] "Actually..." [Diana] Diana tell us something outrageous "Mahsuri, can you put a great seal?" [Ash] "..." [Mahsuri] "Rude!" [Diana] "Don''t be like that, you know how she is" [Ash] "Don''t pretend like you don''t know who I am calling rude just now!" [Diana] "But, to make your debutante party here is..." [Ash] "Well, I do have other plan, not only to the orphanage, but to this place in general as well" [Diana] "Calypso, can you make a great tree seal?" [Ash] "I can and I can''t, so nope" [Calypso] "That sure is confusing" [Ash] "Grrr..." [Diana] "Ash, you really are rude, especially to a lady" [Khamishah] "True" [Charlotte] ~Nodding in unison~ ~Stab~ That really hurt, and by a lot "Fine, I am all ear" [Ash] "No, it''s fine!" [Diana] "Oh mine, this is the first time I see you all feminine. It really is, sulking and all in front of us" [Ash] ~Glare~ "I''m so sorry your highness, please forgive me" [Ash] "Then you should do as I say" [Diana] "Yes!" [Ash] (Remind me of my younger day, but I''m 100% sure I''m not that rude) [Khamishah] My joke really went way too far, ain''t. Well, I am sensitive enough when it is needed, so I guess that would do "Still, I have one question" [Ash] "And that is?" [Diana] "When is your birthday?" [Ash] "!" [Other] Huh, why are all of them look at me in disbelief. Is it really that important that you should know it. Time for an excuse "In case you forgot, I am a traveler" [Ash] And someone from another world to top it off "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Just make a citizenship already, can you?" [Diana] "Nope, so when''s your birthday" [Ash] Diana told me about it, and according to what the goddess told me "Huh, same as mine" [Ash] "Then the more reason why I should do it here" [Diana] "I''m really sorry, really, it doesn''t make any sort of sense! Why do you want to do it here?" [Ash] I''m sure all of us here thought of the same thing from the very beginning, but just too scared too voice it out Diana begin to go closer to me, and whisper something (To be the next ruler) [Diana] "Politic!" [Ash] "?" [Other] "Right" [Diana] "?" [Other] "Sigh... I''ll never understand politics. So, is this the true reason why you''re coming today? Apart from taking Mahsuri for a tour and discussing about the school and all" [Ash] "True, but let just talk when they''re all here shall we" [Diana] "Fine, and in the mean time, I''ll rest for a while. Feeling too tired now. You should stay and have dinner with us as well" [Ash] "It will be my pleasure" [Diana] And when I am finally alone "So Claude, did you speak with Calypso about the seal to your master underground sealed room?" [Ash] "I did, and it''s complicated" [Claude] "Why is that?" [Ash] "Apparently, my master really is one of the ten heroes 100 years back, and to top it all, he received the aid of one of the most powerful fairies around to make that seal" [Claude] "The fairy queen?" [Ash] "No, it Calypso herself. She''s one of the seven fairies who protect the fairy queen, but she joined my master in sealing away the fallen god, and now, she loses all her power" [Claude] "I see... and did she tell anything else? Especially what happen 100 years back?" [Ash] "She loses all memories about what happened, unfortunately speaking" [Claude] "Sigh... just who or what in the world keep on erasing this important pieces of information!" [Ash] It strange, it really is strange. There''s almost no record or tales for such an important event! It is no coincidence. Someone or something is definitely behind this Chapter 158 - Bobunny _________________________________________________ [Crow point of view] [Inside the open field dungeon] After a few days have passed, and with us taking our leisurely pace to cross the dungeon, we finally arrived at the Estel side of the open field dungeon. Back then, it takes us only a full whole day (with Ash giving us all the boost we needed such as vigor restore, mana restore, acceleration etc). Now, instead of Ash(and Alaric which isn''t here with us), we are accompanied by The elemental archer Naoto from Malsia as well as the Demon king trusted female paladin, Aries "..." [Aries] "You detect a monster?" [Lisa] "I did, it''s faraway though, so it best just to leave it unprovoked" [Aries] "True, unless you wanted to specifically hunt it, better leave them alone" [Naoto] A common rule among those traveling through the dungeon, well unless you''re an adventure/traveler or anyone who wanted to make a quick bucks, so they''re free to do "Huh? The kingdom carriage? And there''s two of them" [Bodyguard A] "I wonder who are the people inside" [Bodyguard B] "Only one way to find out" [Crow] We met in the middle of the road and "Huh? Aren''t you Mr Bond?" [Crow] "Sir Crow I believe, it''s a pleasure to meet you" [Bond] _________________________________________________ "Sigh..." [Ash] "Sigh..." [Farhah] "Sigh..." [Charlotte] "Why are you sighing?" [Ash] "Why are you sighing?" [Farhah] "Why are you sighing" [Charlotte] Oh, I remember this pattern, let see whether they can finally say this tongue twister. Let see, yeah, I forgot the tongue twister that I gave them the last time, so let just said a new one "How much ground would a groundhog hog, if a groundhog could hog ground? A groundhog would hog all the ground he could hog, if a groundhog could hog ground" [Ash] ""..."" [Farhah, Charlotte] "Come on, come on" [Ash] "I can''t even understand that sentence" [Zerolith] "How about you guys?" [Ash] They all shook their head, but against all expectation ""How much ground would a groundhog hog, if a groundhog could hog ground? A groundhog would hog all the ground he could hog, if a groundhog could hog ground"" [Lara, Nara] "Ehh..." [Other] They look so proud of themselves. Well, I should treat them for such an amazing achievement "Here you go, my favourite banana cake chocolate" [Ash] ""!!"" [Lara, Nara] They look excited, and as for the younger group, let just said they''re trying their best to impress me Still, the long sigh is because of what we discussed during that night... Guess I should rewrite everything and prioritize the most important one. (Sigh... in the end, her debutante party will really be done here) [Ash] But, if it really helps her to become the queen instead of the other two princes, then I will really support her, and I''m sure the other who are there as well as the other that we will tell would feel the same. It''s a pain but most of it will be handle by Diana herself, so I shouldn''t really complaint much about it, so to start with all of it "Question, what golem should I make using this magic core?" [Ash] I bring out the S rank earth magic core (since I decided to give the S rank wood magic core to Mira) "Warrior golem" [Rean] "Earth fox golem" [Elise] ""Giant tortoise golem"" [Kara, Mara] ""..."" [Lara, Nara] "Earth behemoth golem" [Zerolith] "Moving fortress golem" [Karon] "Mother earth golem" [Farhah] "Earth lion golem" [Singa] "Earth dragon golem" [Savel] "Anything cute!" [Charlotte] "Why do I even ask" [Ash] Unsurprisingly, all of them have different opinions and each shown their interest/personality. And as for Elise, Singa and Savel, please, be more creative, don''t just said it because of your race coincide with the monster. And Farhah as well, I do know you''re an Elf, and to top it off, an Avery as well, but your request is just plain impossible. Lara, Nara, please voice out more "Alright, listen up, I will make this golem not only to protect you guys, but for some important future event as well, so at least these are the criteria for it" [Ash] 1. Small as to ease the movement 2. Can multiply rapidly, creating it own golem or other bodies if possible (as well as ability to transfer magic core from one body to another, which can be solved by my magic) 3. Able to hide well or blend with environment "Hmm... then some small animal would be the best" [Rafiah] "Cat?" [Kara] "Dog!" [Mara] "Cat-Dog" [Zerolith] ""..."" [Kara, Mara] "Can''t I even make a joke!" [Zerolith] (Lame) [Elise] "But, if it is for the upcoming event as well, some cute animal that can blend in with the party is good, or a small animal like a spider that can hide itself well" [Claude] "Spider..." [Elise] Too many suggestions, of which Claude and Rafiah gave a good suggestion. The same goes to Kara and Mara (obviously not Zerolith) (Cat and dog aren''t that bad, but it isn''t really the first thing that will come to your mind when we talk about earth) [Ash] Something similar, something similar like ""Bunny"" [Lara, Nara] "Yup, I just thought the same thing" [Ash] """"Eehhh..."""" [Zerolith, Karon, Singa, Savel] "Haha" [Rean] """""BUNNY!!!!!""""" [Elise, Kara, Mara, Farhah, Charlotte] "Make it fluffy and all cute, maybe add a pair of wings" [Rafiah] "Meow!" [Behe] "Of course, you are cute, don''t worry about it" [Rafiah] "Meow..." [Behe] "Behe sure sound disappointed" [Ash] Claude seems to be thinking of something "Is it possible if you make a crystal bunny?" [Claude] "Huh, good idea. That way, it can become an attraction during the debutante party as well" [Ash] Just like the Rock Apes, Crystal bunny are a bunny that uses different minerals as a mean to protect themselves. Few notable differences include that its fur is literally made out of said mineral, and that is each and every single strand of it. You could imagine what happen if said fur is made out of gold or diamond. Well, they can''t be detachable unlike the Rock Apes and you have to kill the bunny in order to get that fur "Alright, let us get started!" [Ash] "Make it fluffy!" [Rafiah] "Geez, someone is overly excited" [Ash] ~Blush~ Well here goes, like usual, need to concentrate all my mana into it, and give some command and "Al" to it, just like my ice missile shark and Birdie (pterodactyl) (I can always give different earth type, minerals etc later, but let just give it in one single shot!) [Ash] Let see, there''s your usual bunny fur, the soft fur where you could literally find everywhere on earth, and then add other earth mana properties so that it can transform to any one of it as well. The good thing here is, even though my steel magic (branch of earth magic) is still not that good, I will only need a small amount of it as the S rank magic core can just take care of the rest, all it needs is a sample Glass, diamond, gold, platinum, silver, copper, silver, ruby, sapphire, dynamite, lava (have to combine with fire magic), poison, swamp (combine with water), tree (combine with life and water magic), just give everything that you can think of right here! Well, not like I can''t add more of it later ~Clucking~ "It is so..." [Mara] """"FLUFFY!!!"""" [Rafiah, Elise, Kara, Farhah] "Nice bright orange colour to top it all" [Rean] ""Alright??"" [Lara, Nara] "I''m fine, just need to drink mana potion and rest" [Ash] And now for our tradition of naming it "I had a pet rabbit called Bobunny when I was young, can I..." [Rafiah] That wasn''t what I expected, but still "No wonder you''re so excited about it. How about the other?" [Ash] "Bobunny is cute!" [Charlotte] "Since Sis Rafiah is happy, then we don''t mind" [Karon] "Welcome Bobunny!" [Singa] "Let us play with Behe!" [Savel] "Meow!" [Behe] Well, try to test it our first. I''m sure it can change into different elements, but the one I''m expecting is ~Start multiplying~ "So many of them!" [Claude] "Looks like it''s a success. Bobunny, do me a favour, please accompanies each one of them will you" [Ash] ~Cluckling~ I''ll take that as a yes, and "Overprotective" [Mahsuri] "Sorry about that!" [Ash] Chapter 159 - Thinking about birthday present _________________________________________________ [Crow point of view] "And then suddenly my vision turn black! But I can hear the sound of something slammed into the ground!" [Cupid] "It''s fine, I can guess what happen" [Crow] Right now, all of us are resting at the roadside. We can''t go to far away since there will be risk of getting attack by a monster the further you stray from the main road. The four of them, along with couple of other people from Estel are currently boarding the kingdom carriage as to go to Kiserre, wanting to meet their family members who had been kidnapped, but, not all of them will meet their beloved one... (Dear Goddess Achalasia, please lend them your strength) [Crow] That''s the only thing that I can do, pray to the goddess so that they can find the strength to accept reality and move on quickly in life "Still, you guys don''t really know when will Mrs Khamishah depart from Estel?" [Bodyguard A] "She''s currently staying at the orphanage, learning about the system. She says that she will leave once she''s satisfied with it" [Elsa] I see, just like what she explained from her letter "Welcome back" [Kronbir] "Thank you for protecting us all" [Bond] "It''s part of the job" [Naoto] "Plus, can''t have a group of monsters roaming around freely" [Aries] "And here I was hoping for a spawning block like Ash always got! Guess he is just lucky!" [Lisa] "Have to agree with that one" [Crow] After telling them what to do once they arrive at Kiserre, we depart and head towards Estel _________________________________________________ "Bobunny, do me a favour and make a clone of yourself, with a fur of ruby and gold" [Ash] ~Clone poof out~ "Good, make your way to Diana and protect her will you. And here''s a letter so that she knows from where you are coming from" [Ash] I give a letter containing my mana signature to the clone, and she quickly burrows itself underground and start heading toward the castle. Diana is a blond hair girl with a deep gold colour eyes and always wear bright red clothing and accessories, that''s why I ask the clone to be made out of ruby and gold, as to match her hair colour and usual outfit. I''m not a fashion designer or anything, but it''s just a simple common sense, though if she requested to change the colour to her liking, I wouldn''t mind it one bit (Well, that one down. I still have to work on other things. I should really jot it all down this night itself!) [Ash] Should I start thinking about her birthday present? It''s still some time away, but this is an important person we are talking about, so I don''t want to give her something simple, though I''m she wouldn''t mind it one bit. (No, she''s the princess, and she''s trying to make a statement by having her debutante party here! A splendid gift will become a talk and rose her influence up!) [Ash] So this must be one of the reason why those people in novel, comic and manga usually give an extravagant jewelry to each other huh... Well, one of since I can totally see some nobles here giving jewelry as a form of bribery or with an underlying motive. "What''s wrong?" [Kara] "Well, I was thinking of what should I give to Diana for her birthday" [Ash] "That''s a hard one..." [Karon] "I can feel the weight of the responsibility crushing my shoulder just by thinking about it" [Zerolith] ""Shoulder alright?"" [Lara, Nara] "Umm... yeah it''s fine..." [Zerolith] "Just give her some flowers, case settled" [Calypso] "If only it was that simple" [Ash] I just can''t think of it. Should I just move on to any other agenda on my mind first? "Pardon me" [Liyana] "Come on in" [Elise] Looks like Liyana is here, she must be here for her routine magic practice. Wait, since she''s a noble "Liyana, can I ask you one thing" [Ash] "What is it, Teacher Ash?" [Liyana] "What do you think will be the best birthday present for Diana?" [Ash] "!" [Liyana] "I can see the weight crushing her shoulder" [Zerolith] "So do I" [Rean] And we are back to square one "I don''t know, but why don''t you ask the adventure or merchant guild master about it" [Liyana] "Huh, that make sense" [Ash] "But, you can''t go out" [Mara] "That shouldn''t pose much problem, I''ll just disgust myself" [Ash] "If you''re going to the adventure guild, I will come as well" [Rean] "Sure" [Ash] "Magic practice..." [Liyana] "I''ll train you all in the dungeon then" [Ash] Asking for Claude permission, I disguise myself as him and went out with the bus golem, toward the adventure guild first Once inside the adventure guild, let just said all of them become confused. "Just how did the ghost butler..." "Hey Mr Claude! You shouldn''t do that!" [Female elf adventure] "Is he finally able to resist the sun?" [Axeman adventure] Their reaction is pure gold. Well, time to reveal the trick "Tchh" "And here I am thinking that Claude finally become stronger" [Swordman adventure] "Just keep it a secret will you" [Ash] "Because of the house arrest, am I right?" [Samurai Jacks] ~Nod~ "Give us free pass to the training hall then" [Dwarf adventure] "Sure, I''ll ban you for life" [Ash] "Kahkahkah, that''s funny!" [Dwarf adventure] As Rean and the other went to the request board, Mara and I went to the counter, toward Alice, asking whether Ram is here or not, but seems like he is busy. Well, that should be expected, Ram will also be involved in the debutante party, if not, due to some other important staff, in which case, I should ask Alice herself "I see, Princess Diana birthday present" [Alice] "That''s a hard one" [Ram''s daughter] "Oh boy, if this is a request, it will be an A rank request without a doubt" [Receptionist A] As we keep on discussing about each option (with Mara becoming dizzier by the second, probably due to how expansive some of the item we discussed) "THE WATCHER!" [Charlotte] Just when did Charlotte go out, but more importantly "It suddenly becomes big!" [Savel] "Hoi, this is just like!" [Swordman adventure] "Random malignant wormhole!" [Singa] "That mean a monster will come out!" [Farhah] "Ash!" [Alice] "On it!" [Ash] """We will help""" [Rean, Elise, Liyana] "No! Rean, you will help evacuate the citizen! The rest of you as well!" [Alice] "But!" [Rean] "Just follow her instruction, thing done haphazardly will always bring disaster" [Female paladin adventure] "Right!" [Rean] It didn''t take Rean that long to made up his mind. I have to agree with Alice''s decision here, sure, Rean is becoming stronger, and so does the other, but concentrating all your work force on one thing will compromise the other, so asking Rean and the other to help evacuate the citizen will be the best course of action, but I do wonder (Is this random malignant wormhole part of the Achalasia Externa plan? Or is it a sheer coincidence this time around) [Ash] Chapter 160 - Challenge dungeon part 1 _________________________________________________ [Crow point of view] "That''s the last one" [Guard A] "Thank you for being patient Sir Crow" [Guard B] "It''s nothing much, you guys did a wonderful job" [Crow] ""Thank you for your praise!!" [Guards] I mean it, like, back then at the Kiserre''s entrance, the guard slack off, didn''t even bother scanning each one of us (which is exactly what we were hoping for during that time as to ease Ash and Alaric mission to infiltrate Kiserre). Knowing that one of the oldest tricks in the book still work makes me wonder, do us mortal ever progress, or we only advance in terms of technology "Hey the watcher!" "It''s becoming bigger!" "!" [Other] _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ [Bond point of view] "So these are the carriage from the kingdom of Estel?" [Guard A] "That''s right" [Valkyrie A] "Tchh, fine. Hey, someone, watch that non human over there" [Guard C] "You did realize what you''re doing is basically a provocation to Estel itself" [Valkyrie B] "..." [Guards] As we pass through the hateful staring from the guards station at the dungeon entrance of Kiserre''s side, I hold Cupid tight as to not let any harm befalling her. Kronbir did the same even though he needed the protection as well, and as for Elsa, she become hesitated to enter Kiserre once more. (I can emphasize with her, but...) [Bond] "Elsa, let us go" [Bond] Tapping her shoulder as to give her the courage and support she needed, her replies still has a tremor to it, traumatized as to what she have gone through "Will I be tied up once more?" [Cupid] """!!!""" [Bond, Kronbir, Elsa] "No, of course you wouldn''t" [Valkyrie A] "We will protect you with our own life! That''s our pride as the Valkyrie" [Valkyrie C] The Valkyrie, the female knight and magician squad form by Princess Diana, assure us. Those words, it''s admirable, but "Thank you, but promise me you will protect yourself from harm as well" [Bond] "That goes without saying! We will protect all of you while keeping ourselves well and alive, don''t want to miss out the opportunity of seeing Princess Diana take the throne for herself" [Valkyrie B] "That''s good then" [Bond] __________________________________________________________________________________________________ [Saint Louis point of view] All alone, traveling from Kiserre to the new headquarters all alone To go there, I have to pass through this forest dungeon before arriving at the curse land, and then take the Holy Dungeon Alpha so that I can reach the headquarters (This dungeon is said to have a challenge dungeon within it, on which The great tree of Life, mother earth and the fairy queen resides. Not to mention, what been described as the tribe leader of all elves, the Avery with their mysterious power are said to reside here as well, I wonder if all of that are true?) [Saint Louis] As much as I want to investigate this dungeon, my duty as a saint came first As I keep on traveling the dungeon, I spot a familiar figure, a noble from Estel heading towards my direction. As usual, he likes to travel all alone, not relying on his servants. He is as usual, accompanied by his beloved mini garuda, which is resting on top of his shoulder "O Saint, what are you doing here?" [Ceanu Reaves] _________________________________________________ Random malignant wormhole, I remember a behemoth came out from it and that was literally on my first day after being reincarnated (no, screw that, it wasn''t even a full 24 hours to begin with) Back then, we suspected that the group Achalasia Externa might be the one behind it as evidence of the portal stone left behind, can''t they even learn a lesson! Are they dumb enough as to hope the third time bring the charm? "That is, a group of ice yeti and a chenoo!" [Samurai Jacks] "Ash, we handle the yetis, can you handle the chenoo?" [Female elf adventure] "Sure" [Ash] "Good, let us all split up to cover more ground" [Female paladin adventure] """Roger!!!""" [Ash, Jacks, Elf] The three of them split up, and as for me, I charge straight toward the chenoo right in front of my eyes. Back on earth, chenoo is a monster said to be a human once that refuse to stop cannibalism, but here on Achalasia, replace the human part to that of a yeti (basically yeti eating another yeti nonstop and become stronger) and you got yourself a chenoo. ~Chenoo screech~ "Oh god, that hurt my ears!" [Ash] The high pitched screech is so loud that I swear I can hear a glass being shattered somewhere ~Screech continue~ ~Snow dropping~ So not only the screech function as a mean to deafen us, but it is also meant to summon a hail ~Screech non stop~ "SHUT UP!" [Ash] That ugly white fur chenoo pisses me off. I don''t mind if it makes a beautiful melody, but a deafening screech is a big no! I hate it so much that I reflexively enhance my scythe with an inferno magic and throw it toward the chenoo. "!" [Chenoo] Sensing a danger heading it way, the chenoo try to dodge the scythe, but alas, it reaction time is nothing but pitiful, resulting in a cleanly cut head falling into the ground, for which the yetis started to cannibalize the chenoo. Gross! (I can totally see Savel being inspired by this for his next illusion magic) [Ash] Well, at least I can just kill the now occupied yetis. You guys sure are a group of dumb creatures, you guys should run after seeing the chenoo being one shot by me, but no, your stomach came first. Talk about priority. ~Slice~ ~Yeti A scream~ ~Swing scythe 360¡ã~ ~Yeti B to Z die~ ~Throw scythe~ ~Bunch of yetis die~ Talk about easy. Well, at least this group of dumb creatures who literally prioritize their stomachs over their lives won''t cause us any troubles. Oh wait, they would, I should store their corpses inside a separate item box as to prevent foul stenches as well as not getting any weird disease spreading out. The blood that is spills on the ground, clean it up with scald magic, want to make sure the bacteria and viruses are all killed. Maybe I should add up an antiseptic solutions to my magic, can I do it though? Well, better try it ~Yetis start to attack~ "Oh now you wanted to attack me you DUMB yetis!" [Ash] Well, I should just cut all of them first, then only I can start cleaning the area Chapter 161 - Challenge dungeon part 2 _________________________________________________ [Bond point of view] There''s five center being put up by Queen Rinz as a temporary measure to help the victim. In each center, there''s a board with the photos of those who are still alive or those who are dead. While the four of us still haven''t found the status of our families, they are other who does, from tear of happiness to tear of sadness, slowly, our number dwindled "This is the second center" [Elsa] "We still haven''t found our relatives" (Not that I hope to find Grandpa Karonlir body being brought here) [Kronbir] "Let us keep looking shall we" [Bond] Just when we are about to move towards the third center "Ahh..." [Cupid] A photo of a deer family, one who looks like a father, one mother and an elder daughter. There are other from deer beastman race beside Cupid, but the tears rolling down her cheeks confirm it all "So, we won''t be together... anymore?" [Cupid] The concept of life and death, she still hasn''t fully grasped it, but the idea of being separated from her family forever are more than enough to cause her to have a breakdown. With nothing else that we can do, Elsa hugs her while Kronbir and I ask the staffs help, to retrieve Cupid''s families dead bodies Once we retrieve their bodies, I make a silent oath, promising them to take good care of Cupid and to let her grows up like any other children would, promising them that I would take good care of Cupid like my own daughter __________________________________________________________________________________________________ [Saint Louis point of view] Resting our tired bodies at the roadside inside Sir Ceanu Reaves personal carriage, he offered me some sandwiches and a drink that he had stored inside his personal item bag. Gracefully accepted it, I recognize the chef making it, because I ate his food almost every day. Not to mention, the sweet honey drink that revitalize my body is exactly what I would request to the head chef to make every single time when I am tired. This must be Saintess Rumia job, she must have been foretold that Sir Ceanu Reaves and I will meet here. After we ate the food, we begin to discuss about the current issue, and "I see, so Saintess Rumia said that" [Saint Louis] "While the idea of having Saintess Rumia with us is a welcoming one, it will also cause many troubles, especially for her. The noble from my country, I can foresee them split into several group, whether it''s to oppose her, to support her, or to take advantage of her, it will cause serious trouble to her. Not to mention the old follower who doesn''t acknowledge her" [Ceanu Reaves] "But it is also true, having her in Estel will ease our job. There have been multiple suspicious movement, and so far, they''re all centering around Estel, so having her there will definitely help us all" [Saint Louis] There are pros and cons of it, but the decision should be made only when a detail discussion with all of them at the new headquarters be made (Worst come to worst, her only allies there will be Princess Diana, Sir Ceanu Reaves, Sir Crow and Ash. I should really consider whether this is a smart move or not) [Saint Louis] _________________________________________________ [Female paladin Aries point of view] The watcher, it displays Ash and a group of adventures warding off monsters invading Estel through the random malignant wormhole. As expected of Ash, he doesn''t find it a problem as the watcher keep on displaying his heroic action on defeating those yetis and chenoos. The other adventures, especially the samurai, aren''t doing half bad. There is even a female paladin among them "Aah, so there they are" [Lisa] Lisa point her finger toward a group of children, but why is she suddenly become nervous? So they''re all the orphan that Ash take good care of, and not to mention, Lara and Nara are there as well, alongside with... (Those two! Kara and Mara!) [Aries] What, what are they doing here! "You seem shocked, something happen?" [Naoto] "No it''s nothing..." [Aries] "We should support the orphans as well, come!" [Naoto] "You are right. Just give me a second" [Aries] "Understood, I''ll go ahead first" [Naoto] Naoto quickly approach the orphans, they look comfortable around her, I was told that they already knew each other back at Malsia. Excusing ourselves, Lisa brought me to a less crowded place, and once ensuring there are no ears in the wall, we begin to talk "Lisa, we need to talk" [Aries] "About Kara and Mara right" [Lisa] "Do they know?" [Aries] "The twin or Flinar and Erinmorlin? Though the answer remain the same, they don''t" [Lisa] "And why don''t you tell me in advance!" [Aries] "..." [Lisa] "Am I that unreliable!" [Aries] "Calm down. You did remember what happen, plus, I feel guilty about it as well" [Lisa] So the trauma from back then still lingering around her mind "When did you realize it was them?" [Aries] "Since we first met" [Lisa] "And their memories?" [Aries] "..." [Lisa] Looks like it''s a no. Both relief and sadness struck me like a tidal wave "Do you want them to remember? Or do you want them to lead a normal life with Ash?" [Lisa] Lisa, with a serious tone, ask me that question. "..." [Aries] I can''t answer the question. I''m simply clueless. I want them to be happy, but at the same time, being forgotten by those two left me with a void feeling "For now, let us join them, and don''t think of hiding yourself from them" [Lisa] "I won''t" [Aries] _________________________________________________ [Kara point of view] "Heal!" [Kara] "Thank you young girl" "You''re welcome, now please hurry up and evacuate" [Kara] "And you guys be careful as well" "We will" [Mara] As the old lady quickly run away from the group of yetis, a familiar adventure from Malsia greet us all, it is Sister Naoto, Kanji''s elder sister. Rapidly firing her arrow, she begins to help us by reducing the number of yetis coming our way "The elemental archer, Naoto isn''t it?" [Mimi] "I''m flattered" [Naoto] An A rank adventure like her will surely shift the tide of battle. "There aren''t any Yetis or Chenoos left!" [Ash] Brother Ash shout can be heard echoing from the watcher. Looks like the battle will come to its end quickly "Rean!" ~nod~ [Alice] "Understood! They aren''t any civilian left, so everyone, charge!" [Rean] "Yes!" [Other] "I have been waiting for this!" [Zerolith] "Be careful, you can''t underestimate them just because Brother Ash make it look so easy" [Karon] "Karon is right. Exercise caution" [Elise] "Surf, ice missiles shark" [Charlotte] Charlotte quickly send out wave after wave of water infested with small shark and one ice missile shark in it, sweeping the yetis away. What did the two of them just told! Not to mention, she seems to be having fun doing it. "Charlotte don''t rush!" [Kara] Worrying about her safety, I quickly grab her arm, but she resisted it and told me to let her go. "Come on, just let her have some fun" [Mara] "No! It''s dangerous" [Kara] "We are strong. Brother Ash train us everyday right" [Mara] "Right right" ~Continue struggling~ [Charlotte] "That still doesn''t change the fact that it''s dangerous!" [Kara] The three of us were careless, one of the yetis suddenly evolve rapidly and become a chenoo, and using one of the dead bodies of fellow yeti, the chenoo threw it right straight at us """!!!""" [Kara, Mara, Charlotte] The speed. I instantly understood that we have neither the time to block it nor to dodge it "Shield!" [?] Someone shielded us, a female paladin with a blond hair and a blue eyes. She takes out her enormous lance and quickly throw it toward the chenoo before retrieving it back through her own mana ((This feeling... what is it??)) [Kara, Mara] "You three, don''t be careless" [?] """Sorry...""" [Kara, Mara, Charlotte] It sound like she''s scolding us, but it feels... warm? "Are you guys alright?" [Lisa] "We are" [Mara] "It''s Sis Kara fault!" [Charlotte] Charlotte said while sulking. It''s kinda my fault to be honest "What the heck! There''s no portal stone! This really is just a plain old random malignant wormhole!" [Ash] "Plus, it''s connected to a challenge dungeon that is inside the ice dungeon" [Samurai Jacks] Brother Ash shout once again can be heard from the watcher. What did he meant by that? And wait, Mr Jacks just said that a challenge dungeon spawn inside the ice dungeon! "What''s your name pretty sis? Want to thank you!" [Charlotte] "I''m a paladin for the demon kingdom, name Aries. I''m also your brother''s friend. Nice to meet all of you" [Aries] "Thank you for saving us Sis Aries" [Charlotte] ""She''s right!! Thank you so much!!"" [Kara, Mara] She just smile to us, and "Don''t do that again" [Aries] She''s pretty Chapter 162 - Challenge dungeon part 3 _________________________________________________ [Bond point of view] "Father! Father! Father!" [Elsa] She keeps on repeating those words, hoping for her father to wake up from an eternal slumber, her mind knows it is impossible, but the heart couldn''t bear with it, and yearn for that very impossibility "Sis..." [Cupid] Cupid once again begin to cry, a tearless cry, as those tears are tired from coming out of the small pores relentlessly. Once again, Kronbir and I can''t find a word to said during this situation, and once again, we ask the staffs to help us and once again, an oath is made, telling the father to rest peacefully, telling the father his responsibility is now passed on to me. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ [Saint Louis point of view] After the discussion with Sir Ceanu Reaves, we go on a separate way. His destination, Estel, and as for me, to the new headquarters of the church As I walk, I am reminded of the last bit of conversation we had. Sir Ceanu Reaves asked me about the artificial blessings and how we manage to stop it, especially to those affected from the countless experiment done on them, for which the answer surprise him. At first, I didn''t do anything, it was Ash, and more specifically, his scythe. There are two powerful souls, for which I can deduce it belongs to a saint and a saintess, and they''re the one that help cleanse the soul from the dreaded artificial blessings. Ash then explains the process to me, but at that time, he was very different, like a body being possessed by a kind soul. The other who witnessed it, just stayed quiet, almost like all of us intuitively agreed not to talk about it carelessly (Of course, I didn''t tell Sir Ceanu Reaves all the detail, but a smart person like him would figure it out soon) [Saint Louis] As I walk into a new floor, a group of child elves and fairies can be seen playing. They run away as soon as saw me, or so I thought (A beastman slave trader? Now that''s rare) [Saint Louis] _________________________________________________ There''s no portal stone involved, so this time, it''s a completely normal phenomenon. Here I am, being prejudice and blaming those old follower amd the Achalasia Externa the moment those yetis and chenoos spawned, but hey, remembering of their bad records, this skepticism is well placed "The random malignant wormhole, why doesn''t it close?" [Female elf adventure] "Simple, it''s connected to the newly spawn challenge dungeon inside the ice dungeon, so we have to clear all the floor and defeat the final boss of the challenge dungeon then only it will close" [Ash] "I see. This sound like an emergency quest" [Samurai Jacks] "If that''s the case, then allow me to lend a helping hand" [Aries] "Huh, so you guys are here" [Ash] And what an interesting sight. Aries, Lisa, Kara and Mara, they look like a family. I don''t know much about Lisa as she''s hard to read, but Aries here have a soft and warm eyes looking at my siblings, especially toward Kara and Mara. This isn''t a mere speculation, but an observation from someone who is granted the title guardian of children "When did you arrive?" [Khamishah] Diana, Qis, Khamishah and Ram are here as well. They themselves just arrive as well. It''s getting a bit crowded here, with all of us in here. And to top it off, other bystander started to gather around us as well "Oh Ash, what happen to your house arrest" [Diana] ~Gulp~ Excuse, someone please give me an excuse "Brother Ash is planning to buy you a surprise present" [Charlotte] "Oh, and you''re using my name as an excuse to defy the king?" [Diana] "But Brother Ash is..." [Karon] "It''s fine, sigh... just punish me" [Ash] I''ll just give up now. The kids concerning look makes me feel bad, but I am defying the king order here, so I should just surrender myself "Just conquer the challenge dungeon and make sure the random malignant wormhole is close, then you''re good. That''s what father said" [Diana] "Sure" [Ash] That''s good then, plus, there''s a treasure chest awaiting me should I defeat the final boss which I plan on getting. "Alright all of you, get ready. We will conquer the challenge dungeon. I''ll train you along the way" [Ash] "Roger!" [Other] "Actually, can we go separately?" [Ray] "I just wanted to say the same. This should be a good training session for us as well" [Rean] "If that''s the case, I''ll supervise them, is that alright with you?" [Samurai Jacks] "Sure" [Ash] So There are two parties among us now "How about you let the girls come with me? I can take good care of them as well" [Khamishah] "Girl party!" [Farhah] "Sound fun, I''m in" [Naoto] "Mrs Aries? How about you?" [Mara] "Are you sure?" [Aries] "Please!" [Kara] "Then I''ll join the girls party" [Aries] ""Count us in"" [Female elf adventure, female paladin adventure) "We should further separate among ourselves then" [Khamishah] From one, to two and now four. So now, this is our grouping Team A = Ash, Lara (she refuse to be separated from Nara), Nara, Zerolith, Karon, Singa and Savel Team B = Jacks, Rean, Ray, Kadeus, Lily, and Muse Team girl 1= Khamishah, Elise, Liyana, Mile, Farhah and female elf adventure Team girl 2 = Aries, Naoto, Kara, Mara, Charlotte and Female paladin adventure "We already have four parties going in, so other adventures, be on a guard here and make sure there aren''t any monster escaping from this parameter!" [Ram] "Right!" [Adventures] "Soldier and knight! Control the crowd! Make sure none of them lingering around here!" [Diana] "Yes, your highness!" [Other] And as for Qis and Alice "I see, then should I assist her?" [Qis] "Please, do so" [Diana] "Is it really alright for you to leave Princess Diana side?" [Alice] "It will be valuable information for us as well. Whether the change in monster number and ecosystem are related to the sudden appearance of this challenge dungeon or not, so I insist" [Diana] "I''ll join as well. But, let me tell Flinar and Erinmorlin first" [Lisa] "Please do" [Qis] And another team is form. Just as we are about to enter the challenge dungeon through the wormhole "What is actually a challenge dungeon?" [Singa] "Don''t know" [Savel] "Challenge dungeon is a challenge dungeon, duhh" [Farhah] "Duhh duhh" [Charlotte] "Really..." [Ash] "I feel sad, that they didn''t even remember what I taught them" [Alice] "We learn it before?" [Kadeus] "..." [Alice] Guess I should explain it to them before they ente Chapter 163 - Challenge dungeon part 4 _________________________________________________ [Bond point of view] So my family is... that''s to be expected but why. I had braced myself all this while, but why is this feeling still flooding me. Are my oath to Cupid''s and Elsa''s families nothing more than a self comfort, to cover my own sadness. How could I leave them be when they needed me the most. How could I How could I How could I How could I How could I How could I How could I How could I How could I How could I How Could I How could I "So you''re Bond, the one that Ash had told me" [?] "Your highness!?" [Kiserre guard] An old royal lady, and judging by the fact that all of them bowing to her, she must be Queen Rinz "My condolences to each one of you, and my apologies for disturbing you when you''re in great sorrow, but my presence here is to personally thank all four of you" [Queen Rinz] "?" [Other] "Perhaps we should use the tent over there" [Queen Rinz] __________________________________________________________________________________________________ [Saint Louis point of view] "Damn you" [Horse beastman] "He''s strong" [Lizard beastman] "This church guy, just who is he!?" [Antelope beastman] The group of beastman slave trader curses me non stop. "Repent" [Saint Louis] "What was that!" [Horse beastman] "Repent for your action, for Goddess Achalasia will surely accept those who repent" [Saint Louis] "F*** that! She and her teaching had discriminated us all!" [Horse beastman] "A guy like you who didn''t know any hardship to begin with!" [Dog beastman] "..." [Saint Louis] I have no capacity to bring them to the headquarters. My mana aren''t as abundance as Ash, so it will be near impossible for me. But, simply releasing them will bring more harm than good, and worse come to worsy, the child elves will get kidnapped. So... "I will release all of you, but can you promise me not to kidnap those elves?" [Saint Louis] "None of your business!" [Dragonewt] "For The True Beastman Group, we won''t stop!" [Grasshopper beastman] Just like what I expected. "Then die" [Saint Louis] "..." [True beastman group] A fine light needle, pierce each of their brain stems, putting them to sleep before slowly and painlessly ending their lives. If only you didn''t commit such heinous crime, I wouldn''t need to kill you. "Me, Saint beloved by Goddess Achalasia, what a joke..." [Saint Louis] Do someone like me, really worthy of such title? Do someone like me, really worthy to govern the church? (It doesn''t looks like there''s more of them, and the elves and fairies are all hiding perfectly that K couldn''t detect them) [Saint Louis] After burying them, I continue my journey _________________________________________________ Alice have taken a serious blow, when all her hard work seemingly go down the drain as they''re some of them who didn''t even know what is a challenge dungeon. Guess I should explain it in her stead "Alright, listen up, I''ll tell you about country, dungeon, and wormhole first, then only I''ll explain about challenge dungeon" [Ash] "But we already knew about that! Just tell us about challenge dungeon" [Kadeus] "Oh really, mind explaining it to me" [Ash] "Su... sure..." [Kadeus] Like previously mentioned before, the world of Achalasia is basically a series of countries floating around in space connected through a wormhole. Inside that said wormhole lies a dungeon, and that''s the only way one could travel from a country to another. Now, you might ask, just how is such a thing possible, well, I don''t know about it as well. They''re several mysteries that Goddess Achalasia purposely left blank (like watcher) as to let me find out for myself, and not to mention, the mysterious ancient tunnel created by the traveler king that somehow connects one country to another, even spanning through the dungeon Also as previously stated, the country are protected from the threat of monsters inside the dungeon through the huge goddess orb "Yup, totally knows that" [Kadeus] "Just listen till the end!" [Qis] "Right" [Kadeus] Thank you for that Qis Now, as for the random malignant wormhole, they''re a wormhole that can suddenly appear out of nowhere, they''re rare but not to said they never happen. And when they do happen, they will connect two random point, whether it''s connecting dungeon to dungeon, country to country or dungeon to country And as for Kadeus and others questions, about the challenge dungeon, they are like those dungeons inside video games back on earth. They didn''t serve the purpose of connecting two countries, and in fact, they serve no other purposes other than to be explored. They contain more powerful monsters as well as a boss monster that one should defeat at the end of the floor, that''s the only way to close the challenge dungeon. "And not to mention, an adventure like you should know about challenge dungeon, they have some of the best treasure chest one could find" [Ash] """Best treasure chest!!!""" [Singa, Savel, Charlotte] "That''s right! From weapon to accessories, they''re of the highest quality" [Diana] (And from what mother said, the tree of life reside inside a challenge dungeon as well) [Farhah] "Then what are we waiting for! Let us go and conquer this challenge dungeon!" [Kadeus] ~Hit~ "That hurt..." [Kadeus] "Didn''t you hear him, its dangerous, so don''t simply rush in" [Samurai Jacks] "Jacks is right, so for now let Bobunny accompany each one of you" [Ash] I ask Bobunny and its clones that are burrowed inside the ground to show themselves, and ask them to protect the kids "How come it didn''t protect us back then?" [Mara] "Well, one of the clones weaknesses is that it couldn''t really make decision on its own, so you have to tell them" [Ash] "I see, should remember this" [Rean] "Will you remem..." [Muse] "Sorry to disturb you trying to flirt with Rean, but just register your mana to any one of Bobunny clones, that way they can always knows your location" [Ash] "Then let us register our mana together Rean, as a practice for the future <3" [Muse] "To be honest, I''m actually impressed with your pick up line just now" [Ash] "Brother Ash!" [Rean] And once they''re all done, we enter the challenge dungeon, and was quickly presented with three different path "Guess we will spilt up immediately" [Female elf adventure] "Right from the start, guess we don''t have the luxury to explore together" [Liyana] "Then how about making it fun? We can race with each other and the group that defeat the final boss first is the winner" [Mile] "Sound fun! I''m in" [Ray] "Why did I feel like our group will have the biggest disadvantages..." [Lily] "Well, the other have The Saga, the paladin of demon kingdom, the elemental archer as well as the behemoth slayer to begin with, but beating them all will leave us with nothing but satisfaction" [Muse] "A fine point of view" [Female paladin adventure] A race, sound fun, and all of us agree to it. "Didn''t looks like any one of them could host a trap" [Naoto] "Agree, then any path should do" [Khamishah] "I''ll take this path!" [Charlotte] "Sure, let us go" [Aries] Charlotte quickly choose the middle path. Jacks decided to use the right path, while Khamishah use the left "Brother Ash, which path should we use?" [Zerolith] "Why did the four of you stare at the ground?" [Savel] "Weird..." [Singa] "Brother Ash, the floor is..." [Karon] ""Give us earth mana more"" [Lara, Nara] "Alright kids, we will do a speed run and beat all of them!" [Ash] "Speed run?" [Other] Chapter 164 - Challenge dungeon part 5 _________________________________________________ [Bond point of view] The four of us, together with the Valkyrie members sit down at the wooden chairs that are prepared by the Kiserre''s soldiers. In a noisy environment, and not to mention with the sadness that struck us all, the sight of the old queen with graying on her hair somehow calm us all. In a situation where it is logical to vent out all of our anger to her as her son in responsible for all this, none of us could do it, maybe because of what had been told to us by Ash and Mrs Khamishah, or maybe because we are just too tired from all the emotional tolls "Once again, my sincere apologies for all of you, I can''t compensate much as lives lost isn''t something that you could compensate with a mere case. Though, that doesn''t mean we shouldn''t" [Queen Rinz] The Queen presented us all with a bag of money, but I could tell that we are getting more of it from all the other "Please, accept it. Of course there are others that play their role as to bring out the light of true regarding this incident, but your action was one of the significant one, for which it ultimately brings the attention of the ruler of Estel with her princess, and thus, we are able to bring a closure to this incident" [Queen Rinz] "Your highness..." [Elsa] We can sense something in her. It is that of a ruler trying her best to correct back all the unjust that had been done by the other. Unlike us who only relied on the other, it isn''t a nice feeling to accept the compensation, what''s more when people in Estel will also help us to start over "I''m sorry your highness, but could you please distribute this money to those who needed it the most?" [Kronbir] "I was just about to say the same" [Bond] "But why?" [Queen Rinz] "We are getting help from those in Estel, and as such, I believe these bag of cash will be more useful to other" [Bond] "Not to mention, our contribution aren''t that significant, and even back at Estel, we can''t help but to feel powerless when the orphanage is under attack. So, only getting pitied will not bring any changes in us" [Kronbir] "There will be other who got it worse than us, so please help them in our stead" [Elsa] "You really are a bunch of good people" [Queen Rinz] We give back the bag of cash to Queen Rinz, but she insists on giving one of it to Cupid, saying that she needed it the most out of all of us, for which we agree to take. After all the people in Estel have been reunited with the family members, we are ready to depart. Bringing the dead bodies of our families into the dungeon, we dig a large grave to bury all of them together, a tradition that is born from long ago, believe that when a disaster strike us all, those who are dead should be buried together as to find peace among themselves. Saying our prayers, all of us then begin to went back home "Will we visit them again?" [Cupid] "Let do it together" [Elsa] "We wouldn''t mind accompany all of you" [Valkyrie B] "If we are free that is" [Valkyrie A] "Thank you, but you have the princess to protect, so please prioritize her first" [Bond] "Man, now I can see why Grandpa Karonlir sacrifice himself. Truly, from Ash to the princess, the young healers, the adventure and even the Valkyrie, they all help each other all the time, developing a sense of self sacrifice, and honestly, it isn''t that bad of a feeling" [Kronbir] "Now we have to do the same, but what could we do to repay them all?" [Elsa] "Just find it together then" [Valkyrie C] "We are family after from now on, so we have a lot of time to discuss" [Bond] "I want to be the eldest!" [Cupid] ~Chuckle~ _________________________________________________ [Rean point of view] "This mini bosses is a pain in the ass!" [Kadeus] "Concentrate! If you guys wanted to become a high ranking adventure, you should be able to defeat them!" [Samurai Jacks] "Right!" [Rean] Who would have thought that the path we taken lead us straight to this floor boss. It is a group of ice antelope, no larger than your regular antelope, but they coordinate among themselves so well that it''s hard to break their defense. Right now, the group of ice antelope form two circles, with the inner one to surround us, and the outer one keep on attacking us through ice magic. While the ice magic directed to us aren''t that lethal, it will surely wither us down if done long enough. Master Jacks tries his best to protect all of us from the lethal ice projectile, but in the end, it is up to us all to defeat these group of ice antelopes as part of our training "Rean, can you put up a darkness dorm?" [Lily] "I can, you got any plan?" [Rean] "Well, I was thinking, wouldn''t it be easier for us to deal with these antelopes if they''re attacking my illusion, rather than us" [Lily] "I see, so you need Rean darkness dorm to prepare for it" [Ray] "That''s right!" [Lily] "Lily, can I add something?" [Muse] "Sure" [Lily] I don''t know what Muse is thinking, but it''s enough to make Lily chuckling a bit. Why did I get a bad feeling about this... As I use the darkness dorm to surround us all, Lily begin to gather her mirage mana and slowly, a human shape illusion take its form, and becoming larger and larger. I see, she''s planning to make a giant, that way, the ice antelopes will instinctively attack upward towards the giant head or abdomen. A fine plan indeed but "Just why is this giant a half naked Rean?" [Ray] "Change it! Change it!" [Rean] "No, this is my idea! So you can''t just override it! It simply rude" [Muse] "Master Jacks, please say something!" [Rean] "As long as it works" [Samurai Jacks] "Not you too!" [Rean] "Rean, at the count of three, I''ll make this illusion into that of a giant, so please disperse the dorm like it''s being broken down from the inside" [Lily] "Wait! Wait! Wait! I don''t want the watcher to display me like that! At least put some clothes in it!" [Rean] "3" [Muse] "Stop!" [Rean] "2" [Kadeus] "Don''t! I''m begging you!" [Rean] "1" [Lily] "You guys better get ready once this is all done!" [Rean] ~Boom~ I quickly disperse the darkness dorm, and the giant me comes out from it started to get attack by the ice antelopes "Lily!" [Muse] "Sorry, but I pity Rean should the watcher show him half naked" [Lily] "Thank you so much Lily" [Rean] "Lily really are nice" [Ray] "Make sure you show me some nice illusion technique as a compensation! Use the famous succubus technique for that <3" [Muse] "Haha sure sure" [Lily] She really are something else... But enough chatting, with the ice antelopes focusing all it attack to the giant me, all of us quickly launch a surprise attack. In addition of the giant, Lily also wrapped us up in invisibility magic, making it harder for the ice antelopes to detect us, and slowly, one by one, the ice antelopes falls to the ground "That''s the leader!" [Muse] "Rean!" [Ray] "On it!" [Rean] The leader is a little larger than the rest, and it boasts even greater ice magic as compared to the rest, and to top it off, it manages to detect my presence even when cloaked with invisibility magic but "Take this!" [Rean] Using Az''s blessings, I strengthen my black fire up a notch as to bypass the hard defense of the ice antelope leader. It sure is strong but I am not done yet "Darkness hand!" [Rean] Again, by using my dark magic, multiple hands protrude out from the ground, holding the leader in one place "Hand, burn him!" [Rean] I then channel my fire magic into the darkness hand, slowly burning the ice defense around the leader, and to end it suffering, I slice the neck in a single swift. "Nice job" [Samurai Jacks] "Thank you master, but, it still suffer when I slit his neck..." [Rean] "That just mean you have a lot more room to improve, and so does for the rest of you" [Samurai Jacks] "Yes!" [Other] There is a treasure chest spawn once we kill the leader. It''s an ice resistance gear. We decided to wear it, and as for the rest (including the dead bodies of the antelopes) were stored inside my item box magic. It isn''t as large as Brother Ash, but I''m glad I am able to use it "Oh Rean, this item box will make it easier for us to move out together in the future <3" [Muse] "Sigh..." [Rean] "Poor Rean" [Lily] "I actually started to pity him now" [Ray] "Same here" [Kadeus] "Well, let us how far into relationship they will go" [Samurai Jacks] "Just like you and Receptionist Alice?" [Lily] "..." [Samurai Jacks] "Sorry sorry, I''m just joking" [Lily] "That''s taking things too far, but as a lady, I can say she''s just playing hard to get" [Muse] "Let just start moving" [Ray] Chapter 165 - Challenge dungeon part 6 _________________________________________________ [Aries point of view] Kara and Mara, and the little blue hair girl name Charlotte, they''re holding out way better than I thought they would. I do know for a fact that Ash have been training all of them, but for a group of little girls to walk around almost carelessly inside a challenge dungeon, that must have meant they''re being trained thoroughly. They''re also the three of us adults which ease their heart as well "Bobunny, just smash those Ice centipedes!" [Kara] ~Chuckling~ Kara, who has been creeped out by the constant presence of ice centipedes, frequently ask the golem rabbits to launch wave after wave of rock attack. Since they''re a mere clone from the original one, their destructive capacities aren''t that great, but, true to a rabbit nature of multiplying quickly, these rabbit golems constant barrage of rock attack prove to be deadly, so much so that it doesn''t require active intervention from us adults "..." [Female paladin adventure] "You had been staring at me for a while now, did you need something" [Aries] "I''ll just go ahead and guide those three, you two should talk" [Naoto] Sensing that we require some space, Naoto quickly leaves the two of us and grab Charlotte. That blue hair girl, she should have more sense of danger as she quickly wanted to grab the dead centipede jaw simply out of curiosity "Sorry, but I just wanted to ask you something as a fellow paladin" [Female paladin adventure] "And that is?" [Aries] "What is a paladin to begin with?" [Female paladin adventure] "Are you perhaps lost? Does the church and the kingdom that grant you the title betrayed your expectation?" [Aries] ~Nod~ "Could you please tell me more, that is if you don''t mind" [Aries] "I will" [Female paladin adventure] She tells me regarding what happen back then, during the time that the orphanage is under attack by the church and the duke from whom she received the title of paladin "I''m lost. I knew that what they''re doing is wrong, and I wanted to fight alongside other the other day, but..." [Female paladin adventure] "But your body won''t move" [Aries] ~Nod~ "I see, then we are quite the opposite" [Aries] "You mean when the new Saint Louis and Saintess Rumia as well the Demon king Druser grant you the title of paladin?" [Female paladin adventure] "Exactly. At that time, I knew all of this madness should be stop at all cost during the war, with so many having lost their love one, I don''t want other to continue their endless suffering" [Aries] "But to receive it from them..." [Female paladin adventure] "Tell me, what''s wrong with them? Would you serve those who are said to be the righteous one by constantly labeling other the traitorous, while the very same person are doing whatever they please." [Aries] "..." [Female paladin adventure] "It''s true us paladin are meant to serve them to beat the fallen one, but tell me, what about the fallen one that are right in front of us? Surely, you must have felt detest by their actions" [Aries] "I do..." [Female paladin adventure] "Then you simply need to change your master" [Aries] "But they had done so much to me!" [Female paladin adventure] "I know. My previous master also did so much to me, but they also take those who are precious to me. Do you want to wait until that moment?" [Aries] "I..." [Female paladin adventure] She''s contemplating. It''s hard, I personally had been through it, but there is never a moment of regret up until now, serving King Druser while also helping Saint Louis and Saintess Rumia. Not to mention (Thank you Dear Goddess, for letting me see the two of them once again... But, should I take those two back with me, or should I just leave them with Ash? Will they accept me?) [Aries] Kara... Mara... "Charlotte, just drown them all! Mara, electrocute them! Bobunny, please smash them!" [Kara] A group of fire centipedes and ice centipedes are now fighting and struggling with each other. From the looks of it, they wanted to claim this giant nest for the sake of survival. Multiple bodies part can be seen lying around as a result of this territorial war, which make the already creeped out Kara, panic "Just stand back. I''ll handle it" [Aries] "Right!" [Other] Let see, these two groups of centipedes aren''t that strong. I don''t even need the holy beast of Earth, The Tyrant Steel Ant, Drant power to beat them (Not to mention, I don''t want those two sees me in that state) [Aries] With the lance given to me by the church and forged by the best smith, I quickly launch a thrust attack, with steel magic to further increase the attack power of my lance. Those centipedes try their best to stop me, but they''re simply too weak. Now that I have reduced their number "I believe the three of you can manage from here on out" [Aries] """Yes!!!""" [Kara, Mara, Charlotte] "Then the two of us will aid them" [Naoto] "Will you?" [Aries] "..." [Female paladin adventure] (She''s still contemplating) [Aries] "Yes, I will!" [Female paladin adventure] ~Smile~ _________________________________________________ [Khamishah point of view] "Ice dandelion!" [Farhah] "Careful, if you wanted to take it home, you should take extra step of precautions" [Female elf adventure] "Farhah, there is no need for that, we still have the magical seed" [Elise] "Boo..." [Farhah] They sure are lovely. It''s such a shame that I have to depart soon, I wish I could stay a bit longer but Queen Rinz needed my help, and I don''t want to turn her request down. "There''s a deep and large hole in front" [Mile] "Leave it to me!" [Liyana] The noble girl, she has abundance of mana, so much mana in fact that I wonder just how did she manage to control it. It isn''t strange for a kid of her age with that much mana to have difficulty on tapping into her power, and yet here she is, doing it smoothly. "You must have trained very hard to make this ice bridge smoothly" [Khamishah] "I do! It all thank to Teacher Ash!" [Liyana] "Ash really help us all a lots. Guess he is now an important part in our daily lives" [Female paladin adventure] "True, he also save my parents during the endemic" [Mile] "I see" [Khamishah] Save it for his rudeness, he''s a pretty decent person. No wonder the princess would like to have him to work under her. I''m not even surprise if the guild master here had tried to recruit him as an adventure, which got me thinking "What are you all aiming for when you grew up? Rean already become an adventure, so how about you?" [Khamishah] "No idea" [Farhah] "Fufu... and you three?" [Khamishah] "We would like to become a female knight! There''s the Valkyrie right now but we are aiming higher!" [Mile] "And that is?" [Khamishah] "To become like Mrs Qis and help Princess Diana!" [Liyana] "True! Plus, if we succeed, I will be the first non human to do that!" [Elise] "That sure is a great ambition. You guys make me ashamed of myself" [Female elf adventure] A knight. There is a time when even I would like to become one, but in the end, Queen Rinz decided not to let me become a knight, and instead ask Kiserre''s guild master to recruit and train me as an adventure. Thank god for that, well, even U realized I ain''t that great with the knight system. "Still, make sure you train daily" [Khamishah] """We will!!!""" [Elise, Liyana, Mile] "How strong should we become?" [Farhah] "Hmm... let see" [Khamishah] As we walk, we can see a humongous iceberg blocking our path toward the next floor. "To answer your question, this strong" [Khamishah] Gathering all my neutral mana into my right fist, I quickly release a punch and ~Crack~ ~Shatter with tremor~ "That''s just way too strong!" [Female elf adventure] "We still have a long way to go if that is the case..." [Elise] "A very very long way to go" (Will the fairy queen give me her blessing should I become as strong as Mrs Saga here?) [Farhah] ~Tremor continue~ "The tremor sure is becoming stronger!" [Mile] "Mrs Saga, you are too strong! The dungeon is shattering" [Liyana] "No! That simply impossible! This is... someone already completed the dungeon!" [Khamishah] "Who!" [Other] I could only think of that one guy... (And I''m sure they''re all thinking the same) [Khamishah] Chapter 166 - Challenge dungeon part 7 "Speed run?" [Other] "Yup, basically we will skip all the other 10 floors and went straight into the final boss!" [Ash] "Well, the floor in this dungeon is rather "thin" but, is it really doable?" [Karon] "Oh it is, just listen" [Ash] The challenge dungeon floors are rather "thin", that is if you''re comparing it to the normal dungeon in Achalasia. What the two of us meant as thin is simply we can measure it from one floor to the other, unlike that of the normal dungeon (which honestly make the ancient tunnel the more mysterious) Right now, there''s four, no five of us that can use earth mana (me, Lara and Nara after I give them my mana, Karon and Bobunny), so it is doable. But why stop there, Zerolith here can use his dark magic to erode the ground beneath us, making our job easier, and since this is part of the ice dungeon, Savel Ice magic (thanks to the Holy beast of water, Reshir blessing) will also be useful. Singa can help by teleporting a large rock or any accumulated dirt along the way to somewhere else, and even act to teleport us all to safety shall any danger befall us. (And let us not forget I can also help Zerolith, Singa and Savel doing their job, and so does Lara and Nara by extension) [Ash] It''s possible, and it safe us more time (maybe not save our mana, but hey, there''s a first time for everything) "Alright, Let us do it!" [Zerolith] "I can''t wait to brag to them!" [Singa] "They will really be surprised" [Savel] ""Let''s go!!"" [Lara, Nara] "You betcha!" [Ash] ~Chuckling~ Putting my right hand into the ground, we start to dig, and "It''s regenerate back!" [Savel] "How mysterious" [Karon] "It is, but..." [Ash] There are several mana components and, I got this feeling that I can actually absorb it and use it to my advantage. Wait, that sound like what a homunculus will do, which mean "Lara, Nara, can you try to absorb the mana that disturbs our work? I''ll help as well" [Ash] ~Nod~ And we begin it once more, and "You guys are doing great!" [Zerolith] "Especially Lara and Nara!" [Singa] "Right, let us go everyone!" [Karon] "Right!" [Other] So our plan works! That''s good, but, once again, I can''t help but to wonder, why is the challenge dungeon floor has this property while the usual dungeon didn''t? What or who exactly makes the challenge dungeon? And once again, I can''t help but to relate what we are doing to that of the Traveler King. What we are doing is basically a mini project mimicking that of the ancient tunnel. I''m sure the answer is no, but is this how the ancient tunnel was built? What method did the Traveler King used back then, and does he work all alone back then. Did he receive any blessings from earth Holy Beast to ease his job, and if so, does the earth blessing any differ from that of the Tyrant Ant, Drant. So many questions, and yet I can''t even answer one of it . . . ~Chuckling happily~ "Man, you''re still full of energy aren''t you Bobunny" [Zerolith] "He is made out of an S rank magic core after all" [Ash] ""..."" [Lara, Nara] "Need more rest..." [Savel] (Haha, his tattoo mark started to disappearing, he must have use a lot of mana) [Ash] "Agree, maybe we can fight the final boss in an hour or so?" [Singa] "I''ll scan the monster from here first, so you guys get some rest" [Ash] ~Nod~ Using my scan magic, I can sense the presence of a ghost monster, a Yuki-ona. This could spell trouble, and her strength is a limbo between that of an A to S rank monster. I couldn''t possibly ask them to back me up, but at the same time, I wanted them to experience fighting against Yuki-ona. This will be dangerous, I should let them stay here, but then again, shall I leave them, they might get attack by other monsters. "Bobunny, can you shield them while I am fighting the Yuki-ona?" [Ash] ~Chuckling and nodding~ "Thank you, that''s your primary job in this battle!" [Ash] "And how about us?" [Zerolith] "You guys should just concentrate on giving fire support. Under no circumstances should you be separated from Bobunny! Got it?" [Ash] "Yes!" [Other] After resting till our fatigue all gone (and chugging down some mana potion, which at this point I should grind more of it from the loot drop by the zombie from the zombie spawning block), we enter the final boss room, and is immediately greeted with an avalanche of snow dropped towards us ~Hissing~ A horizontal wall is quickly made by Bobunny, holding the snow from crushing us. Bobunny then quickly made a shield out of steel magic, expanding all its mana to make a titanium shield that barely cover my siblings from all directions. It can manipulate the shield as to let my siblings launch an attack. As for me, I quickly drew my scythe and as usual, imbued it with multiple mana properties, especially fire, light and dark as Yuki-ona is weak to it (Yuki-ona is like a mage, so it should be weak in close combat) [Ash] But, a high level mages will surely have their weaknesses covered, and true enough, Yuki-ona started to summon ice skeleton. They''re weak but holy hell, just how many can she produce! "Take this!" [Savel] Savel quickly uses his ice magic and make multiple Ice spikes. He maneuvers it nicely, not hitting me even once. "Singa, we will take care of the ice skeleton, so made a teleportation here and one more above the ceiling, that way we can fire more freely!" [Karon] "Sound good" [Zerolith] "But what if we hit Brother Ash?" [Singa] ""Don''t worry!! Won''t!!"" [Lara, Nara] "He''s agile, there''s no way he would let us hit him" [Zerolith] "If you said so..." [Singa] I heard that... guess I should live up to their expectations... but Zerolith, how do you expect me to dodge all this incoming dark arrow of yours! Forget about arrow, at this point, it like a machine gun barrage! And I''m more surprises as how Singa can cope with all of this! Well, I can''t detect Lara and Nara mana, so they must have support Singa teleportation spell as well ~Freeze~ "Tchh..." [Ash] Just a single touch to my shoulder, and a frost quickly envelop it, limiting my right shoulder movement. "Haaa!" [Ash] I quickly cover my whole body with fire mana as to combat it, but the Yuki-ona keep on sending her mana into it. What an amazing ability, all she need is a touch and once she touches you, it''s all over as she will keep on sending her mana to freeze you. How terrifying, but "You should do better than this!" [Ash] "!" [Yuki-ona] Once again, I gather all my fire mana, and this time, I make a huge fire ball and quickly throw it to her. Of course she evade it easily but "Fire ball disperse!" [Ash] The huge fire ball become multiple smaller fire ball and few of it manage to hit her, and even one setting her long black hair and clothes on fire! "Chance!" [Ash] Even my siblings realize it. They quickly ignore the never ending ice skeletons and quickly focus fire on the burning Yuki-ona "Darkness whips!" [Zerolith] "Glass spikes! Cover the whip!" [Karon] "I''ll add mirage spikes as well!" [Savel] Zerolith spells hit her head on! Now entangle, she unfortunately quickly destroy the whips (Well, unfortunate if you''re late to react) [Ash] As for me, this chance created by them isn''t going to be wasted, as with my acceleration magic, I quickly dash toward her and slice her. She tried to retaliate by making an ice sword to stab my heart (literally of course), but alas, Bobunny quickly shielded me from it by making a small armour around my chest "You''re finish!" [Ash] I added inferno magic to my scythe as a final touch and "We won!" [Zerolith] "The ice skeletons are all gone" [Singa] "That was tiring" [Savel] "Agree" [Karon] ""Treasure chest!!"" [Lara, Nara] "Yup" [Ash] After storing the Yuki-ona magic core inside of my item box, we quickly go and take a look inside the chest but "Empty..." [Karon] "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!" [Zerolith] "All our hard work..." [Singa] "This is unfair!" [Savel] ""Nothing..."" [Lara, Nara] Not quite... Treasure chest supposed to disappear if it''s empty, so (Better scan it) [Ash] And my scan magic reveal something unbelievable "!" [Ash] "What''s wrong?" [Zerolith] "Nothing... well, better store this treasure chest inside my item box" [Ash] "But it''s useless..." [Zerolith] "Who knows, at least we can store something inside" [Ash] "What a let down" [Zerolith] Haha, ohh you won''t say that if you know what it is, plus, this will be the perfect birthday present for her (or should I keep it for myself?). Nah... After I stored it inside, a tremor started and all of us are getting dragged out. The challenge dungeon is closing! "Stay close!" [Ash] "Right!'' [Other] Well, nothing bad will happen. We are just getting transported out, but just to be safe, I covered them with my own mana as to increase their defense Chapter 167 - Seeing them And now all of us are getting kicked out from the challenge dungeon, back into Estel. The other teams have these looks that says "what just happened? Why are we getting kicked out so fast" while those who are watching us through the watcher can only make a face palm as. From the previous pattern, I can assume what they''re going to said next, "please, don''t break our common sense anymore". Well, too bad "Hahaha! We win!" [Savel] "Of course we would win, we are mostly men!" [Zerolith] "True" [Karon] "What was that!" [Mara] "Plus, aren''t you two a boy!" [Farhah] "Ahh... the sweet sound of victory" [Ash] "Ash, don''t be so childish" [Diana] "But a win is still a win, so congrats" [Khamishah] "Hehehe... thank you" [Singa] ~ Twin Bow~ "Still, just how come you guys be so fast?" [Rean] "And which passage did you use?" [Kara] """""Hehe...""""" [Ash, Zerolith, Karon, Singa, Savel] "Sigh... you can talk later. Mind giving me the Yuki-ona magic core?" [Diana] "Huh, sure" [Ash] "!?" [Others] Why are they reacting like that? What is so surprising about me giving Diana a magic core "Alright, tell me honestly, what are you planning?" [Diana] "For the usually stingy Ash when it comes to a high grade magic core, you''re awfully generous" [Female elf adventure] I see... well, I get the "empty treasure chest", so of course the best things to come out from the final boss fight would be the Yuki-ona magic core, so me generously giving Diana (who have been asking me for a magic core non stop) is without a doubt, a shocking thing to do. "No reason, consider this as an exchange for the fences that you gave us" [Ash] "If you said so" (Suspicious) [Diana] Well, hope she doesn''t get suspicious of it. Not that it matters, the "empty treasure chest" will be her birthday present anyway, just the surprise elements won''t be there "We are back..." [Lisa] "You''re in an awfully bad mood" [Naoto] "Not enough data" [Lisa] "We didn''t even start the investigation yet" [Alice] "And suddenly the challenge dungeon kick us out" [Qis] "Only get to confirm, no portal stone involved" [Lisa] "That''s because we speed run the dungeon in record time!" [Savel] "As fast as lightning! We are the best" [Singa] "Agree, unlike a certain girl" [Zerolith] ""Grr..."" [Mara, Farhah] "SAY WHAT!" [Lisa] Oh boy, the scholar is getting angry because her research isn''t complete because of us. All of them quickly hide behind me. Well, you''re not in luck, even I don''t know what we are supposed to do to calm her anger down "Anyway, it''s an anticlimactic dungeon, but I had some fun exploring around the dungeon with your siblings" [Aries] "Same here, Sis Aries is strong! Can we go with you next time as well?" [Charlotte] "Unfortunately..." [Aries] "She have to go back to her work, so she can''t play with you..." [Lisa] "That''s bad..." [Charlotte] "It''s fun but work comes first" [Kara] "..." [Aries] Sigh... it couldn''t be more obvious, that frowning of yours "Say, why don''t you come to the Demon kingdom?" [Aries] "!?" [Other] "Sis!" [Lisa] "I mean, when they have the time and money of course" [Aries] "Can we?" [Mara] "Sure! I would love to" [Aries] (She''s awfully excited about this) [Khamishah] "Sigh... In the meantime, maybe not" [Ash] "!" [Other] "..." [Aries] "But, why don''t you come during the princess birthday here" [Ash] "That''s right! I''ll invite you and the Demon king, Druser, as well as some of the official from there, you should totally come" [Diana] (Plus, this is still a secret, we are having it in the orphanage, so you can see them once more) [Ash] She looks happy when I tell her that "Of course, I will clear my schedule just to attend it. And should I send your invitation to the Beastman Kingdom as well?" [Aries] "That would be great!" [Diana] So The Demon kingdom and the Beastman Kingdom official will come visit the orphanage. That mean there are possibilities that The Demon King, Druser and The Beast King, Leogris will be here as well. Way to not give me any pressure. Way to go "Did you hear that!" "King Druser and The Beast King Leogris might come for the Princess Debutante party!" "That''s insane" "As expected of the princess!" "Haha, guess our strong support for the princess aren''t for nothing" So that''s why she openly says that. Well, the rumour she created will have a huge impact, whether it will be a positive or a negative one, it''s up to her to control, but others especially her two brothers can use the same weapon as well. But, this is Diana I am talking about, she must have planned it in advance (Do you wanted to go and visit the orphanage?) [Lisa] (No... I''m afraid it will be bad for my heart, I might get reluctant to leave them...) [Aries] (I see... sorry) [Lisa] (For not telling me? It''s alright) [Aries] "Hey Kids, why don''t we take a photo together?" [Ash] "Sound good" [Elise] "Ok, for starter, Aries, Lisa, Kara and Mara, you go first" [Ash] ""!!"" [Aries, Lisa] ""Ok"" [Kara, Mara] (It''s so obvious what he is thinking about right now) [Ram] (Well, a glance and you could tell something really is going on between them. I hope it isn''t spread as a false rumour though) [Khamishah] (Agree, they might get targeted should someone had a grudge with Mrs Aries here) [Samurai Jacks] Huh, as expected, they also thought something going on between the four of them. Khamishah and Jacks are right though, hope, it doesn''t spread as a rumour. ~Snap~ "Here you go, and Bobunny, can you make a necklace for Aries here" [Ash] ~Chuckling~ "What for?" [Aries] "You''ll see" [Ash] Made out of pure gold, the necklace is exactly how I envision it. Cutting the photo to become smaller, I attach the photo inside the necklace and ask Aries to wear it "With this, you can always see them" [Ash] "Thank you. To think it really shows in my face" [Aries] "It''s really obvious, though the kid still haven''t caught it yet. Well, it''s just a speculation from our parts but once you''ve ready, please tell us about it, especially to the two of them" [Ash] "I will, and take care of them, all of them" [Aries] "Yes I will" [Ash] And we have a photo session together. Needless to say, most of them ask Bobunny to make a personalised necklace for them and put their favourite photos inside. As for me, well, I put it all inside my personal album. With that, Diana, Khamishah, Naoto and Aries went to the castle. Khamishah, Aries and Naoto then continue their journey Chapter 168 - Its fun here in the orphanage [Diana point of view] It''s warm, the sight of Mrs Aries smile, a smile that one made after finding back their precious thing. At first, Ash had commented that those four were like a family, I don''t think that much, as I thought it might only be a coincidence, but the more one look at it, the more one can appreciate it. Ash having the title of guardian of children aren''t just for show then I believe, as compared to me, who noticed it the last among all of them. "Bobunny, make a gold and ruby pendant for her" [Ash] This pendant, it designs isn''t that great as compared to the bribe one that I will constantly receive and reject from the noble, and yet, when I can store a photo of my choice inside of it, it becomes something far more valuable than anything that those nobles can give. I can somehow relate to the blissful moment Mrs Aries had when she used it to store a photo of her with Lisa, Kara and Mara in it. If possible, I would like to have a photo of dear mother and father in it, but alas, mother doesn''t even recognize me as her own child, lamenting me for being born a lady. At first, my motivation of seizing the throne is simply to get approval from dear mother, but the more I tried, the more I realized I was walking a pitiful life as she would never be satisfied. Every classes that I took, every magic equipment that I gather, every single step of mine, it''s nothing but a useless effort in her eyes, always comparing me to my two useless step elder brothers, just because they have a better chance of succeeding the throne All because I am born as a lady... "Then the three of us should continue forward!" [Young Linda] "A baron, a commoner and me, a low knight, and not to mention, the three of us is a lady. Our path is filled with nothing but hardship" [Young Qis] "That''s the spirit" [Young Alice] Those three, always together, despite of their differences in status, I wonder what are the motivations behind each one of them, I want to approach them, but "You shouldn''t associate yourself with those lowly peasant! You and your useless thought!" [Diana''s mother] A strong slap, my nose bleed. She continues to rant about how unfortunate of her, and how I am the doom to their family. Family, even though I was never treated like that by any one of them. Even step mother didn''t treat me well, for fear of me getting the throne "I hate it..." [Young Diana] "I see. Then, do you hate me as well?" [King Estel] "Father is the only one that is nice to me" [Young Diana] Father really didn''t mind it, I would come to his office every single day just to escape from the hellish classes, or when mother started to yell, or when she wanted to hit me just to vent out her anger. Father really is something, he is smart and nice, I would love to spend every day with him, but his busy schedule mean I have to sacrifice myself for the sake of others "Ice magic!" [Young Linda] "And my wind sword magic!" [Young Qis] "We are making progress!" [Young Alice] "Haa, for the three lowly worm to be that happy, it simply disgusting" [Noble Mob A] "Just die, or go back to play make up will you" [Noble Mob B] "What do you mean!" [Young Qis] "Qis, it''s alright." [Young Linda] "But Linda..." [Young Alice] "We will..." [Young Linda] What was it, what was the word that Linda says. I thought it was something important, but I couldn''t really recollect it "Your highness!" [Qis] "Huh!?" [Diana] "You must be way too tired, how about some rest" [Qis] "How long do I dazed off?" [Diana] "Well..." [Qis] Must be long, but who would''ve thought seeing this pendant will make me dazed off "Looking at those photos again?" [Qis] "It really is nice to have a nice and loving family" [Diana] "Your highness" [Qis] Qis suddenly hug me. "Sorry, I don''t mean to make you worried" [Diana] "It''s alright, plus, aren''t we all a family?" [Qis] She bring out her pendant, our choice of photo are the same. A photo of me together with Qis, Alice and Linda''s younger sister, Liyana. Alice also chooses the same photo if I''m not mistaken "Sigh..." [Diana] As I started to take the log book, Qis stop me from doing so "How about you rest for today? You are awfully tired, and I don''t think it will be good for your health" [Qis] She looks worried. I should really consider taking a small break for today. "How about we go and fetch Alice, then we go to the orphanage" [Diana] "You really do love those kids aren''t you" [Qis] "True" [Diana] "It''s a little bit early, but we should do just that. Plus, the meeting to tell them regarding your decision to make the debutante party there will be tonight as well" [Qis] "I can already imagine him nagging at me by a lot once we start to discuss about the event" [Diana] Off we go, taking the personal carriage of mine. Along the way, I can see a sea of people flooding in the adventure guild, and Alice just finishes her shift for today. The sight of my personal carriage must have been a norm around here as they''re not as many curious eyes as before "I see, I''ll be changing my clothes at the inn first, so how about you went ahead" [Alice] "Then I''ll be requesting your Dear Samurai to accompany you" [Diana] "Princess!" [Alice] "Come on now, he is about to become an A rank adventure, plus he is kinda handsome" [Diana] "He''s kind as well, you should totally go for it" [Qis] "Not you too!" [Alice] Worrying about Alice (and not having anything better to do), we go to her family inn together, and after a nice relaxing talk with her parents, we went first to the orphanage. As expected, we are the first to arrive, and once we enter "Princess, Sis Qis, Sis Alice, help me! Brother Ash is!" [Charlotte] "Just stay quiet!" [Ash] The sight of Ash forcefully holding Charlotte hand is suspicious, so much so that Qis reflexively dash and kick Ash abdomen, which freed Charlotte hand "Now run!" [Calypso] "Run Run!" [Charlotte] "Come back here, why you!" [Ash] "Your tooth will become bad! So be a good girl and let Brother Ash pick it out!" [Elise] "Never! It''s scary!" [Charlotte] So that''s what happen. Good grief, now I feel bad for Ash "Welcome!" [Kara] "Princess Diana, how about some magic practice!" [Liyana] So Liyana here still hasn''t gone back home. Well, her parents doesn''t really mind it much, just as long as they can married her off to my elder brother, than all is good for them. "My tooth! It''s hurt!" [Charlotte] "Haha, Charlotte come here, I promise you it won''t hurt" [Diana] "Never!" [Charlotte] "Haha" [Diana] It really is fun in here Chapter 169 - Announcing the debutante party _________________________________________________ [At the Rock and Sea dungeon] [Naoto point of view] The wave keeps on hitting the main road, with the breeze and smell of salt, we keep going into the main road. It''s a short dungeon which is usually full of aquatic life, but the recent mysterious decline of the monster activities got everyone worried, like the calm before a storm Together with Mrs Aries here, the two of us walk together, having no common topic left to discuss, silence come, but amidst all of that, I keep on noticing something. She really loves the necklace with that photo, she had been touching it every so often, so much so that it actually become a distraction for me. (Well, it''s isn''t something that I should bother with, but...) [Naoto] If she keeps on doing that, she might get distracted. Is there anything that I can do to help her? (Maybe I should ask Mira about it, she might know what to do) [Naoto] And not to mention, I have to deliver this letter to her, as an invitation from the Royal family of Estel, an invitation to attend the debutante party of Princess Diana "Mrs Aries, may I have a moment?" [Naoto] "Sure" [Aries] "Can you spare a moment and come with me to the orphanage at Malsia?" [Naoto] _________________________________________________ [Diana point of view] Closing my eyes at the sofa, with the three Lara, Nara and Karon at my side, my mind begin to wander around once more. Couldn''t help it as the three of them are the quietest kids around "Did you hear?" [Noble Mob A] "She might be a princess, but even that action is unaccounted for!" [Noble mob B] "Guess she isn''t really worth even a grain of salt" [Noble Mob C] Ahh, this moment again. Lately, it keeps bugging me, I wonder why. If I''m not mistaken, this is around the time when I started to become rebellious. I had reached my boiling point during this time. When mother tries to vent out her anger once more, I lashed out, and I nearly stabbed her in the eye with the butter knife As I wonder around the hall, I can see a group of church official, they must have come to meet the Second Queen, and among them, is a red hair girl. Rumia looks very cute back then as well, and now that I remember it clearly, just what makes her to have this sad and disgusting look? "Aahh..." [Young Linda] "She''s strong" [Young Alice] "Come, let us go for another round of court fencing" [Young Qis] Rumia and I can''t help but to look at the three of them. It''s simply captivating watching them, I wonder why. As we keep on watching them, Rumia come closer to me and ~Slam~ "!" [Diana] "Don''t run!" [Ash] "Sorry to wake you up while you''re sleeping princess" [Elise] "Let me go!" [Charlotte] Well, they still haven''t extracted out Charlotte''s tooth, chasing her around and now she ended up waking me up from my sleep, so let me just hug her tightly and get the job done. "Princess don''t!" [Charlotte] "Consider this as a punishment for waking me up <3" [Diana] "Nooooo!!!!" [Charlotte] . . . ~Glare~ Charlotte is still glaring at me, even at the dining table (which make Ash knock her head lightly as to remind her of table etiquette). Well, that still didn''t stop her from doing it. ~Glare~ ~Stop glaring~ "Haha, that''s cute" [Diana] "You mustn''t encourage her like that, your highness" [Qis] Well, when it comes to proper etiquette, Qis has been teaching not only the orphans, but also other kids as well, so she''s strict when it comes to thing like this. Truthfully, I don''t really mind Charlotte doing that to me, as my only younger sibling didn''t even bother interact with me. He did has a moment when he wanted to say something to me, but alas, he decided not to, even when I am the one approaching him. It''s lonely in the castle even though I am surrounded by people with familial ties in there "You guys have start eating" [Ram] "Don''t worry, there''s more of it" [Claude] "The smell of tea really is great" [Ram''s son] "Coffee will be better" [Ram''s daughter] "And here are some sweets from us, hope you like it" [Gizzere] "Sweets!" [Younger group] "Finish your dinner first" [Alice] "Ehh..." [Younger group] "Like she said" [Ash] "Right..." [Younger group] "And don''t give one to Charlotte, she just got her tooth extracted" [Rafiah] "WHY!" [Charlotte] Slowly, all the people that will be helping me as to ensure my debutante party a success gather. Ram and his family, few adventures, few local people around here, the merchants as well as some nobles like Crow. Well, not only about the Debutante party, there are also other related matter that I would like to discuss with them, both the short term and long term planning. Looking at this warm atmosphere, where all of them interact with one another, not bothering about title and race, is truly a warm sight. Maybe that''s why father didn''t bother about me hanging out with them, or maybe, this is what father and I had always envisioned since that time (Truly, what a blessing. If only Linda is here with us as well) [Diana] "Sorry I''m late" [Samurai Jacks] "You''re the last to come" [Alice] "Oh my, the wife is angry at the husband for coming home late" [Ash] "Cheating, he''s cheating on you" [Diana] "I wonder who''s the lady that manages to sway Mr Samurai heart here" [Lily''s mother] ~Mara dramatic gasp~ "So this is adult life" [Zerolith] "Sorry I''m late dear wife" [Samurai Jacks] ~Dramatic gasping~ "Don''t play along with them!" [Alice] "Wait, Sis Alice doesn''t really sound that mad" [Liyana] ~Dramatic gasping continue~ "Let just start the meeting!" [Alice] (Master Jacks sure looks dejected) [Rean] "Man, at least let me tease them more" [Ash] "Count me in as well" [Diana] "Let just start the meeting! Now!" [Alice] "Geez... alright alright, and Jacks, congratulation on your rank up! Now you''re an A rank adventure right, one step closer for your dream of becoming S rank adventure" [Ash] "Thank you" [Samurai Jacks] "And also one step closer to get Alice fall in love with you" [Diana] "Princess!" [Alice] "Ohh, I word it wrongly, one step closer as to make Alice truly honest to her feelings" [Diana] "I see, so Sis Alice really do love Mr Jacks" [Karon] "Hahahaha, I am now satisfied with teasing them, let us go" [Diana] "Yeah, we can continue teasing them afterwards" [Ash] Once we enter the empty room, and Ash uses his silent spell, I announced my plan of making my debutante party here officially. Needless to say, those who still haven''t heard of it were in disbelief Chapter 170 - Brainstorming session _________________________________________________ [Naoto point of view] Here we are, finally arrive at Malsia. The guard quickly recognise me and as usual greeted me. They have been wondering what takes me so long but I couldn''t really tell them about my job given by The King of Malsia and her daughter Princess Nurhaliza, but alas, I think at this point they all knew about my involvement in Kiserre since there are few adventures that are from Malsia that partake in the incident back at Kiserre as well We make ourselves to the castle first as to report regarding the incidence and also regarding Queen Rinz request of making an embassy there, for which he rewards me generously. . . . At Malsia''s Orphanage, "That sure takes you long" [Kanji] "Anything happen when I am away?" [Naoto] "Nothing, but..." [Kanji] "But?" [Naoto] "I''ll talk to you later. Kana and Qudus have more information regarding it as compared to me" [Kanji] "Understand, and before going any further, this is..." [Naoto] "Sis Naoto, who is this pretty lady?" [Cat girl] "Her long blonde hair is enviable!" [Blonde girl] "Hey, don''t rush into her!" [Naoto] But it''s too late, all of them quickly surrounded her and keep on asking question after question, but she looks comfortable around kids, like it''s only a natural thing for her to be surrounded by them. Honestly, it''s quite an amazing sight, with her motherly charm, it''s no wonder that the kids back at Estel as well as here in Malsia doesn''t have a hard time approaching her "What do we have here?" [Mira] "Wait the minute, isn''t she!" [Haliza] "Sorry for the late introduction, my name is Aries, I''m the paladin serving the current demon king" [Aries] ""SAY WHAT!!"" [Kanji, Seo Ah] _________________________________________________ [Diana point of view] And that''s the suggested flow of the event, ending with my announcement of developing this area into a community center which will be led by Sir Ceanu Reaves. There isn''t a single objection when I said that he will govern this area as this place has been isolated and poorly developed by Linda''s and Muse''s family family. Getting the approval to change the area govern was no menial task either, but thanks to Crow voluntarily exchange his govern land with them, we manage to settle it! Crow was of course seen as a fool but little do they knew at that time about this high risk gamble of us "I object!" [Ash] "Ehh, why?" [Kadeus''s father] "Sir Ceanu Reaves, from all of yours reaction, I do get the impression that he is quite a decent person, but I still refuse to serve THAT Duke''s family!" [Ash] "Hmm..." [Diana] It''s within my expectation that Ash here will voice out his opinion, and honestly, I don''t blame him even a bit, as the orphanage was attacked by the Duchess. Not to mention, he also involved when the idiot noble son drag Alice into the Rock and Sea dungeon back then. I can convince him that Sir Ceanu Reaves will be the best choice but "How about you talk to him directly the next time? If the community leader is dissatisfied with the governing noble, it will severely hamper the development of this area" [Diana] "Hey! Don''t just brush it off!" [Ash] "Community leader?" [Rean] "Well, I have been going around the neighborhood lately, asking about their opinion, and all of them vote for him as the representative, so that''s that. Congratulations Ash" [Diana] "FIRST I HEARD OF IT!" [Ash] "Well, moving on" [Diana] "We aren''t done yet!" [Ash] "It''s fine, I can help you during your meeting with the gentleman Sir Ceanu Reaves. He''s handsome but not as dashing as Rean here <3" [Muse] "You never cease to amaze me..." [Crow] I do feel pity for Ash, but if there''s anyone that can convince him that Sir Ceanu Reaves can help to govern the area on my behalf it''s Sir Ceanu himself. Plus, he will be meeting him alongside Crow, Muse, Liyana and other at a later date for further discussion about their respective roles, so for now, let just close my ear at his continuous ranting. I quickly summarize back the flow of event that will take place A day before my birthday aka Day 1: There will be a festival around this area, and it''s up to the merchant and the locals here. They will get financial support from me through the merchant guild. Community leader should be responsible for it Birthday aka Day 2: Debutante party start at night. It''s preceded by marching from the castle to a large hall (that of course, will be created later on, and will serve as community hall or church later on). This part here will be handle primarily by me, and event includes blessings from the church (I still haven''t received any news from Rumia about who is coming), present, some dancing and food. Sadly, it will be a close event. Community center will then be officially announced as the final event A day after my birthday aka Day 3: Final day of the festival, and an open event with the local will be held together. I sincerely wanted to accommodate it into my birthday itself but due to time constraints (as well as the fact that they themselves insist on doing it on a separate day), we will held it at Day 3. Community leader should be responsible for it "Sigh... so many jobs..." [Ash] "We will be there to help you!" [Elise] "Don''t worry, you aren''t alone" [Rafiah] "I can''t wait to get busy once more" [Claude] "My relaxing life..." [Ash] "Sometime, I do wonder if you''re a good role model for the kids with this lazy attitude" [Qis] Well, once again, I feel sorry for him, but behind those grunting, everyone knows he will do a great job, plus, everyone also shows their support, "Fine... I''ll do it" [Ash] "Haha, thank you" [Diana] Well, time to brainstorm some ideas together "So, are there anyone wanted to voice their opinions?" [Diana] "I do have one idea" [Clothing shop aunty] "And that is?" [Diana] "Can we have a photo shooting session together? Of course, your highness will be the main center of attraction!" [Clothing shop aunty] "But that''s danger..." "Sure, why not" [Qis][Diana] "That''s good! Plus, you can also line it up with multiple clothes from your store, maybe even let them borrow some clothes like nobles clothes etc, that way it will be more fun" [Ash] "Let do just that!" [Diana] "I really want a photo together with your highness, so this really is a dream come true!" [Clothing shop aunty] With that opening idea, multiple ideas were thrown one after another, and Ash naturally accept, improvise, discuss or simply reject some idea. "You really are natural at this" [Flinar] "Already accepting his role" [Erinmorlin] "Sigh... goodbye relaxing life, getting use sure sound fun" [Ash] "There he goes again" [Alice] "I wanted to say something, but it simply disrespectful to say it as he''s the one that gave the idea of Valkyrie to the princess" [Bladel] Well, technically I did pay him, but he''s the one that refuse all the high figure monthly salary, asking me to use it for something more beneficial, so he doesn''t really have the right to complaint of being use "It will be boring if all the adventures, soldiers and knights do are patrolling around and maintain the safety, so how about some tournament as well?" [Ram] "Good idea, we can use the training hall, but that mean I have to upgrade it." [Ash] "Well, we do plan on using your training hall openly later on, so the budget will be handled by Mrs Gizzere" [Diana] "We will discuss it tomorrow, shall we" [Gizzere] "Sure, but regarding the tournament, should we have the prizing ceremony be handled by Diana herself?" [Ash] "I''ll see to it, maybe even a private talk" [Diana] """"PRINCESS!!"""" [Liyana, Qis, Bladel, Yefefiah] "Well, she''s single and nobody wants her, so where''s the harm" [Ash] "Ohh, can you please repeat that! I''ll have you know that I am the one rejecting all the wedding proposal sent to me!" [Diana] "She''s seriously snap..." [Ash] And he has to touch this sensitive issue! What a jerk! "She''s sulking, how rare" [Ash] "Ash, just don''t make it any worse" [Claude] "You really are insensitive to a lady feeling" [Lily''s mother] "Mrs Khamishah have commented the same before, you really should consider changing your attitude" [Rean] "Fine..." [Ash] "Sigh... let just continue our brainstorming session" [Diana] Chapter 171 - Young Saintess Rumia _________________________________________________ [Naoto point of view] "So where''s the harm of it?" [Mira] "As someone who is always in the front line, that action of her will cause distraction I believe, so do you have any idea how to tackle this problem?" [Naoto] Currently, I am asking Mira (with Princess Nurhaliza joining in the conversation as well) regarding Mrs Aries habit of constantly touching the necklace with her family photo in it. I have been working as an adventure ever since I was small, so I do know that such small distraction can cause huge problem, but Mira just giggle when I ask her this question, and she quickly approaches Mrs Aries who is right now having a mock sparring session with Kanji and his friends, as well as Seo Ah "No more..." [Ex thug A] "I give up" [Seo Ah] "Dammit! One more time please!" [Kanji] "Sure" [Aries] "Hey, Mira is coming, I wonder why" [Ex thug C] Mira approaches Mrs Aries and "Question, if someone were to snatch this necklace of yours, what will you do?" [Mira] "Heaven should be on their side to even attempt such a thing!" [Aries] "I see, that''s good then, keep it up!" [Mira] ""Why are you asking it?"" [Aries, Seo Ah] "Just to make sure of something" [Mira] Huh? Is that it? She didn''t even ask for anything else! I come here to ask for advice regarding that necklace that can cause distraction and that is all? "There, all done" [Mira] "That''s it!?" [Naoto] "Yup, nothing else should be done" [Mira] "Honestly speaking, I don''t even see the problem to begin with" [Haliza] "But small distraction like that can kill her!" [Naoto] "True, but will it?" [Mira] "Of course it will!" [Naoto] "Well, from what I observe, it seems like she found a new source of strength" [Haliza] "True, but someone stoic like you might not appreciate it that much" [Mira] "That again..." [Naoto] I give up, I just can''t understand this sort of thing perfectly. I can read the mood perfectly well, I consider myself as considerate, but when it comes to emotional attachment like this, I can''t explain it well to myself. I do believe logic should prevail over emotions in most situations, that''s why I decided not to tell the emotional Ash about his siblings falling sick the first time we met in Kiserre. I do feel bad but it was the logical things to do during that time, but... (Then again, these two have been saying the same thing to me, that I should be more flexible) [Naoto] "Mrs Paladin, you''re strong!" [Cat boy] "As strong as Brother Ash!" [Elf boy] "Dammit! Another loss" [Kanji] "Please, just give up..." [Ex thug E] "No! One more time!" [Kanji] "I wanted to join!" [Teenage boy] "Sure" [Aries] A new source of strength. I wonder if it''s the same as me looking after Kanji when our parent passed away? ~Birdie screech~ "So that''s the metal bird golem you guys been talking about" [Aries] "Ohh, we have a guest" [Kana] Looks like they have come back. I wonder what they will tell _________________________________________________ [Diana point of view] The brainstorming session ends with a good note. It is getting late, so I should sleep first. Last time, I dream about my meeting with now Saintess Rumia, I wonder if the dream will continue "So you can communicate with Goddess Achalasia herself!" [Young Diana] "True, but I''m only telling you this because the goddess says you can be trusted!" [Young Rumia] (Is she serious...) [Young Diana] "You don''t trust me, very well, watch this" [Young Rumia] Performing a prayer sign, young Rumia asked the goddess for a meal to appear right in front of us and ~Poof~ "What!" [Young Diana] "Teehee..." [Young Rumia] She seemed happy. Rumia have always this air of cute, happy and innocence in her, and to think it was from way back. I''m glad that part of her still unchanged "What, what kind of trick did you use!" [Young Diana] "So you still don''t believe in me..." [Young Rumia] "Well..." [Young Diana] There''s no magic involve, and the chicken turkey that appears before us is the best chicken turkey I have in my life, but "Why did Goddess Achalasia ask you to tell me all this?" [Young Diana] "I don''t know" [Young Rumia] "What?" [Young Diana] "Goddess Achalasia love to give what she called as a homework and ask me to figure out the rest by myself" [Young Rumia] Is that so... I don''t know why but somehow, I have this feeling that something big will happen in the future with this revelation. "Can you ask the Goddess about one thing?" [Young Diana] "Sure" [Young Rumia] (What a nice girl she is) "Can you ask the Goddess about these three girls and..." [Young Diana] "She said just approach them and make them your best friend" [Young Rumia] "That was quick, and thank you, Dear Goddess Achalasia" [Young Diana] I quickly get up from my seat, and Rumia ask me whether she can come along "Sure, we are friends after all" [Young Diana] "Really! Can I call you Princess Diana!" [Young Rumia] "Just call me Diana, and I''ll call you Rumia" [Young Diana] "But that is..." [Young Rumia] "Now, let us go!" [Young Diana] So unlike Ash, well, that''s for the good. As we walk, I can hear the sound of wooden sword clashing with one another. The three of them are still practicing "Take this!" [Young Linda] "Nice try, but that won''t be enough!" [Young Qis] "Alright, alright, you win, again..." [Young Alice] Well here goes nothing "Excuse me!" [Young Diana] "Isn''t she..." [Young Alice] ""Your highness Princess Diana!!"" [Young Qis, Young Linda] "Bow quickly you two fool!" [Young Alice] I don''t remember Alice used to be like that... "It''s fine, just... can you tell me your name?" [Young Diana] """Ehh...""" [Young Linda, Qis, Alice] "Well, I will go first. I''m Diana, she''s Rumia, and..."(Why am I so nervous?) [Young Diana] "Can we all be friends!" [Young Rumia] """Ehh!!!""" [Young Linda, Qis, Alice] ~Beep~ The alarm magic core goes off, and another beautiful day greet us all. "That sure was a good dream" [Diana] Better get myself ready _________________________________________________ "Beat the alarm once again!" [Ash] I hate the alarm sound from the magic core, so much so that I will always wake up before the alarm. It''s a beautiful sunny day, if only there''s not much work piled up. Then again, I don''t really mind it that much, sure it''s a hassle but compared to being ruled over by the other two princes, I rather work myself to the bone and let Diana seize the throne for herself Photoshoot session, tournament, various shops, decoration of the neighborhood area, daily inspection, painting the old houses around for the event, overseeing the construction of a new hall, upgrading the training hall, various performances and mini games, recruiting teachers for the school etc etc. The list sure goes on and on. Not to mention, the telephone and the gun work especially the telephone as it will be officially introduce by Diana, Gizzere and I (I''m sure the castle will release the statement about Diana''s debutante around now, so let the hassle begin) [Ash] "Brother Ash, the first prince and his convoy asks you to come down!" [Rean] "Sigh... what a hassle" [Ash] If only I can legally kick them in the face Chapter 172 - Conversation with the first prince _________________________________________________ [Naoto point of view] Birdie landed gracefully. This giant steel bird (or pterodactyl I believe the term Ash used to describe it) straight away rest at its giant nest. With its cool body thanks to the constant chilling air surrounding it, the orphans as usual, stick close to it, and as usual, fall asleep. Birdie doesn''t even mind it one bit, in fact, it seems glad that they do so. I wonder why As Kana and Qudus have introduced themselves to Mrs Aries, they tell the results of their investigation in the gift from earth dungeon. As expected there''s decline in monsters activity, but what shock us the most (especially Mrs Aries and I) is "A strange mermaid?" [Haliza] "Just like at Kiserre" [Aries] "It''s no coincidence then" [Naoto] "Even in Kiserre... The ancient tunnel aren''t fully mapped, and there''s rumour that it layout will keep on changing, is there a connection between the two?" [Qudus] "There''s also a report from Estel''s adventure guild, a samurai with his receptionist girlfriend mention a strange behaviour of mermaid" [Kana] "I should ask the Beast Kingdom regarding this matter as well" [Aries] "Please do" [Haliza] I wonder what will happen? As I keep on pondering, Mrs Aries here keep on looking at the photo inside her necklace. It''s bothering me, but "I wonder what inside the necklace?" [Haliza] "A photo of my family" [Aries] "Did Boss Ash makes it for you?" [Kanji] "He sure did" [Aries] "Isn''t that Kara and Mara?" [Seo Ah] "It is!" [Mira] "Family. Does that mean..." [Kana] She did not deny nor agree to it. Just her usual warm smile as a reply "Well, that''s all good then" [Kana] "It will be a distraction in your battle though, so please keep that in mind" [Naoto] "I see, no wonder Mrs Orphanage Director here ask me about it. I''ll be careful about it" [Aries] "Hmm... the necklace seem a bit frail. Why don''t you used our material and asked a smith to forge it and make it stronger?" [Mira] "Can I?" [Aries] "Sure, and can I help to choose and decorate it as well?" [Seo Ah] "I don''t mind. I''ll be off afterward though" [Aries] "How about you rest here for a day?" [Mira] "Sorry, but there''s work to do in the Demon kingdom" [Aries] "Relax, it''s only one day. Plus, I''m sure King Druser won''t mind it" [Haliza] "But..." [Aries] "Can you?" [Youngest girl] "Sure... I''ll take the offer" [Aries] "Yay!" [Younger group] She shared the same weakness as Ash now _________________________________________________ King Estel have four wives, with each wives having a single child. Diana is the third child (as well as the only daughter) in the family, born from the third queen. Her support mainly comes from us the citizen as well as the lower ranking noble and knight. Her ever rising popularity can be attributed to many incident such as solving the endemic disease, distribution of several A rank water magic cores as source of water to the citizen, changing the corrupted official, standing up for the Beastman and demon group (a controversial move), supporting the new Saint and Saintess as well as the Demon king Druser, and the Beast King Leogris (again another controversial move). Recent attack to orphanage and her involvement also rose her popularity First Queen gavee birth to the first prince. Diana described him as someone super serious about everything, especially about tradition and all. He is especially popular among the nobles and high knight as well as among the administrative power of Estel. The Duke''s family manage to escape serious consequences mainly because of the first prince backing them up, saying that they''re still needed for the sake of the country Second Prince, born out of the second queen, well, I can only get the impression of your typical useless noble. Alas, the support from the religious group is strong on his side, largely thanks to his mother effort. Again, the old follower and maybe even the Achalasia Externa group escape unscathed due to their influence. The official statement says that the church official have been kicked out by the kingdom but the truth is, they''re still hiding inside the country thanks to him For Diana''s younger brother, born from the fourth queen, I don''t really know much, and Diana also says that he wouldn''t bother us much, so I guess I shouldn''t be worry about him (And aside from Diana, I don''t even remember their name. Well, not that I care) [Ash] As I went down to have a talk with the first prince, he''s already seated and makes himself at home. Can I legally kick him out? "You''re late. Don''t you know anything about mannerisms?" [First prince] Sigh... way to give a good first impression of yourself. Alas, from the way he talks, he''s pissed off because of my etiquette (kinda like how Qis usually do). I guess this is part of the reason why Diana described him as super serious. Well, I only "met" the second prince all this time, so I don''t really know anything else about this guy "So, why are you here?" [Ash] "I''ll be straight. Cancel your help to my younger sister" [First prince] "And if I don''t?" [Ash] The tension is ever rising in the air. He doesn''t let out any malice intention, maybe because he knows about Housey function "It''s inappropriate for a royal like herself to receive help from a commoner, not to mention, from a traveler" [First prince] "What''s so wrong about that?" [Ash] "Us royal should carry ourselves with utmost dignity. Each class, from Royal to slave, have their own role to play. From ruling with tradition to working for the sake of the country, paying taxes and distributing the taxes, it should be done in a systematic manner that has been carried out like before. What she''s doing is simply an extreme deviation that shouldn''t be allowed to continue" [First prince] "And?" [Ash] "Someone smart like you should understand it. I do believe your rash personality aren''t nothing more than a few shortcoming that can be corrected. Here is my order, cancel your help to Diana, works under me, and let my official take care of the orphanage. Diana doesn''t pay your salary appropriately, so once I make her my wife, I''ll correct her deviant way of thinking" [First prince] I can''t tell whether he is serious, or stupid. Screw that, I can''t tell whether he is seriously stupid or stupidly serious about what he just mentioned... I do know incest among the royalty back on earth is a common practice, but hearing it being said so easily by "this guy" isn''t a pleasant feeling. Plus, he expects me to just stop giving my support to Diana and somehow jump to the conclusion that I will then work under him. I can''t find the logic here, plus, if going by tradition "If going by this so called tradition of yours, shouldn''t I not be allowed to work with the royal?" [Ash] "Some form of leniency should be allowed as to promote growth. I believe the Receptionist Alice at the adventure guild is a fine example of educated lady commoner for it" [First prince] "I just don''t understand you... If going by your logic, I should just continue my support to Diana" [Ash] "Sudden changes will only bring more harm than good. Plus, why broke the already perfect traditional system?" [First prince] "Perfect? Only in your eyes, but for other, it''s simply a broken trashy system" [Ash] "So, do you want to say that this system that has been practiced ever since the foundation of the kingdom by the original ten heroes is broken" [First prince] Huh... that''s a new info. But to counter his argument "That''s correct. You can say the system is perfect because you received all the benefits, while other didn''t. Well, to begin with, there''s no such things as a perfect system, even the change that will be brought by Diana can become corrupted as generation passed. Than again, it''s better for me to support her so that she can bring justice to those oppressed by the older system" [Ash] Diana wanted an equal opportunity for other to learn, unlike that of traditional system where only nobles and high knight can receive. Diana wanted to promote equality to all the races, something that the old follower freely misuse in the name of religion. She still believes the royal, noble, knight, civilian and all have their roles to play, but at the same time, she doesn''t want those classes to be so separated from each other "The system is perfect! It''s the trash within it that needed to be purged. My stance remains the same, don''t disturb the already perfect system, and stop lending a helping hand towards Diana who wanted to crush it" [First prince] Again, can''t tell whether he''s seriously stupid or stupidly serious. Then again, he did realize of the scum within the system, so I guess that is a plus in his side. But, why don''t he purged them out? Judging from what I have been told, he still needs their support to become the king, but what next? What will he do once he becomes the king, throw them out? Kill them? That will surely create chaos. I can''t warped my head around this idea. "Sorry, but I will continue to serve Diana" [Ash] "Reason?" [First prince] "No particular reason. I just admire her. Plus, I want the best for my siblings. Under your so called perfect system, they''re rather unfortunate, so if I can support Diana, their future will become brighter" [Ash] "Then just become a noble. With enough achievement, it''s possible" [First prince] "Then what about the other? Most of them aren''t that unfortunate to even learn, barely scraping their daily wages for food. How do you expect them to rack up achievement and become a noble?" [Ash] "Interesting way of thinking..." [First prince] We sip out our tea. Well, it sure is an interesting conversation. Here I am, thinking that I will lash out instantly "I don''t know the answer for that. I will try to search it up. But my order remain the same, stop helping Diana. That girl deviate too much, and it''s my job as her future husband to correct her, even by force if I should" [First prince] "Negative. Now, I do think we are both busy, so why don''t we end our discussion" [Ash] "It''s a shame, but I do believe I have a good conversation with you. It''s not often I can talk like this. Sir Ceanu Reaves is one of those people that can indulge me when we are discussing, and now, you join the rank as well, albeit a lower one" [First prince] "I still have a lot to learn, but alas, pleasure is all mine" [Ash] He simply gets up, thanks Claude for the tea and snacks and quickly enter his carriage. Now I know what Diana meant when she says he is a serious person. Well, he is someone who believes wholeheartedly in the traditional system and will defend it to the end. Admirable, but alas, from the info that Diana''s receive, he also employed some dirty hand to do the job just to keep his influence up. "So this is the lowly orphanage! Fear not, for I, the Second prince, shou..." [Second prince] "A loud trash. I''ll dispose it" [Mahsuri] ""-.. .. ... .--. --- ... . / - .... . / - .-. .- ... .... --..-- / ... - .- .-. - -.-.--"" [Housey, Calypso tree] That line alone tell me all I should know about the second prince. Needless to say, none of the second prince and his convoys stand a chance when facing again the raging water from Mahsuri. She then comes back inside and as usual, sit in her favourite sofa, not bothering to move for the rest of the day Chapter 173 - Claude can now go out freely _________________________________________________ [Saintess Rumia point of view] Saint Louis already gave the permission for my departure to Estel. When he asked whether it was because of the Goddess will or not, as usual, I tell him that the goddess says it''s a homework for me, to figure it out myself. He looks worried but a little bit of convincing is all I needed to sway the opinions of those attending the meeting. I can''t wait to meet Diana, Qis, Alice and Linda''s younger sister once more. Too bad, our friendship didn''t last long, as after the brief period of time we are all acquaintance, the goddess tells me to follow a certain group of people in order for me to escape from the clutch of the Achalasia Externa. Their connection to the second queen of Estel is still unclear even up till now, but I''m glad Diana, Qis, Alice and Linda help me. (Follow the path in the old valley, and you''ll meet a group of slave vampires. Use this blessing of mine to free them all) [Goddess Achalasia] That was what the goddess tells the last time, and those group of vampires will later serve Diana as her hidden guards. After my escape, I join a traveler priest, and later meet Saint Louis and the other, which ultimately led to the birth of the original teaching of Achalasia religion, or what common folks love to refer as the new follower. "We have packed all the necessaries for your long journey O saintess" [Servant] "Thank you so much. I''ll miss you, and please take good care of Saint Louis" [Saintess Rumia] "I''ll miss you as well O saintess. And I''ll be sure to be strict on Saint Louis habit of eating honey" [Servant] "Please do!" [Saintess Rumia] "Please don''t" [Saint Louis] "Oh my, how rude of me, good morning O saint" [Servant] I can still see the panda eyes in Saint Louis.Poor Saint, he''s still tired from all the late night meeting and the abundance of documents that he needs to take care of, and yet he still finds the time to say goodbye to us "Do take care on the road, and may the goddess always be with all of you" [Saint Louis] "Thank you" [Other] "And please, send my regards to Ash" [Saint Louis] "I will" [Saintess Rumia] There''s ten of us that will depart to Estel. Five men and women including myself. It will be quite a long journey "Guess this is my punishment for sneaking out to Kiserre. Back to work it is!" [Saint Louis] Saint Louis figure become smaller and smaller. I have sent the letter through the mini garuda, but... (I wanted to surprise them, so I don''t really tell Diana about me joining in this convoy. I wonder how will she react) [Saintess Rumia] (Naughty girl aren''t you) [Goddess Achalasia] (I''m not!) [Saintess Rumia] I can hear the Goddess gentle laugh _________________________________________________ [Aries point of view] It''s been few days after my departure from Malsia. Entering the Beast Kingdom, the usual guard greeted me, even offering some of his sweets for me, for which I gladly accept. As usual, the Beast Kingdom houses some of the friendliest people I know. The beast kingdom is like that of Estel, only their structure is usually bigger with more variation of shape as to accommodate all the different types of beastman to live comfortably with each other. As I take my first step, a familiar figure quickly approach me "I heard what happen at Kiserre" [Motra] "News sure spread quickly" [Aries] Motra, a half man half woman butterfly beastman. He/she is a noble as well as an S rank adventure. She''s friendly and is nice to talk with, although his/her appearance will still throw you up sometime "Motra, can you lead me to the castle. I need to talk with the Beast King, Leogris" [Aries] "Ticket to castle coming right up!" [Motra] He/she quickly takes the soldier carriage and guide me to the castle. I talk to him/her about the incident, about the embassy request from Queen Rinz as well as Princess Diana debutante party. "I see. So Behemoth slayer will help her" [Motra] "He will" [Aries] "I need to convince Leo to send me there!" [Motra] "I''ll help" [Aries] "I can always count on you for help!" (I wonder if Agnes and the True Beastman Group, Simba will appreciate this information) [Motra] _________________________________________________ News of the debutante party being held around our neighborhood area have become a hot topic and discussion among the citizen of Estel. With that, there are bounds to have some stupid and useless rumours going around. Honestly, human do love gossip. Then again, even with the internet back on earth, the truth rarely spread but gossip and rumours spread like wildfire, no it''s worse back on earth as compared too here. "Here the last bunch of magic core" [Zerolith] "And here the seeds from the elemental trees" [Farhah] "Thank you all of you for helping me out" [Ash] "You''re welcome" [Rean] The first thing that I should really do is once again, upgrade Housey and Calypso tree. And this time around, it''s just to increase their area of influence, ambitiously covering our neighborhood area. "Alright, I''ll tell you the details once more. Simply put, we will place the magic core at specific point. That way, Housey and Calypso tree can expand their area of influence, allowing for better security as well as allowing Grandpa Claude to move outside the mansion. We will also plant the seeds along the roads and let them grows quickly with the help of Calypso and Calypso tree. That way, the elemental trees can act as decoration, street light at night as well as attracting dormant fairies. Understood?" [Ash] "Yes!" [Other] "Good, now split into the group, and follow the adventure. Don''t cause them trouble" [Ash] "Yes" [Other] "Bobunny, multiplies and follow them all" [Ash] ~Happy chuckling~ And off they go. Well, I better brace myself, for my mana will seriously become depleted because I have to connect all the magic core to Housey. I''ll go solo and quickly go to other groups later on. How do I know it will be a success? Simple, either Claude can freely move out openly during day time, or safer method of calling Rafiah through the magic core through the function of telephone. Let just go with the later one (Better check all my mana potion) [Ash] And there''s abundance of them. Good thing we all farm it over the span of few days, but... "Change of plan. All of you will connect the magic core to Housey and Calypso Tree. Just don''t over exert yourself" [Ash] ""We can!!"" [Kara, Mara] "Yup, and I''ll be overseeing it afterwards. So, do your best!" [Ash] "Yes!" [Others] They sure look happy. I give them several mana potions, and they quickly split into three different group. Rean with his friends, the girls group with the ex-paladin female adventure and the female elf adventure, and as for the boys group with Syah and Borg. Lara and Nara as usual, don''t want to be split up, but after a long session to convince them, they reluctantly (and with a very sad face) split up Going into the first place, I plant the elemental seeds along the way, and once I am at the predetermined area, I bring out the magic core, and start to activate it, and then connect it to Housey and Calypso Tree. "You sure are working hard" [Kebab stall owner] "Yup, but it''s for my siblings in the end of the day, so it''ll be worth it" [Ash] "So, what are you doing?" [Kebab stall owner] "Well..." [Ash] As I explain to him regarding the function of elemental seeds and the magic core, something unexpected happens "It''s a success" [Claude] "!" [Ash] "Hey, Mr Butler? Are you fine? Don''t ghost have a weakness to sunlight!" [Kebab stall owner] "Well, I can feel a bit of sting, but nothing so serious" [Claude] "Sigh... my heart just stopped for a moment. But I guess it''s a success" [Ash] "Let us try and call Rafiah" [Claude] "Yeah, let us do that" [Ash] And I am now calling Rafiah through the magic core. "Claude! What are you doing there!" [Rafiah] ""Success!!"" [Claude, Ash] "Are you fine, you aren''t hurt, aren''t you?" [Rafiah] "There, there, everything fine. Ohh, looks like Rean have set up their first magic core. Better go there and see" [Claude] """Wait!!!""" [Ash, Rafiah, Kebab stall owner] Claude disappear and "Hello hello" [Claude] "Claude! That''s dangerous!" [Ash] "My heart feels like it stopped for a moment" [Rafiah] "I get that you''re a ghost that has been trapped in the mansion, but don''t get overly excited. What will happen if you suddenly perish!" [Kebab stall owner] "True, we will feel bad if you''re hurt because of us!" [Ray] "I''m sorry, but it had been more than 100 years since I last went out..." [Claude] "Well... as long as you''re fine. But you being there with Rean means that it is also a success over there" [Ash] "You did a good job young Rean" [Claude] "Thank you" [Rean] "Ohh, Elise and Zerolith also just finished their first jobs. Better check it out!" [Claude] "WAIT!" [Other] Sigh... he sure is excited. All of us call Elise and Zerolith and Claude turn out just fine, and so does the telephone functionality. I didn''t even realize I can call Rafiah, Rean, Elise and Zerolith simultaneously. This turn out way better than I expected. Plus, their face and voice are crystal clear. It all thanks to the adventure and soldier helping us farm a magic core from the spawning block together. "Mr Ghost Butler, can I have a moment. This is regarding the stall that I will set up" "Sure, I''ll help you" [Claude] Looks like Claude will help them over there. Well, better set up the other magic core to help him. At the end of the day, Diana, Ram and Gizzere knows about the success and request a magic core connected to Housey and Calypso Tree for themselves and the guilds. I make an extra one and give to King Estel as well Chapter 174 - Sir Ceanu Reaves _________________________________________________ [Ceanu Reaves point of view] I have arrived back at my homeland. The guards that saw me from afar are still grinning, celebrating my arrival "It''s been so long since we last saw you!" "And with how many problems piling up, we will do our best to support you!" "Let us go and drink dear Sir!" "If I''m free, I''ll see to it" [Ceanu] "Yahoo!" I stop by the adventure guild nearby, where Alice and the other quickly notice me. I''m quickly being overwhelmed by them. I''m glad they''re all still a good hearted person "You should inform us all regarding your arrival!" [Alice] "True, we can welcome you, maybe even throw some party" [Spearman adventure] "That won''t be necessary. By the way, where is the guild master?" [Ceanu] "He isn''t here. Should I leave a massage for dad?" [Ram''s daughter] "Please do so. I would like to meet him, as well as..." [Ceanu] I can''t find anyone that match the description of The Guardian of children "Alice, can I ask you to give my invitation to The Behemoth Slayer, of course with the others as well" [Ceanu] "To Ash and the orphans? I will" [Alice] "Should I ask mom and dad to come together with him?" [Ram''s daughter] "Please do so" [Ceanu] "I will. You should go and rest first dear Sir" [Ram''s daughter] "That, I will" [Ceanu] _________________________________________________ Chatterbox. I don''t know whether the people around the neighborhood are always a chatterbox or because of the magic core. Apparently, all these magic cores that we set up can also be used to make a call from one magic core to another, and thus, the neighborhood use it to chat with each other. Initially, it will go through Housey and Calypso Tree, but because of the overload of phone calls being made, Housey and Calypso Tree here decided to make use the Spawning block, take the drop magic core from the zombie being spawn and enhance it for the pure purpose of handling all the incoming calls. And not to mention, they did it all by themselves. Scary, but that''s good then. Kinda like how AI that can self learn and solve their problems without the reliance on human . . . At night, Rafiah, Claude and I see the result of our experimentation. The "empty treasure chest" that I got turn out to be a really legendary thing. "We only put in one high grade mana potion, one elemental seed, one low grade magic core, one high grade magic core and one gold bar, but now ..." [Ash] "Interesting, but there are some that are being produced in higher quantities as compared to other" [Claude] "Guess we should experiment more on it" [Ash] "Agree, and you might want to give the mana potion to Sir Ceanu Reaves tomorrow as a gift" [Rafiah] "Sigh... I don''t want to meet him. Plus, having to bring all of you to that Duke house is..." [Ash] "Don''t be like that. I''ll prepare some food to give him as well, I''ll give it to you after you fetch Bond and the other" [Claude] "Fine..." [Ash] After emptying out the treasure chest, we put in bunch of other different things, and now, we wait for the results. I wanted to sleep early for tomorrow, but given that there are few stalls owner that comes to ask for suggesting, I decided not to . . . "Morning!" [Cupid] "Morning" [Mahsuri] "Come come, let us eat!" [Cupid] "Let''s go go go!" [Charlotte] "..." [Mahsuri] "We will move her, with FORCE!" [Savel] "Together!" [Singa] "Yes!" [Other] Try as they might, Mahsuri didn''t even bulge a bit, and understandably, they''re left upset once more because once again, they''re unsuccessful with their mission of making Mahsuri eat together with us. I''m impressed that they still have the energy and interest to keep ongoing. I have few moments where I just wanted to give up, but I''m still indebted to her, so let just try no matter how many times we need. All of us have our light breakfast together, where Bond tells us about what happened. I feel bad for not being able to save their families, but they ensure me I am not at fault. Thank you, all of you. I should pay a visit to their new house later on After dressing up, I start the bus golem and drive to the Duke''s mansion. Sigh... Alice, Diana and the other did mentioned he is a good hearted person, but going into this household brings nothing but bad memories for me. The Duke that I use my nightmare spell because he threatens the orphanage, the Duchess and the idiot noble son. Just how in the world should I believe he''s a good person when others living with him is a pest, no pest is only putting it lightly here. Once arrive, the mansion guard inspect us all, before allowing us to enter. I swear the guard look at me like looking at a predator. Guess I must have beaten him up at one point of time "So pretty" [Elsa] "My flower garden loss..." [Farhah] "Now now, we should appreciate what we have" [Rafiah] "The soil must be good in here" [Karon] "And the mansion is way bigger than the orphanage" [Zerolith] "Come, we are the last to arrive. Don''t want to make them wait for any longer" [Bond] "Agree" [Ash] The maids, knight, butler etc all welcome us. There''s no nasty eyes among them towards my siblings, so I''m glad. Maybe Ceanu figure that might happen and only ask the good staffs to come and greet us The interior is also nice, it will not beat the castle but it''s nice on its own. Same goes for the magic security being set up. It''s quite well made, though I can strip it out any second that should I want. ~Knock knock~ The butler knocks on the door of Ceanu office, and "Please come in" [Ceanu] Ahh... he really is like a certain actor back on earth. Elsa, Elise and Kara here start to blush just by seeing him. There''s Diana, Qis, Crow, Ram, Gizzere, Alice, Liyana and Muse right now. My siblings and others started to bow and greet him but "Ash!" [Diana] "I know you have a "unique" manner, but Sir Ceanu here is a kind hearted person" [Crow] (Brother Ash, please bow and show some respect) [Rean] "Sigh... should I? I don''t really feel like it..." [Ash] Childish I know. Plus, I don''t really felt any malice intention from him, but with the bad histories that the Duke''s household had with me, I just couldn''t bring myself to greet him properly. Crow keep on hinting at me to behave properly but "It''s fine, and it''s understandable why he would be so upset. For that..." [Ceanu] He get up, shake my hand and bow "Please forgive my Family for what they have done to you and your family!" [Ceanu] "!" [Ash] That... really is unexpected, so much so that I panic a bit "It''s not me, it''s them that you should ask for forgiveness" [Ash] "Of course, I plan to do just that" [Ceanu] And he did. They also have a brief moment of panic attack, not knowing what to do. I look really childish now as compared to the mature person in front of me "Ash..." [Diana] "Fine... To tell you the truth, the moment he bow, all my anger and frustration kinda like being blown away. It''s simply unexpected, and for that, I''m Ash. Please forgive me for my rude behaviour" [Ash] "Now that is rare" [Qis] "Shut it" [Ash] "It''s fine. I can''t ask for my family sins to be easily forgiven, but I do ask that will not interfere with our works in the future" [Ceanu] "Sure, and may I call you Ceanu?" [Ash] """!!!""" [Crow, Muse, Liyana] "Sure, and I can just call you Ash from here on out" [Ceanu] "Is that really fine...?" [Mara] "Well, he has been calling me by name all the time, so why not?" [Diana] We then sit down together, discuss a few things and "A tour? Sure, why not?" [Ash] "Thank you very much" [Ceanu] He ask me to show the neighborhood areas as well as the progress that has been made for the debutante party. I plan on doing it myself afterward, so there''s no harm to bring him along as well, in fact, this will serve to deepen the bond between the residence and Ceanu here Before we leave, I give him box of high grade mana potion, and he wanted to give something in return, for which I quickly decline "Just be nice to my siblings in the future. That''s all I need" [Ash] "Sure" [Ceanu] Chapter 175 - What others are doing _________________________________________________ [At Orphanage in Malsia] [Director of the orphanage, Mira, Point of view] Mira here, bringing you another sneak peek of daily life at Malsia''s Orphanage, which basically means playing with the kids every day while also having to be strict with them when it comes to studying and magic practice. Every day is filled with laughter of children from various races and background growing up properly. It''s true, but... If only it was that simple... "Another wedding proposal from a horny noble. This one from a horny merchant" [Mira] I kinda remember how Ash snapped back then by calling one of the noble horny old man, so now, every time I received a wedding invitation, I subconsciously label them as horny. Well, time to torn this wedding proposal apart, and set it on fire. I wanted to spit on it as well, but let us not do that, it will set a bad example to the kids should they see it Honestly, these nobles and merchants, do they really think I am that easy? The crystal spawning blocks is one of three spawning block that function as source of income for orphanage, and those nobles and merchants with their greedy attitude wouldn''t appreciate something so valuable to be given for the sake of the orphanage. Of course, there are various ploys going behind my back, with the sole purpose of bringing me down, but that''s not gonna work. Well, I am not alone, my best friend, Princess Nurhaliza really helps me a lot, so does Kana, Qudus and Naoto. So... (As long as I am alive, I won''t give them the Spawning block, no matter what!) [Mira] . . . A letter, with the seal of royal emblem from Kiserre. Looks like Queen Rinz and The Saga Khamishah wanted to open an orphanage at Kiserre as well. It''s mentioned in the letter that they had been referred by Ash regarding this matter. Well, I am the Director, so anything related to the orphanage should be referred to me (Not that I couldn''t help them, but...) [Mira] This kind of discussion is better when you''re facing them face to face, or when the telephone functionality is crystal clear. Ash did mention it''s becoming better and better, so let just hope by the times the kids and I went to Princess Diana debutante party, it''s all sort out. For now, I should reply back about the organisation structure of the orphanage, the daily expenses, the necessities, the role of orphanage, vision, mission etc. Ash did give them a tour but as the director, I have to elaborate more on all of these in details "Sis, it''s time for the prayer" [Seo Ah] "Coming!" [Mira] Nobles and merchants aside, this old follower also brings nothing but trouble to us thus far, but that would not be a good excuse to skip my weekly prayer. . . . As I keep praying at the beautiful diamond carving of Goddess Achalasia inside the church, the kids started to play around. Thank goodness Kanji, Kana and Seo Ah manage to make them behave properly (I just hope I can do this every day until my very last breath) [Mira] (Such a sweet child. I''ll lend you my support) [?] That voice! Who is it "The goddess orb!" [Nun] "It''s bright!" [Kanji] It''s glowing ever so brightly. Someone must have got a title from the goddess, but who? "Mira, the light, it''s directed towards you!" [Kana] "Me! That, that means!" [Mira] That voice, it couldn''t be... Everyone stares at me in disbelief, but those from orphanage have a different kind of stare, it''s like they were expecting this to happen. As I slowly walk towards the goddess orb, I can see the title that I received from the goddess "Same as him" [Mira] Mira, The Guardian of Children _________________________________________________ [At Open field dungeon 16th floor] [Captain of the female knights and magicians squad Valkyrie, Bladel point of view] "Captain Bladel! Over there!" [Valkyrie A] "Excellent! Get the taming powder from Mr Claude ready!" [Bladel] "Right!" [Others] "Gotta catch them all!" [Valkyrie C] Right now, my squad and I are trying to catch and tame a group of pegasus. It''s a very rare, usually good mannered monster that will avoid people at all cost. Well, thanks to the Receptionist Alice and the adventures that spotted it, all of us quickly get the permission from Princess Diana to come here, and incidentally, when the ghost butler, Mr Claude catch wind of this, he prepared a taming powder that''s love by pegasus, that way, our chance of catching them will increase "That''s!" [Valkyrie E] "A dark pegasus!" [Valkyrie F] "Perfect!" [Bladel] My most proficient elements are darkness, and my heirloom sword is called as Night Blade, so getting myself a dark pegasus will be fitting! I can''t wait to catch them! We slowly approach them, not wanting to startle any one of it, but ~Neighing~ "Shit!" [Valkyrie B] "Everybody calm down!" [Bladel] Well, they''re still a monster, so we shouldn''t be careless. Plus, they can easily range from C to S rank monster, so cautious is always necessary. But no matter (This struggling Should then be passed down as a legend, where the newly form Valkyrie bravely tame a group of pegasus, and use it to protect the princess!) [Bladel] "Ahh, it just wanted to eat the taming powder" [Valkyrie G] "Here, here" [Valkyrie C] "Ehh..." [Bladel] Wait, where''s the struggle? Shouldn''t there be one? "Oh my, they''re so cute!" [Valkyrie A] "I want this one!" [Valkyrie B] ~Happy neighing~ Struggle... legend... "Ahh, the black pegasus" [Valkyrie D] "It''s approaching Captain Bladel" [Valkyrie E] "Feed it quickly!" [Valkyrie G] Taming them through sheer hard work, with our sweat and blood... ~Happy neighing~ "It taken a liking to you!" [Valkyrie G] "Good! Plus, there bound to be more of them!" [Valkyrie B] "Let us keep searching!" [Valkyrie A] "Yes!" [Other] What an anti climatic legend... "I can''t wait to march together with them during the princess birthday!" [Valkyrie D] An anti climatic start of our legend... _________________________________________________ [At Dungeon entrance, Beast Kingdom] [The butterfly beastman, Motra point of view] "Thank you Motra, for helping me out" [Aries] "Anything for my friend! Make sure to stay safe, you have Lisa, Kara and Mara to take care of!" [Motra] "I will. Thanks" [Aries] There she goes, going to her next destination, the Demon kingdom. (Sigh... Aries, Aries, Aries... You shouldn''t trust someone so easily... Well, I did get a good information, and I feel good that someone good like her can trust someone like me, but now I feel bad about it) [Motra] Ash, someone that Agnes says having the blessings of Goddess Achalasia as well as God of Death, not to mention, 12 kids under his care. Could it be, 10 out of those 12 kids are... (Very well. It wouldn''t be fun if our god resurrected but couldn''t enact his revenge to the ten heroes) [Motra] I should proceed to tell Agnes first, but let just confirm all of it first and foremost. A false information is nothing but a liability to those who believe in it after all "I wonder how I can use Aries this time? Maybe have her kill her families with her own hand?" [Motra] _________________________________________________ [Diana point of view] "Honestly, you''re such a childish person!" [Diana] "Geez... stop babbling at me Grandma" [Ash] "That''s for your own good!" [Diana] "Fine..." [Ash] "Kids, don''t follow this bad example! Got it!" [Diana] ~Nodding in fear~ Honestly... I know I shouldn''t blame him 100% but what he is doing is simply inappropriate, and not to mention, he has the title of the guardian of children, so kids around him bound to learn from his example, so someone need to keep him in check as well "Rafiah, please make him behave properly next time..." [Diana] "I will, your highness" [Rafiah] "Fine..." [Ash] "Sigh... Maybe you should find yourself a wife, that way she can correct your wrongdoing" [Diana] "Well, unlike you, I''m not that popular. Plus, It''s way too early for me!" [Ash] "What about Princess become Brother Ash''s wife?" [Charlotte] ""Charlotte!!"" [Ash, Diana] (That sound fun! I''ll whole heartedly support it!) [Kara] (Traveler and Royal love. Sound like a nice romance story!) [Alice] "Now now, it''s a topic neither of them comfortable with, so let not tease them" [Ceanu] "Tease? I''m serious! Want princess to be my sister!" [Charlotte] "Don''t worry Charlotte, I have already become your sister" [Diana] "Yay!" [Charlotte] "Nice safe" [Ash] Well, that nice safe he mentioned is because years of rejecting multiple marriage proposal. It started to peak after young Rumia left and Alaric and his keen join me as the hidden guards. Dear mother will always try to force a marriage into me, as to make her influence grew larger, but alas, me and my rebellious streak at that time will find a way out. Father was also quite protective of me during that time, so I am really grateful for it. "Marriage proposal once more..." [Young Linda] "Sorry, because of me, you three got into trouble as well" [Young Diana] "That''s our fate as a lady, either commoner, merchant, knight or noble. But indeed, it''s getting ridiculous once they knew about our relationship" [Young Qis] "Well, it is not your fault, your highness. Still, I''m just glad my dad is protective" [Young Alice] "Honestly, it''s hard..." [Young Diana] "It''s might be hard now, but that''s why we need to take our first step, as to change the future!" [Young Linda] . . . "AAAHH!" [Diana] "What''s wrong!?" [Qis] "I just remember! What Linda say!" [Diana] "Sister?" [Liyana] "It''s might be hard now, but that''s why we need to take the first step?" [Alice] "That one! I keep on forgetting it recently, I wonder why" [Diana] "Maybe because of stress, but she used to say that" [Qis] "The three of you, knows my sister?" [Liyana] """Well...""" [Diana, Qis, Alice] "We have arrive! Now move move move!" [Ash] Ash shout startled Liyana. He quickly drags her out alongside others. He must have realise that we are quite reluctant to say about it. Her parents did forbid any interaction with the three of us, but somehow, they gladly court Liyana here to my brother. Well, no doubt dear mother and step mothers also involved in it as well. We should probably tell her about our relationship with Linda but (Is it alright if we tell her now?) [Alice] (I''m not sure...) [Diana] (She will find about it sooner or later, and it''s best to say it to prevent her getting any false info) [Qis] Qis is right but... (Sorry, I''m still, not ready...) [Diana] (It''s fine, take your time) [Qis] (Plus, it wasn''t your fault) [Alice] Sorry. And thanks "Alright, let us start the tour for Ceanu here!" [Ash] Chapter 176 - Tour around the neighborhood part 1 _________________________________________________ [Saintess Rumia point of view] "Invigorate" [Rumia] "Now they can keep going!" [Nun A] "Please do your best, thunder horse" [Priest A] It''s been few days since all of us left the new headquarters. I hope everyone there is fine, especially Saint Louis, I hope he gets the break he deserves "O Saintess, please be careful while boarding the carriage" [Priest B] "Thank you, and I will" [Rumia] Right now, we are in the middle of forest dungeon, and it''s around here that Saint Louis mentioned about a group of slave trader from the True Beastman Group, trying to kidnap a group of child elves. If I''m not mistaken, the leader of the group, Simba, did ask the blood of a special Elf called the Avery. Based on our investigation, they manage to get one, a mother and a child. The child mysterious escape while the mother, refuse to be used by them, launch a suicidal attack. (Dear god, I wonder if the child is fine?) [Rumia] (She is, and you will meet her soon enough) [Goddess Achalasia] (Really!) [Rumia] (But please, don''t tell others about it. The child and the guardian are keeping the fact a secret) [Goddess Achalasia] (I will not tell others about it!) [Rumia] Still, why did the goddess used the word guardian? Could she be referring to the Guardian of Children? (This person call Ash, I wonder what he is like?) [Rumia] _________________________________________________ Diana sudden shout scares me, it''s looks like she finally remembered something about her best friend, Linda, but "The three of you, knows my sister?" [Liyana] """Well...""" [Diana, Qis, Alice] Looks like it''s a topic that they''re not ready to discuss yet, so let just drag Liyana away ASAP, but first, let me park this bus golem properly "Wait! Teacher!" [Liyana] "Come now Liyana, we have jobs to do" [Muse] Even Muse feels the strange tension in the air when those three were questioned by Liyana, so she quickly back me up. I really do wonder what happen between those four "Let us see the big hall that is currently being built first" [Ash] "Right..." [Liyana] (Is it really alright? For us to do that to her) [Crow] (I feel bad, but, let those three decide when to tell her) [Ceanu] (Agree) [Ram] Well, I''m glad I am not the only one to feel it that way. Kinda feel unfair for Liyana here. She looks sad, so Elise, Kara and Mara try their best to cheer her up Well, better get moving, though the hall foundation is already visible from a far "Still, when you say it is big, I don''t imagine it will be this big, but nevertheless..." [Gizzere] "I see the paperwork and the size of it, but..." [Muse] "I''m glad I brought all the best engineer from other places here" [Ceanu] "It''s thanks to you that we got this job, Sir Ceanu" [Erinmorlin] "It''s been a while Mr Erinmorlin" [Ceanu] It''s Erinmorlin the one that will oversee all the construction of this large hall. Just how large is it? Well... let just said it''s around the size of the castle ground or size of a small airport, maybe lesser, but yeah, Diana sure is ambitious about this hall of her. "I have read the report, but can you please tell us more about the plan and progress?" [Ceanu] "I will" [Erinmorlin] At first, we thought of doing the debutante party in the orphanage, but for obvious reasons, we cancel it out and decided to build a hall that can serve as community center as well. Then, one thing lead to another, and we have this big ambitious hall to make, and in two months time nonetheless. I am no genius when it comes to building and architecture, so I thought it will be impossible at first but "With the chantless magic being thought by Ash, and with our expertise, we can make in just in time! Plus, us engineer love to push the limits" [Erinmorlin] "Let me know if you want an extra hand!" [Karon] "Haha, sure" [Erinmorlin] And why do we have to make it this large? Well, at the end of the day, this hall will have several functions as community center, and it comprises of 1) Main hall for big event, or maybe for evacuation when disaster strike. Well here will be the place for Diana''s debutante party 2) A smaller hall inside for prayer aka mini church inside. Sculpture of the Goddess Achalasia is being handle by a sculptor 3) Multiple classrooms and a small public library. So, this hall will also serve as a school. I thought of declining this idea at first but for now, we don''t know how the parents beside those in the neighborhood area will react to idea of sending their kids to school, so for now, this should. Plus, should the school become larger, then Diana says she can just built a school 4. Administrative office "I see, so this is my soon to be office" [Ceanu] "Well, our office is just beside each other" [Crow] "And we will be helping them, so, my time with Rean will significantly reduce..." [Muse] "Don''t worry, we will come and visit you" [Rean] "Ohh! Please, visit me in private <3" [Muse] "Sigh... can I retract back my statement" [Rean] "..." [Liyana] Liyana here is still feeling a bit down. Sigh... Well, moving on to other functions, we have a hall for 5) Small clinics. Young healers will be station here for them to practice 6) Patrolling office for guards and soldiers alike 7) Resting area 8) Few shops 9) Some area that can be added later on "Sorry we are late" [Diana] "It''s fine" [Ash] "..." [Liyana] """...""" [Diana, Qis, Alice] "By the way, what''s the name of this hall?" [Elise] "Yeah, big hall doesn''t sound nice" [Farhah] "Well, this hall will be call as Diana hall, and "And?" [Singa] "The main hall within it will be call as Linda hall" [Diana] "!" [Liyana] "Well, better change the project name" [Erinmorlin] There''s gloomy and curious Liyana suddenly become a bit cheerful, but her curiosity grew even larger. Well, to be honest, so does my curiosity "It''s hot..." [Savel] "It''s stuffy" [Charlotte] ""Hot..."" [Lara, Nara] "Well, we still haven''t installed the ice and fire magic stone in it, so bear with it" [Erinmorlin] "Let me know if you have difficulty in it. I can make it in a flash" [Ash] "Will do" [Erinmorlin] "Mind if I take a closer look for a bit?" [Ceanu] "Sure" [Erinmorlin] We accompany them before going back into the bus golem and head to next area Chapter 177 - Tour around the neighborhood part 2 _________________________________________________ [Director of Orphanage, Mira, Point of view] A title, same as him. I never thought that I would receive one in my entire life. To be acknowledged by the goddess herself, surely, it''s the best day of my life "You there, come with me!" [Head priest] And then there''s someone like him, that doesn''t know how to read the mood "Wait!" [Head priest] Why should I wait? Kanji and Kana know that dealing with them will bring nothing but trouble, so they quickly take the kids and ask them to board the bus golem quickly. The head priest tries to stop me by force, and so does the other, but they suddenly stop. Like a mysterious force stopping them through force. I''m neither proficient in magic nor any martial arts, so I couldn''t possibly do that, is this the effect of the title? Could it be that, whenever I act for the sake of those orphans, the goddess will lend me her aid? If so, I am grateful (Thank you, dear Goddess Achalasia) [Mira] As soon as I step out of the church, I can hear the sound of the head priest, quickly gasping for air. He once again try to stop me but alas, our distance and the fact that the bus golem already start move make it impossible for him "A title! I''m so proud of you Sis!" [Seo Ah] Seo Ah say that while hugging me. Our age aren''t that much apart, but she''s one of the orphans that I sworn to protect, so "Thank you, I''ll do my best, so that the goddess wouldn''t be disappointed in me" [Mira] "But that means you must have already found something that you would like to do, unlike me..." [Seo Ah] That again, well, it''s normal for people our age to start thinking of the future "Don''t worry, we will find it together" [Kanji] "Sure, help me will you" [Seo Ah] "Boss, stop flirting around" [Ex-thug C] "I ain''t!" [Kanji] Haha. Well, time to get back to work . . . "Yup, another horny old man" [Mira] The fact that I was blessed with a title must had spread. Some noble houses even send multiple proposals, and look at all these "gifts" they sent to me. How incredibly "generous" of them (I wanted to spit and destroy it while I am enraged so much! Is there a legal way for me to vent out my anger towards them?) [Mira] Sigh... no, bad example for the kids. Let just continue supporting the orphanage as usual _________________________________________________ "So some of the trees have grown. That sure is quick" [Ram] "Thanks to Housey, Calypso Tree and Calypso herself" [Ash] All of us are still accompanying Ceanu on his inspection. We visit those who wish to open a stall, see the workers responsible for painting the houses, meet with soldier and guards that ensure the safety of the street etc etc. We even show him the function of the telephone, which surprise him greatly Our inspection will end at the orphanage, and once inside "So many fairies!" [Farhah] Well, it''s only ten of them, but, yeah, that sure is a lot. Who would''ve thought that this will actually awaken and attract the dormant fairies "And I am their leader! Well, there''s an Ave..." [Calypso] ""Shhh!!!"" [Ash, Farhah] "Oopsie! Hey you guys, the fact that Farhah there is an Avery is a secret! Got it!" [Calypso] "Yes!" [Fairies] "You dumb ass fairy!" [Ash] (I''m surrounded by idiots) [Mahsuri] Again, they didn''t know what is an Avery, so maybe that''s fine, but "Avery!" [Ceanu] "You know what it is?" [Ash] "A little. To think that..." [Ceanu] "Sir Ceanu..." [Farhah] Farhah use her begging eyes, and its proof to be super effective against him. I also has a small conversation with him and he promised me to keep it a secret. I can believe in him... right? "Little fairy, please, don''t say this important thing out loudly. You will endanger her in the future" [Ceanu] "Right, sorry..." [Calypso] He seems really serious about it. Just how much did he know about Avery? "Sigh... another mystery for us, but moving on, with these much fairies, we could ask them to accelerate the growth of the elemental trees in these areas" [Diana] "Yup, we can. Can you guys do it?" [Ash] "As long as you supply us with mana to live, then sure" [Fairy A] "Deal" [Ash] They quickly went out and start doing their job. Somehow, I feel bad about it "Man, there are so many fairies flying just now" [Kadeus] "That sure is a rare sight" [Lily] The two comes for their daily training, and "Can you show me the training hall as well?" [Ceanu] "Sure" [Ash] I ask the kids to just do their daily routine for now. So naturally, some of them will go to the training hall. Today, the training hall is quite lax, probably because everybody is busy, so Claude here can take some breather Rean and the other begin their training and soon enough, most of the smaller neighborhood kids that doesn''t help much in the upcoming debutante party comes to play around. They sure love the taste of honey tree, and when they are all sticky, they just jump straight into the pool. That is a bad thing to do, so I scold them. But alas, some of them still continue doing so "Alright, tonight homework will be double for you" [Ash] "Eeh!!!" [Naughty Kids] That will deter them from keep on doing it. Well, not that I would blame them, the honey from the honey tree sure is addicting. Maybe if there aren''t anybody around, I will do the same "Well, school is on a temporary break, but with all of them gather here, I can start teaching them" [Alice] "Please do, I''ll like to see how the teaching goes" [Ceanu] "I''ll help gather them around" [Ash] "Thanks" [Alice] And the sudden class make them run away, but you have to do better than that to escape from me, so in the end, the kids reluctantly join the class. Well, those sour faces turn cheerful in matter of minute thanks to Alice method of teaching. While they are all engrossed with the class, I take a small break "Hey Rafiah, how about we have dinner tonight?" [Spearman adventure] "But, I''ll have dinner with the orphan tonight" [Rafiah] "Then tomorrow? It''s on me!" [Axeman adventure] "I have to attend Mr Flinar class, sorry" [Rafiah] "Then how about..." [Swordman adventure] "Alright, enough harassing her! Now go!" [Female elf adventure] """Geez, lonely girl...""" [Male adventures] "Oh, come here and let me kick all of you in the head!" [Female elf adventure] Yup, Rafiah is still oblivious. Well, if they were to directly ask for a date, Rafiah will blush uncontrollably and become beet red like a tomato, and quickly refuse, which makes other wanted to become even more flirtatious with her Well, better relax when I still can. Just when I am about to fall asleep "Hey Ash, the minion of God of Death ask me to tell you something" [Calypso] "Huh?" [Ash] Chapter 178 - Mirage _________________________________________________ [Butterfly beastman, Motra, point of view] Can''t contact Agnes right now, she must be busy. If I couldn''t contact her, I will just go to that witch directly. She is in close proximity after all, trying to corrupt the Holy Beast, Tyrant Steel Ant Drant. Should go there straight away with this special portal stone . . . Teleporting to the ancient tunnel where I last spotted her, I can see the minions of Drant that were already controlled by the witch, and not to mention being reinforced with the fallen god power. (Bad habit, for us, he isn''t the fallen god but...) [Motra] "You seem excited. I wonder what twisted plan you have in your mind right now" [Witch] "You know me. Before that, any troubles with your job?" [Motra] "I just finished it" [Witch] "Perfect! Say, can you force this Drant to bless me with its power and..." [Motra] _________________________________________________ [At the castle in the Demon kingdom] [Aries point of view] The holy beast power within me, the power that I got against my will from the experimentation with Drant, suddenly fluctuating. Something happened to Drant, but what? I can''t imagine someone or something that could possibly cause this much trouble to it (It suddenly calms down...) [Aries] What, is this feeling? I can feel my heart rate ever increasing, as well as this anxious thought, could it be... "Taking a break?" [Demon king, Druser] "Sorry about that your highness" [Aries] "It''s fine, really" [Druser] The Demon king, Druser, around 2.3 meter tall, with the ashen hair and two ashen horns protuding from his temporal bone, which is the typical characteristics of the demon race. He might be young for a king entering his 30s, but he seems much older than he looks, probably due to all the stress "Holding that pendant again. Kara and Mara sure are lucky to have you" [Druser] "Can''t wait to meg them once more" [Aries] "Well, we will depart early for the debutante, just so you can see them" [Druser] "But the works!" [Aries] "Don''t worry about it, work will never finish" [Druser] "..." [Aries] (She seems happy. And here I am finally gathering enough courage to... Well, as long as she is happy. Plus between those two and me, it''s obvious who will she choose) [Druser] _________________________________________________ "So this is the cemetery" [Ash] Right now, Claude, Elise and I are going to a cemetery. Apparently, one of the low ranking unnamed grim reaper told me about a strange noble soul that have some troubles. They try to calm the soul down, even try to resurrect her just so the soul would not be corrupted, but alas, they were instructed not to, by the God of Death itself. (And they told me that God of Death task me to do it instead) [Ash] Last time I use the blessings of God of Death is way back during the Kiserre''s crisis, where I try to summon my parent souls to cleanse and purify the land and slave from the artificial blessings from the fallen god. It works and I can actually use some of their power after they "possess" me. Now, I can use a bit of their power without summoning them albeit minimally "I can sense multiple souls in distress... which one should we help?" [Elise] "Well... It''s..." [Ash] I''m glad I brought Elise with me. She will evolve into the mythical nine tail fox through her evolved beastly transformation in the future, and as such, she is proficient in this kind of mystic thing. Well, she does offer Claude to help crossed the after life safely, so I guess that good enough to have her as my assistant. Claude is the same I guess "Well, here it is" [Ash] "A lady noble with name of Lind... Wait! Isn''t this!" [Elise] "It is" [Ash] Well, I am shocked as well when I hear it, but there must be reasons behind it all. If anything, it would be because their relationship I guess. But, from the impression that I got, there''s nothing wrong with their relationship. Sure, Alice and Qis seems like they''re in disagreement the first time they met after a long time, but that just it. Nothing more nothing less, if anything, its more like a sadness or frustration from their own powerlessness "So, how are we going to tackle this?" [Ash] "Good question, any idea?" [Claude] "I don''t" [Elise] "Well, me neither" [Ash] "..." [Claude] "..." [Elise] "..." [Ash] "Wait a minute! Aren''t you blessed with the God of Death blessing?" [Claude] "And aren''t you a ghost! Surely you must have known something" [Ash] "Really, neither of us have any sort of plans?" [Elise] "Alright alright, I''ll try something. Geez..." [Ash] I should just try something I guess. Let start by using this scythe of mine and touch the grave with it, hoping something would happen but alas "Nothing..." [Ash] "That''s a let down" [Elise] "Well, can''t you do something Elise? You will evolve into nine tail fox, so surely your mirage magic will..." [Ash] "!" [Ash] Mirage magic, while it is mostly used for illusion like how Savel loves to, it true purposes is way more than that. It is the magic that govern the mystic that doesn''t belong to either light or dark, or some that are strongly influence by those two magics like resurrection and necromancy, and as such, being, Elise, having an evolved beastly transformation of a nine tail fox, should have good amount of power and knowledge about it, but "Elise, just how is it possible for you to evolve into nine tail fox?" [Ash] "What do you mean?" [Elise] "Even without blessings, your proficient mana is only Light and Fire. And the condition to evolve into nine tail fox is to have great amount of mirage mana" [Ash] ""!!"" [Elise, Claude] "Now that you mention it..." [Claude] "How strange, but that''s what happen in the future. I did use Chrono Mellontik¨®s and then suddenly, I could evolved beastly transformation into one. But Mirage magic, I just didn''t realize about it back then" [Elise] "Could it be... Titania will bless you with her power in the future?'' [Claude] "I thought of the same thing. For now, that is the most probable one" [Ash] "I see, another blessing from the holy beast" [Elise] Well, that is great than if that was the case. That also mean as an Avery, Farhah must have done a good job to meet with the Fairy Queen herself. What left now is "Well, we are back to square one I guess" [Ash] "Is there really nothing we can do?" [Claude] "Hmm..." [Elise] "What is it Elise?" [Ash] "You said that the God of Death do some weird thing when accepting your oath, am I right?" [Elise] "Yeah, The God of Death put his hand inside my heart, literally" [Ash] "Then... could it be that, you have some power from the God of Death other than that scythe?" [Elise] "Well, I have tried to check it, but sadly, there''s none. But..." [Ash] ""But??"" [Claude, Elise] "Well, it''s worth trying" [Ash] Taking my scythe, I will try to do something crazy. Before that "Elise, close your eyes, and don''t open unless Claude and I said so" [Ash] "Huh? Ok?" [Elise] Elise close her eyes. Good, I don''t want her to see this ~Stab~ "Urgghh..." [Ash] "What are you doing Young Ash!" [Claude] "Well, drawing out the scythe power..." [Ash] "Brother Ash..." [Elise] "Don''t open your eyes yet!" [Ash] "Yes!" [Elise] A dangerous act, stabbing my own chest with the scythe, just to drawn out more power. I have this feeling, no a theory. Last time my blessing from God of Death activated, was when I experienced near death experiences. King Behemoth, and Drakon in Kiserre, I nearly die back then, but I was able to access the power even more. So this time around, I should simulate the experience and drawn the power out at the same time, but... "Great heal!" [Ash] It''s suicidal, but "You can open your eyes now Elise" [Ash] "Right... what is with the blood!" [Elise] "Ash, we are going to have a "talk" when we get back home!" [Claude] "Right. I''m sorry, but, I can feel it even more clearly now" [Ash] ""Feel what?"" [Claude, Elise] Well, I try to touch the grave once more and "It''s shining!" [Elise] "So can you!?" [Claude] "No..." [Ash] I stop the process myself. "Why!" [Elise] "Well, I don''t have much confidence. And if I fail to many times, I''m afraid it would be no longer possible to resurrect her" [Ash] "Then what will you do?" [Claude] "I have this feeling that there is multiple steps involves to resurrect her, so for now, I''ll come back here every night and try to resurrect her step by step, slowly of course" [Ash] "Then can I join? I have the power of nine tail fox in the future, so resurrection isn''t impossible for me" [Elise] "Sure, I''m sure the process and the end result will be totally different, but in the end of the day, it''s resurrection, so why not" [Ash] Well, the power of resurrection from God of Death should be way superior, but there''s no harm for her to learn new things "Sigh... let just get back home" [Claude] ""Right"" [Ash, Elise] And Claude scold me non stop afterward Chapter 179 - Siblings thinking of birthday present part 1 _________________________________________________ [Butterfly beastman, Motra, point of view] "So you wanted to do that in front of the fallen paladin? Fufu, twisted as always" [Witch] "If everything going according to what I mention, the children will be unable to fulfill their future roles, which is beneficial for us" [Motra] "That, if they truly will become the ten heroes in the future, otherwise, it''s a risky plan" [Witch] "True, but if it''s for our god, then it''s a small sacrifice from my part" [Motra] "You do know what you should do right, should you fail" [Witch] "Don''t worry, us insect are no stranger to life and death" [Motra] Insect, they only know eat, sleep, excrete and mate, they live a short live before inevitably succumbs to death, and unfortunately, insect type of beastman are almost the same. That''s why "I can''t wait to play with them. Kara and Mara... fufu" [Motra] When someone like us, whose life is short, having a toy to play with, is a delightful thing "Well, let get you bless with the power of Drant" [Witch] _________________________________________________ [At entrance side of Kiserre] [Saintess Rumia point of view] "Thank you so much Mrs Saga for doing all of this for us" [Rumia] "It''s my pleasure to do so O saintess" [Khamishah] We had been detained by the guard near the dungeon entrance. It''s a mistake from my part to hope that things will proceed smoothly. I should have foreseen that those guards who follow the old teaching wouldn''t appreciate having someone like us inside their country. Still, I wouldn''t be mad, they''re simply inadequately inform, and plus, new things will always put the heart of mortal in unease, as we mortal live our life in comfort surrounded by familiarities As our carriage pass through the street of Kiserre, old wound of battle happening here are still visible. Above all the streets that are badly damage, houses being torn apart, and stalls having to increase their prices, the sour faces of their citizens strike me the most. I could understand that if it were because they''re feeling betrayed by the royal, but it wasn''t. Instead "It has always been like this. They''re rather fanatical, so having a non human as their neighbours are rather insulting for them" [Khamishah] "I''m worried about the kids" [Rumia] "Don''t worry. The kids are fine" [Khamishah] "You mean?" [Rumia] "Well, I am the Director of Kiserre''s orphanage. Their nerve has to be made out of Vibranium if they think they''re strong enough to create trouble to us" [Khamishah] Strong as always. She really is one fine example for us ladies. I''m glad my admiration for her prove to be right "Can we..." [Rumia] "Sure, Queen Rinz is there as well, together with the orphans" [Khamishah] _________________________________________________ Another night to try and resurrect a dead person, slowly. The person that I tried to resurrect is after all, their best friend. No, to begin with, I don''t want to rudely awaken someone from their eternal slumber in imperfect state. Plus, the consequences will be deadly. (Well, with the God of Death power, thing shouldn''t become too haywire, but, let us not take any unnecessary risk) [Ash] There''s no guide for me, even though mom and dad souls inside the scythe seems to know about it, but as usual, their favourite word "homework" is the answer. Sigh... I''ll appreciate a tip or two since we are dealing with life hear (Well, technically, we are bringing someone dead back to this realm, so yeah, we are dealing with life) [Ash] ~Yawn~ "Feeling sleepy? Let just go back for today" [Ash] "No, please, take your time" [Elise] "I don''t want you to have a panda eyes, so let just call it a day" [Ash] I lift Elise up, and of course she would be mad at me, quickly telling me to put her back, but ~Swaying~ Yeah, she is really sleepy now. I''m not surprised should he suddenly fall asleep while walking ~Stumble~ "Kyaa!" [Elise] "See, told you" [Ash] "But, it''s embarrassing" [Elise] "Well, I will carry you like this, so just go to sleep" [Ash] Well, she''s blushing now, but as expected, she quickly fall asleep. When she stumbled back then, I use air cushion magic, don''t want her clothes to get dirty from touching the ground. So now, she comfortably fall asleep on my air cushion magic. Entering the bus golem, I quickly start the engine and drive back home Along the way (The fairies really did an excellent job) [Ash] The leave of elemental trees, they are shining rather brightly. Good thing the neighbors doesn''t complaint about the bright light emitted out from it. Maybe the magic core that I installed play a role here, they do emit dark mana into the surrounding, so the light doesn''t bother those inside the house much. Maybe, again, I''m no genius Once arrive, I quickly let Rafiah bring Elise into her room. I munch some butter bread and chocolate drink that Claude made, offering it to Mahsuri as well, but as usual "..." [Mahsuri] "Don''t worry, I won''t ask anything. Not even a clue on how to resurrect someone" [Ash] "..." [Mahsuri] Sigh... well, more for me than "Claude, Rafiah, let us check that "treasure chest" before we go to sleep" [Ash] ""Sure"" [Claude, Rafiah] . . . Huh, interesting. Once again, the thing that we put multiply, filling the box, but "I''m starting to see a pattern here" [Ash] "Same here" [Rafiah] "Let just put the next set of thing, but let me record our finding first" [Claude] ""Got it"" [Ash, Rafiah] "Empty treasure chest". Glad they didn''t realize what it actually is . . . "Morning" [Elise] "You''re rather late today" [Rean] "Sorry about that" [Elise] I can see Elise clearly sleep deprived. I wanted to tell her that it''s ok to sleep a little more, but I guess her pride as the eldest sister wouldn''t let her do so. "What are they doing?" [Elise] "The younger group? Who knows" [Ash] Elise quickly check them up. Well, they have been rather secretive but "This birthday card is for Brother Ash" [Charlotte] "This one for the princess" [Savel] If you want something to be a secret, maybe don''t shout about it. On other related note, I have been preparing for Diana''s debutante party so much so that I forgot the two of us share the same birthday. Plus, they''re also one year older now since we first met. Time sure flies Chapter 180 - Siblings thinking of birthday present part 2 _________________________________________________ [Kiserre''s orphanage] [Saintess Rumia point of view] "This building is..." [Rumia] Unlike what I heard, the orphanage in both Estel and Malsia is a mansion, but here, it''s an abandoned chapel. "It wasn''t abandoned, we simply "ask" them to move somewhere else preferably out from this country" [Khamishah] "Though of course, the intelligence info we gather says otherwise. Like that in Estel, some noble hide and protect them" [Queen Rinz] "Just like the Second Queen of Estel" [Rumia] But I wonder, "Why do you use this building, I heard that other orphanage uses a mansion" [Priest B] So, I am not the only one thinking of the same thing "As a move from us, so the country can endorse your teaching" [Queen Rinz] "!" [Rumia] "I see, what a smart move" [Nun A] In other word, they wanted to slowly replace the old teaching. The old teaching doesn''t forbid the non human to enter the chapel, but their follower decided the rules of non human not allowed by themselves, so across Achalasia, one wouldn''t really find non human inside a chapel except in the Beast Kingdom, Demon kingdom and the new headquarters. Therefore, by making this chapel, a symbol of the old teaching as an orphanage which houses multiple races, they are slowly challenging and replacing them. "No wonder the Director is Mrs Saga over here. They really need a nerve made out of Vibranium to protest about the decision" [Nun B] "But that means your daily activities as an SS rank adventure is..." [Priest C] "Not to worry, once everything is settled down, I might take my mantel as the saga back. But for now..." [Khamishah] Taking a three year old boy into her arm, she smile and says "I can''t wait to raise and train the next generation here" [Khamishah] "That''s good! If only I can be here" [Rumia] "Actually, we do have a request" [Queen Rinz] "And that is?" [Rumia] "O Saintess, you should go and support Princess Diana at Estel, but could you lead the first mass this afternoon? And if possible, could you lend us a few helping hand here?" [Queen Rinz] Forming a small circle, we quickly decided among ourselves before "Yes, we agree" [Nun C] "I will be here with her" [Nun D] "Well, the more challenging it is, the greater our reward in heaven" [Priest C] "Kid huh... guess I should read some parenting book" [Priest D] "Haha, I can''t wait to play with them" [Priest E] "Thank you the five of you, it will be my pleasure to work alongside all of you from now on" [Khamishah] """""Right!!!!!""""" [Priest and nun] For now, let us prepare for the evening mass _________________________________________________ [Zerolith point of view] Brother Ash and Princess Diana said that they didn''t mind it one bit if we didn''t give them any present. Nonsense! When you think of a cheerful birthday party, a present is nothing but necessary! It would bring a great shame for me, someone who bore the blessing of Az, the keeper of time as well as someone who will awaken the hero blessing in the future, to come to the birthday party, not to mention, the princess debutante party, empty handed! "Well, I will come home late. Bye-bye" [Ash] "Bye-bye" [Charlotte] Brother Ash once again, go out to do his job. As the community leader around here, he is responsible for overseeing the success of the debutante party, and as such, will frequently go out early and come back late. Lately though, he and Elise goes somewhere and only come back when we are asleep. Elise says it nothing to worry about, but my guess is she must have help Brother Ash doing something important. Rean will be handling an adventure request with his friends. Their request center around the upcoming debutante party, so they will mostly do some minor thing around the neighborhood. Elise, Liyana and Mile are currently using the training hall, and with them is Sis Rafiah. Grandpa Claude is also busy, and as for Mahsuri "..." [Mahsuri] Same as usual. Barely moving an inch from her usual spot. Thus, all of us gather around the dining table, and "Let the birthday present conference, start!" [Mara] "Yes!" [Other] Attendance, Kara, Mara, Lara, Nara, Karon, Farhah, Singa, Savel, Charlotte and I. With the honey juice and honey bread in our hand, we start our first ever conference "Ladies and gentlemen, it is an honour to have yo..." [Zerolith] "Just skip it! No need all the formalities!" [Mara] "For a second, I thought Brother Ash was here [Karon] "Lady Mara, please mind your manner. We are all gathering here today to discuss a very important issue" [Zerolith] "Agree with the gentleman here, can''t a lady even act properly" [Farhah] "Farhah, What is with that fake mustache of yours!" [Mara] It''s my request to her, make us some fake mustache and beard for this conference. This is an important conference after all and we need to uphold our manner "Gerr... whatever, let just start the meeting!" [Mara] "Dear sister, you shouldn''t act like that" [Kara] "Not you too!" [Mara] "Good grief, where are your manner" [Charlotte] While touching his fake beard "Kids these day" [Singa] "Back in our day!" [Savel] ""Hmm hmm"" [Lara, Nara] Looks like the majority of us love to play along "Now then, can I please have Lady Mara here to conduct herself properly. Being the oldest here, I suppose you should show some fine manner" [Zerolith] "True, or else we would punish you for it, with Calypso as the judge" [Farhah] "Ho ho ho, count me in, young children" [Calypso] Come now, Mara, even Kara here, who is usually shy around other can play along just fine. "Embrace us" [Zerolith] "Embrace, embrace" [Charlotte] "Kids these days" [Savel] "Back in our day!" [Singa] "You two didn''t need to repeat that! And I''m older than you!" [Mara] "I''m sorry for my elder sister manner. Please, show some mercy to her, O court house" [Kara] "Since the little sister here is cute and have a good manner, unlike a certain blondy call Ash, I should see to it" [Calypso] "Goddess... Fine! I''ll play along!" [Mara] "Play!" [Zerolith] "What manner of nonsense!" [Farhah] "We are all serious here" [Karon] ""Serious!!"" [Lara, Nara] We have a little squabbles before Mara reluctantly giving in (Are they even discussing about the birthday present, or are they just playing around) [Mahsuri] Chapter 181 - Siblings thinking of birthday present part 3 _________________________________________________ [Kiserre''s orphanage] [Saintess Rumia point of view] Preparation for the first mass lead by us, the original teaching (or what they love to call the new teaching) going ever so smoothly. The orphans, which number around 50 (which beat both the Estel and Malsia orphans number by 15) gladly help along. Some of them though, aren''t that excited, and from the looks of it, they aren''t mingling around with other that much, maybe they''re awkward, or maybe they''re simply too sad by their lost. "..." [Lizard kid] "..." [Green hair boy] "..." [Long hair girl] I wonder why. Well, should just ask them straight, but ~Run~ "Wait!" [Rumia] ~Surprise~ Contrary to my petite appearance and my usual small and soft voice, my shout however, will leave other jaw wide open, and their reaction afterward is the same reaction as what the three kids shown, staring in disbelief as to how a small built lady like me can shout like that. I quickly approach them and lower my body, as to meet them at their eye level "Can you help me, please! I really need to do something!" [Rumia] "But, we are busy..." [Long hair girl] "Pretty please!" [Rumia] "..." [Lizard kid] "Fine..." [Green hair boy] Getting their approval (reluctant as they are, I quickly drag them to the kitchen). Initially, we don''t plan on giving food, but, seeing as to how we can spread some happiness, we decided to cook something, and I was left with the task of cooking some biscuits. (Oh, almost forgot! Dear Goddess Achalasia, please, lend me some cooking material for my Durian biscuit) [Rumia] (I already prepare them in your item bag) [Goddess Achalasia] (Thank you so much!) [Rumia] Entering the kitchen, I quickly open my item bag and let out the material needed, and "Let start making some biscuits!" [Rumia] "It''s hard!" [Green hair boy] "We don''t know how to" [Lizard boy] "Plus, it wouldn''t be great!" [Long hair girl] "Don''t worry, it will turn out fine. Here, let me show you" [Rumia] Showing them step by step, from kneading the flour to opening the king of fruit, I can see their sour faces turn to smile, ever so slowly. It still isn''t enough to let them open up their feelings to me, but that is alright. That will be Mrs Saga and my colleague job, so the least I can do is help them to build a rapport. Once we are finish "Oh no!" [Rumia] "What is it this time" [Long hair girl] "I forgot, I am the one that should lead the mass today, so can you guy give the attendees the biscuits" [Rumia] "But..." [Lizard boy] "If they try to hurt us..." [Green hair boy] "Really? That would be impossible" [Rumia] "And why is that" [Long hair girl] "Well, do you really thing anyone would dare to do something bad when the strongest adventure are around? One strong flick of her can destroy a block of house, literally" [Rumia] ~Gulp~ And not to mention, the attendees will be among those who are trustworthy at first, and we will then slowly build the trust of the citizen, by the power of mouth to mouth "Ok, we will try" [Long hair girl] "But don''t be sad if we can''t give it all" [Lizard boy] "We might also eat it" [Green hair boy] "That''s alright. Just do your best and have fun" [Rumia] . . . The mass has started, and "That look delicious" "Can I have some" "Sur... sure" [Long hair girl] It wasn''t long until the biscuits trays become empty, and not only that, the other orphan, started to gather around the three kids. They''re uncomfortable but (That''s the smile that I would like to see in every children) [Rumia] Well, let us start _________________________________________________ [Zerolith point of view] At the end of our long heated discussion about the birthday present, we come out with absolutely zero idea as to what is the best present that all of us can give to both Brother Ash and Princess Diana. The task in front of us, is even more gargantuan than what any one of us initially thought. Be it from special album (which Brother Ash already compiled) to some hand crafted gift, we just can''t reach any possible and satisfying results. It''s beyond frustrating at this point "How about we ask around the neighborhood?" [Kara] "Great idea" [Karon] "Better than nothing I guess" [Mara] Agree. Rather than not knowing what to give, we can just ask them what they''re planning to give, or ask them their idea or opinion about the best present. That way, we can at least came up with better gift in the upcoming discussion Asking the permission from Grandpa Claude and having Bobunny''s clone following each one of us, we went around the neighborhood area and start asking them the question. Some didn''t plan on giving anything, just wanted to come and enjoy the festival that will be held a day before and after the debutante party, while some still haven''t got a single clue on what to give, and instead, ask us the same question. The stall owner on the other hand, would like to come up with their own speciality, like a food that can only be produced by them, or a special motif of clothes that matches the princess appearance. Some noble (through us eavesdropping) plan on giving a beautiful set of jewelry so that they can get an invitation to the debutante party. From the sound of it, they still looking down at Princess Diana but decided to get on her good side as she has a good father-daughter relationship with King Estel. What an asshole, I wanted to kick them out right now, but decided not to. Definitely not afraid of them or afraid of getting scolded, but, I get this feeling they will use the excuse to bring misfortune to the orphanage in the future. Not knowing where else to look, we decided to come back home before "What are you guys doing here?" [Rean] "Well..." [Farhah] Farhah explains to Rean about it "Then how about you ask the people in the adventure guild, they might come up with a good idea" [Lily] "Plus, Sis Alice has a good relationship with Princess Diana, surely she will have an idea or two" [Ray] "Still, a present huh... even I don''t think that far ahead" [Kadeus] Not having anything better to do, we went to the adventure guild togethe Chapter 182 - Siblings thinking of birthday present part 4 _________________________________________________ [Saintess Rumia point of view] [A day later] "Bye-bye" [Long hair girl] "Please come visit us again..." [Lizard boy] "The biscuits, we had fun" [Green hair boy] "Tell her honestly will you! Trust me, there are time when I wish I could go back just to tell someone about what I feel" [Khamishah] "But..." [Long hair girl] "Haha, it''s fine" [Rumia] They''re just rather shy, that''s what I believe, and I''m sure even Mrs Saga here know that very well, but as the director of the orphanage, it''s also her job to guide the orphans properly. Well, kids learn more through example lead by us adults, so "Thank you for everything, I really had so much fun making biscuits as well as reading story books with all of you. I will come again!" [Rumia] "Me too, it''s really fun!" [Long hair girl] "True, and I hope we can bake other types of biscuits as well" [Lizard boy] "We will be waiting" [Green hair boy] How cute. Now, everyone did the same, and some of the younger one seems overly attached to us, in tear because they thought they could never see us again. It''s heavy for us as well, but alas, this is one form of sacrifices that we have to make. We have to go to Estel to support Princess Diana there, and as such it''s inevitable that we have to depart soon "Take care of the orphanage" [Rumia] "Yes, O saintess" [Other] With the thunder horses on a good health, we depart from Kiserre, using the open field dungeon heading toward Estel. (Wait for me, Princess) [Rumia] _________________________________________________ [Zerolith point of view] [2 days after asking the adventure guild about birthday present] "Sigh... another day another works to settle. I''m off, be a good kid alright, all of you" [Ash] "Yes!" [Other] As usual, Brother Ash has to leave early in the morning, right after breakfast. He has been really busy lately, and honestly, it''s quite lonely. He did try his best to finish his works as quickly as he can, and spent some time with all of us in the evening, but we also didn''t want to bother him when he is resting. Not to mention, he will go out somewhere late in night with Elise, I''m sure there are job that only the two of them can do. "Well, I''m off as well" [Rean] "Me too, see you guys later" [Elise] "Bye" [Other] And once they''re all out as well (Yosh! Let us all go to the open field dungeon) [Zerolith] (I still think it''s a bad idea) [Kara] (Relax, we just kill some low level zombies, and get a spawning block like Brother Ash does, that''s all) [Zerolith] (Plus, all of us are pretty strong, and with Bobunny support, we can do this) [Mara] (Actually, Bobunny''s clone can tell Brother Ash that we enter the dungeon without his permission, so let us not do that) [Karon] (Good judgement) [Zerolith] Whispering among ourselves, we then decide to head straight ahead to the open field dungeon, without telling anyone. We want to make sure we can surprise everyone with a spawning block. 2 day back, when all of us met Sis Alice, she jokingly said that a spawning block would be a nice present. It''s a very rare monster loot after all, and even the country have a fee spawning block (countable with a single hand according to her, and not to mention, the one in the orphanage are far better in terms of quality, and would never break down due to the setup Brother Ash make is far superior than the one court magician made). Of course, she was only joking at that time, but Farhah here took the advice seriously, and somehow she was confident enough we could get one spawning block as long as we are with her. I wonder where she gets the confidence from Sneakily taking our equipment and putting it inside our item bag, the ten of us quickly went out and walk towards the dungeon, but "Where are you guys going?" [Lisa] "Playing!" [Charlotte] "I see, well do be careful" [Lisa] "Yes!" [Charlotte] And not just her, almost everyone recognized us because we are almost always together with Brother Ash, and the fact that Brother Ash take good care of the people around the neighborhood area make them did the same toward us. So much so for sneaking out, but somehow "We made it" [Savel] "Now quickly" [Mara] ""Hmm!!"" [Lara, Nara] "Hmm? The behemoth slayer isn''t with you today?" [Guard A] No good, we forgot about the guard, and not to mention, the other adventures also notice us "We just wanted to play in the area at the first floor" [Singa] "Ooh, alright then, don''t wander around too far, got it?" [Guard B] "Yes!" [Kids] Nice one Singa. Well, kids can still enter the dungeon, no rule to forbid it, but of course, they will be concern when we enter unsupervised And once inside, we quickly go down to the third floor. The dungeon sure are long and big, and just when we are about to encounter a wild orc, ~Slash~ A group of bandit traveler kill the orc, and "Hoo, they''re nicely dress" [Traveler A] "Hey kids, come here will you" [Traveler B] No good, they easily outnumber us, around 30 maybe? Not to mention, they''re slowly encircling us ~Ice spike attack~ "That blue hair girl!" [Traveler C] "Ooh, she is so dead!" [Traveler D] "And the girls, some of them do look mature" [Traveler E] "Hoo, so we only need to spare three of the girls then" [Traveler F] "What a creep!" [Mara] "Tchh! They annoy me!" [Zerolith] Both Mara and I quickly launch our magic attack, and as for me, I use the blessing from Az as well. They might outnumbered us, but even they can''t defeat someone with a blessing "Tchh! Stupid brat!" [Bandit leader] The three biggest guy, using some sort of spell to buff themselves, quickly throw bunch of throwing axes to us. Good thing Karon and Savel earth and ice wall come through, but "Gotcha!" [Traveler C] "Let me go!" [Farhah] ~Hand slice~ "Gaahhh!" [Traveler C] Nara with his scythe quickly slice through the bandit traveler elbow. It wasn''t a clean slice as the elbow is still dangling around, so Lara here quickly use rock blast to detach it. (No good. We are overestimating ourselves a bit) [Zerolith] The bandit here might not be as strong as the old follower and the duke''s army, but that time we have support from Rean and Rafiah as well. Plus (None of us can act as a leader! Back then, it was Rean!) [Zerolith] Not good, with blessing, I do think we can defeat them, but we are still lacking, so the best case scenario, all of us will get out of this situation alive, but not without any sort of injuries! "Take thi... Gaahhh!" [Bandit leader] "What do you think you''re doing to them!" [Syah] "Uncle Syah!" [Charlotte] "You guys, stay behind us!" [Borg] "Are you guys alright?" [Mimi] ""Hmm!!"" [Lara, Nara] "Good, stay here will you" [Lin] They''re a group of C rank adventure, but we still need to provide some sort of back up! "You guys! Just fire some magic!" [Zerolith] "Don''t!" "Yes!" [Mimi][Other] We fire the magic, and unfortunately, our coordination with the group are off, resulting in few friendly fire. Uncle Borg in particular, got hit in his right shoulder. Just when we wanted to heal him, we can see a thunder horse carrying a white carriage stopping nearby, before a red hair lady with a familiar robe comes out. It is similar to that of the church, but not quite "O Goddess Achalasia, please, restraint the bandit" [?] With the prayer sign, the earth surrounding the bandit traveler trapped them all, before "Thunder shock!" [Mara] Mara quickly electrocute the bandit traveler, using all her mana to make them unconscious. "It''s over. Thank god" [Mara] "And thank you pretty red hair sis" [Charlotte] "You''re welcome" [?] "Now then, how about we..." [Zerolith] "WHAT IN THE GODDESS ACHALASIA NAME DO YOU GUYS THINK YOU''RE DOING!" [Mimi] Just when I was thinking of an excuse, the thing that I don''t want to receive the most happen. The four of them, their face quickly turn from reliable and protective to that of a scolding adults. Chapter 183 - Brother Ash disappointed [Farhah point of view] "Haha, I''m sure the two of them didn''t even bother about birthday gift, then again, Princess Diana might be happy if you give her a spawning block. The country didn''t have more than five spawning blocks and they''re all in bad shape due to misuse by the Ministry of Defence" [Alice] "And to think that Brother Ash manage to get something so valuable..." [Rean] Spawning block... "That''s it!" [Farhah] "What is it, Farhah?" [Kara] "I''ll tell you later" (As an Avery, I should be able to get one. I''m sure the last three spawning blocks Brother Ash got is because of Mother earth) [Farhah] When I tell them that we should just get ourselves a spawning block for the birthday present "That''s a bad idea! It''s dangerous!" [Kara] "Come on now, I''m 100% sure we could get one. We just need to fight some zombies in the open field dungeon and tadaaa!" [Farhah] "I see, not a bad idea!" (But where did she get all this confidence from?) [Zerolith] "Well, there are ten of us, and we could just kill them from a far, and not to mention, we train daily as well, so Brother Ash and Princess Diana must be proud of us should we get one" [Mara] "Princess Diana, proud of us!" [Kara] And there she goes, getting sway when her favourite princess being mention. And with that, all of us vote to get a spawning block as the birthday present, but . . . Tchh! These group of traveler bandits! They''re gross! Not to mention they''re looking at Kara, Mara and Lara with a distasteful eye. Seeing them like this nauseated me to no end (Should end this quickly!) [Farhah] I will gather all of my mana and defeat them all in one swift strike. Brother Ash repeatedly mention not to do this, but looking at the situation, I think this is for the best "Gotcha!" [Traveler C] "Let me go!" [Farhah] No good! I don''t want to be touched by them, plus, this feeling (Take Farhah and Run!) [Dad] (Stay away from us!) [Mom] It''s like back then, Mother earth, please help me ~Hand slice~ "Gaahhh!" [Traveler C] Lara and Nara, they save me! "Thank you, Lara, Nara!" [Farhah] ""Hmm!!"" [Lara, Nara] and not long afterward "What do you think you''re doing to them!" [Syah] "Uncle Syah!" [Charlotte] They come to the rescue! Thank goodness, and "You guys, just fire some magic!" [Zerolith] "Don''t!" "Yes!" [Mimi] [Other] It''s better than nothing! We have cause trouble for them, so we should back them up at least a little, but "Ouch!" [Borg] My wood magic, the thorn of my wood magic hit Uncle Borg shoulder. "I''m sorry..." [Farhah] What have I done! They''re helping us and yet, and yet... "O Goddess Achalasia, please, restraint the bandit" [?] A red hair lady come and help us. I didn''t realize it at first but (It''s like, she is communicating directly with Goddess Achalasia, just like how an Avery does to Mother Earth!) [Farhah] Not only that, I''m sure she is proficient in doing so. Unlike me who still couldn''t hear Mother earth voice after all these years. With the red hair lady help, we manage to capture the bandit. Karon then makes a cage to put all of them inside, just like how Brother Ash love to do, and then "WHAT IN THE GODDESS ACHALASIA NAME DO YOU GUYS THINK YOU''RE DOING!" [Mimi] The four of them, they''re rather furious now. The red hair lady feel the same after hearing the explanation. Turns out, some of the younger adventures told them that the ten of us going towards the third floor, and worrying about us, the four of them quickly rush, which thankfully, works in our favour, but "This is just like how Ray''s and the other back then, searching for the Pitchy flower!" [Mimi] "True! Like how the four of them almost got killed by the orc, the same could happen to you!" [Borg] "What do you think will happen! Plus, can you imagine how Ash and the Princess would feel like, knowing you got hurt just because of a birthday present!" [Lin] All of us couldn''t find a single excuse. We could only look at the dirt in our shoes as they keep on scolding us, when "I hope you learn your lesson, and while I do want to back you up, I don''t think I could. Your Brother must have been informed about it" [Syah] "!" [Other] Does that mean, we will get scolded by Grandpa Claude, Sis Rafiah and Brother Ash. No! Thinking about it makes my stomach feel like it''s twisting at their own "And forgive us for not thanking you. Please to meet you, we are the friends with these children''s guardian" [Syah] "You mean Ash, the guardian of children?" [?] "That''s correct. And might I know your name" [Syah] "I see, so they''re the orphans then. Pardon me for my late introduction, I am Saintess Rumia, nice to meet all of you" [Rumia] "That robe... that symbol" [Mimi] "Not to mention the red hair... she really is!" [Lin] "Forgive us for our rudeness, O saintess!" [Borg] She is, the Saintess! As in, the new saintess that sided with Demon king Druser as well as The Beast King, Leogris? To think that we can meet such an important person here out of all the places... "Let us get moving, shall we?" [Rumia] "Right!" [Other] Not to mention "Please, we can''t do this to a Saintess!" [Kara] "No, I''m insist! What kind of adults will let a group of children walks inside a dungeon while they''re taking a carriage!" [Rumia] At the end of the day, the saintess won, and all of us get into the carriage. There is a space left so the saintess offer it to the adventure at first, but all of them refuse as well, thus, we sit in the carriage with the saintess while her friends and the other walk. At the gate, the guards quickly arrest the bandit traveler and "O Saintess! What are you doing here" [Ceanu] "It''s per your request, send someone to spread the new teaching here" [Rumia] "But to think that..." [Ceanu] Even the usually calm and composed Sir Ceanu Reaves feel the same. He then told us that Princess Diana is in the orphanage, together with Brother Ash, and "I won''t scold you, it''s looks like the nice adventures here have done my fair share of scolding, and for that, I thank you all for saving them" [Ceanu] "No, it''s fine. Plus, they''re like our children as well" [Lin] "They''re all safe and sound, and we could escort the famous saintess, so it''s a win for us as well" [Borg] "Dear!" [Lin] "Right, the most important thing is their safety" [Borg] They talk and laugh with each other, and as for us, silence feed us all, as neither of us could find a word. Scare of getting scolded, or maybe even reflecting our actions. So much thought going inside our mind that we didn''t notice the carriage has arrive at the orphanage. There, not only Princess Diana and Sis Qis, even Sis Alice and Lisa are there as well. They''re all equally angry "Goodness! I shouldn''t joke like that next time..." [Alice] "You guys really know how to make us worried!" (And if anything happens to them, particularly to Kara and Mara, I can''t imagine how depressed Aries will feel like) [Lisa] Just when Princess Diana wanted to have a word with us, Brother Ash quickly rush, and ~Hug~ "!" [Other] I thought, I thought he will scold us? Even the other had embraced themselves for the scolding. So getting hug like this, it feels... warm, full of familial love. Only now did I realize the mistake we had done "Just, don''t do it... next time..." [Ash] "Ash..." [Diana] "Diana, scold them if you want... I, I just don''t know what to say... disappointed in them" [Ash] Brother Ash quickly went upstairs toward his room, and lock himself. Singa, Savel and Charlotte then burst into tears and knock on his door, but alas, no answer from Brother Ash Chapter 184 - Pistol part 1 [Rean point of view] The mood is heavy, with neither of them saying a word. Only the sound of Charlotte''s hiccup can be heard, most likely due to her crying rather excessively. Brother Ash didn''t even have his dinner, and usually, he would go out at night with Elise, but not today. He seems to be in a bad mood. Come morning, as usual, I can hear Brother Ash downstairs, making breakfast as well as having some sort of discussion with both Grandpa Claude and Sis Rafiah. Guess, everything turn out fine for today. "Come! Let us say sorry to him!" [Zerolith] "Yes!" [Boys] They sure feel guilty right now. I couldn''t imagine what will happen if Princess Diana decided to scold them after Brother Ash went to his room yesterday. I don''t know what or how she will scold them but I do heard her soft voice, talking to herself (Is this how an elder sister feels like? When their little siblings in trouble?) [Diana] Well, the red hair saintess quickly cheer her up, and of course, all of us will be surprise by her presence. Even the princess herself found it unbelievable. Saintess Rumia wanted to meet Brother Ash yesterday, but seeing as what just happened, she decided not to, only giggling, as if she knew what is in Brother Ash mind. "Morning, Brother Ash" [Zerolith] "..." [Ash] "Brother?" [Singa] "..." [Ash] The last among the boys to arrive downstairs, I can see that Brother Ash keeps on ignoring them, which make them even more desperate. Savel tackle Brother Ash left foot multiple times, only to be ignored "Umm... morning?" [Rean] "Ooh, good morning Rean, can you please take this white rice?" [Ash] "!" [Boys] "Umm... sure?" [Rean] I think I get what Brother Ash trying to do, no wonder the saintess only giggle yesterday. Maybe she knew this would happen, but how? They never met before "Morning!" [Charlotte] "..." [Ash] "Haa! Morning" [Farhah] "..." [Ash] Even Farhah usual energetic morning was ignored, and as expected "Umm... do you want me to help with anything?" [Elise] "Yeah, please take this juice. Claude, Rafiah and I can take care of the rest" [Ash] "!" [Girls] "Ri.. Right" [Elise] I don''t know which one of them is childish now. Elise, knowing what''s Brother Ash is planning, look at me to confirm it. A slight nod is all she need as an answer. (She looks like she wanted to play along...) [Rean] I wanted to say no, don''t do that, but (If this help prevents them from misbehaving, then why not) [Rean] Maybe not... I don''t think I have what it needs to ignore them for an entire day. During breakfast "Ooh... I hate this spinach!" [Singa] As usual, Singa complaint of not eating his portion of vegetables. The usual response is "Eat it! Don''t you want to be strong like me!" from Brother Ash, but this time "..." [Ash] Brother Ash keeps on eating his food without any concerns. Then come Charlotte''s turn. Usually, he will bring a piece of bread and ask Brother Ash to spread some honey or butter in it before asking him to feed her, and "Please..." [Charlotte] "..." [Ash] I could have sworn Brother Ash almost reflexively trying to grab a butter knife. It''s only a slight movement, so I don''t think they would appreciate it, but nevertheless, it seems like this whole thing is even harder for Brother Ash. "Please please please please" [Charlotte] "..." [Ash] "Charlotte, let me help you" [Rafiah] "Don''t want!" [Charlotte] "Fine, I will ask Sis Elise!" [Charlotte] She quickly went to Elise, but "..." [Elise] "Ehh!" [Charlotte] It''s just not your day today... "Hey Ash, don''t just ignore them!" [Calypso] "..." [Ash] "Hoo! So you''re doing it to me as well, then take this..." [Calypso] Brother Ash simply use gust toward Calypso, and there she goes, flying around haphazardly before landing gracefully in the floor, once again, due to the gust magic. "I''ll get you next time!" [Calypso] "Meow!" [Behe] "No, stop it Behe!" [Calypso] Well, maybe you should defeat that arc nemesis of your first and foremost After breakfast, Brother Ash will usually wait for all of us to finish our breakfast before heading out, but "That was delicious. Claude, I''ll wash this first" [Ash] "Got it" [Claude] He quickly stand and went to the kitchen, wash his plates and cups before once again, going back to his room "This is... frustrating..." [Zerolith] "But, it is our own fault..." [Kara] ""Right..."" [Lara, Nara] "My chest feels like it will burst any minutes now" [Mara] And now, all of them stare at me. I know the meaning of that stare "I''ll see what I can do" [Rean] "Thank you, Rean" [Karon] After breakfast, I drag Elise along with me (which somehow having fun joining the fray), we knock on the door "Come on in Rean, Elise" [Ash] ""Excuse us"" [Rean, Elise] Looks like Brother Ash is doing something "Is that, the pistol you mention?" [Elise] "True, need to work on it ASAP" [Ash] "And why is that? I thought you had other things to do" [Rean] "So that they wouldn''t be in danger should something like this happen again. I should just have finish it after I get back from Kiserre though..." [Ash] "Haha, so you do love them a lot" [Elise] "Of course, you guys are my family after all, but as an elder, the three of us need to become strict every once in a while" [Ash] "I don''t think I can ignore them the whole day like the two of you though" [Rean] He really is nice to us all. "Still, you didn''t want to ignore this, and consider their actions as "training"? All of us will become the ten heroes after all" [Rean] "If they can''t even gauge their own abilities, then they will have a hard time in the future. Mahsuri have repeatedly told them about it" [Ash] "Guess you''re right" [Rean] Guess I can''t convince him to stop. Whatever, I know he did it for their benefits in the end of the day "Want my help for testing it out?" [Rean] "I thought this is for staff user only?" [Elise] "Naah, anyone can use it actually. Elise, you join us at the training hall as well" [Ash] "Right" [Elise] "You won''t go out today?" [Rean] "No. I''ll finish this project first. It takes priority over other matter right now" [Ash] "Then, how about the work related to debutante party?" [Elise] "Claude will take care of it. He already agree to it this morning" [Ash] Putting all the different models of pistol (or guns whichever one Brother Ash always use), the three of us went to the training hall, and ~Follow along~ (They''re like ducklings following around) [Elise] Brother Ash then quickly pour out all the different models and prototype before. Brother Ash use the zombie spawning block, spawn one regular zombie, before taking one of the model and ~Mana gathering around~ ~Boom~ "Failure number 1" [Ash] "Why is that?" [Karon] "..." [Ash] "Something must have cause the explosion, why is that?" [Rean] "Too much mana, the core can''t handle it" [Ash] ""I see"" [Rean, Karon] "Let me record the finding" [Kara] "..." [Ash] Guess we should just continue . . . It dusk, and all of us have depleted our mana several time after helping testing out different models of pistols (Singa was the first one, but he didn''t tell about it, for fearing of getting scolded, but Brother Ash notices it straight away. So, he just bring out boxes of mana potion and put it beside piles of prototypes for us to use) "Here is the note..." [Kara] Once again, getting ignore. Kara looks really sad right now. The other looking really sad and frustrated at themselves as well, and suddenly ~Flash~ "Bro... Brother Ash!" [Kara] "There, now you guys will never forget this day" [Ash] Printing the photos of one of them (which actually makes me wanted to laugh a little), Brother Ash quickly stores it inside his album ~Growl~ "Hungry" [Charlotte] "Right, you guys did skip lunch after all. So, let us cook some dinner" [Ash] "Honey bread, spread it!" [Charlotte] "Fine, but promise me one thing, and that includes Rean and Elise as well!" [Ash] "!" [Others] "Never do it again! Always know your own limitation, and seek help when needed. Got it!?" [Ash] "Right!" [Other] The mood lifted up during dinner, with special crispy goat cheese made by Grandpa Claude and Sis Rafiah. "Oh, I almost forgot, the saintess and Princess Diana would like to visit the orphanage tomorrow" [Claude] "I see. Very well" [Ash] Chapter 185 - Pistol part 2 _________________________________________________ [Kiserre''s orphanage] [Khamishah point of view] ~Wah Wah Wah~ It''s around 400am in the morning, and I can hear something unnatural. A sound of an infant crying. Thing is, the youngest orphan here is a three year old boy and that wasn''t his cry. This sound younger, less than a year old infant, and there''s no magic or mimicry behind this cry, which mean it wasn''t a mimic nor is it a ghost infant. "Who the heck dumped a baby here!" [Khamishah] When it comes to thing like battle, I can quickly analyze each details presented to me, though it becomes less common for me to do so as I can always one hit KO almost every opponents nowadays, but for this kind of thing, a normal thing where everyone experience, I only realized how severely lacking I am after taking the role of director of orphanage Taking my thick cloth to wear, as well as some dry thick towel, I quickly went outside. There, one of the priestesses bravely checking a basket, and inside there were two things left behind, a human infant and a note ~Please, take care of Miriam~ "Shuu shuu, it''s alright Miriam, I''m here to take care of you" [Nun C] "Goddess, who would just abandoned a baby girl right in front of an orphanage..." [Khamishah] "I don''t know, but what I do know is that, we have a new family member to take care of" [Nun C] "But... I never take care of an infant before. Have you?" [Khamishah] Her face says it all, she hasn''t. Plus "It keeps on crying" [Long hair girl] "Sorry if that wakes you up" [Nun C] "It''s fine. Maybe she''s hungry" [Long hair girl] "But we can''t just give some animal milk to baby this age, it simply not good for her digestion" [Nun C] "But, we don''t have any breast milk as well" [Khamishah] "Actually... that cat lady might have some" [Long hair girl] ""Cat lady??"" [Khamishah, Nun C] "I was locked up with her and her baby back then. Her baby though..." [Long hair girl] "Anyway, did you know where she is right now" [Khamishah] ~Nod~ "Good, I''ll take Miriam to her and explain the situation" [Nun C] "I''ll go as well" [Khamishah] And thus, with Miriam''s loud cry, the three of us went to nearby strict. There is a brick house with multiple mana inside of it, guess this is one of the houses that Queen Rinz provided for those who have nowhere left to go. Before I can even knock on the door, a black cat lady quickly came out. This lady, I could have sworn I saw her somewhere before, but where! "Kat!" [Black cat lady" "No, but..." [Khamishah] Judging by the story just now, she must have thought the cry of this baby girl is the cry of her own child, but sadly it wasn''t the case, though "Mrs Saga, and little girl... What are you doing here?" [Black cat lady] "Actually..." [Nun C] After explaining what happen to her, I can see a mix type of emotions in her face, ranging from madness to frustration. It''s a face of a mother who dearly loved her lost child and couldn''t accept the fact that another child is abandoned "There there, you''re hungry aren''t you" [Black cat lady] Taking the child into her arm, she quickly feed her own milk, and the hungry Miriam latch quickly. For me, it''s just a scene of a mother feeding a child, but for some spying eyes ~Quick step~ "!" [Old follower] "Do anything strange and you will be in trouble" [Khamishah] "Ouch ouch ouch ouch! Let me go! Let me go you brute saga" [Old follower] Well, I will let him go, after breaking his finger that is ~Crack~ "Gaaahhh!" [Old follower] "Stay out of her. I won''t be this nice next time" [Khamishah] Releasing my deadly grab, the old follower quickly run away. The nun and the long hair girl was confused by my actions, the black cat lady, she seems to know the reason behind my action. Better explain it "I see, so that man release a killing intent the moment this lady here feed Miriam her breast milk" [Long hair girl] "He must have greatly against this action then" [Nun C] "Same as back then as well. Thank you, Mrs Saga" [Black cat lady] Back then? So the two of us did meet somewhere before, but where? It''s hazy and I need a little bit of stimulus to spark back my memories "From your look, you couldn''t remember it well. What if I told you I am the adopted mother of Kucin, Anjin and Manu" [Black cat lady] "Of course! No wonder you look so familiar!" [Khamishah] "So, you have met her before?" [Long hair girl] "And Kucin and Anjin, aren''t they..." [Nun C] _________________________________________________ [Diana point of view] Morning come, after the long night chat between the four of us (Rumia, Qis, Alice and I), I wake, feeling refresh. It''s a good feeling to start off the new day. Taking my usual red robe and pink rose hair ribbon, I quickly went ahead and meet Qis. Along the hallway, I can see dear mother, discussing something with the eldest brother. Must be about mine and Liyana engagement to him. I wish you can stop using me as your political stepping stone "Morning..." [Zaidi] "Morning Zaidi" [Diana] The fourth prince, and our youngest brother. Born out of the fourth queen. At first, we didn''t get along well, mainly because of how the fourth queen behaved. But, the more I look back, the more I realize that unlike dear mother and the other queens, the fourth queen behave almost exactly like Mrs Gizzere. She doesn''t really say yes or no, but instead, presented us both with options, and it up to us to choose what we think the best. If only I realized it sooner, I could play around with Zaidi more when he was just a baby. Now, he is a shy 7 year old boy, a year older than Charlotte, and he somehow reminded me of my younger day, trying to play with older brothers only to get rejected for fear of me taking over the throne "Mother, can I follow, big sister?" [Zaidi] "Make sure to stay close to her" [Fourth queen] "Yes" [Zaidi] "Dear step mother, how come you never be this direct with me" [Diana] "Who knows. But, surely you can read between the line even clearly now" [Fourth queen] "That I do, thank you" [Diana] "Though, I don''t mind acting like a mother every once in a while" [Fourth queen] She give Zaidi a huge hug before doing the same to me ~Sob~ "Don''t cry. Other will use it to their advantage" [Fourth queen] "But... you suddenly hugging me... it''s unexpected" [Diana] It''s unexpected, as well as something that I never thought I could receive. To think a simple affection from step mother bring this much joy, how I lack an affection from a motherly figure "Guess I will act as usual then" [Fourth queen] "Please don''t" [Diana] And she instantly release me, before telling me to go with Zaidi quickly. I was confused for a bit but do as she told nonetheless. "Diana! Wait!" [Mother] "That girl" [First prince] "Now then, may I know what bring you here this morning" [Fourth queen] "Silent you!" [Mother] I see, thank you so much for covering me up. Qis, Zaidi and I quickly take our personal carriage and went straight ahead to the orphanage. Rumia and her friends, as well as Alice seems to be here already, and they''re all inside the training hall. I can hear a loud "boom" sound multiple times coming from inside. I wonder what spells are they practicing today "And you pull the trigger here, Rumia" [Ash] "I see, so charge my mana first and..." [Rumia] ~Boom~ So, that''s the pistol that Ash keep on mentioning about. From the looks of it he finally completed it. It function just like how Ash describe it would, with a bullet made out of magic stone that can absorb one mana, and that bullet is fired or propelled by neutral mana of the user channel through a specially made magic core. Right now, Rumia is using her light mana, imbued it into a bullet, and fire it off to a dark zombie "Way to go, you really are talented" [Ash] "Oh, it isn''t that hard" [Rumia] ((Suspicious)) [Diana, Qis] "Brother Ash, why are you blushing?" [Karon] "Oh, it''s just hot here" [Ash] "The air conditioning is on though?" [Savel] "Oh, I might not notice it. My bad" [Ash] ((Suspicious)) [Alice, Elise] Could it be, Ash has a crush on Rumia? "Welcome, Princess!" [Kara] "Mrs Qis as well!" [Mara] And there goes usual hug. Somehow, today hug feel extra good, but, it is somewhat ruined by the fact that Ash trying to hit on Rumia, and Rumia here being oblivious (Why did I feel furious seeing it?) [Diana] Chapter 186 - Kucin, Anjin, & Filvisar _________________________________________________ [Kiserre''s orphanage] [Khamishah point of view] Kucin, Anjin and Manu, the three kids (a black cat girl, a golden retriever boy and a human boy), all three of them was once under the care of this black cat lady right here, as her adopted children. They''re just like any other normal family if you ask me, minus the fact that she''s taking care of kid from different races, and not to mention, all alone as she was still not married during that time You would think when she said the same thing happen and I rescued her before mean that she got harassed by a group of old follower, by no, it was a group of true beastman group that harassed her. The group didn''t have any problem with Kucin and Anjin, but with Manu, and since thing got heated up that time as she was trying to defend the three children all alone, I couldn''t save one of the children, and thus, the human boy die, being slammed hard into a rock by those despicable group. The scream of a mother losing her child that time, it wakes me up several times from my sleep, and it takes me six months to stop seeing it completely from my dream. And now "So, the pair cat and dog S rank adventure, Kucin and Anjin, is you kids?" [Priest C] "True, but they have been so busy lately that they forgot to pay me a visit" [Black cat lady] "Sigh... I''ll scold them for you the next time" [Khamishah] "Oh, it''s fine. They''re busy after all" [Black cat lady] "So busy that they didn''t know their mother had been caught and enslaved in an international crisis?" [Khamishah] "..." [Black cat lady] I have to make sure that I scold them severely next time I meet them. They just got the S rank title, thus I can empathize them being busy, but not this busy. Then again, I am an orphan myself back then with no other responsibilities, so that''s why I can quickly climb the ladder and become an SS rank adventure. If anything, maybe I should ask Motra to scold them. He''s/She''s a noble, and S rank adventure as well as a close aid to Beast King Leogris, so he/she can give a better scolding (Still, if I''m not mistaken, they''re tasked to find about the two traitors of the demon kingdom, and those two traitors did involved back then, so...) [Khamishah] Did something happen to them? In term of power, individually, they''re weaker than Ash, but the two of them combined can give Ash a run for his money, so I find it almost unbelievable that something happens to them. Almost, as there are cases where an S rank adventure goes missing only to be found out they''re in trouble "Wah, Wah, Wah" [Miriam] "There, there. I''ll feed you once more, don''t cry" [Black cat lady] "Men, boys, get out now!" [Nun C] As the guys get out of the room, the black cat lady here ask me "Mrs Saga, can I... adopt this kid?" [Black cat lady] _________________________________________________ An angel, an angel has descend from heaven and visit us early in the morning. A cute red hair angel that is nice even to a brute and rude person like me. "Thank you so much for teaching me how to use this weapon Ash" [Rumia] "You''re welcome" [Ash] Her sweet voice, and her sweet smile, it''s refreshing, unlike a certain blondie red dress princess "How rude!" [Diana] "Yup, so unlike a certain someone" [Ash] "Gerr! Sometime, you really are way too rude!" [Diana] "Yeah yeah" [Ash] "Ash, you can''t say like that to the princess. She''s working hard for your sake and for the sake of other, the least you can do is to not give her any more trouble" [Rumia] "Right. I wouldn''t do that. Thank you for the advice" [Ash] So unlike a certain princess that I come to know from day 1 of my new life "Ohh! You''re so dead!" [Diana] Taking a prototype pistol, she quickly uses it to shoot a magic bullet toward me. While it''s dangerous, it actually pretty damn impressive how effortlessly she handle a foreign weapon. Still "See! How come you blame me for thinking like that!" [Ash] "Then stop being so rude all the time!" [Diana] "You two, you two really are close" [Rumia] ""We aren''t!!"" [Ash, Diana] Well, at least her smile heal this wounded heart and soul, as a result of getting work to the bone by her. Then again, I couldn''t thanks Diana enough for all she has done for us, but shooting me suddenly is way uncalled for! I''m just glad her little brother here doesn''t copy that action just now "Mrs Saintess, are you gonna be our big sister?" [Charlotte] "Why do you ask that?" [Rumia] "Brother Ash will marry Princess, but I also like Mrs Saintess here" [Charlotte] ""No!!"" [Ash, Diana] "Elder sister, with him?" [Zaidi] (On one hand, I''ll love Princess Diana become our big sister, but Mrs Saintess here isn''t that bad at all) [Kara] (Love triangle. A commoner, a princess, and a saintess. This sound like a nice romance novel) [Alice] Well, as much as I have a huge crush on her, I think it''s better for me not to indulge much into it. Since my priority right now are those twelve, plus, she reminded me of Rafiah too much. Both are natural cutie and naturally oblivious to that matter (Good, even I don''t think you''re good enough for her) [Goddess Achalasia] (Not you too!) [Ash] Well, since Goddess Achalasia say that herself... "Ehh..." [Ash] "Something wrong?" [Qis] "Rumia, you said that the goddess guide you to come here right?" [Ash] "That, I did" [Rumia] "And you can communicate with the goddess right?" [Ash] "It''s an open secret by this point, but yes" [Rumia] "By any chance, did she mention something about homework?" [Ash] "How, don''t tell me, you too!" [Rumia] Since her being here means that I can easily communicate with Goddess Achalasia without the need of special medium like dream or in a holy place, is it possible for me to communicate with God of Death and ask him something. The only other times this happen outside said conditions is back at Malsia where we met the orphans, and that was most likely because of the diamond carved statue of her, which basically radiating holy aura all over the place (That''s still your homework. It''s possible, but he wouldn''t answer any of your questions) [Goddess Achalasia] "Oh come on!" [Ash] "?" [Other] Well, whatever. Not like I hit a major block in resurrecting Linda, but... "Rumia, Diana, Qis, Alice, and Elise, can you come here for a bit" [Ash] "Brother Ash, don''t tell me..." [Elise] "Well, I see no harm right now, plus, a saintess ought to know a thing or two, am I right" [Ash] "Is this about your suspicious activity in front of Linda''s grave?" [Diana] "What actually you have been doing with Elise all this time?" [Qis] "Just how did you know about that, but yeah" [Ash] No doubt about it, must be Alaric and co doing. Well, I can just tell them about it """"!!!!"""" [Diana, Rumia, Qis, Alice] "Can you spare some time tonight?" [Ash] "Will do!" [Diana] "Others?" [Ash] ~Nod~ Guess that''s good then. "Grandpa Claude!" [Savel] "Welcome back!" [Karon] "I''m back, and the stalls issue have been settle" [Claude] "You really are a reliable butler, Mr Claude" [Diana] "Mr Claude..." [Rumia] "May I help you, O saintess?" [Claude] Claude and Rafiah here have been going around the neighborhood helping taking care of the preparation for debutante party this morning in my stead, he just comes back and thus, this is the first time Rumia and Claude meet "No, I just remember about an old elf that I acquaintance with. He did tell me he had a mansion in Estel before, and had a reliable butler name Claude. Surely, it must be coincidence" [Rumia] "Wait a minute..." [Ash] "Could it be..." [Rafiah] "Is his name, by any chance, Filvisar?" [Claude] "IT IS!" [Rumia] Claude''s master, Filvisar, is still alive!? Chapter 187 - Filvisars whereabouts _________________________________________________ [Kiserre''s orphanage] [Khamishah point of view] Adoption. While things related to adoption does fall under the jurisdiction of orphanage, it''s still a huge issue at this moment This black cat lady here, she''s without a doubt an honest person, someone reliable (as raising a pair of kids that can become an S rank adventure is no small task) as well as someone that I could trust 100% to take good care of Miriam. Plus, Ash and Mira themselves mentioned that a loving home with a responsible adopted parent is far better than an orphanage (though neither of them received any adoption request). Thing is, it''s the matter of both Miriam and her race. Kiserre''s citizen are without a doubt, still holding a strong believe in the old teaching, and the fact that an old follower like this morning can emit an aura of disapproval even knowing I was there is rather unsettling. I can''t be there for her 24/7, plus, I''m sure she doesn''t want the same thing that happened to Manu, happen once more. There''s also thing related to her housing condition and her income. I do believe she can overcome it, but given how the situation right now in Kiserre, I would rather keep Miriam here with us, at least until she is economically stable That said (Looking at them, I believe she can overcome the hurdles) [Khamishah] There''s an old saying, one quoted by the God of Life itself, that every child and every creature have their own sustenance, and those sustenance will come to them in one form or another "Am I, troubling you, Mrs Saga?" [Black cat lady] "Can you give me some time? I''ll need to discuss this with other" [Khamishah] "Sure. In the meantime, I can always feed Miriam here whenever needed" [Black cat lady] "Much appreciated" [Khamishah] Better gets the paperwork and security measures ready. Hope her adoption will open a brighter future in social and racial standing here in Kiserre "We''re coming in!" [Lizard boy] "Miriam!" [Green hair boy] "Hey! Don''t just barge in!" [Long hair girl] Hope... I''ll protect those hope _________________________________________________ Seriously, Filvisar (aka Claude''s master) is still alive. That mean, he surely knows what happen 100 years back, as she received the blessings of the ten heroes like Rean''s and the other! "Where... where is he?" [Claude] "Claude..." [Ash] He looks ready to burst into a stream of tear. It''s understandable, a ghost is said to be a manifestation of one strong desire, be it a positive or a negative one. In Claude''s case, he loves to serve his master family so much so that he became part of it. Then, the fallen god resurrected, killing them all in the entire process, leaving only Claude in the mansion while his master goes on the journey to defeat the fallen god. But, why didn''t Filvisar comes back home once everything is finished? "Sorry. I''m not sure. He did say he is doing an important role right now, for the next generation. That''s all I know. Though, he is one of the reasons why the new teachin... no, the original teaching of Goddess Achalasia''s religion resurfacing right now" [Rumia] "You mean, he''s teaching you?" [Ash] "Yes, and Goddess Achalasia herself verify his teaching" [Rumia] "I see... That''s good then" [Claude] "Are you sure?" [Ash] "I am. He might have thought there''s nobody left here in the mansion, so he decided to continue his research, though that mean" [Claude] "Master Filvisar must had a research room somewhere else" [Calypso] "True, but where..." [Claude] "It could be anywhere. Literally. For now, I''ll put up a request to the adventure guild, and we''ll see how to proceed from there on" [Ash] "I''ll do it later, once I get back to the guild. Though, judging by what I heard, this is at least a B rank request" [Alice] "That high... understandable, and thanks" [Ash] B rank. There''s only a bunch of them here is Estel, like the female elf adventure, and the ex-paladin female adventure. Samurai Jacks already an A rank adventure now, and we don''t have any S rank adventure here in Estel. But, thanks to Diana''s debutante party being made a public event, influx of adventures are to be expected and surely an adventure or two will be willing to take the request "It is I, the second prince, name..." [Second prince] "Elder brother?" [Zaidi] "Sigh... a loud trash. I''m impressed he can come back after getting beat up by Mahsuri the other day" [Ash] And what''s even more impressive is that Mahsuri just couldn''t be bothered about his presence anymore. Maybe that''s for the good. I don''t want my relationship with the royal family (King Estel, Diana and Zaidi specifically) to be tainted should that puppet of the old follower, the second prince get kill. That said "So here is where the new saintess is. I am..." [Second prince] "Alright, you have two options. One, after getting kick in the face by me, you will go back home all by yourself, or second, after getting kick in the face by me, and you still insist on seeing her, in which case I''ll crack every joint and bone in your body, before feeding them to the stray dog. You have three seconds to choose" [Ash] "Wait, don''t you know..." [Second prince] "3" [Ash] "I''m the second prince... I am..." [Second prince] "2" [Ash] "Listen, For I am..." [Second prince] "1" [Ash] "Kyaaa! I''ll remember this" [Second prince] And he quickly run away. Well, I still haven''t kicked him in the face, but I''ll let it slide this time around. Don''t wanna the twelve of them to copy it, and don''t wanna ruin my reputation to the red hair saintess here "I believe you will not kick him simply. You are even more respectable than those rumours. I''m proud of you" [Rumia] "Well..." [Ash] (He would totally kick him in the face!) [Other] All of them are equally rude! I can tell what you''re thinking right now! But, I''ll let slide, getting a compliment from a cute red hair angel like her feel so nice. Goddess, why didn''t you bless this relationship... Well, no need for the reply, the problem lies within me, I''m sure of it. (True) [Goddess Achalasia] (That hurt...) [Ash] Usually, I''ll say whatever, but the Goddess herself saying it, so that isn''t something you can just slide off "Why is the second prince running like there''s no tomorrow?" [Ex female paladin adventure] "You''re..." [Elise] "Huh... what bring you here?" [Ash] "I have a small request to Princess Diana and Saintess Rumia" [Ex female paladin adventure] ((To us... that could only mean)) [Diana, Rumia] "Please, made be your paladin" [Ex female paladin adventure] Chapter 188 - 6 more days until day 1 of the debutante party _________________________________________________ [Malsia''s Orphanage] [Seo Ah point of view] Six more days until the first day of Princess Diana debutante party. As of Princess Nurhaliza suggestion, our convoy from Malsia will join in those officials from the Beast Kingdom as well as from the Demon kingdom itself, they will arrive here shortly afterwards. For a debutante party, she not only break the tradition, but also make it as grand as possible. Debutante party which only nobles and royal can attend, can now be celebrated by the commoners as well. Not to mention, I''m 100% sure this is the first time in the history that those officials from the new religion, Beastman and Demon kingdom are invited while those from the holy palace weren''t invited. Not to mention (Us from the orphanage are invited into the official event as well. Meaning, we will be there, celebrating Princess Diana turning 18 years of age with other high class people...) [Seo Ah] My stomach hurt, just thinking about it. What if I spill my drink on the princess beautiful dress accidentally, or I accidentally step on the foot step of the kings... "Listen up, we will practice to properly behave ourselves!" [Kanji] "Yes!" [Ex thugs] "Just what are you doing..." [Seo Ah] "We are practicing our manner" [Ex thug C] "Scythe boss did come the other day, after upgrading Housey and all, he nervously mention don''t do anything stupid" [Ex thug E] "That''s why we are practicing, to look perfect" [Ex thug A] "At least we wanted to avoid spilling our drink over the princess dress" [Ex thug B] "Or practicing not stepping on the king foot" [Ex thug D] So they''re also worried about it. That aside, Brother Ash did come here not too long ago along with the other. He said that he coming here was to install two things. One, planting communication stone along the main dungeon road of the Rock and Sea dungeon. He does it so that he can properly utilize the function of telephone, so that the line can become clearer, thus smoothing the process. Second, was to upgrade our Housey with an S rank magic core he got. Well, both of it was a success, and how do we know. When we are testing out the telephone, the recipient at Estel''s side was none other than the furious Princess Diana. Apparently, Brother Ash had an ulterior motive for coming here, and that was to skip his work for a bit. Needless to say, none of us can back him up, and thus, his plan was foiled. I sincerely pity him, but (At least he knows what he will be doing from now on, unlike the uncertain me) [Seo Ah] Sis Mira wanted to continue with her current position, managing not only this orphanage, but also helping the orphanages in Estel and Kiserre. She is after all the Head of Director, having a higher position that Mrs Saga herself. Then, there''s Kanji, who along with his friends, "graduated" from being street thugs into proper adventures. He doesn''t aim that high, but his answer sure was a surprising one. He just wanted to he useful, and guide other like him to a proper road. I envy him. "Ouch! My foot!" [Ex thug B] "Sorry, your highness, please forgive me!" [Kanji] "Behead him, behead him!" [Ex thug C] They couldn''t be even louder, can they? And what happen to the looking perfect part? They''re practicing on how to ask forgiveness instead, but, should I join them, practicing my manner as well? . . . "You fool, how dare you spill your drink into my expensive dress!" [Seo Ah] "I''m sorry, your highness!" [Ex thug D] While we are practicing, I can see the official carriage from a far heading here "Alright everyone, get ready!" [Kana] "Yes!" [Other] "Take care of the house, will you Birdie" [Elf boy] ~Screech~ Better call Brother Ash to tell him we are leaving. Maybe the one in Kiserre will answer as well _________________________________________________ Busy! Busy! Busy! Only six days left before the debutante party and here I am, busy as hell. The last time I catch a break when I visited both the Malsia and Kiserre''s orphanage together with others, and let just said I got one hell of a scolding, not only from Diana (well, she was rather furious, which honestly scared the crap out of me) but also Ceanu, Crow, Muse and Liyana. Those nobles, I swear to god. Well, I did dump all the responsibility towards them, but at least I can finally upgrade the communication between the three orphanage. Not to mention, I gave one orb to Haliza, Khamishah as well as Queen Rinz, that way, the official from the three countries can communicate without the reliance of runner etc. That at least help tone down their anger "Brother Ash, Seo Ah says that they will depart soon from Malsia with the other officials" [Kara] "I see, thanks. I''m sure they have told Diana, but can you tell her that as well. Also, to Ceanu" [Ash] "I can!" [Kara] "Well, to Ceanu as well. Not only Diana" [Ash] "Gulp... I will! Mara, help me" [Kara] "Yeah, yeah, sure" [Mara] Well, she sure is excited to call her favourite princess. But, let test her a bit, by having her calling Ceanu. I''m sure she''s nervous, but if that helps her to grow, than it''s worth doing so. But, now that I think of it, a commoner calling a noble and a princess... mehh... they wouldn''t care (That aside, the list of important guests. Should jot it down now) [Ash] Managing the important guests, should be under the job scope of Ceanu and co, well to be more specific, Crow, but as the community leader, I should jot it down as well. I don''t know most of them on the list, but what I do know is that Saint Louis wouldn''t come here. That''s bad, I sincerely wanted to meet him once more, but at the same time, I feel a bit relief, since my job will only be increasing should we add him as a guest. As for the one from Kiserre, Khamishah and Queen Rinz will depart two days before the event. (God, seeing the list of important people, she sure knows how to make herself an important figure) [Ash] (Well, this is my bestie we are talking about) [?] (True. This is Diana we are talking about. By the way, how goes your "visit" with Alaric?) [Ash] (Let just said, there isn''t a single barrier to block me, minion of God of Death, and yes... they''re complotting something behind the scenes. Using my little sister out of all the people!) [?] (So, she didn''t realize she was used... Well, the blame goes to me as well, for not noticing it) [Ash] (Alaric and I plan to thin them out first, before "that") [?] (Well, it''s out of my job scope, but good luck) [Ash] (Yes. I will) [?] And she disappeared into the air. Thank goodness I decided to bring Rumia, Diana, Qis, And Alice back then. We got another powerful ally in our side right now That aside those damn royal. The first, second and third queen (as well as the first and second prince), they''re complotting something, and separately for that matter. I don''t want to indulge much on it as it is beyond my scope, but I have to. They''re multiple instances where they try to sabotage us, and let just said every single time I caught their underlings doing the dirty works, I was summoned to the castle. It becomes so repetitive that King Estel himself gave me the permission to "judge" them by myself. A power that I plan to abuse should they still continue doing so. (Well, hope Alaric and her can settle it behind the scenes) [Ash] Plus, the camera functionality had been upgraded, so we can get all the evidence we needed. "Mahsuri! Please train us!" [Lily] "The tournament is tomorrow!" [Ray] "We wanted to win and get the invitation to eat together with Princess Diana!" [Kadeus] "Me too!" [Mile] "Didn''t I told all of you to rest!" [Mahsuri] "But..." [Other] "No but!" [Mahsuri] And they quickly gave up on training. Well, not my problems. The tournament will he handled by Ram and Gizzere after all Chapter 189 - 5 more days until day 1 of the debutante party _________________________________________________ [Open field dungeon, Estel''s side] [Seo Ah point of view] "The communication stones that Ash set up along the main road, across all the dungeon floors, just how much does it cost?" [Aries] "Well, he does use an A rank magic core, so let just said, A LOT. Though even Princess Diana and The Merchant Guild Master, Gizzere themselves didn''t know the exact cost, as Ash uses his own pocket money for it" [Princess Nurhaliza] "Just how rich is he..." [Motra] "And how does he procure all the magic core? I did know he have the spawning blocks at his disposal but surely even that had it limitation" [Aries] "Such a mysterious man..." [Beast King, Leogris] "Agree. Make me wanted to meet him more" [Demon king, Druser] It really is a mystery. An A rank magic core is expensive, with the highest quality having the same price like that of a house, and yet Brother Ash uses it without a care in the world. If course, he put up a very powerful sealing magic to disguise it as well as to prevent anyone stealing it, but it just doesn''t make any sense. All of it is in top notch in quality, like they''re being replicated from a single magic core... How? I just can''t understand him. The only possible explanation is if he got the legendary and mythical treasure chest that can replicate anything that is put inside of it, but there''s no way that thing exist... right? (No, more importantly!) [Seo Ah] Right now, we are all forming a small circle among ourselves, taking a small break inside a canopy that was provided by Princess Nurhaliza. The kids and Kanji''s friends are inside the camper van golem, and as for Sis Mira, Kana, Kanji and I... just why are we here, together with all the big shot... Kanji there basically has passed out, after repeatedly mumbling to himself "don''t do anything stupid" "don''t do anything stupid" hundreds of time. Kana, well, he rather adopted to this situation, maybe because of how much he had to meet all the important people while helping out Sis Mira. Still, the pressure, I just can''t... there are literally few royalties, an S rank adventure who is also a noble, paladin that are credited to stop the succession war of the demon kingdom, and then there''s me. I shouldn''t even be here in the first place! "Calm down a bit black hair girl, none of us here will "devour" you. You should use this opportunity to form a connection, and if possible, learn something" [Motra] "Ri.. ri... ri..." [Seo Ah] "Now now, it''s understandable" [Mira] I can''t. The S rank adventure, he/she is nice, initiating the conversation with me, and he/she''s a noble from to top it all, and yet here I am "Well, for starter, how about you tells us how the behemoth slayer saves you?" [Motra] "Well..." [Seo Ah] That''s an easy topic. I just talk about it, and all of them have this look, impressed with Brother Ash action. The butterfly beastman, Motra keep on saying "wonderful" multiple times. He/she really enjoys hearing about it "Well, let us depart" [Naoto] "Agree. Plus, if I''m not mistaken, they''re having the tournament on the first floor. Who knows, we might be seeing Naoto fighting if we depart now" [Mira] "Now that something I wanted to see" [Motra] _________________________________________________ [Rean point of view] A battle royale, that''s the battle format that is suggested by Brother Ash, and basically, almost anything goes. You can team up or go solo, you can prepare any health or mana potion beforehand, or you can steal it from your opponent. You can create a magic circle beforehand and fire it off anytime during the battle. You can even set a trap beforehand (supposedly, but Guild Master Ram prohibited it, in fear of unsuspecting civilians wander around too much and ended up hit it) Truly, a weird format but nonetheless, all participants are psyched up for it. I thing other prohibited thing include a fatal strike The tournament will be held far away from the main road, on the first floor. Initially, we thought of using the training hall, but obviously with so much participant, the venue will be changed. Plus, doing it inside the dungeon is a great idea from Muse (who sadly can''t join us) as the spectators can watch our battle from the watcher. The judge will be Guild Master Ram and surprise surprise, the rude captain... Yeah, that surprises us all... As for those who can participate, it''s open for all except those S & SS rank adventure or deem equal to them. So Brother Ash isn''t allowed to participate. Well, he will easily become the last man standing, so it''s unfair for us should he join "Alright, attention everyone! I''ll explain the rules once more..." [Ram] As we gather around, I scan those participating. There are various knight, soldier, adventures and mercenaries around. There are Master Jacks, Elemental archer, Sis Naoto and some other potential winner. (Rean, are you comfortable? How about your mana?) [Ray] (It''s fine. How about you, Elise?) [Rean] (Same here. Don''t worry about me) [Elise] (Remember our plan, Kadeus?) [Lily] (Of course! I''m not that stupid!) [Kadeus] (Yeah...) [Mile] Right now, Lily is making an illusion of Elise and I, like we are there with them, when the truth is, the two of us are hiding inside their shadow. It''s the shadow dive technique, something the vampire race proficient with, and can be accessed via either Dark magic or Mirage magic. Brother Ash thought us how to use it, he says a certain male vampire taught him. Still, the mana consumption is no joke... I''m glad the blessings of the ten heroes as well as the one from Holy Beast, Az come in handy. Plus, we can just chug down a mana potion or two whenever needed "Alright, all of you, take your position!" [Rude captain] "Yes!" [All] And we take a corner, while both the guild master and the rude captain uses pegasus from the Valkyrie to scout us all from the sky, before ""Begin!!"" [Ram, Rude captain] And with that signal, all of us take a defensive position, with our two illusion right in the center. Well, we aren''t that useless just because we stay inside the shadow. We will occasionally resurface and fire our magic from a far, whittling down the number of opponents, but "Looks like they''re taking precautions!" [Kadeus] "Good! That way we can conserve our energy" [Ray] "Ray''s right! Act only when needed!" [Rean] Scouting the area a bit, I can see multiple clashes going on, of it, Master Jacks and Elemental archer, Sis Naoto stand out the most "You there! Out!" [Rude captain] "Damn you Jacks!" [Swordman adventure] "Haha, all if fair in love and war" [Jacks] "You too!" [Ram] "Your archery skill is good. I don''t feel bad, getting outdone by you" [Female elf adventure] "That''s a high praise, coming from an elf" [Naoto] Those two really are great! We might be opponent right now but their skill is a sight to behold. Master Jacks graceful wind slash from his katana, and Sis Naoto precise control over her bow and arrows. Truly, they''re worthy of their A rank title "Incoming!" [Elise] Elise shout. There''s an axeman adventure trying to defeat us, but ((Dark hand!!)) [Rean, Elise] From inside his shadow, a hand made out of dark mana protruding out, firmly grasping his lower limb, "What!" [Axeman adventure] "Kadeus!" [Lily] "On it!" [Kadeus] Having lost his balance, Kadeus quickly grab the axeman left hand and throw him away, and "Axeman! You''re out!" [Rude captain] "Damn it! But, you guys are good! Keep it up. I''ll be cheering while watching the watcher" [Axeman adventure] "Thanks" [Ray] And he quickly left "Let us keep it up! Once the participants number become 1/4, Rean and Elise will keep on using shadow dive!" [Ray] ""Understood!!"" [Rean, Elise] And thus, our strategy to become the last man (or group) standing keep on going before "This is bad..." [Lily] (Rean, Elise... get ready...) [Ray] ((Right...)) [Rean, Elise] A powerful opponent. With a single swing from her lance, she quickly torn our formation apart. Using shadow dive, I quickly jump inside of her shadow before firing off dark and fire arrows but "Too naive!" [Ex female paladin adventure] She uses her strong light mana to drove me out. Well, the light mana illuminates her, and there''s no shadow left for us to hide, so I instantly jump out, and cover for Elise. The ex paladin new weapon, inspired by Mrs Aries, she still hasn''t master it, but (So much force) [Rean] "Rean, dodge now!" [Elise] Using the pistol, Elise fire off three round of high velocity fire ball, dark arrow and light spear from it but alas "Like I said, NAIVE! You think I don''t know about the new weapon!" [Ex female paladin adventure] "!" [All] She blocks it with her paladin skill, before quickly hitting us all with the blunt side of the lance "Rean and co, you''re all out!" [Ram] "What a shame..." [Ray] "Still, you guys did well" [Ex female paladin adventure] "Good luck!" [Mile] "Thank you" [Ex female paladin adventure] It''s a shame, but I don''t have any complaints. The ex female paladin, she''s strong. Worthy of her title. I hope her ceremony to become a paladin for Princess Diana and Saintess Rumia will goes well during the debutante party As we go back into the main road, few carriages from a far catches our attention, and of course, among them, is a camper van golem with the orphanage symbol in it. "Long time no see, Kanji" [Rean] "Well, it was only few weeks ago we met, but yeah long time no see" [Kanji] There sure are many carriages, but "Oh my, so he is one of the orphans?" [Motra] A butterfly beastman come to greet us all. He/she... it''s only for an instant, and it disappear soon afterwards but ((What... is that feeling...)) [Rean, Elise] Could it be, just my imagination? Chapter 190 - 4 more days until day 1 of the debutante party _________________________________________________ [Seo Ah point of view] It''s morning, waking up at the girl room of Estel orphanage, it''s not as crowded as I thought it would as there are quite number of rooms left to be spared. That still didn''t stop me from sleeping together with Elise. Last night, we had a chance to see the street around the neighborhood, and it was simply gorgeous. The elemental trees, they carefully planted a seed of fire, water, earth, dark, wind, mirage and light right beside each other, and those sequences are maintained throughout the road, which lead to a colorful and eye-catching night walk. Bobunny''s clone, a crystal rabbit golem, made out of S rank magic core, fill the street, which nit only act as attraction for kids and adults alike, but also serve as "patrolling guard". I just can''t believe that little cute rabbit is an S rank monster, and it''s clone while not as powerful, they''re rabbit... so they''re almost everywhere, alas, it''s still a sight to behold. And with the festive mood going around, the late night stalls, the bards, street performances, cheap store and the vibrant colours of houses being newly painted with occasional sight of fairies, we can''t help but to get around until late midnight, and of course, we are getting scolded by the ghost butler afterward for coming home late, but it was well worth it "Morning, let wakes them up" [Elise] "Let them sleep. They slept rather late yesterday, and they''re tired from the long journey as well" [Seo Ah] "I see. Then how about we help makes today breakfast" [Elise] "Sure" [Seo Ah] And when we go downstairs "Morning" [Rean] "You guys rather early, help us will you" [Ash] "How about you help us prepare the salad" [Claude] ""Right"" [Seo Ah, Elise] The ghost butler aside, Brother Ash and Rean, why did they wake up even earlier than me, and they quickly help making breakfast as well... I feel like their girl power is even higher than mine. Can''t lose! We quickly help make breakfast, with Sis Rafiah, Kana, and Mira helping us midway through. We cook a lot of it, and thanks to Claude, we finish it in record time! "Food!" [Farhah] "Rush!" [Elf boy] "For the food!" [Calypso] "The chicken is mine!" [Singa] "Hey! Where are your manner!" [Ash] "Eehh..." [Younger group] "Those who rush won''t get any food!" [Ash] "!" [Younger group] And they quickly behave, like for a second... It''s simply chaotic, but a single glance from Sis Mira makes them behave, again like for another second As we eat our breakfast, Brother Ash told us that he needed to greet the guests at the castle. It clear as day he didn''t want to do so, but I guess a certain pair of princesses forces him (Sis Mira was invited as well, but she wanted to meet the local Merchant Guild Master). He quickly chugs down his food, and "Take care. Have fun today, but be responsible" [Ash] "Yes" [Other] What should we do today? _________________________________________________ Sigh... Did I really have to greet them? The context given to me is simply a simple brunch but, yeah, I''m sure it isn''t just a simple brunch with all those nobles and royal. I can tolerate if only the nobles that are nice to me was invited but no... plus, why am I getting invited as well... (I should just dash there. Let leave the bus golem for them to drive around) [Ash] As I dash towards the castle, a carriage that I see almost everyday catches my eye. The carriage also stop "Teacher? Why are you dashing? Come and join us" [Liyana] "It simply a waste of your energy and mana. Plus, it''s more comfortable here" [Muse] "Sure, I''ll take the offer" [Ash] And as I thought, they''re both alone. Guess their families didn''t really bother about them. Well, Liyana here is getting married to the "love of her life" or so they called with the first prince (let just hope Diana manages to stop it), and Muse here is the bastard daughter of a noble. So yeah, they aren''t really well treated by their own families, but they''re still fighting. "Liyana, Muse, how about I become your chaperone for today?" [Ash] ""Really??"" [Liyana, Muse] "Sure. I can help you get rid of the nuisance, and if you want, I can help you make some connection to Haliza. That way, you can at least use it to "talk" with your family what you want" [Ash] ""!!"" [Liyana, Muse] Ooh, they sure are excited. Well, even if I didn''t help them, Diana would, but Diana must be busy as well, so let me try my best to help them . . . Once inside the castle garden Yup, full of nobles and high knights. And of course those who already knew about me didn''t even bother to approach me, but "Why does a commoner like him get invited!" [Mob noble A] Aahh... the usual development. Just ignore it, or so I thought, when ""!!"" [Liyana, Muse] Those mob nobles, they surround us. Liyana a little bit panic, while as for Muse "May I help you?" [Muse] "Oh look, the bastard daughter. Of course, she will hang out with trash" [Mob noble B] "Ooh, for a toilet face like you, that''s quite a "compliment", any other thing you wanted to relay?" [Muse] That sure is a sick burn. Somehow, I get this feeling her tongue is even more dangerous than I am, but, you got my stamp of approval from the bottom of my heart for being a badass here The mob nobles flinched a bit. They wanted to shout, but they won''t. Now then "Hey toilet face, toilet seat, toilet paper and toilet brush, you guys literally stink. So if you don''t mind, maybe you should go to washroom and join your other family members there" [Ash] "Why you!" [Mob noble C] "Don''t you have any respect to us!" [Mob noble D] "I have more respect to the toilet back at the orphanage. It''s clean, take my shit and do it job properly, unlike you toilets gang here who spit out shit from the mouth" [Ash] "Teacher... that''s gross" [Liyana] "But it''s the truth. The toilet back at orphanage are much cleaner" [Muse] We high five each other as those mobs dismissed themselves. Well, other are looking at us now, and the nobles and knights from outside looks at us like a couple of uncivilised monkey. Not that it matters to me, but I feel bad for Liyana and Muse here. Better search for "Ash, that was a bad call" [Haliza] "There you are. Huh, where''s Diana?" [Ash] "She will arrive later. Are you looking for us?" [Haliza] As I keep on talking to Haliza here, the other watches us, feeling intrigued and confused as to how I can talk to a royalty from Malsia with ease. I introduce both Liyana and Muse. I guess I did a great job as their chaperone, helping them to make a connection with other noble, in fact, the highest possible connection, a royalty. (Now that I think of it, my connection to royal might be better than most noble) [Ash] And now, they won''t stop talking... should I leave. Maybe I should just grab a drink first. That cold grape juice looks nice. "You there, care to become part of my family?" [Noble old man] "!?" [Ash] Looks like a couple of nobles from other countries approach me. They bring along their daughters. Well, the answer should be crystal clear "Nope. Bye-bye" [Ash] "At least listen. My daughter here is..." [Noble old man] "Nope. Bye-bye" [Ash] "Then how about..." [Silver hair noble] "Not interested" [Ash] "How about I appointed you to become our soldiers? Surely, behemoth slayer like you..." [Brown hair lady] "Already working" [Ash] "You should listen to us noble!" [Silver hair noble] This line again. Just how many times do I hear it right now. Plus, every time someone like them says those line, their eyes couldn''t hide the greediness. Tchh... I''m pissed off now "Excuse me. I like to have a word with him" [First prince] "!" [Other] "What is it..." [Ash] "Just come with me for a second" [First prince] Looks like they know he is the first prince of Estel. Well, I don''t want to cause much ruckus, so let just follow him "There. You may go" [First prince] "Did you just... Well, thanks" [Ash] Again, don''t know whether he is serious or stupid. He could just let me snapped and that would bring him more advantageous, but I suppose he didn''t want this brunch party set up by King Estel to be spoil "Look..." [Noble A] "Isn''t that..." [Knight A] "The Beast King and The Demon King!" [Noble B] "They''re with King Estel and the princess!" [Noble C] "And wasn''t that the S rank adventure? Motra!" [Knight B] "The fallen paladin as well..." [Knight C] So that''s why Haliza say she will come later, to make her grand entrance. Such drama, but it is a necessary one to establish her position. Someone like me might not fully realised how important that is, so let just keep quiet. There''s also Qis, Ceanu and Crow here with... huh? There are two things that pique my interest, the first being, wasn''t the queen beside Diana is the fourth queen? At least I''m sure that isn''t her true mother. Diana did mention her relationship with the fourth queen is a good one, so maybe she purposely asks the fourth queen to accompany her, and secondly (That Motra... just who is he/she. For a moment, I can feel something... like Agnes?) [Ash] It was only for a split second, and I''m not even sure what I detect was correct. Imagination? Maybe, but let just make a mini mental note "Ash, let us go and greet them" [Haliza] "You''re our chaperone after all" [Liyana] "Father will surely "pamper" me a lot after this. Sigh... Not that I would complaint, maybe I should let Rean pamper me instead" [Muse] "Haha, do that and Rean will surely run away from you" [Ash] While the two of them (excluding Haliza) bow to the group, I simply shake my hand with the kings, all of them, which understandably cause Crow to stare dagger at me. Qis, as usual wanted to explode. She really is particular about manner, but "Kahkahkah, such interesting fellow" [Leogris] The Liger beastman, Leogris. He''s around 2.5 meter talls with white fur and light orange strips. I got this feeling, the way he talks, he must be mingling around with the commoner not too long ago, and judging by his built and mana "Adventure?" [Ash] "Ex-adventure. B rank" [Leogris] "As I thought. Can''t say much about this old man though... you look intimidating but sadly..." [Ash] "Kahkahkah, everyone thought the same, but not everyone wanted to voice it out, since Aries here will beat them" [Druser] Druser, just like Zerolith and any other demon, he has a silver hair with two horn protruding out of his temporal bone. Around 2.3 meters tall, and looks quite old, until I am told he''s around 27 years of age, which is kinda shocking to be honest. Well, better do my job as a chaperone. As I introduce the two ladies with me, "Ooh, you sure are a strong one, behemoth slayer" [Motra] Again, I can feel something, but it''s only for a split second. Am I really imagining thing? As he/she keeps on talking, a "powder" like thing fall off from his wings. It''s normal for insect beastman should they become excited, so I just let if off, still "Agnes?" [Ash] "Pardon?" [Motra] "Nothing" [Ash] Maybe I really am imagining thing. "Now then, how about we quickly settle our businesses and meet Kara and Mara. This sweet lady here can''t help but to talk about her all the time" [Motra] "Motra!" [Aries] "True, I wanted to meet the special two, alongside Flinar, Erinmorlin and Lisa of course" [Druser] "Sound interesting, maybe I''ll pay a visit as well" [Leogris] "How about you do it tomorrow? We can arrange it for you two" [King Estel] "True, it''s better that way. Plus, we might get in the way of those working around the neighborhood" [Ceanu] "Ash, can you?" [Diana] "Your look and your word isn''t synchronizing!" [Ash] Well, more work for me... "Can I, meet them after this?" [Aries] "I''ll follow" [Motra] "Motra!" [Leogris] "Haha, joking. Don''t want to spoil the touching reunion, plus, I can meet them tomorrow" [Motra] "Just tell me once your business is done, I''ll guide you to the orphanage" [Ash] "Thank you" [Aries] Chapter 191 - 3 more days until day 1 of the debutante party _________________________________________________ [Seo Ah point of view] Yesterday, after coming back home from sight seeing around Estel, we are all surprised by the sudden visit of the famous paladin, Mrs Aries. She was indeed a gorgeous blonde hair lady, and she was delighted to see us all, particularly (Kara and Mara, I guess they really share some connection with Mrs Aries) [Seo Ah] But what? Neither of us have a single clue about it, and we can only speculate things from our side. I ask the older group (excluding Kara and Mara of course) about it. They (excluding Lara and Nara) did notice about Mrs Aries and the twin having some sort of connection, but alas, they''re still unsure about it. Even when we ask Brother Ash, he simply say let give her some time to explain, and when Sis Mira ask what would he do should Mrs Aries ask to adopt the twin, I can see him making a complicating faces. Happy and sad at the same time. "Hurry! Saintess Rumia morning speech will start" [Farhah] "The elegant red hair saintess, I wonder how she looks like" [Elf girl] "Can''t wait to meet her" [Cat girl] Us in the girl room get ready to change, not only to go to the new church inside the gigantic hall (call Diana hall), but also to greet the royalty and noble coming to visit the orphanage soon after this. Driving us there will be Sis Rafiah (Brother Ash and Sis Mira are busy making preparations), and once we arrive, we quickly take the front raw seat. It packs with those from around neighborhood, and not to mention, the ratio of human to non human is almost equal, something unheard of even in Malsia where the human and non human interaction is said to be the best "O Goddess, by your guidance..." [Rumia] And there she is. She really is petite like Brother Ash mention, and cute as well. More importantly (Every word of her, it simply... captivating) [Seo Ah] Her voice, it''s like a musical instrument gifted by the goddess herself. Her eye that is full of affection, every move she makes have it purposes. This, I might be exaggerating, but it''s like, I can feel the goddess sitting right next with us. (I think I found it!) [Seo Ah] (Damn it, she''s simply gorgeous) [Kanji] (True) [Ex thug C] (I think I''m in love) [Ex thug A] Usually, I will tell them don''t ruin the mood, but I can empathize with them on this one . . . After the morning speech of her ended, she greets us all. (She''s coming. You can do it Seo Ah! Tell her from the bottom of your heart) [Seo Ah] She''s approaching. You can do it! You can do it! "Hello there, you are?" [Rumia] "I''m Seo Ah, the eldest of the orphans. Can I ask for a request?" [Seo Ah] "What is it, dear Seo Ah?" [Rumia] "Can I become a sister and train under you, O Saintess!" [Seo Ah] "Oh my..." [Rumia] "!" [Other] _________________________________________________ Can you do it, Ash? That''s what her soft voice says yesterday, but her face, the face that implies do it properly will you! I know that she''s trying to make herself look better, but why don''t you do it instead... Well, at least I hope she didn''t bring any rude guest (not that I am one to speak) (Now now, it''s for your own good as well. That way, more people will come to help those ten kids in the future) [?] (True. I am grateful, but you know me) [Ash] (And the "empty treasure chest" of yours, the mana requirements have come back down) [?] (That long huh... well, I did replicate an A rank magic core from it) [Ash] Guess I should use it one last time before giving it to Diana as her birthday present. I so wanted it for myself, but don''t be a jerk, will me? Plus, it''s Diana we are talking about, I can trust her, and she can put it for better use as compare to me. I can always ask to borrow it back though "Ash, Mrs Khamishah said she will depart tomorrow with Queen Rinz" [Mira] "I see. Thank goodness we still have enough bedroom left" [Ash] "I just finished some work related to the kebab owner stall, guess I will prepare the bedroom for them" [Claude] "Please do, and thanks" [Ash] Jot it down, jot it down. The guest list keep on increasing. "..-. .. -. .. ... .... / -.-. .-.. . .- -. .. -. --. / . ...- . .-. -.-- / -.-. --- .-. -. . .-. / --- ..-. / - .... . / .... --- ..- ... ." [Housey] "... .- -- . / .... . .-. ." [Calypso tree] "Meow" [Behe] "I see, good job cleaning the mansion" [Ash] I guess all that''s left is to wait for the kids to come back as well as waiting for the guests. Well, I will only take them for a tour around the orphanage, as for the neighborhood area, I guess Diana and Ceanu will do it. Though I get this feeling that they will drag me to come with them ~Sound of bus golem being park~ Guess they''re back, with a certain red hair saintess as well. A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one for that. Not only Rumia, there are Flinar, Erinmorlin and Lisa as well with them. Oh yeah, the three of them are from the Beastman Kingdom, so it logical they would like to see their own King. Plus, Druser did mention he would like to meet the three as well, I wonder why. And not long afterward, our guest arrive, just that "Ash, behave yourself" [Mira] "I suddenly don''t feel like it" [Ash] I can tolerate most of the guests (King Estel, Diana, Qis, Ceanu, Crow, Fourth Queen, Zaidi, Haliza, Druser, Aries, Leogris and Motra) but why does the first, second, and third queen are here as well! Just why did the King have to bring all of his wives! I''m already annoyed by seeing them "Morning everyone, I am Mira, Head of Director of all three orphanages. Thank you all for making your time to visit us" [Mira] "Unless the three..." [Ash] ~Weird sound after getting elbowed by Mira~ (He deserves that) [Karon] (Agree, though I do know he didn''t like the three queen) [Zerolith] Grrr... Fine, I won''t talk for the rest of the day. That would be easier. I signal Mira to continue as the guests in front of us trying their best not to laugh or making a palm face "Thank you for the warm welcome, Head of Director" [Haliza] "It''s my pleasure your highness. Now then, allow me and the butler here to give you a guide" [Mira] "Please follow us" [Claude] And they begin their tour. Now that I think of it, this is actually the first time King Estel himself come and visit the mansion, and he alongside other inspect every corner of the house, especially intrigued by Housey and the fortress defense magic of mine ""Fortress defense magic..."" [Leogris, Druser] "Not to mention, the spawning blocks getting integrated in such a way, no wonder you also got the title the great scythe magician" [Aries] "Plus, there are two S rank magic cores here, one for fortress defense magic, and another for golem. Impressive" [Motra] (I swear to god, same reaction as always. Glad I get him to work for me) [Diana] So far so good. Maybe I really should zip this vocal cord of mine for the rest of the day. We have the kids demonstrate about the training hall, have Calypso demonstrate her unique abilities to entertain the guest. I don''t want to admit, but that usually annoying fairy sure know how to entertain our guests. She can make flower bloom in an instant, before reverting it back to normal state. I wonder what kind of magic is that? It wasn''t in the knowledge granted to me, so maybe I should ask her later on Once we are at the dining hall, the group pass in front of Mahsuri and (This is... Fallen god? It''s subtle. But, he/she also have the power of Holy Beast of Earth within. The power, it''s only for an instance, is she mocking me!) [Mahsuri] Looks like Mahsuri also felt something. Not only her though ((((((...)))))) [Rean, Elise, Lara, Nara, Savel, Charlotte] I guess having awaken the power of the ten heroes, Rean, Elise, Savel and Charlotte also felt something wrong. As for Lara and Nara, they''re affected by the artificial blessings back in Kiserre, so they reacting to Motra just confirm it all, the question is (Is he/she toying with us?) [Ash] (Ash...) [Rumia] (You too?) [Ash] ~Nod~ This double confirmed it all, something amiss, something definitely amiss with this guy/lady. How should I approach this. If only Mahsuri can just smack him/her, that would be nice, but I guess she also start thinking about the reaction from the Beastman Kingdom (Fufu, looks like they''re agitated. Play along a little bit more, will you, Ash, Homunculus, and the ten heroes) [Motra] . . . At the dining table, we arrange the best of the food prepared by Claude of course, and not only that, the food by the kids are also presented, as they''re all eager to contribute something. I thought with our guest being the nice archetype of nobles, it will be ok, but no, the bad archetype of queens is also here, and "What are these sub standard food?" [Third Queen] "!" [Kids] (Calm down me, don''t get agitated) [Ash] "Just throw it away! I don''t want this" [Second Queen] "Can''t agree more" [First queen] (Calm the hell down...) [Ash] I swear to god if they say one more line, the volcano inside of me will burst. Looks, the kids eager faces turn into a disappointing one, until "Delicious as always" [Diana] "True, do forgive me for breaking the etiquette, but I can''t help myself to eat such wonderful food" [Qis] "Really!" [Kara] "May I have this one?" [Aries] "Ohh... that''s the one that the two of us cook" [Mara] "Then I will gladly eat it" [Aries] "Look at her, cherry picking just because her dau... I mean just because her favourite pair make them" [Motra] """...""" [Flinar, Erinmorlin, Lisa] "Please, help yourself for our small tea break" [Mira] "If you don''t mind" [King Estel] So they really are... What should I do. Flinar and Erinmorlin as well, should I ask them, instead of asking Lisa about what actually happen. "Princess, try this one" [Cat boy] "I will. You always bake this cheesy bread, and you have improved a lot" [Haliza] "Thank you" [Cat boy] "My toast butter, is it good?" [Singa] "It is, just the way I like it" [Ceanu] (There are some roasted side, but he eats it without care. He must have purposely pick it up as to prevent the three queens from complaining about the food) [Crow] "This meat is good" [Druser] "True, the butler really are talented" [Leogris] "It''s like I am at the castle" [King Estel] "Thank you for your compliments" [Claude] Why am I the feeling overly proud for Claude, and Claude, you''re one hell of a butler, to receive such high praise from the three kings. After the small tea break, Aries here stay for a bit longer with those three and the kids especially Kara and Mara (she got permission from Druser), and as for the rest, they quickly inspect the neighborhood area "Why don''t you come with us" [Fourth queen] (She purposely drags me didn''t she!) [Ash] Chapter 192 - 2 more days until day 1 of the debutante party _________________________________________________ [Kiserre''s orphanage] [Khamishah point of view] "I see, thank you and safe journey" [Ash] "I will" [Khamishah] "Khamishah, please come and meet me" [Queen Rinz] "Understood" [Khamishah] The telephone functionality from our very own Housey (called as the third Housey), it''s really convenient to have. Information can be spread without delay, and I can tell that this telephone unveiling during the debutante party will become a hot topic. The only thing that can beat it is Saintess Rumia using her power to connect all the goddess orb as a form of communication, just like back in the Demon kingdom succession war Still... Motra might be having a connection with the fallen god, and thus by extension, the Achalasia Externa group... This is a serious issue, one that we have to tread carefully as this not only involve Beast Kingdom, but also the adventure guild, and again, by extension all the countries that are invited to Princess Diana debutante party. If what Ash, Mahsuri and Saintess Rumia said was indeed true, that he/she purposely let his/her fallen god blessing being detected, than his/her plan is already put into motion, and he/she was just toying with them right now. Knowing Motra, that''s indeed possible (Should I cancel the trip then?) [Khamishah] But in doing so, Queen Rinz might be in trouble as she does plan to go to the debutante party, as to make this country economically stable again. Plus, she would like to have other countries to open their Embassies here as well "Where are you going?" [Nun C] "To meet the Queen, have something to discuss" [Khamishah] . . . As I meet the queen privately in her chamber (bringing along Kiserre''s adventure guild master), I told him back regarding Motra, and what Ash said. Princess Diana and several other important people have been told, excluding the Beastman Kingdom (in fear some of them leaking the info out to Motra) as well as Aries (as Motra is close to her, and we didn''t want Motra to caught wind of any plan we make) "Can''t believe an S rank adventure like him/her... But if Saintess Rumia herself said that, the chance of it being true is almost guarantee 100%" [Kiserre adventure guild master] "Should we cancel the trip?" [Khamishah] "While I''m inclining doing so, it''s a bad idea" [Queen Rinz] "Is it because of the economy and embassies?" [Khamishah] "That, as well as the fact that if we''re absence and something indeed happens, we are going to get blame and accused as well" [Queen Rinz] "True, other countries will use your absentee as an excuse to further drag Kiserre down the pipe" [Kiserre adventure guild master] "Then, what should we do?" [Khamishah] The best case scenario, nothing happen, but almost unlikely from what we have been told. The worst case scenario, Motra''s plan going smoothly, and the damage become so severe. Not to mention, Princess Diana mentioning about how the second queen of Estel having a good relationship with the old follower, thus a possibility of her doing so must be ruled out as well "We should go, and..." [Queen Rinz] ""And??"" [Khamishah, Kiserre adventure guild master] "We should aid Princess Diana in any way possible" [Queen Rinz] I have a bad feeling about this, but as the queen, I''m sure she has considered other things as well before making the decision, and for that, I will respect her decision and help her. She quickly reach out her own telephone, and "Princess Diana, Princess Nurhaliza, Saintess Rumia and Ash..." [Queen Rinz] _________________________________________________ [Diana point of view] "I see, man, having that iron lady sure is reassuring" [Ash] "But do take note, I might not be able to contribute much in preventing something from happening" [Khamishah] "It''s fine. It''s the duty of my father and I to do that, but we would like to make a request to the Kiserre''s adventure guild, specifically Mrs Saga here to help us in case of emergency" [Diana] "Noted, your highness, I''ll ask few trustable adventures to aid this process" [Kiserre''s adventure guild master] "I have told father regarding the situation as well, he should send few personals and a request to Malsia''s adventure guild as well" [Haliza] "As for me, I have informed Saint Louis regarding this matter via the goddess orb, though sadly, I don''t think any of them could make it in time" [Rumia] "As for me, I''ll keep on improving the security system around the hall, got this feeling that''s where he/she will target, I''ll aid Diana afterward" [Ash] "Thank you everyone. We will see you all tomorrow and further discuss about it" [Queen Rinz] "Have a safe journey" [Rumia] And each of us close this spherical telephone of us, with Rumia face and voice being the last one to be cut. Technology sure are convenient, and I''m glad Ash decided to pattern his invention with merchant guild master. The telephone will be one of the few things announce during my birthday "Linda, Alaric, welcome back" [Diana] "More evidence?" [Qis] "More than enough at this point, maybe even overkill" [Linda] "Plus, their hiding location, we manage to confirm it" [Alaric] "Good job" [Diana] Motra is one thing, but the nobles and old follower who complotting behind my back is another thing all together. First and second queen, they had the nerve to disturb my plan, even going as far as to send an assassin from the dark guild to plan a series of murder around the neighborhood area, hiring a dwarf to mimic the serial killer dwarf case back then to instill fear. Luckily Ash, Claude and the newly resurrected Linda as the minion of God of Death here help us to capture them, and speaking of Linda "Linda, is Liyana..." [Diana] "Unfortunately, she still hasn''t realized about the curse being put into her" [Linda] "It will be more suspicious if we remove it now, though I''m reluctant to let her continue being unaware of it" [Qis] "On one hand, we want to expose all the underhanded things being done by them during the debutante party, but on the other hand..." [Alaric] Liyana, she''s being put under a curse by her own parents, by "request" of the first queen and the ex head priest of the old follower, as a "ceremony" done to prove her "love" to eldest brother. That curse, it resonates whenever she''s with me, causing our mind to slowly fall into state of slumber before being shut down completely. As a side effect, it will also cause me to keep on reminiscing of the past. No wonder I keep on thinking about young Linda back then, and through the blessings of mine which was originally belonged to Linda, her soul become restless, and the minion of God of Death inform Ash about it, before Ash manage to resurrect her with Rumia''s "guidance". Once this is all over, "Once this is all over, I think it''s time the four of us tell Liyana about what happen back then" [Diana] "Agree" [Qis] "Linda, for now, you should guard your little sister, and Alaric, can you and the others please cover Linda''s job on collecting more of the evidence?" [Diana] "Already planning to do just that" [Alaric] "Then I''ll go straight away" [Linda] And Linda''s left. According to Ash, she''s taking the form of Lesser Lady of the holy death, Santa Muerte.Santa Muerte, It''s one of the powerful minion of God of Death, similar to that of the Thanatos. Ash himself never met the true Santa Muerte but he told us Santa Muerte have powerful space magic as evidence of her holding a cube that represent the world of Achalasia Now then, what is next on my schedule? Chapter 193 - 1 more day until day 1 of the debutante party _________________________________________________ [Open field dungeon] [Khamishah point of view] "Uwaahh, Uwaahh" [Miriam] "There, there, you must be hungry" [Black cat lady] "I wanted to feed Miriam as well" [Young girl] "Idiot, you don''t have any milk!" [Ox boy] "But!" [Young girl] "Now, don''t start bickering, or else I will feed you to the monster" [Khamishah] "Kyaa!" [Other] Haha, how innocence they''re. Though some of them took my joke literally, so much so the nun started to say "it''s alright" multiple times. We are all going to stay at the orphanage, as most inn already booked by people from other countries. Princess Diana debutante party, it''s a really big celebration, as usually debutante party for a princess will only be attended by nobles and royal from few countries at most, and not to mention, the normal folks like us wouldn''t even get to have a taste of what it feels like to celebrate an important event. Plus, normally the bride for the princess will be announced during the debutante party, but knowing Princess Diana, I don''t think that will happen. The time I spent with her might be short, but she''s a strong willed girl that wouldn''t kneel down to any ideas that she dislikes, and would even fight it back (Plus, she got herself few trustable and dependable allies) [Khamishah] Though of course, one of them is, how to put it nicely... "unique" "Gaah!" [Miriam] "Miriam is bored" [Long hair girl] "Well, she''s only a kid, so long travel might bored her quickly" [Nun D] Those two mother and son, they''re invited as well, and personally for that. I ask both Queen Rinz and Princess Diana to send an invitation to her directly, and ask other to spread the news about it, that she was invited due to her courageous act to adopt a human when she herself is a non human in a challenging environment. For her, it''s only a normal act, and she herself ask me to stop it, but I have to do that, since both Queen Rinz and I wanted the tense situation in Kiserre to go down, as well as normalizing, or at least make it to a level where racial riot isn''t always a feet away "How long... I''m tired" [Long hair girl] "We should arrive right before dusk I think" [Khamishah] "That long..." [Long hair girl] If you ask me, I am the one feeling most affected, as I usually travel solo as the saga and my journey will usually be a quick one, but traveling with all of them, it''s slow but nonetheless, something that being comfort to my heart. (Maybe a brute woman like me finally developed a motherly instinct?) [Khamishah] If Ash heard that, he will laugh for sure, and I will stomp his face for that _________________________________________________ [Kara point of view] "Inspecting the neighborhood area with you? Sure" [Rafiah] "REALLY! I mean... thank you" [Hunter adventure] An emergency has occurred, Sis Rafiah, our beloved oblivious Sis Rafiah is currently being drag into a date with one of the adventures without her knowing so. The reaction of other, can be divided into Male adventures and soldiers "That damn hunter!" [Swordman adventure] "Death is too light of a punishment for him!" [Axeman adventure] "And why didn''t I think of that excuse sooner!" [Spearman adventure] "Let us "celebrate" them by giving the hunter a "nice and warm" push, into HELL!" [Soldier A] Female friends of her "Rafiah, on a date... which swindler trick her!" [Yefefiah] "What if she''s drag into an inn, and..." [Mimi] "That hunter, I am so gonna shoots him in that area should he do that!" [Female elf adventure] "I should prepare some poison to make it even more excruciating" [Young healer A] "I''ll aid whenever possible" [Elsa] Minorities "Come on now, you guys are just overreacting" [Jacks] "Say someone who can''t even get Alice yet!" [Swordman adventure] "But really, you guys really do..." [Ex female paladin adventure] "Listen here! Alice has already someone in her mind (though I hope it isn''t true), the guild master''s daughter, well, she''s gorgeous, but this is the guild master''s daughter we are talking about! That only leave us men with that cutie Rafiah, and to think he out of all people get her! Unforgivable!" [Dwarf adventure] (That hunter wouldn''t do anything funny, but not like they will listen) [Syah] (I''m too afraid to tell them my opinion...) [Kronbir] And us "I''m worried..." [Rean] "Same here. She''s dependable, but..." [Elise] "She''s oblivious when it comes to things like these, even Kara here has more common sense in that area" [Mara] "Hey!" [Kara] "Sis Rafiah..." [Lara] "Danger!" [Nara] "True, in real danger" [Zerolith] "Someone suddenly concern about her, when all he did all the time is giving her a cold shoulder" [Farhah] "Someone not honest with his feelings" [Karon] "This and that is a different matter!" [Zerolith] "Will Sis Rafiah leave us?" [Singa] "If they fall in love..." [Charlotte] "Is that... good?" [Cupid] "Of course not!" [Savel] Which lead us to us, all of us, spying on them "So the photo booth is clear now. Good luck for tomorrow" [Rafiah] "Thank you. I finally got to take a photo with her highness tomorrow!" [Clothing shop aunty] "How about we take a photo of us..." [Hunter adventure] "That sound nice!" [Clothing shop aunty] (DON''T YOU DARE!) [Males adventures] "Maybe next time, I wanted to check on other thing first" [Rafiah] "Ri... right..." (So close) [Hunter adventure] The first move, it''s successfully being shot down by her! I kinda feel sad seeing the hunter like that, but the other are cheering, with all their might. Now I feel like I wanted to switch side and support the hunter, but (A real man will ask his love one directly!) [Alice] That''s what Sis Alice said, so I will follow just that. It might be hard, but he should be manly enough to ask her out... Maybe that''s why Sis Alice "ignore" Samurai Jacks? I mean, at this point, everyone know that they have a mutual feeling for each other... right? "I kinda wanted check Diana hall. I''m sure Ash and Claude already done it, but it just didn''t feel right if I don''t do so" [Rafiah] "Then we should take this back alley, it''s a shortcut" [Hunter adventure] "I see, let us go" [Rafiah] "Well, it''s dangerous, so you can hold my..." [Hunter adventure] The male adventures and soldiers are now "chanting" various unknown spells, and keep on adding the word death, hell, torture etc. The female one started to rush, wanting to stop the hunter adventure from taking her to back alley. Even Rean wanted to do the same but "Huh, Rafiah, hop in to this bus" [Bond] "So the bus golem express finally get a yes from Ministry of Transportation, good" [Rafiah] (Another chance, miss...) [Hunter adventure] The bus golem, Princess Diana, Princess Nurhaliza and Mrs Gizzere, they all wanted to Brother Ash to make multiple bus golems, as to reduce carriage fair and reduce monopolies of certain companies, and unlike the normal carriage, Brother Ash decided to make the bus golem constantly moving in a set and predetermined route, and passenger should just pay the price based on how many stations they passed. Well, Brother Ash making it in one go is an amazing thing as making a single bus golem is difficult enough all by itself, but doing that is what exactly causes him to take a "short break", go to Malsia and Kiserre''s orphanage afterward, which won him a ticket of never ending scolding from Princess Diana "I''m too tired to walk, and it''s hot!" [Cupid] "Then let us take the bus golem" [Charlotte] "Great idea" [Karon] "Charge!" [Farhah] "Wait!" [Kara] and all the younger group charge toward the bus golem, and us the older group reflexively follow when "What are you guys doing here?" [Rafiah] ""Follow y..."" [Lara, Nara] ""Playing around"" [Kara, Mara] We quickly cover Lara and Nara mouths and make an excuse. We can''t say that we have been following them around, not to mention with those people as well. It will be awkward to do so Sis Rafiah then quickly pay the fees for all of us, and we enter the bus golem. I can see that the hunter face become gloomier, and as for the other, I wouldn''t even need to look to know how happy they are. In fact "Can we join?" [Elsa] "I''m tired" [Yefefiah] "Same here" [Kronbir] "You guys?" [Rafiah] (I can see a lot of people stalking there... I can guess what happen, must be because of Rafiah and the adventure) [Bond] And the bus quickly went to now fully completed Diana hall. Saintess Rumia and her friends are station here, so are some of the young healers. It''s enormous and the white marble is pretty, and the ceramic bluish tile, like that of a clear ocean, wonderful didn''t even begin to describe it. It is also packed with temperature controlling magic core as to regulate the temperature, and with the blazing hot sun outside, this is nice "Wait here, I will be quick" [Rafiah] "Yes" [Other] and we didn''t. The younger group, forgetting about our original purposes, follow her around, and to help her (to make sure the younger group didn''t disturb her work), we follow suit. At this point, I feel like I am forgetting the fact that she''s getting dragged into a date without her knowledge "Cute, like ducklings following their mother" [Nun A] "How about take a break here with us" [Priest B] "I''ll prepare some biscuits" [Rumia] "Thank you, we appreciate it" [Rean] The biscuits that the saintess prepare is nice, and one could get addicted to it, and apparently, Mrs Aries and Mr/Mrs Motra also said the same. The fact that Mara and I like the same thing as Mrs Aries make us happy. Strange "Lastly, Alice''s parents inn" [Hunter adventure] "!" [Other] Oh no, he really do have a pervert intention! Not to mention, saying it in front of the saintess is... "True, need to give back this book of her, and some note" [Rafiah] So that''s why. Goddess Achalasia, I''m sorry to have a perverted thought inside a church... "Oh, Alice will be coming with her parents afterward, so you can just leave the notes here" [Rumia] "No, it must be a very important doc..." [Hunter adventure] "Is that so, then could you please give it to her, O Saintess" [Rafiah] "I will" [Rumia] (Noo!!!) [Hunter adventure] An oblivious cutie helping another oblivious cutie, at this point, I really feel bad for the hunter adventure "Thank you dear friend for helping me today. I should treat you something. I know, how about you come for an evening tea with us all?" [Rafiah] "GLADLY!" [Hunter adventure] I swear to god I actually heard a stab in the heart when the word friend came out, but he quickly recover afterward after getting invited to a tea session Exiting the hall, we walk for a bit back towards the orphanage when "Brother Ash!" [Charlotte] "Just what are you doing... I see, Rafiah is dating huh..." [Ash] "AM NOT!" [Rafiah] ~Sound of heart break~ He only need a single glance to know what truly happen. That''s just amazing. Plus, Sis Rafiah famous tomato red face re-emerge after a long time "And hey all of you, just bring this dark guild people to any station, if you would" [Ash] "Huh?" [Hunter adventure] So that''s the affliction of the people Brother Ash tied up. Well, all the soldier and adventure gladly drag dark guild people, along with the hunter of course. They really didn''t want him to be close with her... Well, at least there''s a somewhat happy ending to this little drama. While the hunter adventure did come for an evening tea, so does the other, trying their best to disturb him. Plus "So this is Estel''s orphanage" [Lizard boy] "It''s huge" [Green hair boy] "Hey! Where are your manner!" [Khamishah] There sure is a lot of people now Chapter 194 - Day 1 of debutante party Diana''s birthday is tomorrow, during the second day of debutante party, and usually a princess like her will currently go around, forming connection with noble merchant etc, you know, the usual political stuff, which is why "You sure are excited..." [Ash] "I am!" [Diana] She''s running away from her duty isn''t she. Well, I won''t blame her, I mean every single time I went to the castle, those nasty greedy eyes will look at me, plotting what they will do once they get their hands on me. Diana has it even tougher, she faces it every day throughout the year, and more so now, as those noble and royal, both from Estel and outside trying their best to form a connection with her, and of course, trying to make their son becoming closer to her. Man, she has it tough isn''t she... "Girl party out!" [Haliza] "Well, there are one of us that isn''t a girl" [Mira] "Well, she did use me as an excuse to escape from the castle, so bear with me" [Ash] "Thank you for becoming my scapegoat" [Diana] "But, why am I here... I feel so out of place" [Liyana] "Let just think of this as our job, escorting the princess" [Muse] "So, Qis here isn''t relevant?" [Alice] "How rude!" [Qis] "She''s joking" [Rumia] "I know that, but it hurt" [Qis] "Sorry" [Alice] (Glad thing haven''t really change) [Linda] Now, I am currently inspecting around the neighborhood area. Day 1, well, it''s kinda like pre-festive day for the actual debutante party, and so, many stalls and attractions are being set up by the local around here. For example "Princess! You finally came!" [Clothing shop aunty] "I do. Don''t want to miss taking a photo with all of you" [Diana] "Then let us get ready" [Clothing shop aunty''s son] And the photo booth session begin, Diana sure is excited, keep on trying different types of clothes together with the aunty and her friends. Well, as long as they''re happy, but (Other also wanted a chance to take a photo with her, and it''s obvious she couldn''t do this all day) [Ash] So, before thing go out of hand, I drag her away, but not without printing out different life size photo of her with different pose into board, that way, the other will have a chance of taking a photo "together with the princess". "This is nice, in its own way" [Clothing shop aunty] "I will come again later, so good bye for now, to all of you" [Diana] And the crowd begin cheering. Well, she did want to garner support from the masses, so, it''s a popular move to make, just that "You''re making an excuse to go out, didn''t you" [Ash] "You''re my mentor in this kind of thing" [Diana] "Excuse me... Alright, fine, you win!" [Ash] So this must be how Diana felt like when I skip my work. I have learn my lesson "Oh, you don''t actually learn a single lesson, didn''t you!" [Diana] "Very perceptive of you" [Ash] Yup, I actually don''t. Moving on to the next attractions, we have "Isn''t that..." [Alice] ((What the heck is he/she doing there!?)) [Ash, Diana] He/she''s taking the place of a traveling bard, no, more like performing a duo with him... Is he/she also escaping from his/her job as well? If so, just why is he/she performing together with a bard. Alas, the song is beautiful, the crowd actually enjoy the song so much that they got drunk from the atmosphere. Plus, he/she is clearly enjoying it as well, look, his/her scale powder from her wings are scattering around right now, so I can actually give the song and performance a score of 7/10, (My vampire guard just give me a message, it looks like he/she didn''t show any suspicious behaviour) [Diana] (I see, it will be good if I am wrong here) [Ash] Motra, an S rank adventure. I don''t know the full extent of her power, but given that he/she''s an S rank adventure, his/her power shouldn''t be taken lightly at all. It basically meant that he/she at the top percentage of most powerful people alive. He/she is weaker than Khamishah, but if he/she really do have the fallen god blessing like Agnes has, and what more, the blessing from Drant, the holy beast of earth, this could spell actual trouble "Now then, onto my next performance. I should go to the act there" [Motra] "That sound fun, I will join you as well" [Traveling bard] "My pleasure to have you with me" [Motra] So he/she wanted to use the performance stage huh... That''s good and all until "There you are!" [Aries] "Why hello there Aries, what could be wrong with your mood today? You seem mad" [Motra] "..." [Aries] "Mr/Mrs Motra!" [Traveling bard] And he/she fly away. Looks like the report that I got from Ram was indeed true, that those two are having a close relationship. (I should ask Mrs Aries there should she knew anything) [Rumia] (Do so in secrecy. Don''t hint it obviously, don''t want Motra to get suspicious) [Ash] ~Nod~ Though by this point, I''m sure he/she''s just toying around with us. "Let us move to the play" [Muse] "Oh yeah, the kids are doing that" [Ash] "It''s a last minute idea after all, but if it can get other parents to send their children to the school, than it is all worth it" [Qis] "True, plus, I wanted to see for myself my potential students" [Alice] "Good luck teacher" [Mira] There will be a play being performed by all the orphans. It''s a super duper last minute idea from Haliza when she ask any progress about the school, and she blurt out about making a play or two inside Diana''s hall. That way, we can attract children and parents alike and tell them about the school for commoner as well. Those around the neighborhood area already sign up for sending their kids to school, but not from other areas. . . . Once we arrive at the Hall, a commotion happen "School for commoner. It''s too soon, and too much commoner learning will only disturb the already perfect system, so cease the play" [First prince] "I won''t!" [Khamishah] "You''re just a foreigner, you don''t have any power here" [First prince] "But I do, I am after all, the Director of orphanage, and it''s my duty to nurture and protect them" [Khamishah] "She''s right. Plus, this hall belong to Princess Diana, so does the school. You don''t have any actual power here" [Rean] "Slowly becoming rude, like that traveler, aren''t you" [First prince] The first prince, I seriously don''t get what he is thinking. Again, can''t determine whether he''s seriously stupid or stupidly serious. I should intervene before thing escalate "Good job, Mrs Director, and you as well my dear students" [Diana] "!" [Other] "Diana..." [First prince] "Kids, just continue what you''re doing, no need to be scared of the prince. It''s not like he will become the king" [Ash] "!" [Other] "Interesting, so you really thought Diana here has a better chance than I am" [First prince] "If it isn''t that obvious for you since you do have a thick skull, yes, I believe she will become the next ruler" [Ash] "Ash... Thank you, and brother, you should leave the kids all alone. They''re my students and I won''t forgive you should anything happen to them" [Diana] "And you''re my wife to be, so I will have you follow my command" [First prince] "Geez, not only a thick headed person, but a pervert as well" [Ash] "Simple provocation won''t affect me, and here I am having a little bit of respect in you" [First prince] That stupid comment I just made, yeah that one on me. He didn''t look like he will leave, and I can''t just use my force to move him out (I can, but let just said I don''t want Diana''s reputation to plummet) "Oh my, a play, when will it start?" [Motra] "You!" [Ash] "There you are!" [Aries] And now, the two join the fray, keep on asking the kids whether he/she can join in as well "Please leave. As a noble, you should understand their intention of making the commoner learn, this disturbing the power balance of noble and commoner" [First prince] "Hahahahahahaha..." [Motra] "What''s so funny?" [First prince] "Well, from your statement, no wonder your country is so corrupted and so backward" [Motra] "I have to agree on this one" [Aries] "Care to explain" [First prince] "How about having the behemoth slayer here explain it?" [Motra] "!" [Other] Well, now all of them look closely at me. Guess I should just say something "Well, Rean, a question for you" [Ash] "Me!?" [Rean] "Yes. Suppose there is a super duper important job at the treasury, and you don''t have any accountants, what will you do?" [Ash] "I will find it somewhere else, I suppose" [Rean] "From where?" [Ash] "I''m... not sure" [Rean] "From outside?" [Kara] "Well, if it''s from outside, how will you know that person is trusted? What if that person is a spy, trying to destroy the country from within?" [Ash] "!" [Kara] "I see, in that case, you should teach someone from inside to do the job" [Mara] "Exactly, and here''s another question, between a corrupted person and an honest person, which one will you choose to run the treasury?" [Ash] "Obviously the honest one" [Zerolith] "I suppose the next question will be, where will you look for it" [Muse] "Exactly. It doesn''t matter should the person be a noble or a commoner, if they''re honest, they will be selected. Of course, if there are more and more honest persons, you could just select the best one and have that person run the treasury, it will bring benefits for the country" [Ash] "Then us noble by birth can do it far better, there are some corrupted nobles, that''s true, but there''s also plenty of honest one" [First prince] "And that''s why I laugh at your statement just now" [Motra] "?" [First prince] Motra take back the stage "Us in the Beastman Kingdom still have the same system as you do, but we actually take apprentice from commoner to lift their status up, and have them work for the sake of the country, and they''re pleased to do so. Seeing as to how rigid you''re, and how great your little sister is, I believe even us in the Beastman Kingdom will support her" [Motra] "I won''t mince word here, but what Motra said is indeed true, the same thing is happening at The Demon kingdom, and we are developing at a much faster rate" [Aries] "..." [First prince] Looks like it''s another lost for him, he can''t seems to find any word right now "Interesting. Let me read about the report first, then I''ll come back to you" [First prince] And he left. Now, I don''t think the children will have any spirit left to do the play, but "Ladies and gentlemen, that''s our first play, with The First prince, Princess Diana, Mrs Saga and Behemoth slayer as a guest, give them a big clap!" [Motra] "Ohh! So that was a play!" "Fantastic indeed!" "To think that the first prince and Princess Diana do that just to promote the school" "Next play please!" "!" [Other] That was, beautifully done. Colour me impress. "Now onto the second play, lead by us, The S rank adventure and the paladin of the demon kingdom" [Motra] "Wait! Motra!" [Aries] Ahh... there he/she go again. I''ll just let it slide this time. As they''re acting, I notice that the scaly powder from his/her wing started to sprinkle once more, better clean it up "My my, I don''t know that you have that kind of fetish, Mr Behemoth Slayer" [Motra] And they all look at me with a nasty look. Somehow, I feel like I just escape from entering a "unique" whole new world. Chapter 195 - Day 2 of debutante party part 1 [Diana point of view] Yesterday was a fulfilling day after a long time of constantly working around the clock. The festive mood was all around high among the citizen and visitor from other countries. The varieties of stalls from a photo booth session to those selling a rare magic core and stone, and the various performances from the last minute orphanage to the traveling bard (which kept on following Mr/Mrs Motra... how mysterious. My intuition is telling me he is no ordinary traveling bard), and speaking of mystery "He/she didn''t do anything suspicious even after we depart?" [Diana] "No, he/she doesn''t and..." [Alaric] "And?" [Qis] "He/she seems to notice that I was following him/her around this whole time, and enjoy agitating me" [Alaric] ""!!"" [Diana, Qis] Even Alaric near flawless stealth is expose. Unlike Ash who almost always uses his scan magic over wide range of area, Motra doesn''t. Plus, even if someone uses their scan magic, Alaric will usually go undetected (again, with Ash being the exception so far) "How about the complotting noble, as well as the old follower that are hiding?" [Diana] "You can expose them tonight itself during the party, there are no action nor behaviour suggesting they will do anything funny as of now" [Alaric] "Good, please give me all the photos and videos you collected thus far, I will personally review and compile it" [Diana] "Of course your highness" [Alaric] "I''ll help" [Qis] "Thank you" [Diana] The first queen and eldest brother, they are trying their best to prevent me from taking over the throne. Assassination, belittling all my hard work, even marriage with me as well as Liyana. Liyana is a disposable tool for them now, if eldest brother do marry Liyana, he will threaten me to do anything to his liking, and should I not abide, goddess know what he will do to her... As for the second queen and the old follower, looks like they''re trying their best to get help from the holy palace, basically the headquarters of the old follower. So far, they barely scrap a plan or two, so I don''t think they pose massive threat as of now, but that doesn''t mean they will stay like that. As for dear mother, still doesn''t believe in me, licking the feet of the first and second queen just to back stab them in the end, pathetic, simply pathetic! "Hmm..." [Qis] "What is it?" [Diana] "There''s an unknown symbol here, being shown by the old follower leader to his minion" [Qis] "It''s blurry, but isn''t this the logo that we researched, Avery logo? Why... Farhah... Avery... Motra Aries and the holy beast of earth, Kara and Mara. Ten heroes... Linda''s resurrection as minion of God of Death..." [Diana] "The blessing Instinct?" [Qis] "Yes, it''s telling me, they will all collide tonight!" [Diana] "Better tell the other!" [Qis] "Alaric, tell the other, tell Bladel and the Valkyrie as well!" [Diana] "Understood!" [Alaric] As for me. I''ll tell Father, Ash, Rumia, Ram, Gizzere, Ceanu, Crow, Haliza, Khamishah, King Druser, and King Leogris as well. This might strain our relationship, since we don''t have any proof yet about Motra, so I have to proceed cautiously. It''s too late to stop the party right now, as stopping it will only cause Motra to launch his/her attack, so it''s better in my judgment to gather those that can fight her and restraint him/her, but the question is when? During the march? No, to risky, will involve the citizen as well. Dinner? Maybe, but the best will during or after the dance. Ash did mention Linda taking the form of Lesser Lady of the Holy Death, with a powerful space magic, so she should be our safe bet should anything goes south, and more importantly (Motra, he/she didn''t realize about Linda) [Diana] "Ash, listen..." [Diana] Good thing Ash here almost always answer his telephone, which is why I always contact him first. Plus, Mrs Saga is with her as well "Got it. I will keep a close eyes on her at the hall as well" [Ash] "Me too. Still, if he/she play innocence, it will cause trouble to your reputation" [Khamishah] "Don''t worry, I am well aware of it, but I''m sure she will strike tonight" [Diana] "That Instinct of yours?" [Ash] ~Nod~ "Hmm... I''m reluctant to bring the kids now, better leave them with Mahsuri" [Ash] "Good idea. After the parade, just tell them to go straight home" [Diana] ""Right!"" [Ash, Khamishah] Those orphans will be with me during parade from castle to the hall, with Rean, Elise and Zerolith will be using Chrono Mellontik¨®s onto Behe, so that adult Behe can pull my carriage while being escorted by the Valkyrie squad on their flying pegasus. I''ll be joining by dear father as well as "Diana!" [Third queen] "What is it, dear mother" [Diana] "Why am I still not invited into your debutante! And why are you taking the king with you! What are you planning!" [Diana] Tchh... Irritating, she''s simply an eyesore now "Mother, please leave now. Unlike you, I have work to do" [Diana] "You dare speak to me with that tone, I don''t remember raising my daughter like this!" [Third queen] "Funny, I don''t remember you raising me as a daughter at all, more like you''re raising a tool for your own desire" [Diana] "That''s it! You have crossed the line, disrespecting the queen like..." [Third queen] "Diana, are you done?" [Fourth queen] "Yes dear step mother, I just finished all my business" [Diana] "Then let us go" [King Estel] "I will" [Diana] Good thing I''m already on my dress. It''s hot, stuffy and restrictive should I use the traditional dress that is always being worn by previous the princessess for debutante, so I ordered a custom made one that emphasizes more for my own comfortable and, it''s not restricting my movement, which is nice "Tell me dear, who might be your lucky partner for the first dance tonight?" [Fourth queen] "Obviously it''s the first prince! And you better invite him as well!" [Third queen] She''s teasing me now. Traditionally, one would dance with her future husband as their first dance partner, but I don''t have anyone in my mind, so the safest bet will be "Of course it will be dear father" [Diana] "Diana..." [King Estel] Father, you''re over reacting right now... I never once see you crying like that "How about the behemoth slayer, you''re close with him" [Fourth queen] "Absolutely not!" [Third queen] "He will just laugh at my dress and purposely step on my foot" [Diana] Well, he wouldn''t go that far, but that''s sincerely the first thing that comes to my mind when thinking of dancing with him "So you''re saying you don''t mind dancing with him?" [Fourth queen] "Huh, didn''t I tell you..." [Diana] "Alright then, how about Sir Ceanu Reaves?" [Fourth queen] "No, I don''t want to dance with him" [Diana] "Sir Crow?" [Fourth queen] "No" [Diana] "Then Ash?" [Fourth queen] "Like I said, he will laugh at me and step on my foot" [Diana] "I see, O young maiden" [Fourth queen] "?" [Diana] Did I said something wrong? Dear step mother seems to be reminiscing of her memory while Dear Father seems kinda furious... Did I tell something wrong? "Let us go" [King Estel] "Wait, Diana! Dear! And you witch! Stop" [Third queen] Holding the fourth queen hand as well as father, a strange feeling envelope within me... What is this? It''s warmth, different from the warmth that I received when looking after those orphans "Your highness, everything is ready..." [Bladel] "Is something wrong..." [Kara] "Why did you say that?" [Diana] "You''re crying" [Mara] "You must be very happy right now, so why are you crying?" [Savel] Aahh... I didn''t realize it. This is embarrassing. Better wipe my tears "Here''s a tissue" [Charlotte] "Thank you" [Diana] "Your dress will go ruin you know" (Though I''m happy the Diana I know finally get to hold hands together with her parents) [Haliza] The orphans are all looking at me, worrying about me. This is not good, I should say something "You guys... thank you... from the bottom of my heart" [Diana] Chapter 196 - Day 2 of debutante party part 2 _________________________________________________ [Malsia adventure guild] [Kucin point of view] "I see, to think Motra is..." [Kucin] "Impossible! Is it really true!?" [Anjin] "This is still a classified info, as for the authenticity, it had been verified by Saintess Rumia herself" [Malsia''s guild master] ""!!"" [Anjin, Kucin] Currently, my brother and I are submitting our report about the two traitors prince of the demon kingdom. We keep on hitting a dead end as not only their escort from the dark guild are reliable, but also because of the portal stone from the report that they had been using, and thus, after a prolonged discussion with a certain old elf, we decided to cancel the request. Alas, we will still get paid for it, the request is to get information, but we are the one decided to go up and beyond by catching those two. And now, after submitting the report, a request came from Malsia''s guild master made by Princess Nurhaliza as well as King Malsia itself is pushed upon us. We thought of declining the request at first but "Mrs Saga said mother is there!" [Kucin] "That''s correct" [Malsia''s guild master] "Goddess!" [Anjin] My golden retriever brother went into a state of panic. Sometime, I do wonder how he manage to get an S rank title, but still (The Behemoth Slayer, he was involved heavily on matter related to fallen god, so there''s little room for doubt about his report, but for Motra him/herself to be with the fallen god, it''s almost unbelievable) [kucin] "So, will both of you accept?" [Malsia''s guild master] "I will, mother is there, so if something happens!" [Anjin] "Likewise" [Kucin] "Well, your mother have been through a lot in Kiserre as well, so go and meet her" [Malsia''s guild master] ""??"" [Kucin, Anjin] "Nothing... and thank you, when are you departing?" (Did they seriously didn''t know about their mother being enslaved in Kiserre''s incident...) [Malsia''s guild master] "Now itself" [Anjin] "Kucin?" [Malsia''s guild master] ~Nod~ And that concludes our meeting with the guild master. Going downstairs, I can see another companion of us, an old elf looking at a certain request. It''s a B rank request to search for an old elf from Estel "Young black kitten girl, golden retriever boy..." [Old elf] "Yes!" "?" [Anjin][Kucin] "How about you take this request, and report it as complete" [Old elf] The request put by the behemoth slayer, it''s completed. The old elf in question is after all... _________________________________________________ [Mara point of view] Today is Princess Diana birthday (and also Brother Ash birthday. We wanted to celebrate his birthday as well, but he told us just make a simple bread... REALLY!?) "And that''s why, whenever that mysterious traveling bard come, disaster strike!" [Blond boy] "To think a myth like that exist..." [Long hair girl] "It''s a vast world after all" [Kara] "It''s just a myth, but you know what they say, when there''s a smoke, there''s a fire" [Valkyrie A] Currently, us from all three orphanages will be joining Princess Diana for her parade. The parade which will take place during dusk hour will begin from the castle going towards the newly built Diana Hall. "It''s about time. Rean, Elise, Zerolith, help me will you" [Bladel] """Right!!!""" [Rean, Elise, Zerolith] "Behe, please get ready" [Bladel] "Meow!" [Behe] Gathering their dark mana, all four of them perform Chrono Mellontik¨®s onto Behe, and once again, Behe turn into an empress light behemoth. Brother Ash did warn us not to use this spell frequently, but I guess every once in a while, it''s fine "Roar!" [Behe] And all of us are excited to play with now adult Behe. Some of the guard becomes scared, but not us, he is still our Behe after all. "There''s the princess!" [Valkyrie B] "Everyone get into your position!" [Bladel] And we did just that. During class, I remember Princess Diana describing the complicated gown that a noble lady should wear during their debutante, but this one. It''s surprisingly simple. She just wear her crown with a pink lily flower, and the usually red dress of her which complement greatly with her blue eyes and blonde hair is being replaced by a light pink dress with motive of red in between. It''s a beautiful dress for a beautiful lady but "Your highness, everything is ready..." [Bladel] "Is something wrong..." [Kara] "Why did you say that?" [Diana] "You''re crying" [Mara] "You must be very happy right now, so why are you crying?" [Savel] Charlotte quickly gave her a tissue, before "You guys... thank you... from the bottom of my heart" [Diana] She bowed her head slightly to us. Don''t do that, you''re a princess! "I swear, I''ll protect all of you" [Diana] The Princess becomes emotional, and "Don''t cry... Sob" [Charlotte] "I don''t, see, I''m smiling right now" [Diana] She put up her best smile for us. Kara here can''t help but to repeat how gorgeous the princess is, but Farhah face, did something happen. She didn''t look so good (What''s wrong?) [Mara] (I have a bad feeling... I don''t know why) [Farhah] (Maybe because we see the princess crying. Don''t fret too much, plus that''s tear of happiness) [Mara] (If you said so) [Farhah] As the princess, the fourth queen, and King Estel enter their carriage, we once again get ourselves ready before "Open the gate!" [Castle guard] Behe started to pull Princess Diana carriage and "Look!" "The castle gate, its open!" "An empress light behemoth!" "Also the one flying, isn''t that the all female squad, the Valkyrie!" "The pegasus is majestic, especially the black pegasus" "And that''s Princess Diana!" "She''s waving at us!" "And that''s the famous female guard, Qis!" "Hey, isn''t that the fourth queen? Why is she there?" "Guess rumour about their relationship like a real mother and daughter are true after all!" The crowd begin to cheer. It''s an exciting and heart pounding experience for us, and all of us started to wave to the crowd as well. There are 90+ of us (such a huge number...) so we initially thought some of us will be left behind, but the princess insist not to, so here we are, with Rean, Elise and Zerolith having the privilege of the front most seat (Behe''s head) as they''re keeping the spell stable all the time We pass through various road, taking a slight detour as Behe is quite big, so a proper and large road is needed, but that doesn''t pose much of a hassle for the three of them until "We have arrive" [Bladel] "Greeting, your highness" [Ceanu] Awaiting our arrival are the noble that get the invitation to debutante party as well as those managing the event. Brother Ash is supposed to be with Sir Ceanu, Sir Crow, Liyana and Muse, but "Where is Brother Ash?" [Singa] "Did something happen?" [Karon] As Princess Diana enter the hall, we are supposed to follow suit (after Sir Ceanu Reaves and the other enter of course) but "Brother Ash!" [Charlotte] "Sis Mira!" [Seo Ah] "Mrs Khamishah!" [Lizard boy] The three suddenly appear, alongside Sis Rafiah and Grandpa Claude, and "You guys, change of plan..." [Ash] "What is it?" [Rean] "You guys have to go to the orphanage, now!" [Mira] "Eeh! Why!" [Mara] "The food is spoil, so we need someone to cook for them! This is an A rank request, so are you guys ready!" [Khamishah] "Yes!" [Younger group] The younger group accepts the lie quickly, and as for us ""Danger??"" [Lara, Nara] Brother Ash make a slight nodding movement. Something must have happened, but what "Anyway, you guys, follow us!" [Claude] "Let do our best, and cook some delicious food!" [Rafiah] "Yes!" [Younger group] "Follow me!" [Mira] The younger group started to move, taking the now small Behe with them and as for Rean "I can''t?" [Rean] "Yes, please understand. I want you to help Mahsuri in case anything happen. I''ll leave Bobunny true body to you as well, so please..." [Ash] "Brother Ash... Right! I''ll protect them!" [Rean] "Thank you Rean, and call me if anything happens! Remember that!" [Ash] "Yes!" [Rean] . . . From a distance, a mysterious traveling bard observe the large group "A clash between a fallen god minion and us, I wonder what will happen. Better get myself ready, but first" [Traveling bard] He transform himself as a noble, and enter the hall Chapter 197 - Day 2 of debutante party part 3 [At Diana Hall] [Motra point of view] "This hall sure is enormous" [Leogris] "It sure is" [Motra] Us, nobles and royalties from other countries had gathered before the main star of the show arrive together with her father and mother. Buzzing with noises of those trying to form some sort of connection with the princess, they truly are rather fascinating, as I''m sure some of the faces are those belittling her few days ago. "Look, this juice, it''s splendid" [Leogris] "You''re right" [Motra] Hoo... you seem nervous our dear beastman king, keep on making this nonsense small talk, and from how the vampire guard keep being on his edges, I suppose my true intentions have finally been exposed. They sure are slow, if I decide to play all of my cards from the start, I could have killed most of them, but alas, where''s the fun in it. Us from insect beastman are short lived species after all, so to end someone life without any emotional impact on their final moments is nothing but dull, whether fulfilling their final request, so they can depart without regrets to afterlife, or torturing them as a prologue to hell, that''s more meaningful for me, so for now, let us enjoy agitating them more (Not only them though... looks like most of those afflicted with The Princess are on their edges as well. They should''ve just stay at their home, though that is nothing more than to add few fearful hours of their lives, which is not bad) [Motra] "Ladies and gentlemen, I present, The Star of today''s debutante party" [Ceanu] And the princess enter the hall, alongside other, and as soon as they enter, clap from those inside filled the room. Surprisingly, shortly after they enter, the first, second, and third queen follow suit along with the two princes. Here I am under the impression that those five wouldn''t get any invitation... no, from the looks of it, they just received the invitation, while their clothes do match the overall mood of party, someone like me who has been attending party after party can tell that it was a last minute preparation from their parts. How intriguing, I suppose delaying my plan a little longer wouldn''t hurt, I can feel a drama between the royal families coming soon. "It has been a while, Motra" [Khamishah] "Likewise, Mrs Strongest Adventure" [Motra] "You too, Aries" [Khamishah] "Pleasure all mine" [Aries] Hoo... they''re staying near me, as to act instantly the moment I do anything suspicious. Not to worry, I wanted to see a drama first and foremost, my plan can be done right afterwards. I can assure you. (Aries and Saga at my side, the hidden vampire at my back, and Ash, blending himself in front of me, they''re the one I have to be wariest of) [Motra] The other aren''t that bad either. Strongest after those four will be the female bodyguard of the princess, only a tad weaker than the vampire, followed by few handful adventures that dress quite nicely. I suppose the elemental archer Naoto is the second strongest followed by the those two, the ex female paladin adventure and the samurai. It was a heart pounding battle royale match that day where the paladin won by a thin hair, if only S rank adventure was allowed "Where are the orphans?" "They''re an eyesore after all" "Guess the princess isn''t that kind hearted after all" "And those two ladies, why are they going towards Princess Nurhaliza. They got nerve for a failure and a bastard daughter" Aah... I just realized the orphans aren''t here. Guess The Princess is kind hearted after all, and those two young nobles, Liyana and Muse if I''m not mistaken, looks like they knew what will happen as well, so they''re preparing to evacuate the princessess. Too bad, with the modification done by the witch toward me, I can just teleport the orphans right in front of their eyes, after all, those scaly powder of mine are now imbued with the power of portal stone. I can teleport them here, and have The Holy Beast Drant wreak havoc afterward "Ladies and gentlemen..." [Diana] Looks like a speech by the princess is a must then, though different from your usual speech by a princess, she''s trying to sell her good point not to get a wonderful husband, but to appeal as the next ruler. Splendid, simply splendid, shall she survived, I don''t mind having her as my wife, or maybe as my sibling in law. More splendid will be the reaction of those five that was purposely invited late, they''re clearly disapproving her. Ohh... Drama drama drama. I love the spice of drama. Glad I didn''t start my own party soon "This, this is one of the latest inventions by the behemoth slayer, called as telephone" [Diana] Ohh, interesting... Basically, it allows the user to communicate with those far away from them in an instant, and "This is the guild master of Kiserre speaking" [Kiserre''s adventure guild master] "And as for me, I''m the guild master of Estel" [Ram] Again, simply splendid. To think such technology is now possible. I do know it existed from Aries, but it still blew my mind away, suppose the only thing that can defeat it is the goddess orb being activated by Saintess Rumia, and speaking of her, she''s station quite far away from me, I wonder what will she do? "And this, this is a camera, that can take photos and videos, let me show you instead of explaining it" [Diana] Using the behemoth slayer as her model, she explains that a photo made possible from principle of light reflection will portray the subject, creating something like super details drawing of the subject. Again, the jaws of those attending are dropped down to the floor, and what even more exciting is the video, basically what happen should you play the photos continuously, recording the passing moment of one life. Again, I''m glad I delayed my plan for a bit "And that''s not all, take a look at what I have found by using them" [Diana] Ooh, more family drama. What is this? Various complot to harm the princess. From assassination to attempt of raping her, force marriage, even hiring those from dark guild to mimic the serial killer dwarf for the past few weeks. Those five really are scums on Achalasia. I suppose I should personally torture them and the various people they''ve complotting with both as a man because they''re trying to hurt such a fine lady and as a woman since I can understand the hardships Princess Diana have been through. "What nonsense! I''m your mother! I won''t do that!" [Third queen] "Plus, this shouldn''t be use as an evidence!" [First queen] "Dear mother, father do something" [Second prince] "Useless, to think you''re trying to make us lose faces in front of the crowd" [First prince] "Dear, you''re with a witch! Stop her!" [Second Queen] More family drama unfolding right before my eyes. I can see the satisfaction of the princess, after gathering all the necessary proof to drag them down. I can easily imagine how those five will be covered by the spit of others afterward. They''re on their last struggle I suppose, so, why don''t I take their lives now. But, before that "Aries, Khamishah, Ash, and the vampire" [Motra] """"!!!!"""" [Aries, Khamishah, Ash, Alaric] "Should we start? Our own drama" [Motra] Chapter 198 - Day 2 of debutante party part 4 The Valkyrie are all outside, alongside with Diana''s other hidden vampire guard, ready to evacuate those nobles should anything go south, and damn, here I was hoping for nothing to happen but alas, the S rank adventure decided to start his/her own party. Other adventures and soldiers were also tasked the same, and thus leaving the four of us to restrict Motra. Hope they will do it fast and join us soon afterward With Aries using her lance trying to rip off the wings of Motra, Motra successfully dodge the incoming attack, moving backward before starting to dodge another knives attack coming from Alaric. Once again, he/she successfully dodges it, and in the process, send off his/her own earth claw attack, not targeting us but instead "Khamishah!" [Queen Rinz] "I''m fine, just go!" [Khamishah] Thank goodness for Khamishah quick reaction on protecting Queen Rinz. Telling her to go, Queen Rinz agree as she realised she''s just useless here "Oh, I don''t think so" [Motra] Spreading his/her wind, the same scaly powder spread inside the entire hall, carrying with it various earth based status ailments, most noticeable of them is poison and petrification. Petrified your foes and let the poison slowly kills them, that sure is a good tactic to be employed. "Drant power? Just how did you!" [Aries] The power of Holy Beast of Earth, Tyrant Ant Steel, Drant is now clearly felt. He/she didn''t even bother hiding his/her power anymore, alongside the power of the fallen god, similar to that of Agnes. Strange, the power of Holy Beast are granted by Goddess Achalasia, so how come those two power mix? (I can just ask him/her once I beat him/her up!) [Ash] Taking my scythe, imbued it wind power and let those scaly powder accumulate in a corner before burning it up with my fire magic, alas, it''s difficult to do so as Motra active intervention require me to keep on activating the magic while also trying my best to pin him/her down "Mana ropes!" [Khamishah] Trying to restrict her movement, Khamishah uses her neutral mana ropes to catch the flying butterfly, but his/her agility prove to be difficult, not to mention "Urgh..." "No, please! Don''t!" "Too late" [Motra] "This is!" [Ash] Is he/she trying to turn those people into a monster just like what Agnes does? If so, this will be tricky, or so I thought when "I''m melting... Hel..." "Dad!" "Poor girl, you''re next, come and join your dad" [Motra] "Like hell she will!" [Ash] He/she still has the leisure of tormenting other. Just pisses me off. Even our 4 person pincer attack aren''t slowing her down. Both the power of fallen god and holy beast within her prove to be a notorious combination, as all his/her stats must be sky-high now. Plus, Aries also try her best to shield other non combatants whenever possible, so I should step up my game "Lighting burst!" [Ash] "Earth sphere" [Motra] "!" [Ash] Trying to shoot him/her with my lighting magic, a sphere like structure made out of earth enclosed me. Good thing I learn hos to absorb my mana back, otherwise, I will take the damage... "Blood..." [Ash] I see, so Motra even use earth needle inside of it, piercing some areas of my body. Good thing the lighting burst manage to break some of the needle, but that''s not all. He/she even try to crush me by making the earth sphere into a steel sphere and quickly crushing me from all direction. ~Bang~ "Are you alright!" [Aries] "I am! Thanks" [Ash] Even 4 vs 1 prove to be difficult. Well, we are trying our best not to hit the attendees, but if this goes on, our own lives might be at stake "Wind blade" [Jacks] "Ice blade" [Qis] "Dark blade" [Bladel] Those three decided to join the fray, looks like the halls are empty right now "Alright! Now I can..." [Ash] "Not quite" [Motra] Taking a portal stone out, he/she pour some mana into it, before "What the heck!" [Ash] "Those nobles..." [Alaric] "They''re transported back inside" [Bladel] "How is that even possible!" [Ash] "Good question, I suppose my scaly powder imbued with portal stone power really did a great job" [Motra] "That doesn''t even make any sense!" [Ash] "Ohh, but a witch I know do modify my body, enabling me to use the holy beast power as well as our god power. Not to mention, I can freely use the portal stone power thanks to her" [Motra] "What nonsense" [Naoto] "I suppose for you it''s nonsense. But alas, once you know what a witch exactly is, as well as the true identity of our god, it will all suddenly make sense" [Motra] Witch? Even Kana and Rafiah can''t do that. They can alter a monster properties, to soms extent sure but to us... And the true identity of the fallen god. That''s a question I never ask myself. "Earth bullets" [Motra] "Goddess Achalasia, please protect us all" [Rumia] With Rumia''s prayer, a mysterious wall of light cover the noble and royal, us include. Damn, that''s impressive. I hope she maintains it since that way, we can fight without any hesitation "Gotcha!" [Alaric] Using shadow dive into one of the lamps, Alaric quickly makes a surprise attack, slashing the tough wings of Motra with his knife, but an S rank adventure isn''t someone that you should look down upon, at least a follow up attack should be there, which is deliver by my darkness arrow. Cornering him/her into a corner, Alaric once again use his shadow dive and "How dull" [Motra] (Not quite!) [Alaric] Expecting the same pattern of attack, Motra quickly dodge backward but ~Bang~ "!" [Motra] "Khamishah! Now!" [Ash] "Mana rope!" [Khamishah] Nice feint from Alaric, using the pistol made by me, he quickly charges it up during his time inside the shadow, and unleashing it energy all at once. A direct hit to him/her causes her to drop his/her defence for a moment, enough time for Khamishah to bind him/her and enough for Aries and I to deliver a finishing blow, but "Urghhh!!!" [Aries] "Mrs Aries, what''s wrong!" [Ex female paladin adventure] No time to waste, I should just deliver the finishing blow myself then. Just when my scythe about to rip his/her wings apart, a giant steel ant block my attack, and a chimera with her lance attack me from behind "This is..." [Ash] Drant... She summon The Holy Beast Drant to aid her, and that Chimera. It''s like back then at Kiserre. Will Aries loses her control? "Nice job. I am naive to think it will all be alright. How about we spice things up a bit" [Motra] Again, with the power of portal stone, two shocking things happen. First, a barrier made exclusively from the power of fallen god erected, binding us all, and second "This is..." [Elise] "And isn''t that!" [Rean] ""Head, hurt...!!"" [Lara, Nara] Those twelve. No! He/she summon them and "Greeting, ten heroes" [Motra] "!" [Others] Chapter 199 - Day 2 of debutante party part 5 [Farhah point of view] Going back to the orphanage, my anxiety from before keep on rising. Why is it? The last time this happened, father and mother. No, please, no please Goddess Achalasia, please mother earth, it can''t be true (Please, let it be my imagination) [Farhah] "You look pale. Something happen?" [Karon] "Just some bad feeling" [Farhah] "I see" [Karon] I don''t know how pale I am right now, but it''s enough to let Karon here to stop doing what he was doing and just sit there, beside me. "Thank you" [Farhah] "Don''t worry. Being alone isn''t something either of us wanted" [Karon] It''s true. It''s something that I don''t want to go through again. This home here, it''s a blessing for us all, so please, let this stupid bad feeling go away ~Teleported~ "This is..." [Elise] "And isn''t that!" [Rean] ""Head, hurt...!!"" [Lara, Nara] Huh? What just happened? It''s strange, it felt like we were briefly transported through some unknown dimensions before appearing back here. It''s strange, there''s like a black miasma forming a wall or barrier of some sort. It''s suffocating, it''s hard to breath, and I can''t help but to feel nauseated. What is this. I''m scared "Greeting, ten heroes" [Motra] "!" [Others] Ten heroes? What was he/she talking about. And all of this black miasma, it''s coming from him/her. Please, stop it. Don''t approach us ~Vomit~ "Farhah!" [Karon] "My my, sorry for making you nauseated, young hero, but I need to do something" [Motra] He/she approaches us one by one, and destroy the bracelet Brother Ash made for us back in Malsia. "Hahahaha. You guys really are the ten heroes. No, it''s only the four of you now, with another one having a holy beast power" [Motra] Ten heroes? Holy beast power. What is happening. Don''t tell me, we are... "Kara! Mara!" [Rean] "You bitch, what are you... Ughh!" [Ash] Motra lifts both Kara and Mara and throw them towards Mrs Aries. Just like us, Brother Ash is furious about it, but some strange wall and chain prevent him from moving, not to mention, he is being pinned down by a giant steel ant which knock his head with its steel claw. Blood is oozing out from Brother Ash head, and he''s losing consciousness! "Kara... Mara..." [Aries] ""It''s hurts..."" [Kara, Mara] "What are you doing, to them!" [Lisa] "Oh nothing much" [Motra] Taking Mara''s arm, he/she simply ~Snap~ "Mara!" [Kara] "IT HURTS!" [Mara] "Stop it! Don''t hurt my nieces!" [Lisa] "MOTRA!" [Aries] "Hahahaha. What''s wrong Aries, if you become too emotional, you''ll lose control over Drant power. You might end up killing your daughter..." [Motra] A golden scythe appear just behind Motra, and a ghost like thing appear as well, but "Minion of God of Death. I have been expecting you" [Motra] "!" [Linda] "I might not be able to detect you, but Agnes do warn me that you guys have started moving once more. Good thing you came out now" [Motra] And the ghost lady is being chained down. She tried to retaliate but alas, it''s proves to be futile "Chrono Mellontik¨®s!" [Rean] "It''s not working!" [Elise] "Damn it!" [Zerolith] "My ice power..." [Savel] "Heal! I can''t heal Sis Mara!" [Charlotte] "It''s futile. You might be blessed, but you''re still weak" [Motra] "Mara, hang in there" [Kara] "Oh, what pretty little finger, how about I..." [Motra] ~Snap~ "KARA!" [Mara] "STOP IT!" [Farhah] This is frustrating. Frustrating. Frustrating. Frustrating. "O mother earth, hear my prayer and..." [Farhah] A strong force hit my chest, and I suddenly feel like a crushing force squeezing my neck. I can''t breathe. I am being strangle by him/her "And what do we have here... How about you show us your blood colour" [Motra] Using his/her earth magic, he/she make a small needle scratch my arm, before "White. WHITE BLOOD! Magnificent! Simply Marvelous! A hero which is also an Avery! Hey, show me more of your blood!" [Motra] With saliva drooling over his/her face, he/she keeps on scratching my arms. "It hurts! Stop it! I beg you!" [Farhah] ""Stop it!!"" [Kara, Mara] "Oh, I forgot to bind both of you. Nevermind" [Motra] ""KARA! MARA!"" [Aries] He/she kick them hard. They almost fainted. "Here, catch her!" [Motra] She throw me like a ball, and both Kara and Mara desperately try to catch me, but """Urghhh!!!""" [Kara, Mara, Farhah] He/she uses a light earth needle to pierce us as well "Stop it... STOP IT!" [Aries] Mrs Aries... She''s transforming into something strange... no good. All I can see now is a black field in front of me... _________________________________________________ [Diana point of view] No... Please stop him/her. Someone please. Even Linda can''t do anything. Please, stop Motra from killing them, someone... anyone. Please, stop him/her, and stop Mrs Aries! "GAAAH!" [Aries] "That''s unexpected. You sure are strong, but your magic miss the mark" [Motra] Mrs Aries randomly fire two light magic, one hitting Linda, and another one hitting a random noble. The random noble quickly get up and approach Motra "Now, go wild and kill those two daughters of yours with your own hand" [Motra] "Sis! No!" [Lisa] "STOP IT RIGHT THERE!" [Mysterious noble?] "Huh, and what will you do?" [Motra] "This!" [Mysterious noble?] With a strange flute, the mysterious noble directed a very powerful light barrier, restricting Mrs Aries movement. It''s powerful, and it has this holy feeling to it. Who is he? Most importantly, it''s working! "You! Who are you!?" [Motra] "Oh, I feel sad, surely you remember our various performances from yesterday" [Mysterious noble?] He transform... no, he shape shifting into the traveling bard from yesterday! "You are!" [Motra] "Surprise? Then how about this!" [Traveling bard] Again, a holy light laser is being fired. In fact two of them, and both of them miss the mark... no! "You miss. How unlucky" [Motra] "Ohh, I wouldn''t say that" [Traveling bard] "!" [Motra] One of the holy light magic invigorate Ash, which quickly boosted himself and escape Drant''s metallic grip, ripping part of his cloth as well "YOU BITCH! DIE!" [Ash] Furious, the black cloth and blonde hair of death quickly use his scythe to rip apart Motra''s left wings, and as for the other hy laser, it hits Linda, who then quickly tender those three "Are you guys alright!?" [Linda] Linda quickly heals those three. Thank goodness. They''re not in a critical condition but a prompt treatment is necessary "Drant! Kill..." [Motra] "Pseudo leviathan" [Mahsuri] A powerful water golem, a combination of whale and dragon creature tear off the black miasma that had been restricting us all, before sending the holy beast of earth outside through sheer force. She must has rush here after noticing the twelve of them are gone "Goddess Achalasia! Please, set up a barrier that heal and protect us all!" [Rumia] Finally! She has been struggling since that barrier is erected, but now, her prayer is quickly answer "I should have just kill you back then, minion of fallen god" [Mahsuri] "Tchh... tough luck" [Motra] "You''re not getting away!" [Ash] "Don''t be careless! He/she still has some tricks left!" [Traveling bard] Ash quickly begins his counterattack, and as for Mrs Aries "Aries! Hang in there!" [Khamishah] "Urghhh!" [Aries] "Lara!" [Singa] "Nara!" [Savel] "Where are you going?" [Karon] Lara and Nara quickly approach Mrs Aries, touch her shoulder and "!" [Other] What did they do? They absorb the excessive energy coming out from Mrs Aries! That''s right, they''re homunculi, and homunculi can absorb mana from others! "Thank you..." [Aries] "Can you look after her? I''ll help Ash right away!" [Khamishah] ~Twin nodding~ "Yes I will!" [Lisa] How the table have turned, but, isn''t the holy beast Drant commands an army of steel ants... "Drant, call them out!" [Motra] ~High pitch scream~ Chapter 200 - Day 2 of debutante party part 6 That damn butterfly, I don''t know what he/she had done during the brief moment of me blacking out, but I sure know I wouldn''t forgive those actions. Kara, Mara and Farhah, they sustain quite severe injuries, a brief look and I can see multiple scratch marks as well as concussions especially at the head area. ~High pitch screeching~ And now the Holy Beast Drant that is under his/her control are summoning its minion, and there sure are a lot of them. Tchh, I can''t deal with all three threat at once. So I should prioritize defeating the source of today problem "Steel wall" [Motra] "That isn''t enough to stop my punches!" [Khamishah] A punch resembling that of a cannon, as the steel wall erected by Motra getting destroyed by two powerful punches, Motra fall back behind, trying his/her best to regain back the upper hand, and honestly, it might be on her favor to once again turn the tide of the table "Holy gong" [Traveling bard] The mysterious traveling bard, his flute change into that of a gong, and with each hit, I can feel the holy mana resonating in the air. The direct effect intended isn''t damage, I mean, there is some damage, especially to those ants as they look affected by it, but I guess the true intention is to sever the ties between Motra and Drant, at least that''s the impression I''m getting. "Tchh... it''s chaotic" [Ash] As I grab Motra''s wing, I slam him/her into the ground, and immediately use flamethrower magic, trying to burn his/her face, but he/she quickly covers it with earth wall directly into his/her face, before blending in with the ground below him/her before re-emerging somewhere close to launch a counterattack. I launch various spell to keep her in check but those damn minion ants keep on shielding her. The same goes for Khamishah and the traveling bard. For other, they''re trying to either help Mahsuri to surpass Drant or help reduce the minion ants number "Ash! Go and help Mahsuri!" [Khamishah] "But!" [Ash] "Don''t worry, the two of us will catch her. More importantly, the longer Drant is under his/her control, the more at disadvantageous we are" [Khamishah] "Grr... fine, just give him/her one hell of a beating!" [Ash] "And that, what we would do" [Khamishah] No choice but do as the saga told me, I''m sure her judgelment as the strongest adventure is better than me, what more I am clouded with fury right now, and even though I''m reluctant to do so, it''s better than letting Motra wins the overall war It''s easy to spot where Drant and Mahsuri currently are, as Drant literally stood out among others ant, that as well as the fact that Mahsuri''s water golems keep on attacking Drant non stop. There are some soldiers and Valkyrie trying to help her by chanting a long range spell, I guess since Mahsuri didn''t bother telling them no, I should do the same. Maybe even trying to go up and close with Drant and perform a critical hit (Here go. Stealth mode, shadow dive, invisibility) [Ash] Go inside my own shadow and travel toward the target, enter Drant''s shadow, set my magic beforehand, and aim for the jaw. "Here go, great explosion!" [Ash] "!" [Other] "Good! Tyrant Megalodon, finish it quickly!" [Mahsuri] My surprise attack work, as one of it jaws seems to be dangling around, swaying peacefully left and right, with the last thread of tendon and ligament holding it in place before being violently rip by Mahsuri''s megalodon. "Shadow dive" [Ash] Aim for the other jaw, at least that''s what I thought of doing but Drant didn''t make it any easier for me as it commands few of it shadow ant soldiers to enter the shadow world and try their best to kill me. Foolish ant, those who enter the shadow world will have their light susceptibility increase, at least twice from normal, and normally those who have dark magic didn''t have light magic affinity and vice versa (there are exceptions of course, such as Elise and I), so that''s why "It''s suicidal for you to beat me in here!" [Ash] Light whips, make it as many as I could, and keep on increasing it. You ant there that try to escape, I don''t remember giving you permission to leave, so I''ll drag you here with this light whip, and finish you of with light mana imbued scythe. Thing is, ant is basically ant, and there are so many ants with various strength around, so this might take a while. That said, I shouldn''t waste my time fighting them as I should help Mahsuri keeps Drant in check, so better finish it off ASAP (There, last one!) [Ash] With the last one being kill, I quickly exit the shadow world once more and once again, use my great explosion magic to damage Drant, but this controlled ant do retain some of it intelligence, as it predicted my pattern of attack second time around, and thus, launches barrage of cannonballs magic right at me. Can''t believe I am being outsmart by an ant that is under control. Now I feel ashamed of myself As I keep on dodging the cannonballs, I couldn''t help but notice that the surrounding area affected with each passing second. This is bad, I should keep the damage at minimum, either by defeating if right now or fight somewhere else, and the only safe place to fight is the dungeon. But (I don''t think my space magic affinity allow me to perform such long travel teleportation. No, such a thing should only be possible if you got the help of portal stone like Agnes and Motra does or someone with insanely good affinity towards space magic, and the only one fitting that criteria is...) [Ash] "Linda! Can you teleport Drant, Mahsuri and I into the Rock and Sea dungeon!" [Ash] "Good idea" [Mahsuri] "Of course I can''t! Even the real Lady of Holy Death can''t do that!" [Linda] Dammit, but she''s right. So the only other option is... "Don''t worry. I can help you" [Traveling bard] "Aren''t you fighting Motra right now? Nevermind, can you help?" [Ash] "Yes, Mrs Lesser Santa Muerte, just prepare the spell, and I''ll aid you" [Traveling bard] "Yes!" [Linda] As Linda prepare her spell, the traveling bard spurts out his wing. I see, he is from the angel race just like Rafiah and Yefefiah. But, that still doesn''t explain his holy mana, and who exactly is he, and this other mana that I am detecting "Holy Beast of Light... Angkasa. To think you would have it blessing" [Ash] "Haha, I can compose a song or two to tell you the tale, but I suppose now isn''t the right time to do so" [Traveling bard] "I suppose you''re right. Just, tell me your name would you" [Ash] "Seraph. It''s a pleasure to meet you, Mr behemoth slayer" [Seraph] "Ash, and likewise" [Ash] "You two, get ready!" [Linda] ""Right!!"" [Ash, Mahsuri] With Linda and Seraph help, the two of us along with Drant are transported into the rock and sea dungeon. As of now, the current situation are Me and Mahsuri vs Drant inside the rock and sea dungeon Khamishah and other Vs Motra Suppression of Drant''s minion by other (Today will be a very long night that for sure) [Ash] Chapter 201 - Day 2 of debutante party part 7 _________________________________________________ [Rock and sea dungeon] [Kucin point of view] Traveling through this rather short dungeon, the two of us start to pick up our pace when my adopted brother, Anjin become restless as minute pass. The old elf that is accompanying us, he as usual started to feel a bit of fatigue, which is understandable as he claims to be around a hundred and twenty years old. A ridiculous statement, even though elf is usually regarded as having the longest life span as compare to other, an average elf only live up to 70 at most, but his knowledge about what happened a hundred years ago and what he had showed us so far prove to be true "Hm?" [Old elf] "Something happen?" [Kucin] "I can detect the mana of Drant over the Estel''s side of the dungeon" [Old elf] "!" [Kucin] The Holy Beast Drant is here? That sound troubling _________________________________________________ [Elise point of view] "Thank you for healing them" [Elise] "Thank..." [Farhah] "Don''t talk so much, just rest" [Linda] This feeling, again and again. Why are we keep on bringing nothing but trouble. That Motra, he/she do this because all of us, he/she wanted to get rid of us. Now, Brother Ash is severely injured but keep on fighting the holy beast, Princess Diana debutante party become a mess, and Mrs Aries, almost loses her control. All of this happens because of... "Stand up everyone" [Ex female paladin adventure] "!" [Other] "This night has proven something to us, that the threat of fallen god is nearing. Would you rather stand here and do nothing, or would you join me in aiding the ten heroes" [Ex female paladin adventure] She started to motivate the soldier and knight that are in despair, but "Screw them! Ten heroes my ass! They''re orphan that bring nothing but misfortune!" "This all happened because of them!" "Behead them! Just get them away from my sight!" "SHUT UP!" [Diana] "!" Princess Diana, she becomes angry, for us... She then started to take off her bracelet that has the same function as us, to mask her blessing. "This aura!" "The princess, she''s also blessed!" "Diana! What''s the meaning of this! You are mine, and you never tell me about it!" [Third queen] "..." [Diana] "Answer me, if I know about this, I could make you a better queen sooner!" [Third queen] "!!!" [Diana] "Tell me, what is the meaning of this, DIANA!" [Third queen] "You want to know what it means? It means that I would support them, and I would see that they''re all growing up as a normal child, something that I don''t get during my childhood, it means that whatever I do from now on, I will do it for their best interest not because of my own selfishness like what you did, and most importantly, with this blessing, I will see that they come back alive once they defeat the fallen god, telling them welcome back just like how I always wanted to get! So anyone that have something to say to them, all of you must say it directly to my face!" [Diana] "Princess..." [Kara] She will do that for us? Is that really fine. I am happy to hear it, but are we really worthy? All of us have cause trouble after trouble, so surely... "Nicely said..." [Aries] "Sis, don''t move so much!" [Lisa] "It''s fine. I know my limit. With Drant''s power going wild inside of me, the best I can do is sit back and don''t get in their way, that''s why..." [Aries] She go to the ex female paladin adventure, and give her lance, entrusting it to her. "Please, do it for me" , before going to Princess Diana side, and sworn that she will aid her and those who aid the ten heroes, and finally ""Mrs Aries..."" [Kara, Mara] "My twin daughters, and the other heroes... from here onward, I swear by the name of Goddess Achalasia, and by my title as the Paladin beloved by the God of War, that I will aid all of you" [Aries] As she said that, she hug each one of us, it felt like a mother hugging her child. It''s comforting, it''s warmth, and it washes all of my doubts away, but alas, that alone took each and every last bit of her strength. She immediately collapses, and now Saintess Rumia try her best to heal her "Elise... Both of us will perform Chrono Mellontik¨®s" [Rean] "Yes!" [Elise] "Hold it! I''ll join as well!" [Zerolith] "Don''t forget about us!" [Singa] "But..." [Rean] "It''s fine. Rean, Elise, Zerolith, you three can perform Chrono Mellontik¨®s right?" [Ex female paladin adventure] ~Nod~ "Then all you need to do is perform it to Behe and the rest of your siblings, while you three keep it stable, that way they can fight longer and the side effect will be reduced" [Ex female paladin adventure] "I see, great idea!" [Karon] "Please, we want to fight as well!" [Savel] """True!!""" [Lara, Nara, Charlotte] "The whole Ten heroes thing, I still have zero idea what''s going on, but looking at the situation, this is for the best" [Karon] All of them are motivated, which only leave "How about you, Farhah?" [Elise] "It''s frustrating... Saintess Rumia can communicate with Goddess Achalasia like it was nothing, but me, as an Avery, still can''t hear the voice of mother earth. Frustrating, frustrating, but... Please, let me join you, not as an Avery, not as a hero, but simply, as your siblings!" [Farhah] "We already are siblings, silly!" [Zerolith] "Silly silly Farhah" [Charlotte] "SHUT UP!" [Farhah] Looking at us all, It feels like this will be the true beginning of our journey, no, a new chapter of our journey I suppose. As the three of us nod to each other, we perform Chrono Mellontik¨®s six years into the future to everyone (with Behe coming in at the very last second), and "Looking at you, I have no doubt you guys are stronger, but alas, you are still inexperienced, so this time, I will lead all of you. So, are you guys ready!" [Ex female paladin adventure] "Yes!" [Other] "Good, Princess Diana, a word please" [Ex female paladin adventure] "Your objective within this limited time period will be to suppress all the minions of Drant, don''t over exert yourself and come back safely, and DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT engages with Motra. One small mistake and you will be death! And lastly, do your best!" [Diana] "Understood!" [Other] And they quickly went to defeat the minion. Kara and Mara, they become like Mrs Aries in term of appearance, and their light and wind mana become stronger, with thunder echoing wherever they go. Their long hair couple with the thunder are mesmerising Lara and Nara, their fighting style is exactly like Brother Ash, with only difference is that Brother Ash balance between using his scythe and magic, but Lara uses more magic as compare to her scythe while Nara is the opposite "You guys are doing great!" [Qis] "Keep it going!" [Bladel] "Support them! Support them!" [Hunter adventure] "With this, I should join Mrs Saga, the bard and the vampire to defeat Motra" [Jacks] "Please do!" [Ex female paladin adventure] They''re changing the tide of the battle. I thought the ants will be smart, but they act rather... primitive? Maybe because they''re under control, so they can''t really think for themselves, only relying on their instinct, plus, their leader Drant isn''t here to give commands "Calypso, and other fairies, lend me your power" [Farhah] "Of course, Avery Farhah!" [Calypso] Farhah, at a glance, it looks like she''s controlling all seven elements of magic, like Brother Ash, Lara and Nara does, but it isn''t the case here. She''s instructing the fairies to do it in her stead, as she keeps on sprouting tree after tree to heal the wounded warrior and to restrict the ants movement Karon, his earth power become stronger, and so does his hammer technique, squashing his opponent with a giant hammer made out of steel magic, he proves to be a force to reckon with. Singa, out of all of them, he is the only one showing a new magic affinity, maybe because the other simply didn''t realize about it, but this remind me of (Let see...! I do have mirage affinity, like Brother Ash mention) [Elise] Not only that though... Well never mind, back to Singa, he combine his space magic with his newly acquired Fire magic (I suppose he got the blessings from Har, the hell tiger in the future). The combines magic not only burnt his enemies, but also trapped them inside a strange cube, that seems to alter the properties of space itself. Weird... Savel, he is only a half dragonewt, but now, he looks more and more like a dragonewt. No, his facial structure is still that of a human, only his body weren''t. Anyway, his ice and mirage magic is something else. He either froze his enemies or make them fight with each other, as well as providing buff to other with pain nullification and mirage castle, which actually fire multiple mirage projectiles to all directions while also serve as a barrier to other But the most impressive will be... "Charlotte, she sure is something else..." [Rean] "Such power" [Zerolith] Can we call her second Mahsuri? She looks like a teenage version of Mahsuri, and her power and water affinity is nearing Mahsuri level as well. The golem she makes is truly an enigma. From kraken to alligator, it''s like she''s the queen of mermaid itself. (She can detect the mermaid back then when neither of us could, and looking at her right now, is there a connection?) [Elise] Lastly Behe. The Valkyrie, they''re all coordinating their attack with Behe as the main force. They provide fire support from a top of the flying pegasus while Behe keeps on giving pressure to those ants. We are winning this! "Urghhh..." [Elise] "What''s wrong?" [Diana] "Nearing limit..." [Zerolith] "I see. It''s dangerous if they suddenly revert just like Elise back then, so I''ll put some buff to keep the spell a little longer, that way they can safely retreat" [Diana] "Right, I''ll tell them!" [Rean] Princess Diana put her buffs into us, while adult Rean here shout toward the ex female paladin adventure. She receives the message and tell the other to fall back, and I''m glad they don''t get cocky and say they can still keep on going. While they''re retreating, "Tchh! Come here! All of you!" [Motra] "!" [Other] "Shit!" [Khamishah] Motra escape the four man clutch in an instant, heading towards them. This is bad, please, somebody, shield them! "Guild master Ram!" [Syah] "You guys, make sure those kids are safe!" [Ram] ""Right!!"" [Mimi, Lin] "Then we will aid you!" [Borg] Guild master Ram, Uncle Syah and Borg use a large shield to stop Motra. They buy us around 3 second before they''re being toss like a piece of paper. Mimi and Lin follow suit, but this time, using their bare bodies as a shield. ""Don''t!!"" [Kara, Mara] "Kara, Mara! Don''t come here!" [Lin] "Get away now!" [Mimi] But they don''t listen. They reflexively try to save them. Motra smile while seeing all of this, it''s scary, but "Goddess, please strengthen those two shield!" [Rumia] Two figures, two figures of female paladin shielding Mimi, Lin, Kara and Mara. They are "Aries!" [Motra] "That was a quick recovery, Mrs Aries" [Ex female paladin adventure] "It all thanks to the saintess" [Aries] Those two, because of them buying enough time, Mrs Khamishah manage to use her neutral mana whip to drag Motra back, away from us. Mrs Aries is then brought to the sidelines to allow her to recover while the other paladin continue to help us and others Mimi and Lin safely bring all nine of them (ten if you include Behe, and why wouldn''t we include Behe), before each of us revert back to normal "Good job all of you, and... Welcome back, please rest first" [Diana] Princess Diana greet us with her warm smile before "Where are you going? Princess Diana?" [Elise] "It''s Sis Diana, and..." [Diana] (Sis Diana!) [Elise] "This is my territory. I have to support those people whom are fighting" [Diana] "Then I''ll follow you!" [Linda] The two of them went outside, and start leading the adventures, knights, soldiers and guard. Their swift action couple with only a handful of strong ant minion left to be deal with, manage to shorten the duration of battle "You guys. Thank goodness you''re fine!" [Muse] "Thank you, Muse" [Rean] "Of course, I don''t want my future husband to die so young!" [Muse] "Seriously..." [Kara] Oh Muse, you still have the energy to... nevermind "Elise..." [Liyana] "Yes?" [Elise] "That just now, was my elder sister. What actually happened?" [Liyana] "Well..." [Elise] Chapter 202 - Day 2 of debutante party part 8 [Khamishah point of view] Those children, they did well not only in helping ward off the minion ants, but also in successfully escaping from Motra grasp. Truthfully, the revelation that ten of them are actually blessed with the blessings of ten heroes couldn''t be more shocking, and looking at Ash, Princess Diana and her female guard Qis reaction, those three know about it, but how Motra knows about it remain a mystery. (Even if they aren''t the ten heroes, I''m sure the three of them will still love the kids dearly, just like Mira and I) [Khamishah] It only been a while since I take the position of Director of Orphanage, but those few days were more than enough for me to develop a strong protective feeling toward the orphans, and that includes the one at Estel and Malsia, even though I barely knew them, which is why I can''t bring myself to forgive what Motra did. Even if he/she is my friend, no maybe because he/she is my friend that what he/she did seem way too extreme "Wind, gather around my blade" [Jacks] Right now, the four of us (me myself, The angel traveling bard call Seraph, Princess Diana vampire guard Alaric and the A rank Samurai Jacks) are cornering Motra. I do know as an S rank adventure, he/she will be a tough foe to deal with, futhermore, with the blessings from the fallen god and Drant on her side, she become even tougher to deal with. Even the fatal injuries inflicted by me seems to heal almost instantly, but alas "Slash!" [Jacks] The furious yet elegant wind slash of the samurai is evaded swiftly, but "Holy sound barrier" [Seraph] A mysterious wall made out of sound imbued with holy mana from Seraph stop Motra in his/her trail, leaving her vulnerable to Jacks deadly slashes. Jacks manage to severed Motra''s right wrist and ruptured his/her Achilles tendon and as expected... (No! It''s healing at a much slower rate!) [Khamishah] To untrained eye, they might not appreciate it much but those of us who have gone through battle after battle can appreciate it, and judging from the other three looks, they notice it as well, which mean he/she is weaken "Cocky aren''t you" [Motra] Motra fly at a high speed, toward Seraph, which has supported us with various buffs as well as making sure Motra is in tight situation. While he did attack Motra occasionally, he isn''t someone that can generate much damage but his support prove to be useful in this battle, which is why "Holy shield" [Seraph] "Petrification steel claw" [Motra] The shield proves to be useless as before since Motra just ripped it apart like it was nothing with his/her steel claw. He/she managed to tear part of Seraph wing, and those part turn into stone, which limit Seraph movement "Vampire life drain" [Alaric] Connecting his knife to Motra wing, Alaric tries to steal Motra''s life force. Alaric main virtue isn''t direct frontal assault but rather in stealth, though that doesn''t mean he couldn''t perform one, but I should still support him "Steel titanium wing" [Motra] ~Punch~ Motra turn his wing into a strong metal and try to brush Alaric. Contrary to the heavy appearance of the steel wing, he/she still can move it quickly. If I didn''t smash those wing apart, Alaric will surely take a fatal blow "Thank you" [Alaric] "Right" [Khamishah] "You really are the strongest adventure. Those steel wing didn''t damage you as much as I expect it would" [Motra] It actually sting like hell, these arms of mine, but I still keep on using buff from my neutral mana to strengthen my muscle. This is how I fight from way back and this is what I know the best, which is why ~Dash~ "!'' [Motra] Motra quickly make multiple cannonballs and launch it straight toward me. It''s heavy and the force behind each cannonball is nothing to laugh at, but ~Smash~ "Haha, simply brilliant. Keep on entertaining me will you" [Motra] As Motra keep on sending the cannonballs, I notice that some of it feels slightly different... I see (He/she is trying to inflict status ailments) [Khamishah] Poison, Petrification, Earth paralyze, stone. Various status ailments pack into each cannonball, and slowly but surely, it accumulates inside my body "Holy cure" [Seraph] "I appreciate it" [Khamishah] "Haha, but how long will you last, and you too Mr Vampire, stop hiding inside my shadow!" [Motra] As Alaric try to perform a critical strike, Motra grab his arm and shoot a cannonball into his shoulder joint. I can heard the cracking sound of bone, and just as he/she wanted to use cannonball into Alaric''s head, Jacks once again, come to the rescue, slicing Motra''s hard abdomen. He even counter Motra short range cannonballs but quickly fall succumbs to Earth Bear trap magic. His left ankle is now detach and blood oozing out of it "Holy Cura" [Seraph] "Giant exploding earth needle" [Motra] "!" [Seraph] Seraph tries his best to dodge, but the petrified wing of him prevent him from escaping unharmed. (If this continues, we will be in trouble, which is why...) [Khamishah] Concentrate, concentrate all your mana into the right fist. Aim for his/her head and knock him/her out flat with a single giga punch. ~Dash~ "Oh, last effort? How heroic. This would make a fine bedtime story, if you manage to connect that is" [Motra] And I would do just that. Ignore all the countless earth magic he/she throw at me, just concentrate and make sure this punch of mine connect "Haha, you''re slowing down, Mrs Strongest Adventure!" [Motra] I am, but "Don''t you dare look down at me!" [Khamishah] "!" [Motra] I can still keep on going, this much damage is nothing for "FOR I AM THE SAGA!" [Khamishah] "Then this S rank adventure will topple you down!" [Motra] "Goddess, please heal her!" [Rumia] My strength, it''s coming back, and my wound, it''s closing on its own. "Ice wall" [Qis] "Lance thrust!" [Ex female paladin adventure] "Strength buff!" [Diana] "How futile, but beautifully executed nonetheless" [Motra] Motra is slightly distracted by their actions, which is good. After dealing with them, he/she quickly destroys the ice wall that''s between him/her with me, only to find out "She''s gone? No! Teleportation!" [Motra] So he/she realized I have been teleported right above her. The ice wall and lance thrust, it is as said, only a distraction, so that the minion of God of Death here can teleport me. "Earth castle, finis..." [Motra] ""I don''t think so!!"" [Alaric, Jacks] The two quickly slices him/her. Jacks Slicing Motra''s arms while Alaric his/her neck. "Holy Strength! Buff her!" [Seraph] Again, using his musical instruments, Seraph send a powerful buff into me. My arms, I can feel the mana accumulated becoming stronger and stronger, and with this Damn it! Damn it!" [Motra] Motra tries to run away, but his/her effort bore no fruit "SHIELD!" [Aries] "ARIES!" [Motra] "Nicely done!" [Khamishah] "Defens..." [Motra] ~HEAD SMASH~ He/she can''t react fast enough to put a defence up, as I quickly smash his/her head, into the ground below, creating a 3 meter crater and "Dam..." [Motra] "Once more!" [Khamishah] Damn the blessing from fallen god really is something else, so, I just repeat the same smash over and over and over again until Motra collapse "..." [Motra] "Did we do it?" [Seraph] ~Nod~ "Thank goodness" [Alaric] "That was a tough fight" [Jacks] Indeed it was. I can appreciate how all of them collectively breath out a sigh of relief as Motra is finally beaten, which leave us with "Can you heal me? We have to help Ash and Mahsuri right now" [Khamishah] "I will" [Seraph] "I''ll help as well" [Rumia] "Count me in" [Linda] "I don''t think I can fight, best I can do is help clearing up remaining powerless ants" [Alaric] "Then do so" [Khamishah] "I''ll come along with Mrs Saga" [Jacks] "Appreciate it" [Khamishah] Chapter 203 - Day 2 of debutante party part 9 Goddammit, this holy beast really is nothing but a powerhouse, and by extension, Mahsuri as well. I knew that she''s strong, but to think she could almost go toes to toes with a holy beast is an impressive feat, granted she''s surrounded by the vast ocean in the Rock and Sea dungeon as well as the fact that the holy beast Drant is under control, thus acting and fighting on mere Instinct, but these doesn''t make it any less impressive. Heck, I don''t think anyone can actually fight this well against the beast bestowed upon the title by Goddess Achalasia herself Right now, the two of us is in an advantageous position. As previously mentioned before, we are in Rock and Sea dungeon, with Mahsuri constantly sending wave after wave of water, attacking Drant from all directions relentlessly without any sign of stopping even to catch a breather. As for me, I am supporting Mahsuri in two way. One, to buff her or to increase her damage by adding various spell to her attack, such as combining my thunder magic to her raging wave attack, or to make her water attack carries an acid like property as to corrode Drant exoskeleton which I presume to be made out of steel as well. Second (I still can''t find any opening to release the influence of the witch from Drant) [Ash] Motra did mention Drant is under a control of a witch, which I presume to be affiliated with Agnes, thus receiving the fallen god power, that mean just like how mother and father can actually remove the influence of fallen god from someone, so do I as both of them have teach me back at Kiserre (Still, I begin to show sign of fatigue. Wonder how long I have been fighting?) [Ash] I won''t even be surprised if have been fighting for hours, as this battle demand a total concentration. Be careless for even a second and the advantages that Mahsuri and I have might become useless "Raging water ship!" [Mahsuri] A ship, around the size of a cruiser I presume, is instantly made by Mahsuri which not only hit Drant hard, but also come equipped with cannon which shoot various simple water spell. It might be a simple spell like water ball, water spear etc, but coming from Mahsuri, those simple water spell pack a serious punch She then jumped into the ship, take the water sail and throw it at Drant''s eye. Drant in response simply shield it with a defensive wall. The sail is stop at its track, and the wall quickly crumble, and amidst all that, she quickly dash toward Drant, equipping her sword and stabbing Drant eye, before pushing in more and more water into Drant''s head. Unfortunately, she loses her grip as Drant violent tantrum threw her far away before she is bombarded with steel chain. Those steel chain is massive enough to actually circle the entire raging water ship twice, and Drant control it just like a whip through magic. "Lava!" [Ash] Quickly, melt that steel, and don''t let Mahsuri sustain anymore unnecessary damage, and while I am at it, I should find myself, no create an opening for myself so that I can free Drant from the witch control. I can''t overpower it as easily as in the case of King Behemoth nor Drakaini, in which case I have to be smart. Find a weakness if there''s a weakness and exploit it, and should there be none, create one (Should I just combine Lava and Acid and create a perforation? No, Mahsuri water spell will just extinguish it. Incorporate my attack with Mahsuri? Already done that) [Ash] I''m drawing a blank here... "Pseudo leviathan! Squash it" [Mahsuri] Mahsuri call upon her water golem, and once again, those two clashes. As for me, I keep providing support like before. This continue for some time before (Is that?) [Ash] I can detect someone coming, and it was "How about Motra?" [Ash] "Already taken care of. Come here to help you" [Khamishah] "I see. Well, here''s a brief situation" [Ash] I explain to her regarding our plan to free Drant from the witch control. She quickly nodded before joining us two. She seriously is powerful, she just fight Motra and now help us with this I''m impressed, seriously impressed. (With her around, I might be able to do this) [Ash] The Holy mana which was taught by the soul of my parents inside my scythe, rather than using it to attack Drant, how about I entrapped Drant with it? Holy mana, it''s a type of ascended mana that one would rarely get. It doesn''t have any type, so you would think it''s actually a type of neutral mana, but nope, it simply a type of mana in its own which can be integrated into different type of spell. The requirements to awaken it is unknown, but most that have been blessed will somehow acquired it, whether they notice it or not or whether they can actually use it or not is entirely different issue. Thing is, I could barely use it as of now, but (Those ten kids, they will awaken the same holy mana sooner or later, so...) [Ash] No excuse, I have to do it, and then I will teach them, that way they have a better chance of surviving later on (Here go!) [Ash] Like I said, I can''t overpower Drant easily, and with Khamishah helping us, I just got enough time for a breather and some time to think for a plan, which mean should I fail, Drant, no, possessed Drant might react violently towards me, which make it even harder. (Right. Concentrate. Concentrate. Concentrate. Use the sea water like Mahsuri did and make it like a whip that Khamishah usually did. Combine it with Holy mana, and!) [Ash] Trap Drant! Make multiple sea whip and keep on adding layer upon layer of it. Wait, I just realized, isn''t this basically me trying to overpowered it? I''m such an idiot... "I see. Then Pseudo leviathan and I shall aid you" [Mahsuri] Mahsuri also did the same. I guess she must have realised the holy mana within the sea whip and come to the conclusion that I am trying to surround Drant with Holy mana as to weaken the witch influence on it. That''s true, and once Drant is "weak", I should go and pour all the holy mana into Drant and free him. Just that "It started to become violence!" [Khamishah] "Of course it does! Guess I have to damage it more" [Ash] Add more and more layer of sea whip. Buff Mahsuri and Khamishah as well, so that they can quickly damage Drant''s exoskeleton, and "TAKE THIS! GIGA PUNCH" [Khamishah] "And this! Tyrant Megalodon, pierce those steel!" [Mahsuri] With their combined attack, I can see a crack in Drant''s head and I believe that''s my signal "Alright! Here go!" [Ash] Quickly, went to its magic core and pour all your holy mana, and strip those witch and fallen god influence apart. As I did that, Drant magic core suddenly summon more Ant minions. So this is how they''re made. No, not the time for that! Quickly, just purify it, and... (This will hurt you, but...) [Ash] "Bare with me!" [Ash] As I take my scythe, I use the holy mana with it, pierce the hard magic core of Drant and start infusing it with Holy mana, driving out the witch and fallen god influence from it before "Thank you... God of Death... I can take care from here" [Drant] """!!!""" [Ash, Mahsuri, Khamishah] Did it just talk? And why did Drant mistake me for God of Death? Maybe because of the scythe? Whatever it is, I can feel Drant own mana driving out the witch and fallen god influence before he summoned out a dark ant, and retreat into the shadow. ""WAIT!!"" [Ash, Khamishah] "No, it''s fine. I suppose the holy beast needed some time to fully remove the influence by himself" [Mahsuri] "Is that really ok though?" [Ash] "It''s fine. The fact that it can talk show the influence definitely getting weaker, and from there on, something as strong as Holy Beast should be able to handle it" [Mahsuri] If she said so. I''m worried and if possible I wanted to make sure of it, but it''s dangerous to go after it like this. "There!" [Anjin] Someone is coming from Malsia direction. Three people, a black cat lady, a golden retriever men as well as an old elf. The two looks a little bit older than I am, and the elf looks really old, and "Kucin! Anjin!" [Khamishah] ""Mrs Khamishah!"" [Anjin, Kucin] "And isn''t that the homunculus?" [Old elf] "Oohh... you''re still alive" [Mahsuri] "And you can actually talk now. How mysterious" [Old elf] Huh, I suddenly feel alienated. Whatever, let just introduce myself first. . . . "S rank adventure, and King Malsia sent you a request. A little bit too late for that" [Ash] "Nonetheless, we appreciate any help you can give" [Khamishah] "And as for you?" [Ash] "I am..." [Old elf] ! "Filvisar? As in, An elf who awaken ten heroes blessing hundred years ago, and also Claude''s master!" [Ash] "Young man, how did you know about Claude?" [Filvisar] Chapter 204 - Day 3 of debutante party [Diana point of view] It''s a mess. A total mess and failure from my side. Various diplomats and noble as well as royal from various countries that are invited keep on insulting me as well as Estel itself for failure of foresee such event happening. Not to mention, The Beast Kingdom also took a heavy toll and blame due to Motra action, but I''m glad that didn''t stop King Leogris from making a diplomatic relation with us. "Princess, another one of them..." [Maid A] "Again? Say the same thing" [Diana] "Understood" [Maid A] Despite of them insulting me, they still have the nerve to request an adoption for those ten kids. Seriously... It''s nauseating, having to deal with them. The news of those ten orphans being the ten heroes must have spread far and wide by now. Of course, there are multiple skepticisms and I hope for the most part, it will remain so, but Motra showing his/her fallen god blessing as well as the fact that he/she shouted out loud about the ten kids being blessed with the ten heroes blessing really show the greedy side of them. Ash, of course, refuse them all, even went as far as kicking the face of a prince from a certain country, so much so that the prince declared war with us, and our response couldn''t be any better. "Bring it", is what both Ash and I said, and looking at how serious we are, the cowardly prince just left, flustered (Let see what is the top priority for today) [Diana] 1. Interrogate Motra 2. Since Claude''s master have returned, must talk to him regarding the ten heroes. P/s also ask Seraph regarding himself 3. Update from Ministry of Defense about the possible locations of Drant 4. Telling Liyana about Linda, and about our past... Should I save this for the last? 5. Overseeing the reconstruction of damage area, as well as compensation for those families losing their beloved one and those who are injured 6. Various meeting with the noble and royal from other countries 7. Ask Rafiah''s frien... ~Ring~ "It''s ringing. Why don''t you pick up the phone" [Qis] "Must be Ash" [Diana] Well, I''m fairly busy, so maybe I should just called him later, but ~Ring~ "Come on, pick it up" [Linda] "Yes, it must be important" [Qis] "You guys seem persistent. Well, if you insist" [Diana] Picking up the phone, as expected Ash is the caller, just that "What are you doing! Come on and come celebrate with us. Day 3 of debutante party is supposed to be your free day hanging out with us all" [Ash] "It''s true, I should meet with the local, and I''m heading there as..." [Diana] "Baah... Party pooper" [Ash] "Excuse me!?" [Diana] "Just come wearing that dress of your from yesterday and celebrate with us all. Can''t have the main star of the party goes absence" [Ash] "But I''m busy!" [Diana] "Who cares. Or do you want me to kidnap you, force you to dress in front of me and drag you here" [Ash] "ASH!" [Haliza] "He seems serious" [Linda] "Well, Alaric and I can''t stop him. We are too "tired" right now" [Qis] "You guys! Fine! But I''ll come only for a short while!" [Diana] "All of you heard that! She will be coming!" [Ash] "HOORAY!" Honestly. Can''t he see how busy I am. Plus, Qis and Linda also agree to him, they must have plan something in advance. I suppose I should go there, oversee the damage and do the compensation. Dressing up, I quickly leave the office, and The Valkyrie seems to be perfectly ready to escort me. Just what are they planning... "It''s her" "Still have the nerve to go out and be irresponsible" "She tried so hard and yet fail spectacularly" "How laughable" "Still, we need to get on her good side, since those ten heroes are under her" "She''s just lucky to have the blessing and the ten heroes under her, that''s all" Lucky. I suppose I am, since this blessing originally belong to Linda before being transferred to me after her death "Princess, let us go" [Bladel] "Alright! Can''t wait to hear the princess singing" [Valkyrie C] "Wait... WHAT!" [Diana] Hearing that, I quickly retract my footsteps a bit, but "Come on now, let''s go!" [Alice] Alice, who is already inside my carriage, drag me inside, while Qis and Linda push me from behind. Just what are you guys planning!? Along the way, I can see the orphanage neighborhood area sustain a heavy damage, but even so "There''s the princess!" "Wave to her! Wave to her!" "Man, she''s pretty" "I couldn''t take a photo with her two days ago, hope I can get one with her" "And those people, the Valkyrie and her female guard, they are equally elegant as well" Just what is happening? Why are they still celebrating? Aren''t they mad at me? But why, I''m so confused... "Princess, why don''t we wave back?" [Bladel] "True, here, I''ll do it first. Qis, come and do it" [Alice] "I suppose I should" [Diana] "Ri... Right" [Diana] From the looks of it, they didn''t mind what happen yesterday. That doesn''t sound so logical, they should be mad at me, but why aren''t they? Not to mention, when I look outside and wave to them, I could notice something (There''s various construction materials that I still haven''t ordered, but there they are, lying around waiting to be use. Various medicine as well as the magic core Ash use for the communication stone all being replaced. How is that possible?) [Diana] And once I arrive at the damage hall, all of them, all of them are waiting eagerly for me, with Ash hosting the event "There she is! Everyone, give her a loud clap! So loud that you will scare all those arrogant noble and royal in the castle! On count of 3, 2, and 1!" [Ash] ~Clap~ They''re all clapping so loud that it actually hurt my ear a bit. Qis and Alice keep on telling me to move towards a small platform that Ash make just outside the hall. I guess we are celebrating it outside rather than inside. Haliza join me at the start of the walk, and along the way, the orphans and fairies, they are all throwing various beautiful flower at me "This isn''t a wedding though" [Diana] "Who cares, what important is that we have some fun" [Haliza] "I suppose" [Diana] I can also heard some music and some choir done. They''re being lead by Seraph, with Muse and Liyana joining the other kids. They''re all behind Ash, who... let just said Ash being Ash as he keep on commenting about various funny things like how slow I walk, or teasing Kara who is clearly to embarrassed to sing. Once I join him above the platform "Alright, the main star have arrived. Well, first off happy birthday to me, yesterday of course" [Ash] "Hahahaha" And now he try to become a comedian. Honestly. I wanted to leave as I have various thing to do but... "Right let us continued from yesterday. After the shit show of exposing the devilish queens and princes, we are suppose to dance, or something like that. But let us change our plan a bit, shall we. It''s birthday present time! And let me show you, my birthday present for her!" [Ash] Ash reveals a treasure chest. It looks familiar, where did I last saw it? "As you guys already had seen, this, this is the legendary treasure chest that can replicate any item that''s put inside it! That''s right, this is the treasure chest dubbed by some as Goddess Achalasia Chest, and this is OUR birthday present to her!" [Ash] "WAIT! WHAT!" [Diana] The legendary treasure chest. THAT LEGENDARY TREASURE CHEST! It exist! "I can''t, it''s too precious!" [Diana] "Ooh, look at her, suddenly become shy when she always force me to give my precious magic core to her!" [Ash] "Hahaha" "Ash! Stop it!" [Diana] "Right, even though I don''t want to depart from such valuable thing, I suppose it will be greatly benefit us all shall the treasure chest to be under her. Those construction materials, the medicine and all, it is as you know, being produced by the treasure chest, and imagine what will happen should a good ruler like her uses it" [Ash] "That''s..." [Diana] "Though I suppose other, maybe I don''t know, like certain queen or prince should be forbid to use it. Who know, maybe she can keep it safe at orphanage, that way, we can all use it" [Ash] "Right! I''ll do that" [Diana] "And that''s her birthday present to us all! CHEERS!" [Ash] He must have planned this isn''t he. It''s a valuable thing after all, but I suppose being shared properties wouldn''t hurt, that way we can prevent one sided abuse of it. Though have to make a mental note, future generation of royalty might abuse the orphanage and force them to surrender the right. Have to make some laws at least "Alright! Onto the next part! Dancing. I don''t know who but this single girl don''t even have a partner, so..." [Ash] "Would you do the honour of dancing with me, Ash?" [Diana] "Saintess Rumia, please, dance with her... WHAT!" [Ash] Oh, he suddenly become flustered. This is payback for all you have done to me! I''ll show them how terrible you are at dancing "But, but, I have to conduct the party" [Ash] "Sir Ceanu, Sir Crow, if you would" [Diana] ""Of course"" [Ceanu, Crow] "Hey! Don''t disturb the plan!" [Ash] "Good luck Ash" [Rumia] ((Love story, Princess and traveler, how exciting)) [Alice, Kara] And I drag him down, where the two of us dance together. Gosh, he sure is terrible at this. It hasn''t been five seconds and my feet already got step on by him. While we are at it, is that Alice and Jacks? Oh my, the two of us can''t help but tease them. And Ram and Gizzere, they''re so sweet. Rafiah and Rumia, just how many men are trying to dance with them... Ceanu and Crow on the other hand have their hand busy replacing Ash role, so they gently said no to dance invitation "Ouch!" [Diana] "Sorry" [Ash] "Haha, it''s fine, just follow my lead" [Diana] As we keep on dancing, Charlotte and Cupid came and wanted to dance together with us, and it didn''t take long for all the younger group, both from the orphanages and the neighborhood kids to join us. I guess I should just skip my work for today Chapter 205 - Behind the scene of Day 3 of debutante party "Master, is that you!?" [Claude] "Claude, you''re still..." [Filvisar] Alive. I''m sure he wanted to say you''re still alive. Well, technically yes but no. "Master Filvisar" [Calypso] "Calypso, you have awakened from dormant the state!" [Filvisar] Oh yeah, I forgot the annoying Calypso used to travel with him. Well, let those three have their touching reunion. It''s been over a hundred of year, literally since they last met And now, it brings us to ""Mother!!"" [Kucin, Anjin] "Both of you, meet Miriam, your new younger siblings" [Black cat lady] ""EHH!!"" [Kucin, Anjin] "What Ehh! You don''t even know your mother being caught! Come here, you''re gonna get lecture!" [Khamishah] ""But..."" [Kucin, Anjin] "NO BUT, YOUNG S RANK ADVENTURES!" [Khamishah] Let them have their own reunion as well I suppose Right now, all of us are at the orphanage, after making sure Agnes power is properly sealed by me, he/she is taken by the Ministry of Defense for interrogation after he/she wakes up. Well, I appreciate if it is only us, but "No! They''re not for your personal use!" [Mira] "Use? They will have far better life at the castle rather than shit hole here! And who are you to deny it!" [Some prince] "I am Head of Director of Orphanage" [Mira] "And I am a prince. Surely you understand tha..." [Some prince] ~Kick~ Annoying. I don''t have the mood to argue right now, so I just simply kick him in the face, and as for those guards of him, they don''t have enough time to retaliate as I already blast them away with hurricane magic. "You! HOW DARE YOU!" [Some prince] "Two options, either I cripple you down and throw you like a garbage, or you scram by yourself, choice is yours" [Ash] "That''s it! I''ll send an army to arrest you!" [Some prince] ""Bring it"" [Ash, Diana] "Princess Diana!" [Some prince] Ooh, Diana come. She looks awfully tired. Pity her, but I must say, I like how our response matches perfectly. The prince, seeing as there are no other way to convince us from adopting those ten, left. Speaking of adoption (She is still unconscious. She is way past her limit after all. But, is adoption even the right word here, for Aries, Kara and Mara?) [Ash] Flinar and the young healers says she''s stable, so that''s good. Kara and Mara, and by extension, the other can''t help but to excessively feel worried about Aries. They try not to show it, but as their guardian, we can see right through them. For now, let Rafiah take care of them. She''s like the eldest sister figure beside Elise that is Still, the mood is heavy. There are too many things happening simultaneously, so "Dia..." [Ash] She already left. Must be busy as hell. Pity her, and I could only imagine what sort of thought going inside her mind right now. I wish I could help her... In that case "Alright everyone, listen up! We are going to prepare for the 3rd day of debutante party!" [Ash] "!" [Other] All of them, bewildered by my suggestion, just stood there, thinking, what in Goddess Achalasia name am I suggesting. Well "True, there are some who lost their lives, and those who are injured, but what better way for us to honour them by celebrating the third day? They''re all looking forward for it, I can assure you" [Ash] And in case they didn''t believe in me, simple, I just ask the soul of those lingering around to answer it. Guess my God of Death blessing have improved "Still... Right! I got it! The church will help you, just..." [Rumia] "Just?" [Ash] "At the end of celebration, let me send them off properly" [Rumia] "You betcha" [Ash] As for the other "Fine, guess it will improve the spirit after all" [Ram] "I''ll start calculating the food budget" [Gizzere] "Man o man, guess I''ll help spread the news. Yo kids, help us will you" [Swordman adventure] "!" [Orphan] "Come on now, don''t be shy" [Borg] "They''re good people, so you can trust them" [Rafiah] "Seo Ah, if you would" [Rumia] "Right, dear teacher, I mean saintess!" [Seo Ah] "Then I''ll join in as well" [Kanji] Well, I can just announce it with the communication stone being placed all over the neighborhood. You know what, let us do that as well as sending the kids and adventure "Some music and choir will be nice" [Seraph] "I can help with that, Liyana, let us join" [Muse] "But I''m not that good!" [Liyana] "Who care! It fun. Kara, Mara, Lara, Elise, Lily and Mile, you join us as well. All girl choirs" [Muse] "Hmm... I guess us boys stuck with miscellaneous chores" [Rean] ""Better than stuck with choirs!!"" [Kadeus, Zerolith] "True" [Karon] Slowly, all of us come up with idea after idea on what to do. Guess we don''t need to use the initial plan by Ceanu, Crow and I. Let just make it and go with the flow (Linda, can you tell Diana and the other?) [Ash] (I will) [Linda] "We will provide some food!" [Kebab stall owner] ""Same as us"" [Alice''s parents] "Then I will take the photos throughout the event and give it for free" [Clothing shop aunty] It sure is nice seeing as how they can still keep their spirit up like this despite what just happened. I better survey the hall. No, pretty sure it dangerous with rubbles and all, so let just make a small platform outside the hall, and put in multiple chairs and tables for food etc. "Oh yeah! Better ask them about any material they need. The Goddess Achalasia Treasure Chest can cover it all" [Ash] And should they not believe it, I''ll demonstrate it to them, and credited it all to Diana. This is her birthday present after all. Kinda wanted it to be honest, but let just said it''s OUR birthday present. Yeah, sound nice. (Goddess, I feel bad now) [Ash] Well, move move move! Got a lot of things to do in such a short notice after all . . . "Who cares. Or do you want me to kidnap you, force you to dress in front of me and drag you here" [Ash] "ASH!" [Haliza] "He seems serious" [Linda] "Well, Alaric and I can''t stop him. We are too "tired" right now" [Qis] "You guys! Fine! But I''ll come only for a short while!" [Diana] "All of you heard that! She will be coming!" [Ash] "HOORAY!" Yeah, glad they manage to convince Diana to come. All that''s left is to celebrate I guess, and once all of us see her personal carriage "There she is! Everyone, give her a loud clap! So loud that you will scare all those arrogant noble and royal in the castle! On count of 3, 2, and 1!" [Ash] ~Clap~ She sure seem surprise. Not that I care, well, maybe a little. This is after all, to liften up the mood, especially her I suppose "Come on now, don''t be a snail. And Kara, I can''t hear your voice! Sing louder please" [Ash] "But!" [Kara] "LOUDER" [Ash] Haha, being the host sure is fun. Now ,time to reveal her birthday present . . . And done. All that''s left now is for the dance and other fun stuff, and we will end it all with proper farewell for those who lost their live. For dancing, Rumia had agreed to be Diana''s partner. It''s the safest choice, can''t have any men dance with her since the first dance partner beside father and grandfather I suppose will usually end up as her life long partner, and since King Estel is busy, Rumia agreed to dance with Diana "Alright! Onto the next part! Dancing. I don''t know who but this single girl don''t even have a partner, so..." [Ash] "Would you do the honour of dancing with me, Ash?" [Diana] "Saintess Rumia, please, dance with her... WHAT!" [Ash] And even when I gave her various excuses, she still wanted to dance with me. She wanted to expose the part of me who is a terrible dancer, isn''t she. Sigh... screw it! Fine! Don''t blame me for any rumour after this (What is this feeling?) [Ash] As we dance, my feet suddenly got cold and limp, guess I am a terrible dancer after all "Ouch!" [Diana] "Sorry" [Ash] "Haha, it''s fine, just follow my lead" [Diana] ""We want to join!!"" [Cupid, Charlotte] ""Sure"" [Ash, Diana] Haha, what a relief. But now, all the kids wanted to join us, so we make multiple circles by holding each other hands and dance in circles. After dance, eat, sing, and repeat, it''s time for the final event. Taking my scythe, I quickly gather the lingering soul. I wanted to resurrect them as Minion of God of Death just like Linda, but they simply refuse. I suppose they know what is the best for them, for which I will respect their decision "The souls. They''re all, sparkling" [Diana] "O souls who loses their life, please, pass on without any worry, pass on without any hesitation, for the goddess embrace you all under her arm" [Rumia] With that, Day 3 of debutante party end after the soul slowly disappea Chapter 206 - Young Diana & Lindas resurrection [Young Diana point of view] "So that Duke''s son keep on pestering you? What a jerk!" [Young Diana] "True, but don''t worry, it''s nothing serious" [Young Alice] "Still, we can''t just keep quiet about it" [Young Qis] "The same can happen to us, so it''s nothing we can keep quiet about" [Young Linda] And thus, all of us sit down together and form a plan or two, just to realize how utterly useless and powerless all of us were. We can''t do much as women in general are powerless in the face of male dominated society, a hard fact that all of us have to swallow, for now as we keep on improving ourselves Then, that is when its all happened. The succession war of the demon kingdom, which saw that the two prince of the demon kingdom, ravaged the land and countries near and far, including Estel. Their method of transporting armies during that times is still regarded as mystery, but regardless, "Your parents what!" [Young Diana] "It''s true... they''re providing support for your brother, and looks like I am to be..." [Young Linda] "Tchh! Not to mention there are rumours of those queen secretly funding the demon prince as well, to overthrow the other" [Young Qis] "Which mean that your highness life will be in jeopardy" [Young Alice] We already have evidence, but sadly, there''s nothing father can do without much evidence. Even he himself is not above the law. He tried his best to protect us during that time, but executing or even worse if falsely executing one queen or even multiple of them can lead to noble uprising to overthrow him, and with the demon kingdom army savaging land left and right, thing should be approach carefully. I understand that but, it just felt wrong. "Goddess, is there anything that we could do!" [Young Linda] The same cry echoes inside us all, but alas, we are powerless. Just a young girl in a cruel world . . . "Here you go" [Young Linda] ""Thank you"" [Young Japanese looking boy, young brown fox girl] Those orphans again. A Japanese looking boy and brown fox girl, looking back, could they be young Rean and Elise? Either way, they''re multiple of them, and their numbers keep on growing. Even if Linda keep on feeding them, it wouldn''t help much if the core problem aren''t "What this?" [Young Linda] Linda, when the four of us all alone inside my carriage, suddenly start to burst out with mana. I do know her family tend to have higher than average mana, something evidence when even her 5 to 6 years old younger sister Liyana have, but she works extra hard to keep her mana under control, but now "This mana, it''s warm, and has a holy feeling to it" [Young Diana] "This... could it be, this is a blessing!" [Young Alice] "Possible, and a powerful one for that" [Young Diana] "A powerful blessing, in this era of time. There''s a rumour that the fallen god minion is resurrecting, which mean..." [Young Qis] "Blessing of ten heroes? No, somehow, I got this feeling it''s the blessings of ten heroes companion" [Young Linda] ~Carriage suddenly stop~ The carriage suddenly stop, and in front of us, is Linda''s parents, demanding her to come with us, and there is also "Oh, interesting, a blessing!" [Head priest] The head priest, the looks on his face is nothing short bus disgusting. I tried to stop them, but "Now!" [unknown group] "!" [Young Diana] We are ambush right in the middle of the day! They, they didn''t even care about passerby, which mean they wanted to blame this whole incident to the demon kingdom army! This is, an assassination attempt to take my life! No, at this rate, they will all get kill because of me! "Alaric!" [Young Qis] "I know!" [Young Alaric] They try to protect us, but "Release them! Release them!" [Young Linda] Linda suddenly burst with overflowing of mana, with her ice mana and the blessing combine violently, it strikes both foes and allies, and even passerby, and we have to stop her, but "Useless girl! Have some control over your own mana!" [Linda''s mother] Linda''s mother hit her hard in the head multiple times to stop her. She keeps on hitting the silent Linda, who is determined to protect us all, even when her eye and nose begin to bleed "Stop! Don''t do that!" [Young Alice] "Quiet!" [Guard] To stop Alice on her track, the guard try to stab Alice, but "DON''T!" [Young Linda] Linda with all her might, kill the guards as well as some church members. Her phenomenal space mana cause the surrounding people to be transported somewhere else. Head suddenly missing, a person limbs mysteriously attached to another head, and so on. It''s a gruesome sight. The head priest, feeling scares, quickly take out his staff and shove it inside Linda''s mouth, all the way to stomach... It was a ritual to control mana from within, but the haste during that time causes her to die due to internal bleeding "You... You murder her!" [Young Qis] "I... I..." [Young Alice] . . . (This is all my fault. Why am I... such a weak princess...) [Young Diana] Father rescue us afterward, but... it''s too late. [Night of Linda''s resurrection] "I see. Damn, I don''t know that happen. So, that''s why Qis and Alice here feels awkward after a long time. It was a sudden outburst, but..." [Ash] "I do realize it, but..." [Alice] "I''m.. sorry" [Qis] "You have apologize multiple times, so it''s fine" [Alice] "Anyway, do Liyana knows about it?" [Elise] "I believe not. She''s being fed by nothing but lie about how the three of us were responsible for killing Linda" [Diana] "And I believe the blessings is transferred to you afterwards, am I correct?" [Rumia] "True, but I quickly hide it with the pendant given by Princess Nurhaliza" [Diana] And with Rumia''s guidance, Ash begin to resurrect Linda. The term resurrection is quite misleading, as true resurrection can only be done by Goddess Achalasia, God of Death and the mysterious God of Life. What Ash trying to do is simply appoint Linda''s soul to become a minion of God of Death. Nonetheless, Rumia guidance about the properties of soul and the concept of life and death barrier is pivotal in doing so. Try to bring a soul from the world of death into the world of living, and if you''re not the god or goddess, it will simply become necromancy. Fail and Linda''s soul will disappear forever, however "The gray limbo. It''s hard to grasp it" [Ash] "It''s the threshold between life and death. More so than anything, I believe you should emphasize more on your God of Death blessing power here, otherwise, it will only become necromancy" [Rumia] "O Saintess, you send people to afterlife, so is this the reverse?" [Elise] "In a sense, yes. Though what you described is resurrection. This is to make the soul stay in between those line, and by infusing the power of God of Death, Linda''s soul can stay as the minion of God of Death, otherwise, she will fall back into the realm of the death, or worse, vanish forever" [Rumia] Elise, who in the future will become a mythical nine tail fox, seems interested in this subject. She does offer Claude to pass to the realm of death peacefully when they first met, so I believe this is a fine quality teaching materials for her "NOW! HOLD HER SOUL!" [Rumia] "Understood!" [Ash] Ash did as he was told, while Rumia keep on praying to Goddess Achalasia for her help when "God of Death, do you approve?" [Goddess Achalasia] "This voice! Goddess!" [Ash] "You can hear it as well?" [Rumia] "So that''s the goddess voice..." [Qis] "You too, but..." [Rumia] They''re waiting for the God of Death response, when "Screw it! Not another test! Fine! Rumia, can you hold Linda''s soul? I''ll pour the God of Death power into her soul" [Ash] Without any response, Ash decided to take matter into his own hand, and Rumia agree instantaneously. I do believe they keep on mentioning about the God and Goddess not telling them all the answers, preferring them to search the answer by their own. "Look! A scythe, and a cube suddenly appear!" [Elise] "And a robe... it suddenly envelope Linda''s soul" [Qis] "Is it, a success?" [Alice] "Ash, Rumia? How was it?" [Diana] . . . [At the orphanage] [Present time] All of us are at the orphanage, and by all of us, I mean almost all of us. From Ash to those 12 orphans to Rafiah and Claude, including Seo Ah and Kanji, Mira, Haliza, Mrs Saga, even some friends of those kids are around. Some adventures like Jacks, Syah and the paladin are here as well. We tell them regarding our past, especially to Liyana who we keep on hiding it "So, that all happened. To think mother and father lied to me" [Liyana] "Is it really fine, for all of us to know it as well?" [Rean] "I feel that we aren''t worthy to know all of this" [Ex female paladin adventure] "Why not. You guys are connected to this matter, either directly or indirectly" [Linda] "True. But..." [Karon] "It felt wrong" [Mara] "Then, how about I tell you regarding the ten heroes. And why am I selected by Goddess Achalasia to take care of you" [Ash] "!" [Other] "I think I should leave..." [Lily] "Same here" [Ray] "No, you guys stay here. Well, among them, only Kara, Mara, Lara, Nara, Karon, Farhah and Singa still left in dark, but I believe I''ll tell you the full story about who I really am as well" [Ash] "Please do so. You did promise me back then at Malsia" [Diana] "Well, here go..." [Ash] Ash tell us all, about how he was resurrected from another world. How he received the blessings from Goddess Achalasia and God of Death because of his parents good deed, and most importantly "We will... die?" [Farhah] "Is that, really true?" [Karon] ""God..."" [Mira, Khamishah] "Not really" [Filvisar] "Mr Filvisar is a living proof that some will survive" [Ash] "That, as well as your parents" [Mahsuri] "!" [Other] "That again, can''t you just tell us what happen" [Ash] "..." [Mahsuri] Huh? What did Mahsuri said just now? Chapter 207 - What happen 100 year ago Filvisar, he is Claude''s long lost master who we presume dead after completing his task as someone who awakened the blessing of ten heroes. An old elf with a long grey white hair with wrinkles all over his face. Just what you would expect from someone who is over a hundred year old. Here I was, thinking that the stereotype of elf having a long life would be true, but no. People in this world tends to die at much younger age and elf, having much more vitality compare to other races, can live up to 80 years old in this world, and by standard, Filvisar here is really old as he lives pass hundred "So, what actually happened back then?" [Diana] "As you guy know, I am blessed with the same blessings with these ten children here. After we awaken our blessings, we were met with a group of people from the church call Achalasia Externa" [Filvisar] "Same here" [Ash] "And, did you know who''s the leader?" [Filvisar] "I''m afraid not" [Ash] "It was Agnes back then, and it''s still her right now" [Ash] "!" [Other] "Agnes! As in that Agnes!?" [Ash] "The one you meet back at Malsia?" [Rean] "Yeah, but how?" [Ash] So Agnes here is older than she looks, and somehow, I got this feeling she''s way older than Filvisar is despite her young look "I don''t know. She''s still a mystery even up till this day, but I do know one thing" [Filvisar] "Go on" [Ash] "Her power, it started weak and slowly rising, peak during the fallen god awakening and decline back afterwards" [Filvisar] "So, if the same pattern happen..." [Qis] "Motra is already strong, I can''t imagine what would happen if someone stronger appear" [Khamishah] "Damn... should have killed her back then" [Ash] "Ooh... but it''s impossible, she''s after all, an immortal" [Filvisar] "!" [Other] What! Agnes, she''s immortal! "How... How did you know about that?" [Khamishah] "During our final battle with the fallen god, all ten of us were secluded from the rest of the world by a powerful black miasma barrier erected by the fallen god. The ten of us fight together and manage to seal the fallen god back. Agnes fought against us back then, and even after multiple attempts of ending her life, she''s mysteriously resurrected" [Filvisar] "Resurrected? Not necromancy or becoming something similar to the fallen god minion?" [Elise] "It was resurrection. It''s like the realm of death reject her, no it''s like the realm of life prevent her from entering the realm of death" [Filvisar] Again, the word death, resurrection, realm of life and death came out during our conversation. So, Agnes here is immortal, does that mean, one of the reasons I was given the blessings of God of Death is to... "Ash, does that mean..." [Rumia] "I thought of the same thing. The power of God of Death blessing within me, should be use to finish her off" [Ash] Still, how did she obtain immortality? I don''t think Goddess Achalasia will give her power to Agnes, and neither do the God of Death. Logically, fallen god will be the answer, but "Just who is this fallen god?" [Ash] "I''m sorry..." [Filvisar] "You don''t know?" [Farhah] "I know, but... My lips and memories were sealed when the fallen god was sealed. Again, by Agnes" [Filvisar] "She can do that as well!" [Ash] "What about any record you left behind?" [Rumia] "Unfortunately, it was mysteriously destroyed as well. One of the reason why I traveled the world afterward is to retrieve back my memories, as well as gathering as much information as I could. That''s when I meet young Rumia back then. All of my traveling, all of it, so that..." [Filvisar] "So that this ten kids can survive?" [Calypso] "Exactly. I don''t want them to meet the same demise as my friends back then, even more so now when I know Claude have been taking care of them..." [Filvisar] "Master..." [Claude] I got a lot less information than I thought I would. Given that Filvisar here is one of the ten heroes, I thought he could give every single vital information but to think that this happened. It''s unexpected. Does that means the scarce of written and oral information is also due to Agnes? More importantly (If I wanted to know more about fallen god, than I have to know more about Agnes first. She''s the key to all of this, and...) [Ash] I look at Mahsuri. She seems calm and yet agitated as well, I wonder... "Mahsuri, you don''t need to answer if you don''t want to, but... Could it be, just like how Filvisar here have his lips sealed and most of his memories wiped cleaned, you also experience the same?" [Ash] "..." [Mahsuri] "I will take that as a yes" [Ash] Though I believe there is more to it behind the silence of her. Something important, but I wonder what "I, I have a question" [Mile] "Yes?" [Filvisar] "Do they, really need to fight the fallen god? Why sent them towards demise..." [Mile] "Mile..." [Elise] "That''s, actually true... Can''t they just..." [Muse] "Muse..." [Rean] "Unfortunately, they have to. If they don''t act, all of us would die. Plus..." [Filvisar] "Plus?" [Mira] "Those who awaken this blessing, will inevitably drawn towards the battle with the fallen god, whether they like it or not" [Filvisar] "Such cruel fate!" [Kadeus] Kadeus, he seems furious about it. I can actually understand that, I mean, why them? I know it''s too late to question it, but even if I had accepted the fact that they''re all the ten heroes, I still can''t imagine myself to send them fighting the fallen god, but at the same time, I know it''s inevitable. It''s a strange heavy feeling. At one hand, you know you have to accept this feeling, but on the other hand, you don''t want to. You wish the peaceful life will continue forever "Still, you guys are off to a good start" [Filvisar] "!?" [Other] "Unlike you, we don''t have anyone with God of Death blessing, not to mention, we don''t receive any blessings from the seven holy beast" [Filvisar] "I see. If Ash here can explore more of his blessing from both Goddess Achalasia and God of Death, and if they manage to receive all seven holy beast power, they can actually survive!" [Diana] "That''s what I believe, not to mention, look at the support they received. All of you, you guys are truly blessed with wonderful people" [Filvisar] "True, it''s rather obvious" [Seraph] "And how about you?" [Jacks] "Don''t you think you should tell us about yourself?" [Ash] Chapter 208 - Angel There''s a tale, an urban legend, no maybe it can be considered as creepy pasta or even a mixture of those three, that there''s a mysterious traveling bard, who go from countries to countries, and whenever and wherever he performed, a disaster is most guarantees to strike the place Looking at Seraph here, he fit perfectly into this category. Well, the tale or whatever you want to call it doesn''t account for his perverted action, as he keeps on hitting on Rafiah (which let me be honest here, I am a milimeter away from knocking his head right now). Muse at least know how to tone down her flirtatious action toward Rean, but Seraph here, I''m sure he will become even wilder should no one is looking, so much for having the name of Seraph "Why indeed, I should compose a song for all of you, to tell about my tragic back story" [Seraph] "Talk, and less than 100 words" [Ash] "Such brutal rejection. You should appreciate my art" [Seraph] And that flute of him turn into a guitar, and he started singing. Well, since he does help us defeating Motra, I can tolerate his actions. It''s annoying but not harmful for the children. Just that (I see, so that is his story) [Ash] As he keeps on singing encore part of his so call tragic back story, I manage to summarize few important point Seraph is both his name and his title. Apparently, alongside the original ten heroes, the angelic whose were power bestow by Goddess of Light, Theia were selected to fight the fallen god on behalf of Goddess of Light. Just like how many of Fallen god follower were from demon race (which then refer to as devil), majority of Theia follower were from Angel race, and thus they''re referred to as Angelic, yes the very same angelic transformation those old follower try to achieve. And since most of them were from angel race, a leader was appointed among them, with the first leader of angelic called as Seraph. He later became the angel king and the title of angel king "Seraph" is passed down throughout generation, and now we Seraph here with us, who is still singing. I can''t believe this perverted angel is a king (Not exactly though... If I''m not mistaken, Angel Kingdom were long destroyed, and the lands for which they stood are now called as the cursed land. It just a dungeon away from The New Headquarters where Saint Louis and Saintess Rumia reside) [Ash] "And now, for my love song to Rafiah here" [Seraph] Really. Rafiah is red beet like a tomato right now. Can you stop teasing her like that. The first sentence to his song however "O Rafiah, who are you really? Why did you Seraph heart?" [Seraph] "!" "..." [Rafiah] [Ash] "Stop hitting on her!" [Mira] "My, but she''s beautiful" [Seraph] "Rafiah, you don''t need to answer if you''re not comfortable" [Ash] "True, I can wait for an eternity!" [Seraph] "Rean, if I make a song for you, will you fall for me?" [Muse] "Please don''t" [Rean] "Then I''ll start composing it now! Master Seraph, please teach me the art of love expression" [Muse] "Gladly, my little song bird, perhaps we could have a class or two on how to ensnare your boyfriend there" [Seraph] Muse flirting aside, I''m sure Seraph is actually asking Rafiah about who she really is. Seraph might be perverted, and act like an idiot, but I believe that''s just a mask, or maybe just part of his debauchery personality, but that question about why Rafiah have "Seraph" heart, is a genuine one. One could say, he is literally asking why Rafiah is having Seraph heart. "I see. A flower. Calypso, can you make a bouquet of Rose for me?" [Muse] "Sure do!" [Calypso] Muse quickly compose a song while throwing those flower to Rean. Well, since they''re all distracted with Rean becoming more and more like Rafiah in term of beet red, I approach Seraph "How come you detect who Rafiah really is?" [Ash] "Well, let just said it is because of the title Seraph allow me to know a thing or two about other angel, though I must say, her case is definitely a unique one" [Seraph] "I don''t know, she seems awfully reluctant to talk, so please don''t press her for answer" [Ash] "I won''t, but that wouldn''t stop me from making her fall for me" [Seraph] "Gust!" [Ash] "WAIT!" [Seraph] That actually ticks me off. I mean, Rafiah is older than I am, and it is up to her whether she wanted to date him or not, but making Rafiah uncomfortable with his actions do warrant a ticket for beating "Ouch...Such barbarian action" [Seraph] "You get what you deserve" [Ash] "Rean, you wouldn''t do that to me right?" [Muse] "No I wouldn''t" [Rean] "My husband really is the best" [Muse] "Someone... help me" [Rean] "Muse, that''s enough. You''re scaring him" [Diana] "Just turn that into an excitement and you''re..." [Seraph] "And don''t take advice from him!" [Ash] I was about to land another gust magic before I remember to ask him another question "Say, how did you know Motra will cause trouble?" [Ash] "Again, the title Seraph. Just like the ten heroes, us angelic will have a predisposition to be attracted toward devil, and thus, I travel across the world to do my job. Incidentally, I have met with this old elf few times before, as well as..." [Seraph] Seraph, once again, transform, no shape shifting into a guy, and "That is!" [Rumia] "Oh, you still remember" [Seraph] "Rumia, is he the traveler that you mentioned before?" [Diana] "True! Right after you guys help me escape from the head priest and Second queen of Estel clutch, he is the one helping me, before I was introduced to Sir Filvisar and young Saint Louis!" [Rumia] "What a small world..." [Qis] Colour me impress. Coincidence? I don''t think so "What next on your plan then?" [Claude] "Interesting question. Who knows. I might buy a house nearby and help ten heroes here, or I can just continue my journey, helping to stop whatever plan Agnes put into motion" [Seraph] "Actually, can you stay here just for a while. We need to consider our next step very carefully. At least, until we manage to get any information from Motra, then we can discuss together about this with everyone else" [Diana] "Not a bad deal. I can ask Rafiah everyday why she have Seraph heart then" [Seraph] I see. Well, another meeting is ensure I suppose. Let see, based on what happen, I think several key individual will be call, but most importantly "You twelve, you will join the meeting as well" [Ash] "!" [Other] Chapter 209 - Let help clean up the neighborhood [Karon point of view] Yesterday, revelation after revelation was presented to us, from the fact that only Zerolith, Singa and I who still haven''t awakened the ten heroes blessing to information pertaining about the fallen god. Truthfully, I am still overwhelmed by it, not to mention the fact that those who awakened this blessing will most guarantees to... No, Mr Filvisar is still well and alive, and Mahsuri, while confusing, did mention that Brother Ash''s parents also survived. I don''t know how but there are survivors, and (Whether I like it or not, I have to survive) [Karon] For all the lives that my father kills for his own satisfaction. The serial killer dwarf... "Alright, this is all the tool you guys requested for" [Claude] "Thank you. To think that the empty treasure chest we found that day was actually a legendary thing still blew my mind" [Rean] "And us men find it, Hahaha!" [Zerolith] "Hahaha" [Nara] "Grr!" [Mara] Nara mimicking Zerolith aside, I''m glad to see Kara, Mara and especially Farhah becoming more cheerful after that day. Kara and Mara are still confused about their mother, Mrs Aries as they have no recollection of Mrs Aries being their mother, but they do feel something strange, something that feel their hearts every time they are with her. Plus, when Chrono Mellontik¨®s was used on them, they look almost similar to her. As for Farhah, she can''t help but to compare herself to Saintess Rumia. She still feels reluctant to talk about Avery, but she promised to tell us one day as she knew she couldn''t keep hiding about it forever. Why she compared herself to Saintess Rumia is beyond my comprehension and understanding but I do notice she actually observed Saintess Rumia for quite sometime, especially when Saintess Rumia perform her prayer as well as when Saintess Rumia asking Goddess Achalasia help "Now, let start cleaning the surrounding area!" [Kara] "Err..." (excuse, think of an excuse) [Singa] "Lazy..." (Still, I do feel bad If other help and I''m doing nothing) [Savel] "Lay bum lazy bum, I am now a lazy bum!" [Charlotte] "Now now, a clean heart start with a clean surrounding!" [Rumia] "I see" ~Jot down note~ [Seo Ah] "See, even Saintess Rumia and Seo Ah are helping us, so let us go" [Elise] "Clean heart! Clean surrounding!" [Lara] As I pick up a broom, the other begin to do the same. Right now, we are helping other to clean up the mess from the battle. Not only us, other orphans from Malsia and Kiserre also volunteer to do the same, and as per our request, Brother Ash uses the treasure chest to duplicate multiple cleaning tools for us. Brother Ash will join us later as he with few other adventures will help Ministry of Defense tracking down Drant whereabouts "Alright, let us start cleaning!" [Kanji] "Do you remember your group and designated area? And remember, don''t stray to far away" [Kana] "Right!" [Other] "Alright, let us begin!" [Long hair girl] ""Let us go Farhah"" [Elf boy, Elf girl] "Right, but where are we designated again?" [Farhah] "You guys are with me" [Nun C] And off we go. I am together with Farhah cleaning up the area nearby. Bobunny''s clone are with us, fixing cracks in road and houses, as well as serving as the girls never ending fluffiness source as they keep on petting the clone, quickly abandoning their jobs, which understandably cause the nuns to scold them As I keep sweeping the rubbles, a group of noble caught my attention, and from the look of it, they''re targeting Farhah! Not only them, I can sense a group of beastman as well ~Nod~ ~Nod~ As they keep on nodding at each other, I alert nearby soldiers about them, before "Get her! Get the Avery!" [True beastman A] "No, the exotic blood is ours!" [Outsider noble A] "You guys, stay behind us!" [Nun C] "Quick!" [Priest A] "I''ll alert other adventures!" [Nun B] "Please do" [Soldier A] This is bad, but Brother Ash did mention "Bobunny!" [Karon] ~Angry chuckling~ All of the Bobunny''s clone begin to engage those two groups. They might be clones, but they''re clones made from a golem with S rank magic core, and with their numbers, they''re formidable foes that can strike fear to the opponents. Wave after wave of various high grade needle crystal such as diamond, Vibranium, and Mithril are being launch at them, and they''re being overwhelmed. That''s good! (Remember, to keep yourself safe, it''s kill or get kill, and once you have enough blood in your hand, you won''t get enough of the thrill) [Karon''s dad] Why, why I did remember that serial killer advice, now out of all the time. But... Dad is right, if they keep on coming, sooner or later, one of us would get hurt or worse... kill. No, Mr/Mrs Motra nearly done that with Kara, Mara and Farhah. (Kill them... I will kill them) [Karon] "Karon?" [Farhah] Taking my hammer out from the item bag, I quickly strengthen it with earth magic, and leap forward toward one of the nobles. Seeing my blood lusted face, he actually trip head first, which is good because (I can smash his head easily like this) [Karon] "No, please STOP!" [Noble B] Sorry, but I won''t. To protect them, even if it means to dirty my hand with other people blood, I''ll do it "Earth hammer strike!" [Karon] "HELP ME!" [Noble B] ~Smash~ . . . I miss... either I''m still lacking in resolve, or I just don''t want to become like him. Either way, the threat is no more as they''re being overwhelmed by Bobunny. "Earth cage" [Karon] Making a quick earth cage, the soldier quickly put them all inside before sending them to prison. I think only the beastman will receive punishment, and as for the group of noble... why did I feel infuriated. Maybe because I know they will not get any sort of punishment, being free just because of their status. (Should just have kill one of them) [Karon] "Hey, Karon..." [Farhah] "What is it?" [Karon] "Are you, alright?" [Farhah] "Hm?" [Karon] "I might be the last person you want to hear it from, but secret kept for a long time can sometime become a burden. At least, that''s what I feel like now and I got this feeling, you''re getting burden by a secret as well" [Farhah] Secret... We all have our secret. I think it''s rather normal to not talk about it and plus... Will they accept me, a serial killer dwarf son who have killed multiple people from noble to commoner. Not to mention, a murder attempt toward the second prince of Estel. If they find out, my very own life might be in jeopardy even though it is father the one doing it "It''s fine. I just feel a little bit shock. That''s all" [Karon] "You could, always talk to me. Remember what you said? No one wants to be alone" [Farhah] "Right. I know that, that''s why I think it''s better for me to keep this a secret" [Karon] "If you said so..." [Farhah] Sorry, but let just continue to clean the neighborhood . . . We come back rather late in the afternoon as Farhah suddenly become compulsive in cleaning the area, but surprisingly none of us complaint about it as we ourselves feel refreshed afterward There, we can see Brother Ash on the other side of the phone receiving a call "What! Are you freaking kidding me! Motra escape!" [Ash] "!" [Other] Brother Ash shout can he heard by everyone Chapter 210 - Saint Louis plan _________________________________________________ [True beastman leader, Dark Lion Beastman, Simba point of view] "That damn Motra, I know we couldn''t trust him/her to do this all alone" [Tiger beastman] "And that damn Leogris is there as well!" [Elephant beastman] "So much for an S rank adventure, right, leader?" [Snake beastman] "Fool..." [Simba] "!" [Other] They''re clouded with emotion right now. Is this the result of that witch experimentation? They''re stronger that''s without a doubt but their cognitive seems impaired, at least someone who is close to them would notice Still, Motra fail in his/her plan. For an S rank adventure like him/her to be defeated, after getting Drant''s blessing as well as getting modified by the witch, The Saga might be more powerful than any of us thought. Not only her though, there are several individuals who caught my intention based on rumour and report. The ten heroes, and the lion beastman kid among them... So, Singa is still well and alive. I''m glad. Singa aside, there''s report mentioning about an Avery girl who our group failed to abduct some years ago, and if that elf girl really is an Avery, then we should think about how to approach them. Though of course, there are several other threats among them, as previously mentioned Mrs Saga whose power is more powerful than we initially thought. The mysterious angel with the blessings of Angkasa, the mysterious holy beast of light, Princess Diana of Estel who won the recognition of the new religion group, demon and beast kingdom and of course, the one Agnes mentioned before, The Behemoth Slayer, the one who received both Goddess Achalasia as well as God of Death blessing. Among them, The Behemoth Slayer and Princess Diana are the one who we should take extra precautions the most as they''re the guardian of those kids "Damn that Leogris!" [Snake beastman] "It must be because of him, that Motra get caught" [Grasshopper beastman] Again, they complain about Leo. I still remember Leo, Singa''s mother and I used to be an adventure. A royal, a noble and a commoner who gets along well until that incident happened. Leo and I used to get along so well, but because a different in our opinion especially regarding human to non human relationships, we got separated. I have no complaints nor grudge to him. He is an excellent leader for the Beastman Kingdom, and should more people become more open minded like him, no, not only like him, should more people become like Mrs Saga, Princess Diana, Saint Louis, Saintess Rumia, Paladin Aries, Demon King Druser, Kucin and Anjin''s adopted mother and like Behemoth Slayer, then I wouldn''t need to form this True Beastman Group of mine. In fact, should more and more people become like them, I can safely disband this group and should someone else created similar group to this, then I will be the first to fight them as they will disturb the harmony that I ever long for. But dream and reality often do not mix and that''s why, to make them awake, this group is created "Leader!" [Tiger beastman] "A strange dwarf is attacking us!" [Grasshopper beastman] "!" [Simba] That dwarf. Taller than your average muscular dwarf with black hair and a vertical scars in both eyes. One of his arm is being replaced by a special knife attached directly to his muscle. The serial killer dwarf. What is he doing here? _________________________________________________ [Headquarters of the new religion] [Saint Louis point of view] "I see. Thank you for your hard work" [Saint Louis] "You''re welcome. I look forward for your answer" [Rumia] The goddess orb no longer show her face nor her voice. She mentioned two important things. First, regarding the S rank adventure, Motra being a fallen god minion. This will be a serious blow for the adventure guild as one of their most powerful adventure is now considered as a dangerous threat for humanity. According to Rumia, Motra manages to escape with the help of a mysterious witch and Motra''s close aid, the half giant Zin who suddenly become a full pledge giant. That''s another serious issue, a full pledge giant is a threat no matter how you look at it And, good grief... The disaster of fallen god reawakening is nearing with the appearance of Motra and the ten heroes. It is hard to believe but if the fallen god minion Motra do recognize those ten orphans as a threat, then I would say the chance of them being a genuine ten heroes is high. Good thing that ash there is their guardian. I couldn''t ask for a better person to protect and nurture them. Aside from his occasional rude commentary, I think he is the best for the job, but (Those at the Holy Palace would say otherwise) [Saint Louis] If the new headquarters here is our home, then the Holy Palace is the headquarters of the old follower. The self proclaimed saint and saintess there wouldn''t keep quiet regarding this matter, and as a matter of fact, I''m sure once they got the news of ten heroes awakening, they will rush toward Estel. (Not to mention, the prince at the holy palace. If I''m not mistaken, he keeps on sending wedding invitation to Princess Diana. Surely with what''s happening, he will move as well) [Saint Louis] They really are a nuisance. One self proclaimed saint who accused me of having schizophrenia, one cruel fake saintess with countless human and non human experimentation and the holy palace prince who have a strong connection with the dark guild. Plus, the influence of Achalasia Externa group is strong there. I wouldn''t be surprised should they sent multiple of their soldier and priest just to get their hand on those orphans. Maybe I should pay them a "visit" "O Saint, here is your honey tea... Everyone! Saint Louis is thinking of escaping once more!" [Maid] "What!" [Priest] "Code red! Code red!" [Archbishop] Is it really that obvious... Maybe I should learn how to hide my true intentions from them next time. "Calm down, let me explain where and why I wanted to go there" [Saint Louis] On another related note, maybe I should show them how much work I usually do. I am a fast worker and the speed at which my job is completed makes me have ample of free time which I used to escape somewhere else, far away from my office. Maybe that''s also the reason why this so called code red of them exist, because they don''t want to see their saint having a free time... Good grief Chapter 211 - Escape "I see, so they agree on letting Saint Louis to come over here" [Ash] "After detail explanation, yes they all agree to it" (Though I''m sure there''s another reason he didn''t state during our conversation) [Rumia] Strange, if he only wanted to ascertain for himself about the ten heroes, then Rumia telling him that is more than enough. I''m sure Saint Louis have something else in his mind, but what? It won''t be anything bad that''s for sure After having a short conversation with Rumia, I went outside to the nearby guard post inside Diana''s hall since I heard some commotion going on. I can hear Jacks and the female paladin adventure who is now once again, bestowed the title of paladin by both Diana and Rumia, thus completely severing the ties between her and her old master. Not only that, her courageous action during that night also make her become an A rank adventure (previously B rank) "Here another group of them" [Jacks] "And here as well" [New female paladin adventure] "I see. Thanks" [Ash] Ever since the news of those siblings of mine being the ten heroes spread out, there are multiple reports of suspicious movement from the True Beastman Group as well as the dark guild, and not to mention, the dirty underhanded work of Royal, Noble and Merchants from both inside and outside of Estel. Well, I guess it''s unavoidable, and since I can''t be there for them 24/7, I put on a request to adventure guild, asking for their help. While I''m glad they wanted to help for free, let us not take advantage of their kindness, since kindness alone won''t put a food into their table "Haha, excellent work dear adventures" [Seraph] "And what are you doing here?" [Ash] "Well, I''m simply dying out of boredom, so after eating my breakfast at the inn, I come to help those adventure on tracking down Motra, Drant and other miscellaneous thing" [Seraph] "I see. Appreciate it" [Ash] While waiting for thing to settle down, Seraph here currently stays at Alice''s parent inn. He will occasionally come to the orphanage or the hall to conduct class about music and art, which is free for all. Guess Diana and I can offer him the position of music and art teacher should he interested. Well, that will all depend on the upcoming meeting. Right now, we are waiting for Aries to fully recovered. Her injuries are quite deep and severe, but with the help of Flinar and the young healers (who are about to graduate) as well as Rumia, she''s recovering at a rapid pace "Right, I have other things to do first, can I leave them to you?" [Ash] ""Sure"" [Jacks, paladin] "Thanks" [Ash] Well, if possible, I don''t want to do this since assassination isn''t really my strong point. Well, it might not be assassination to begin with as Alaric and the other vampire guards, Linda and I are trying to capture those people who work behind the scenes for First and Second Queens and their princes of course. Motra''s assault causes some delays for putting them under trial and the vampire guards of Diana did mention they will likely flee the country for good. While the idea of them no longer in Estel is a good one, I hate it more should they escaped from punishment (I did remember she once said I don''t need to help her in this kind of thing, but I guess I shouldn''t be picky right now) [Ash] Going to the designated area, I noticed that the other vampire guards are already prepared, hiding inside shadow of surrounding building. Alaric and Linda will be with other teams, and I am here with the remaining vampire guards, just that "Why are you here again..." [Ash] "Boredom, plus, this look interesting" [Seraph] Sigh... whatever. His actions do arouse suspicion but I can trust him. This place here is the hiding place of those old follower and isn''t as secluded as I thought it would be. I don''t know why they chose this area out of all possible places, maybe because they''re overconfident that they can operate inside the country once more with the help of second queen, but alas... "Agnes? Motra?" [Ash] "Indeed, I can detect Motra''s mana inside, and I can sense high concentration of space mana as well! All of you, charge and disturb them! We can''t let them escape!" [Seraph] "Right!" [Other] Why are there here? Plus, based on what Seraph said, they''re attempting escape. Before I can even slam the door open, multiple iron staffs flew outside with a tinge of strong explosion and thunder magic, before "Earth wal... no, earth needle!" [Ash] Screw defense, Agnes here''s know I will reflexively use earth wall to defend myself, so let just take some damage so that I can disturb their teleportation magic, plus ~Boom~ ~Current discharge~ "Huh, you take less damage than I thought. Must be because of the Bunny golem there" [Agnes] "We meet again, behemoth slayer, but good bye for now" [Motra] "So that''s the behemoth slayer" [Mysterious witch] "AGNES! MOTRA!" [Ash] I threw my scythe towards the group, but Motra simply deflect it, but "Haa!" [Vampire guard A] The vampire guard quickly leap out from the shadow, use my scythe and drag them outside from teleportation circle. Just that, this special scythe of mine can''t be used properly by those who aren''t recognise by God of Death, so his aim become a little off. Instead of dragging Agnes and Motra with the scythe, he dragged two of the old follower. "Not yet!" [Seraph] Seraph try his best to disturb the teleportation with his guitar, playing out strong melody filled with space disturbing mana, but "Farewell" [Agnes] Dammit, they escaped, well, not all of them. The old follower leader and Rafiah''s friend are still here. Looks like the vampire dragging them out and Seraph interference causes them to be left behind "Just why didn''t we noticed Motra is with them?" [Vampire guard B] "That''s strange..." [Vampire guard C] "Well, there''s residue of strong mirage mana, maybe that interfered with our perception" [Vampire guard A] "That, as well as the mysterious witch. My gut feeling telling me that she is also responsible" [Ash] Motra did mention that his/her body had been modified by a witch. So, if that witch I detected with them is indeed the same witch he/she mentioned, then I guess it will be plausible for her to play with others perception as well "That aside, I guess I can just drag you around, Mr leader" [Ash] "Behemoth slayer! Let me go!" [Old follower leader] "Ahh, how I didn''t miss this voice of him even one bit. In fact, it annoys me even more now" [Ash] "How about this lady?" [Seraph] "She did try to warn Rafiah and other during the orphanage incident, so I guess I can somewhat tolerate her" [Ash] "No. It''s fine... Just do whatever you want to me. Just, give me a chance to talk with Rafiah" [Old follower B] "Well, if you said so but I can''t really promise you that. Nonetheless, I will try my best" [Ash] ~Nod~ It still is dangerous to let her meet Rafiah, maybe I should be there when they''re talking, or at least have one of the vampire guards be with her Making an earth cage with tires, I drag them toward the guard post inside the castle, when ""!!"" [Second Queen, Second Prince] "Oh, you seem surprise. Well, I believe you didn''t really "know" about them still inside Estel, aren''t you" [Ash] "Tchh..." [Second Queen] "Your highness, please save us!" [Old follower leader] "What nonsense. You aren''t supposed to be here! Aren''t you exiled by the king!" [Second prince] "Well, there you have it. I wonder what information will we get from these two. Wish us luck" [Ash] "Wait! Let us handle them!" [Second Queen] "Oh my, I can''t do that" [Ash] "And why is that?!" [Second Queen] "I got a direct order from the king to capture them, so it should be him the one that decide everything" [Ash] A lie, and a serious one at that. I just realized that I used the king name without his permission... Let just hope nothing severe will come. Well, I can just explain the situation to him and beg for his forgiveness "Then I will ask father to let me handle it" [Second prince] "Sure. Good luck, I''ll be "rooting" for you" [Ash] "Tchh!" [Second Queen] "Damn traveler pisses me off" [Second Prince] "Your highness, please don''t left me behind!" [Old follower leader] "Yeah, please don''t leave him behind. Poor guy is pissing in his pant right now" [Ash] As they quickly left to find the king, I drag the cage toward the nearest guard post inside the castle and coincidentally "Huh. All of you are here" [Ash] "Only two people?" [King Estel] "Where are the rest of them?" [Diana] "Well..." [Seraph] Alaric, Linda and the remaining vampire guards had successfully captured those related to the first queen. That''s good, and I''m glad. Seraph and I explain what just happened, with me whispering to the king about me using his name just now. He seems rather furious but seems to understand the situation. Normally, one would get severely punished for freely using the king name but thankfully, he just left me with a strict warning. Thank goodness for that. I feel bad though as I feel like I bring nothing but trouble for him "You guys, what going on?" [Lisa] "You guys seems busy" [Aries] "Is it really alright for her to walk like this?" [Ash] "She''s fine now" [Flinar] "Plus, the Aries that we know aren''t that weak" [Erinmorlin] "Will you go to the orphanage?" [Qis] "No. I don''t want those kids, especially Kara and Mara to see me like this. I''ll go when I am fully healed" [Aries] "Let me know about it, and..." [Ash] "Yes. I''ll tell Kara and Mara. Don''t worry about it" [Aries] "Sis..." [Lisa] Guess I should brace myself as well. On the other note, I kinda wanted to see how Alaric will squeeze information from that old leader, but I get this feeling I won''t sleep peacefully should I go. Chapter 212 - Saintess Angela _________________________________________________ [True beastman leader, Dark Lion, Simba point of view] "Ha...ha..." [Simba] I can feel every breath that I take becoming heavier and heavier with each passing second. Such a tenacious foe, this serial killer dwarf. In terms of strength, skill and magic power, I am clearly the superior between the two of us, but, his stamina knows no bound and his tenacity know no limits. Such a foe should be defeated from the moment notice as prolonging the battle will only bring advantage to him. Even after few what should be fatal injuries that I inflicted on his head, neck, chest and spine, there he is, still trying to launch his attack ~Magic knives thrown~ Using my shield, I quickly block the incoming magic knives attack. Again, there''s not so much power behind it, but the fact that he keeps on attracting those knives through magnet magic and keep on throwing it is indeed a problem. He will also occasionally launch a piercing attack with the knife attached to his hand, something that I can dodge and counteract ~Pierce attack~ As he launch the pierce attack, I jump behind him, quickly kicking his head before smashing his head with this shield of mine imbued with dark fire magic. It should have been fatal but "Blood... Nice" [Serial killer dwarf] All my instinct are telling me, that it''s near impossible for me to win this battle, as his maniacal smile and red blood eyes are sending shiver down to my spine _________________________________________________ [Basement of the Holy Palace] [Agnes point of view] And to the holy palace we go. Transporting ourselves with the portal stone, we safely arrive at the basement of the holy palace. It''s a reliable method of transportation but the valuable resource of the portal stone are quickly diminishing because of it. Location, number of people involved, and of course, the interference of Ash as well as Seraph burn out the portal stone way more than what we initially calculated "Motra. Alright?" [Zin] "Yes, I''m fine. Thank you Zin" [Motra] "Agnes. Fine?" [Zin] "So do I" [Agnes] "Angela. Ok?" [Zin] "Yes, just strain myself a bit" [Mysterious witch, Angela] "Take. Good. Care" [Zin] "Yes, I will" [Angela] This giant Zin. His conversation skill has significantly reduced. Must be the side effects of Angela modification to him. No sweat, once our god is resurrected, he could fix this problem in literal second "We are safe!" [Old follower A] "Thank you, Saintess Angela. Mrs Motra and Mrs Agnes as well" [Old follower C] "Me?" [Zin] "Shut up non human!" [Old follower E] "I. Will" [Zin] "You did realize I am a beastman" [Motra] "But you''re different! You have been converted!" [Old follower F] (Fool) [Agnes] Converted by Angela. How pitiful of them to quickly accept those lie when Angela told them so Saintess Angela. Our very own talented witch. She is in her 30, with long black hair and a blue eyes like that of the ocean. Her fair skin with some freckles in her face just add to her charm. I might be the connection between our god to all of the followers, but when it comes to managing the old follower, as well as the Achalasia Externa, she can be said as the figure leader. She handles things on the surface while I am responsible for what happen behind the scenes (Not to mention, her power as a witch is truly phenomenal. I can say she actually far surpassed the first witch) [Agnes] "Now then, how about we go upstairs. I''ll introduce you to the saint and the holy palace prince" [Angela] "Really!" [Old follower A] "What a lucky day!" [Old follower F] And they quickly left. Whether that is a lie so that she can use them for her own experimentation or she''s actually feeling generous, that I do not know. She is after all, a saintess. Even though she isn''t recognize as one by Goddess Achalasia, I''m sure once our times come, she will receive the title from a better god "So, a spectacular failure" [Agnes] "Failure. Motra. Fail" [Zin] "Apart from my true identity are now known and we lost Drant, I said we have ourselves a win as well, don''t you agree" [Motra] "That indeed. To think that kid is the one taking care of all of them" [Agnes] Again, just like before. The original ten heroes were taken cared by the traveler king when they''re all orphans who have lost their homes and families. Not to mention, I just noticed something. To think that Ash in Estel might be the same Ash I killed back then when he was still an infant. Truly, him receiving the blessing from God of Death and Goddess Achalasia is no coincidence. (Vincent, Maria, and now Ash. You guys keep on coming aren''t you) [Agnes] _________________________________________________ [The Curse land] [Saint Louis point of view] I had crossed the dungeon, and now, here I am, at the curse land. A land once rule by the Angel king, with the name and title, Seraph. When Saintess Rumia told me regarding what happen at Estel, and that there''s an angel which called himself as Seraph, I was shocked beyond disbelief as I thought Seraph was just a myth. "The ruin doesn''t hold a single clue. It''s ancient after all" [Saint Louis] I thought of exploring a nearby ruin for a bit, hoping to find a clue or two, but this once settlement for the angelic doesn''t provide any clue for me. "I should start moving as well. I need to "visit" them after all" [Saint Louis] I can handle the saint of old follower as well as the prince of holy palace, but something about Saintess Angela give me a creep. Something, but what is it. I can''t even remember properly the conversation that I had with her, even though the conversation with those other two are still vivid . . . I can hear some voices. I wonder who? It''s behind this large house. Better observe them first "So, there wasn''t anything to help the Mermaid king here?" [Mermaid A] "No. There isn''t." [Fairy A] "The holy beast of water, Ice Dragon Reshir doesn''t response to us, and Mahsuri is... So does the blue hair little girl we encounter at Rock and Sea dungeon once. Looks like she still hasn''t realized who she really is" [Mermaid B] "Huh? A human! Run!" [Fairy B] "WAIT!" [Saint Louis] I try to reach for them, but they simply disappear inside the well. Even the fairies. Strange. Just what manner of power does they employ? I can''t sense any barrier nor any mana, and I''m sure it will be pointless for me to jump inside this well, as I don''t have any mean to catch up to them Still, what with their conversation just now? Is something happening inside the Mermaid Kingdom? There have been multiple reports especially by the adventure guild about the appearance of strange mermaids all over Achalasia. But the mermaids just now seem normal "Oh Goddess Achalasia, I have a bad feeling about all of this something big is happening. So, O Goddess, Please guide us all" [Saint Louis] Chapter 213 - Aries, Kara and Mara part 1 _________________________________________________ [Somewhere at Holy Palace] [Young Aries, point of view] Saintess Angela. Rumour has it that she''s older than her looks. While not exactly immortal, she''s said to be born right after the sealing of the fallen around 90 years back. She''s a beautiful noble looking long black hair lady with faint freckles on her cheek, which just add to her charm, that, as well as the sweet lavender perfume that she always wear. 30 years old, but beautiful nonetheless, and as a paladin for the old follower, I thought of devoting my life for her, or so I thought "Sis... help me. I''m scared!" [Young Lisa] "Come on! Get moving!" [Priest A] "No! Please, don''t do that to her!" [Young Aries] Saintess Angela are currently locking us all, whether human or non human, for some sort of experimentation. Every day, I can feel my body becoming more and more abnormal. She might give me some anaesthesia during the time, but the horror of having my body cut before my eyes, the horror of seeing my little sister, Lisa, being stampede by those old follower for trying to retaliate... I am near my breaking point, but "It''s fine. We will let you out" [Erinmorlin] "They will come and rescue us" [Flinar] "Who?" [Young Lisa] "You''ll see" [Erinmorlin] I''m skeptical. I don''t even know who those two are, and (They''re non human... can they be trusted?) [Young Aries] . . . "My, to think that we have the fragments of Drant magic core with us. Now then, I wonder how I should implant this to you, Paladin Aries" [Angela] ~Spit~ "Why you!" [Priest B] "Ughh..." [Young Aries] The priest launch an attack towards my left eye with his staff. I thought the momentary blackout was just because of an injury, but "That''s not good. You shouldn''t destroy her left eye. But, I think I can just implant and integrate this fragment of magic core there" [Angela] Since I spit on her face, she didn''t bother to give me any anaesthesia this time around, and the experiment to integrate Drant''s power into my body went on and on, and somehow, my body and Drant''s seems compatible, and thus, every day, I was brought to the room filled with strong smell medication. Yesterday, today, tomorrow, day after day. I feel like ai was drugged at some point as "I have my eyes on you for quite some time now, Paladin Aries" [King of Holy Palace] . . . "Halt!" [Priest A] "Just who are you people!" [Queen of Holy Palace] "Well, I can''t really speak who are they, but you see, I am just a mere young traveling bard" [Traveling bard?] "Everyone! Release them all!" [Very old elf] "We will free those people!" [Liger beastman] "All of you, prioritize saving as much life as you could!" [Royal demon] "Then, Paladin Aries, if you could help us?" [Angela] "What power does she hold?" [Young Saint Louis] So much for asking, but she''s just threatening me since Lisa is with them, but "Sis! Don''t worry about me!" [Young Lisa] "She''s fine! She''s with us!" [Erinmorlin] "Prioritize saving yourself!" [Flinar] "What! How... urghh?" [Angela] "Thank you, for this power" [Young Aries] With the power of Drant on my side, and with all of restrictions on my body being released by Angela as she thought I will obey her, I run amok. Almost destroying the holy palace, but since this is the first time I unleashed those power, my episode of amok run short. I was then taken by Druser, who along with the new Achalasia religion, I sworn to uphold the justice. Becoming their sword and shield. It was also at that moment "The war broke out. But, you should just rest, and take good care of those child of your" [Lisa] "No... They''re the child of that vile king... I, I don''t want to take care of them! They''re nothing more than to strengthen this vile power of mine!" [Aries] That was the time, Kara and Mara was born. I can''t remember how old they were when I say those line. I did breastfeed them, whether it was our of pity or because of motherly instinct, that I do not know. I said that every single time after coming back home from battlefield, but I keep on playing with them, feed them, buy them a new clothes when they grow, just like how a mother would. It was strange as I feel both happy and angry at the same time, as every time I look at them, I would smile but also remember about the holy palace. It was also around that time that I met a young couple, whom I save during the war of succession. A human couple, who would later become Kara and Mara''s adoptive parents As I conceive them during the experimentation, they actually bore the power of Drant as well. Miniscule, but it was there, and it was growing steadily as evidence of steel like armor that keep on growing every so often. Again, I do not know whether I act out of pity as I don''t want other to have the same fate as me, or out of motherly instinct, but, I suck those power dry. Strengthening the Drant power within me while also keeping their power under check. I can feel the power growing each time, and it was actually rather addicting, but I keep it to myself, thinking nothing bad will happen. I thought I was doing them a favour until... "Sis! What are you doing!" [Lisa] "Urghh... Gaaahhhhh!" [Aries] ""Mommy??"" [Young Kara, Mara] The war is over, and they both grew up well. a As I keep on pondering, my mind suddenly snap. Maybe because it was me abusing Drant''s power all this time couple with taking it from Kara and Mara, or maybe because of all the stress that I undergo, or maybe because of nightmare of killing countless other during war, maybe because of all of it. I snapped, and in the process, I don''t know what I was thinking, all I know is that "They''re not my child! They''re not my child! They''re not my child!" [Aries] I... Try to kill them... I don''t know how or why. It''s rather mysterious. I know raising them as a single mother was complicated, and they''re not children of marriage, but I do feel some love towards them even though it was a bit complicated. Flinar and Erinmorlin try to stop me, but "All the power within them! Is mine!" [Aries] "She transform into Drant once more!" [Erinmorlin] "Tchh!" [Flinar] They both try their best to subdue me as I keep on sucking dry Drant''s power from Kara and Mara, which I manage to do so completely. All that''s left was the mana of Kara and Mara, and somehow ""Mommy? Alright??"" [Kara, Mara] I stop. I can''t bring myself to continue. But, if this current situation continue, one day, they might be kill by my own hand, that''s why I took the decision, which I secretly regretted, with each passing day, I thought everything will be fine, they will be safe should they''re not near me, but, I was wrong. I thought of reaching out for them, but I couldn''t find them until... _________________________________________________ "I see. You have Lisa erase all their memories, including Flinar and Erinmorlin about what happen. Then you ask Lisa to give those two to the couple you save back during the war. They then travel around before deciding to stay at Estel and then..." [Ash] "True. When I first saw them, I was in disbelief myself, but, I kept it a secret until Sis herself come and saw them during the malignant wormhole incident" [Lisa] "I''m..." [Aries] Damn... I do feel pity. On one hand, she did abandoned them but on the other hand... No, personally speaking, I don''t think what she did was right, but not to say I can''t sympathize with her. Raising a twin as a single mother when she was called during the succession war of the demon kingdom, and not to mention, the child of those she hated the most because she was rap... ""..."" [Kara, Mara] "Kara! Mara! Wait!" [Elise] The two of them are speechless. They simply went out, trying their best to hold the tears. Once they went outside, I can hear the sound of them, running to their room, while Rean, Elise and Farhah keep on calling their name to make them feel better. "Sob..." [Zerolith] "Kara and Mara are... God!" [Karon] "Why you leave them?" [Charlotte] "Isn''t leaving someone bad?" [Singa] "What actually happened? Why everyone feel sad?" [Savel] ""..."" [Lara, Nara] "Singa, Savel, Charlotte..." [Rafiah] Karon also try his beat not to cry, while the youngest three can''t fully comprehend the story. The mood was heavy, and I don''t think I should brought them, but Aries herself insist on telling the other, because, even though unrelated by blood, they''re siblings. Rafiah, Filvisar and Claude then brought all of them out, leaving Mira, Khamishah and I as Director of Orphanage with the four of them "I, I don''t know that actually happen, but now that I think of it, I do heard a rumor here and there about you having children" [Khamishah] "I was trying to hide them. Should the traitor princes of the demon kingdom knew of their existence, Kara and Mara would be used in order to stop me from supporting Druser" [Aries] "..." [Mira] "Mira?" [Ash] "Mr Flinar, Mr Erinmorlin, can you be honest with me" [Mira] ""Yes"" [Flinar, Erinmorlin] "Do you think Mrs Aries here is fit to become a mother? Both during the war and as of now" [Mira] "!" [Other] I see... I''ll leave it to you, Head of Director of Orphanage Chapter 214 - Aries, Kara and Mara part 2 "I see. You have Lisa erase all of their memories, including Flinar and Erinmorlin about what happen. Then you ask Lisa to give those two to the couple you save back during the war. They then travel around before deciding to stay at Estel and then..." [Ash] I can''t keep up. No, I don''t want to keep up. I don''t care, and I don''t want to know what happen next as I can already guess it. Mara and I, both thinking of the same thing, quickly went out from on of the empty room. Rean, Elise and Farhah try to make us feel better, but we just can''t. Even the other orphans seems shock seeing the two of us run into our room. Thank goodness it''s empty "Kara, Mara! Please open up!" [Rean] "We... we understand what you''re going through, so please..." [Elise] "Rean, Elise! What happen to them?" [Seo Ah] "They seems depressed... What did Mrs Aries do?" [Long hair girl] "Claude, Rafiah why are the two of them... and those three, why are you crying?" [Kana] "Well... I think it''s better for Mrs Aries or someone else to explain" [Rafiah] "Let just give them some time for now" [Claude] Now I can hear Singa, Savel and Charlotte crying. The very young one among the orphan cry as well because of those three excessive cryings. Even though we are the one who are supposed to be crying, but why. Why can''t I just accept what Mrs Aries told us? She''s out mother, but is there even a proof of it? What if she says that just to fool us, just so they can take us away from the orphanage. What if they wanted to "AAAARHHH! JUST WHAT IS HAPPENING!" [Mara] "Mara... Hey Mara, Is she really our mother?" [Kara] "I don''t know! I don''t want to know!" [Mara] "Maybe she''s trying to trick us..." [Kara] "Maybe... But..." [Mara] "But..." [Kara] I think I know what she''s about to say. "I don''t think that''s the case..." [Mara] "She did try her best to protect us on multiple occasions, and each time, we feel some tingling warmness. It''s addicting, and I love that feeling..." [Kara] "But she had abandoned us, and tried to kill us as well!" [Mara] "Just what is happening..." [Kara] Goddess. The path ahead of us is a hard one. We awakened this blessing of your after meeting Motra, multiple attempts to separate us from Brother Ash few times in less than a week, and now, knowing the truth from her. I thought I was ready to accept her, but, just why did I suddenly feel like this? I thought both Mara and I wanted her to become our mother, I thought both of us will accept her just as easily, but why... Why did we feel like this after knowing the truth. It''s hard enough to digest the revelation, but knowing your own mother try to kill you and then abandoned you is just... "I''m sure she had her own reason, abandoning us... most likely to keep us safe" [Mara] "I know. But..." [Kara] "It''s hard for the heart to accept it. Just when I thought we will be happy to be reunited with her..." [Mara] "Mara. What should we do..." [Kara] "I don''t know" [Mara] Silence once again filled the room. Should we accept Mrs Aries? Are we being selfish here? We are already twelve, so we shouldn''t create immature trouble for people around us, but our heart is "I''m coming in" [Ash] ""WAIT!!"" [Kara, Mara] "Too late" [Ash] He just barges in! How rude! Mara try her best to kick him out, but it prove useless. I can see the other having a worried look, just standing outside our rooms. They''re still there, I wonder if they heard our conversation He then sits between the two of us, before bringing out some nice cold drink from his item box. Apparently, we have been in the room for quite some time now. I didn''t even realize it is already nighttime "So, should I kick your mother out?" [Ash] "!" [Kara] "How blunt" [Mara] "Well, you guys didn''t want to accept her, right?" [Ash] "We didn''t say that!" [Kara] "Oh... so you accept her then?" [Ash] "We didn''t say that either!" [Mara] "Then which one?" [Ash] ""We, we don''t know"" [Kara, Mara] "Haha" [Ash] ""Grrr! Don''t laugh!!"" [Kara, Mara] "Sorry, but... Do you want to give her a chance at least?" [Ash] ""Chance??"" [Kara, Mara] "Chance to redeem herself. Chance for her to correct her past, and most importantly, chance for her to call you, her daughters once more" [Ash] ""That is..."" [Kara, Mara] "Well, personally speaking, I do feel what she did was wrong, but I won''t blame her. She was stressed, under the influence of Drant as well as her circumstances when giving birth to you. That said, the idea of abandoning her children don''t seat well with me" [Ash] ""..."" [Kara, Mara] "But, she is serious, and for that, I think you should consider it as well. At least live with her for a while" [Ash] "You mean..." [Kara] "We will follow her and went to the demon kingdom?" [Mara] "Nope. She already resigned as the Paladin of the demon kingdom. Now, she''s an adventure for the guild in Estel. An A rank for that" [Ash] ""What!!"" [Kara, Mara] "Yeah, even I thought they will give her an S rank title, but..." [Ash] ""THAT''S NOT IT!! What do you mean she resigned??"" [Kara, Mara] Unbelievable... She resigned. But why "Well, Mira there ask how serious she was to adopt you back. She immediately answer by saying she would stay here to look after all of you. She, Mira, Khamishah and I then meet the Demon King for a discussion and she keep pressing poor Druser to let her go" [Ash] "Why?" [Mara] "Why did she do that!" [Kara] "Simple, she wanted to be with you" [Ash] ""!!"" [Kara, Mara] What should we do... "For now, do you want to see her?" [Ash] ~Nod~ "Understood. Let us go" [Ash] Brother Ash hold our hands and when we get outside, the other begin to ask whether we are fine or not. Looks like we made them worry sick. Sorry. We can see Mrs Gizzere, Mrs Aries and Mrs Lisa are discussing something. From what I could hear, it sounded like the demon king Druser buy Mrs Aries a house nearby, as a parting gift. "You two. Are you alright?" [Gizzere] ""Hmm... We are"" [Kara, Mara] "That''s good to hear. Don''t make this old heart of mine worry" [Gizzere] ""We are sorry"" [Kara, Mara] "It''s fine. How about you talk to her for a bit" [Gizzere] Mrs Gizzere leave, dragging Brother Ash with her. I can see he is worried about what would happen, but Mrs Gizzere drags him away nonetheless "Kara, Mara... I am..." [Aries] "Should we look at the house first?" [Lisa] """!!!""" [Aries, Kara, Mara] "How about it, are you guys excited?" [Lisa] "I guess we should see it" [Aries] "How about the both of you?" [Lisa] "Yes" "Sure" [Kara] [Mara] Chapter 215 - Aries, Kara and Mara part 3 "YOU WHAT!?" [Druser] "Am I hearing thing?" [Leogris] "No you didn''t. I am serious about it" [Aries] "That was sudden" [Rumia] "I''m sorry for the sudden notice, but I don''t want to throw away any chances to live with them." [Aries] "I understand that, but..." [Druser] "Could you please reconsider? Maybe even bringing them both to Demon kingdom?" [Leogris] "No. I don''t want to separate any one of them. They''re the ten heroes and I want them to grow up together, train together and live together. They will face severe hardship in the future, so the least we can do for them is to make their childhood a memorable one" (Though half of them are already in their teen) [Ash] "Is that so..." [Leogris] "While I am happy that Mrs Aries will be here with us, I do empathize with King Druser. Losing someone like Mrs Aries will be a huge blow to the demon kingdom" [Diana] "That''s also true..." [Lisa] "We can find a replacement, but..." [Erinmorlin] "It will be hard as Aries here is beloved by the people of Demon kingdom" [Flinar] "There are several S rank adventure that I can think of but..." [Khamishah] "Contacting them is one thing, plus, King Druser still haven''t given his decision over this matter" [Mira] "What will you do, King Druser?" [King Estel] The interview process by Mira went smoothly. Aries here is determined to live together once more with Lisa, and her twin daughters Kara and Mara. Still, Aries here is an important figure in the Demon kingdom, so it shouldn''t come out as no surprise that when she suddenly asked to stop working for the Demon kingdom, there will be a strong voice of disagreement, especially from King Druser "Fine... I agree" [Druser] "Thank you. I really appreciate it" [Aries] "Eehh... That easy" [Ash] I thought thing will escalate further, but to think Druser here suddenly agree is a little bit of a shock, almost unbelievable in fact that I ask him whether he is joking "No, I''m not joking. To tell you the truth, I don''t want to let someone as capable as her go, but I will respect her decision as well. She has done so much for us that I think blocking her path of happiness will be selfish in our part. Not to mention, her daughter and those kids are the ten heroes, so if she could be there, protecting them and helping them grow, it will benefit us all in the future. But I do agree we need to find a replacement for her even though it is hard" [Druser] "Are you sure? What will those nobles of your said?" [Leogris] "Some of them might not agree to it, but for other, they might understand it a bit as they''re also indebted to her" [Druser] "I can already guess which of them will make the noise," [Lisa] "I just hope they don''t do anything stupid toward those kids in order to make Aries stay" [Erinmorlin] "Demon noble, I can''t really imagine them doing it, but I guess just race doesn''t matter in this case" [Queen Rinz] Well, they seem to be almost no objection to Aries staying here. Plus, Druser here also would like to buy Aries a plot if land and a house as a gift from the demon kingdom for all she had done for them. Still, a replacement, I can think of someone. I wonder if they''re fine with her. Well I will ask her tomorrow as when I go to the adventure guild with Aries (so that she can register as an adventure), I can''t seem to find her. By the way, Aries is straight away promoted as an A rank adventure. Here I was thinking she will get an S rank, but Ram say that in order to achieve an S rank, several guild master recommendations are needed. . . . Kara and Mara are still sulking, so much so I just barge in to their room and talk to them. Understandable, they''re twelve but you can''t blame someone after hearing a horrible truth if they react like this. In fact, I''m proud of them since they''re still compose. I tell them to give Aries another chance for which they agree. They will now look at the new house that Druser buy for them. The four of them (Aries, Lisa, Kara and Mara) start to talk a bit among themselves. Asking about their favourite food etc. What funny is that Kara here asking Aries about tonight weather. I wanted to laugh but I don''t want them to know about me tailing them (even though I''m sure Aries would''ve detected me) They stop. So, their house aren''t that far away from the orphanage. That''s good. We could visit them daily, and they can also come and play at the orphanage. . . . Morning come, and this is the first morning without Kara and Mara. I have to say, I feel both happy and sad at the same time. Even those kids feel the same, but we will get use to it. I hope. Well, it is still bearable as there are kids from the other two orphanages. They will only get back home after the meeting regarding the ten heroes finish. Most of the participants are the same one as of yesterday, with addition of adventure guild master, Saint Louis and King Malsia. Filvisar and Seraph will also join us. Not to mention, we are still collecting information from Rafiah''s friend as well as the old follower leader that we caught the other day. All and all, that will be an important meeting. ""Good morning!!"" [Kara, Mara] "Morning" [Ash] ""Kara! Mara!"" [Lara, Nara] (Ohh, that''s rare. They''re showing a bit of emotion. Guess they''re growing up as well) [Ash] I did name the two of them after Kara and Mara, maybe that''s why I guess. "The six of you, have your breakfast already?" [Claude] "We did, but..." [Mara] "Sorry. I''m a terrible cook" [Aries] "It''s fine. We can cook together the next time" [Mara] "Hey, don''t leave us behind!" [Erinmorlin] "I feel like I am getting older..." [Flinar] "Haha. You are nearing 45 after all" [Lisa] Hoo... "You guys seem closer right now" [Seo Ah] "True" [Mira] "That really is fast" [Kanji] "And just yesterday a certain tomboy lock herself in a room" [Zerolith] "What was that, you idiot!" [Mara] "Tomboy!" [Zerolith] "Idiot!" [Mara] "Haha, feels like nothing changes" [Ash] (Well, 24 hours still haven''t passed yet) [Rean] After breakfast, some of the kids follow Aries as they''re shopping for furniture and clothes. Good, I guess I can leave her to take care of them, and as for me, going to adventure guild. I search for certain someone. (Ohh... Diana''s carriage. I guess we have the same idea) [Ash] Maybe she''s also searching for her. Look, she''s with Alice, asking her something. Better greet them "Diana. Are you by any chance, searching for Aries replacement?" [Ash] "Guess we are thinking of the same thing" [Diana] "Or in this case, the same person" [Alice] "Look. There she is" [Qis] ""Perfect"" [Ash, Diana] The four of us approach her, and when Diana tell her about it "Me? Taking over Mrs Aries job?" [New female paladin adventure] Chapter 216 - Again, mystery of the ancient tunnel _________________________________________________ [True beastman leader, Dark Lion, Simba point of view] Strong. The serial killer dwarf is a foe to be reckoned with. I''m sure I can win the battle, but at a steep price, something that I could not afford to do now (Plus, if I can get that Avery girl, and went to the tree of life, my power would exponentially increase) [Simba] It''s rather unfortunate that Motra''s plan fail. Should he/she successfully carried out her last minute sloppy plan, I would use my force to conquer the dungeon that house the tree of Life, mother earth as well as the Fairy queen, the holy beast of Mirage, Titania. Plus, one of the reason why my subordinates are angry with him/her is because they make our plan on kidnapping the Avery harder. Still, I wouldn''t be mad at him/her. His/her action bring light to the Avery location, and also serve as learning process on how we should kidnap that girl "Ouch..." [Horse beastman] "That damn dwarf" [Lizard beastman] "If it wasn''t for boss, our force might be wiped out single handedly by him" [Tiger beastman] "Still, we loss 1/5th of our men. Just how did he find us? And why did he attack us?" [Cat beastman] "We are lucky this portal stone Agnes and Angela provided for us come in handy, but now damn! We can''t invade Estel easily" [Horse beastman] "Guess we have to use the ancient tunnel like always" [Grasshopper beastman] Good questions indeed from that cat. I can understand that if he found all of us by sheer coincidence. It''s still believable. But, to attack an army single handedly is plain absurd. He is either overly confident about his ability or he just loses all of his judgement capability. Still, that doesn''t justify any motive. Is he doing it for fun? No, before we are transported, he said "I''ll come and find you. Again and again, for Karon''s sake" [Serial killer dwarf] Karon? Who is he? And (His red bloody eyes. It''s an eye of predator eating predator. He''s serious, and he will definitely find us once more until each and every single once of us are devoured by him) [Simba] To think a dark lion like me felt like a prey. How gruesome. I should change my plan as to make the behemoth slayer and the serial killer dwarf clash _________________________________________________ [Middle layer of the forest dungeon] [Saint Louis point of view] "AARGGHH!" [Slave trader A] "That bloody saint!" [Slave trader B] "That is his title after all. The cold blooded bloody saint" [Dark guild member A] "Again. I ask you. I don''t have the capacity to drag you into nearby authority. Those in Kiserre already have their hand full, and I don''t want to burden them. Please, repent to Goddess Achalasia and cease this action of slave trading" [Saint Louis] "Yeah yeah. I repent, so please, move!" [Dark guild B] "Sigh... Light needles" [Saint Louis] Bloody saint. How fitting and unfitting at the same time. My hand is tainted with blood, might be more tainted than those from dark guild, but my method of killing them remain the same. A fine countless light needles piercing the spot in between of their eyebrows, and this needles will microexplode once they reach the brain stem, quickly killing them. Looks like the slaves aren''t nearby. From the scene of wreck carriage and the nearby trees being pushed sideways, I can deduce what happen. A large boa monster must have chased them, and in order to escape, they threw those slaves outside to slow the boa down, hoping the slave that was eaten alive slow the boa down, but seeing as how there are only few of them, that boa size must be a large one. For that, they threw multiple people at once but failed nonetheless (I should look for the remaining survivor) [Saint Louis] As I went deeper and deeper into the forest, I can sense that the monsters are getting stronger and stronger, but they must have instinctively avoiding me as my light affinity is off the chart, making them scare ~Loud tree rustling~ "Can I assume you''re the one eating all of them?" [Saint Louis] The towering boa, regurgitating some of the inedible cloth of his prey. A toy, a doll, and a shoe of an old man. "Sorry, before you eat other, I have to finish you off" [Saint Louis] It might be weaker than a behemoth, but a towering boa is an A rank monster nonetheless. It''s cunning, but it is quite predictable. I just have to hide all my mana before ~Charge~ "Giant light knight golem" [Saint Louis] I summon two of my large knight golem, and make them hold the towering boa, with one of them keeping the jaw of the boa open before "This is the quickest and most efficient method, and I''m sorry if you feel any pain and suffering" [Saint Louis] Gathering all my light mana into my staff, I fire off a strong beam of light laser into the boa. The light laser fill the circumference of the boa inner esophagus, stomach and intestines, making it bloated, until it explode. Good thing I already prepare light dome shield surrounding me, or else my cloth will be tainted will blood and viscera raining from above. Ash receive the title behemoth slayer because he solo a behemoth, guess I am now a boa slayer. "There are some remnants of the slave, I should bury them as to..." [Saint Louis] "Ohh, but they are alive" [?] "Who''s there!" [Saint Louis] Thick mist made out of mirage magic suddenly appear. The concentration of mirage magic mana are astronomical to say the least. I can feel multiple small dormant fairies flying around before "You guys are?" [Saint Louis] "Are you the one that fairy mentioned? Saint Louis?" [Middle age man] "Yes. I am Saint Louis" (How did the fairy know who I am?) [Saint Louis] "Thank goodness we are safe!" [Middle age woman] "So, we just have to follow this will o wisp now?" [Young boy] "That''s what the fairy said" [young girl] "Then let us get going!" [Teenage boy] "Huh? I mean, yes" [Saint Louis] I don''t have much of a choice here. As our group of almost 15 people keep on following the will o wisp, I emit my light mana as to detect the source of origin of this mist. It felt, near endless, and not mention, (It might feel like we are going straight, but we actually take quite a few turn, even as far as entering the cave and moving downward) [Saint Louis] I guess we are inside the ancient tunnel now. The light magic I emitted being reflected back onto me, suggesting a tunnel like structure, but the mist are still here, until "There''s the exit!" [Young girl] "Hurry!" [Teenage boy] "Don''t run!" [Middle age woman] "This is..." [Saint Louis] The first floor of the forest dungeon! I can see the stair leading to tunnel entrance to Kiserre side of the dungeon from a far! How? "The mist is thinning!" [Dwarf] "Thank goodness we are safe" [Middle age man] "For now, let us exit the dungeon" [Saint Louis] "Right!" [Other] How mysterious. Just as the last bit of mist gone (Please, take care of the Avery, dear saint beloved by Goddess) [?] A figure of an adult woman with a fairy wing. It''s said that most fairies typically look like a little girl, and the larger the fairy is, the stronger they are. But that just now, is the figure of an adult woman... I manage to caught a glimpse of the Fairy queen, Titania Chapter 217 - Embassy "That was quick of him" [Queen Rinz] "It is, Saint Louis mention that he was guided by what believe to be the Fairy Queen, Titania. He has already departed toward Estel with your highness royal carriage and with the speed of the carriage, I believe he will arrive at Estel around noon tomorrow" [Kiserre adventure guild master] "Thank you for your hard work, guild master" [Queen Rinz] "It''s my pleasure" [Kiserre adventure guild master] Fairy queen, Titania... I better ask Saint Louis about it. Not to mention, that fairy Calypso is one of the fairies having a close relationship with Titania. Filvisar as well, he manages to get Calypso to accompany him hundred years back, so surely he had come in contact with Titania Right now, The Beast King Leogris, Demon King Druser and Queen Rinz of Kiserre are in the middle of diplomatic discussion with Diana, Ceanu and Crow regarding their plan on making an embassy here in Diana''s hall. Just that... "Tell me again why I am here. I feel so out of place right now" [Ash] "Well, let just said you''re here as a neutral party and as a witness to all that are about to be discussed" [Diana] "I can name several better people like Ram and Gizzere, why aren''t they chosen like Rumia and I?" [Ash] "Well, even though the adventure and merchant guild are supposed to be on a neutral side, they''re bound to have some bias. Well, Rumia and you might be bias to me as well, but we believe you to have a lesser bias as compared to other, so please, lend us your hand" [Diana] "Sure, I''ll try my best" [Rumia] "Well, don''t blame me if I don''t know what I am doing" [Ash] "It''s fine. We know what we are doing" [Leogris] "True. You just have to sit back and watch" [Druser] "Now I really feel like an idiot when you say that" [Ash] "Feel free to ask should you not understand anything. I could explain it to you afterwards" [Ceanu] "Same here, idiot" [Crow] "Haha, thanks both of you" [Ash] Well, Rumia and I here are just a neutral party, then I don''t need to worry much about it. I wonder what Aries and the kids are doing now. She did bring the whole orphans with her. Yes, every single one of them... I have a bad feeling about this _________________________________________________ [Rean point of view] "Umm... Pardon me, but will this not cause any dent in your wallet?" [Rean] "Not a bit. My position as the Paladin for the Demon Kingdom left me with quite a fortune of money. Not to mention, I actually invest in multiple companies through the merchant guild. Plus, I never had a chance to use any money, so yes, it would not put a dent in my pocket" [Aries] "But..." [Rean] "It''s fine, this is one of a time after all. No need to worry and just choose whichever clothes you want" [Aries] "Right..." [Rean] "Don''t worry. I have peek at her account, so this much shouldn''t hurt her" [Mira] (She''s rich...) [Seo Ah] (I hope to be so rich that I never think about how to spend my money) [Zerolith] Right now, Mrs Aries and us are shopping for clothes and furniture. It all started with Lara and Nara wanted to come along with them, and boom, all of us are now here as well. But... "It''s fine. Just choose some nice clothes" [Lisa] "They won''t" [Clothing shop aunty] "Why is that?" [Lisa] "This remind me of the time Ash come to buy them clothes. They''re being considerate so to said, so why don''t you buy a cloth or two first, then they will mimic you" [Clothing shop aunty] "Alright. Sis, I''ll choose some clothes for the two of us!" [Lisa] "Please do so. I don''t have that many casual clothes" [Aries] And they begin to choose their own clothes. I thought of not buying anything, but they keep on insisting me to buy some. When I said I wanted to pay for my own, I get a good scold from them. Guess I should just give up and follow along "Lara, Nara, you should buy this white and black cloth. It suits you!" [Kara] "Try it! Then we can take a photo together!" [Mara] ""Right"" [Lara, Nara] They both quickly change the clothes in an empty room before "They look great!" [Long hair girl] "Take our photo! Take our photo!" [Mara] "Let get some matching cloth for the four of us then we could take one" [Kara] "Now I wanted a matching cloth!" [Elf girl] "Let us get some matching cloth than" [Farhah] "Right! This green one seem nice" [Elf girl] I can''t deny it, they look great. This makes me wanted one matching cloth as well. Let see, this light green yellow set seem nice "Oh... It looks like Muse usual wear!" [Elise] "Could it be!" [Savel] "They''re in love! Rean and Muse!" [Singa] "Should I say congratulations?" [Karon] "I was just browsing!" [Rean] "Rean becomes like Sis Rafiah tomato cheek. Tomato cheek Rean!" [Charlotte] Seriously... It just nice, that''s all. Not like I wanted to pick it up because Muse usually wear similar motive. "Pick it" [Lara] "Same as Muse" [Nara] "Fine! I''ll pick this set!" [Rean] Whether I pick it or not, it''s too late. They will definitely tell Muse about it and Muse will tease me regardless whether I chose it or not. Thus, our shopping session continue "That much..." [Elise] "I feel bad..." [Seo Ah] (I feel the same now. Feel like I take advantage of her good intentions) [Mira] "Is it really ok?" [Long hair girl] "It''s fine. I insist" [Aries] "Haha. My store is empty now, but please come again!" [Clothing shop aunty] "And shouldn''t you guys said something to Mrs Aries?" [Clothing shop aunty son] "Thank you Mrs Aries!" [All] "You''re welcome" [Aries] And as for the two of them ""Thank you... Moth... Moth... Thank you Mrs Aries!!"" ((We still couldn''t call her mother...)) [Kara, Mara] "Fufu..." [Aries] She chuckle a bit before patting them both in the head, and "It''s fine. Take your time, and you''re welcome" [Aries] I feel a bit jealous, but also feel happy for the two of them Storing all the clothes inside my item box, we buy some furniture for Mrs Aries new house, buy some food and went home after a little bit of sight seeing. At the orphanage "Just how much... Never mind and thank you" [Ash] "So, how was the embassies related matter?" [Aries] "Well, they will each open an embassy at Diana''s hall. Queen Rinz already appointed someone and as for King Druser and Leogris, they will send someone soon" [Ash] "That''s good to hear" [Aries] "Well, that aside. How about you have dinner with us here before going back home" [Ash] "How about it, Kara and Mara?" [Aries] ""Can we??"" [Kara, Mara] "How can I say no to the puppies eyes. Sure you can" [Aries] ""Thank you!!"" [Kara, Mara] Chapter 218 - Direction theyre heading part 1 Saint Louis finally arrived, and the moment he set his foot inside Estel, he requested to meet my siblings ASAP as to see for himself the future ten heroes which understandably, make all of them filled with anxiety "They really are..." [Saint Louis] "Didn''t Rumia told you?" [Ash] "She did, but it just set into me that with the ten heroes appearance, the fallen god will once again, awaken" [Saint Louis] "Well, you should rest first. With you the last to arrive, we can schedule the meeting tomorrow morning" [Ash] "I will. But, they requested me to lead this evening mass. Please come, all of you" [Saint Louis] "Sure" [Ash] Then tomorrow comes, with Filvisar, Aries, the twelve kids ( Lara and Nara included as they were created by Agnes, thus they''re related as well) (Kara and Mara will leave with Aries from their house) and me myself going to the castle to discuss about this issue, and just as we are about to head out "So they''re the ten heroes. Would you mind if I adopt the blue hair girl?" "That demon boy, I would recruit him into my family army, so if you mind" "That twin boy and girl, they should become my son and daughter!" "Savel, how about we make them confuse with our mirage magic" [Claude] "OK!" [Savel] "I''ll support the two of you!" [Calypso] "Good luck, and don''t worry about failing, I can kick their asses after all" [Ash] And the three of them quickly use their mirage magic. I thought Claude said to make them confuse, but it seems like they''re just standing there, in fear... No! From the looks of it, their usual idiotic look looks even more idiotic. Could it be, they''re so confused that they just stand there, not doing anything. Now that''s OP, the three of them. "Sigh... Bobunny, you just standby here at the mansion. Housey and Calypso Tree, make sure to protect all of the other children" [Ash] "Meow?" [Behe] "Of course, you protect them as well, Behe" [Ash] "Meow!" [Behe] They must have heard Kara and Mara being adopted by Aries, and thus, come for a shot of adopting them. I mean, what did they expect? With those greedy eye, they obviously wanted to use them for personal gain, something which I won''t allow as long as I live Using the bus golem, I let Farhah drive for the first time. Well, right now, she''s 10, so I guess she finally graduate from the younger group. Rean is 14, Elise 13, Kara Mara Lara Nara are 12, Zerolith and Karon are 11, Singa is 9, Savel is 8 and Charlotte is 6. Boy, they sure grow up quickly. I felt like an old man now even though I am the same age as Diana, only 18 "And park inside your... There''s a parking area near the castle gate. Should I park the bus there?" [Farhah] "Sure" [Ash] "Don''t hit the wall!" [Singa] "Don''t hit other carriages!" [Savel] "Don''t hit... Don''t hit other people!" [Charlotte] ""Don''t hit! Don''t hit!"" [Lara, Nara] "Shut up! Let me focus!" [Farhah] And she fails, almost hitting the wall, for which I took over and just park the bus golem inside my item box. Cheer up, you can try again next time "You guys have arrived. Please, follow me" [Bladel] "Kara, Mara and Mrs Aries?" [Karon] "The three of them already arrived" [Bladel] "I see" [Karon] "Are we the last one?" [Zerolith] "Not quite, as you see..." [Seraph] "Before he starts singing, let us move on" [Ash] "Right" [Other] "Hey wait! Mr Filvisar, not you too!" [Seraph] "Come now Seraph, don''t keep this old elf waiting" [Filvisar] "I suppose my newest hit release can wait..." [Seraph] The Valkyrie leader, Bladel quickly send us to a meeting room. I can actually see those greedy eyes looking at my siblings like some sort of valuable properties. It makes their skin crawl as the disgusting gaze keep on looking at them. I sincerely wanted to blast them all into oblivion but "See kids, this is what Diana underwent every single day. So you should ask her how to handle this kind of gaze" [Ash] "I see. I will ask her!" [Elise] (And here I am, thinking Brother Ash wanted to blast them into oblivion. Guess, I was wrong) [Rean] (Guess even he can mature into a fine gentleman) [Bladel] "I''m proud of you Ash, for being mature! Here I was, thinking you will send them to hell" [Calypso] "I will though" [Ash] ((I was wrong!!)) [Rean, Bladel] And we arrive at the usual meeting room. Well, usual room for me but not for the now extremely anxious siblings of mine. Guess I shouldn''t bring them, but this involves their future. I have to make sure this country as well as other surrounding countries support them in the future. I''m sure King Malsia and Queen Rinz will support them though. I was told that there are some persistent nobles and royals from elsewhere keep pushing King Estel and Diana to let them attend this meeting. I was expecting them, but "Before you ask, I already ask them to leave" [King Estel] "Why is that? No, I can guess why" [Ash] "Indeed. The meeting haven''t even started yet, but they already fought to get their hands on Kara and Mara here" [Diana] ""It was hell..."" [Kara, Mara] ~Gulp~ "I''m just glad Aries here doesn''t explode" [Druser] "I''m nearing my limit. If King Estel didn''t stop them, I would" [Aries] "Now I''m scared..." [Zerolith] "It''s fine. The one left are those whom I trusted. Plus, you also know most of them" [Ash] "Right..." [Zerolith] "If you said so" [Elise] Well, I guess those greedy eye back in the hall, and maybe even back then at Mansion was those nobles and royals getting kicked out by King Estel here. Boy I sure am glad my siblings didn''t need to sit with those people. Maybe Rean and Elise should as they need to learn how to handle this kind of selfish people, but that might set the bar a little bit too high. Plus, they''re better way to make them learn. Diana and Qis for once will most likely teach them should I request them to do so "Just sit wherever you like" [King Estel] ~Glare~ And they''re all glaring at each other, as they want to sit beside those they''re most familiar with. Rean, Elise, Lara and Nara give up though as they let the other choose first before the last one among them, Rean taking the last seat just beside Crow. Chapter 219 - Direction theyre heading part 2 _________________________________________________ [At the Holy Palace] [Prince of the Holy Palace point of view] The Silver yellow hair prince is currently reading a report from his very own intelligence division. A 25 year old prince, he will soon replace his father to become the next king of the Holy Palace, the headquarters and country for an avid old follower believers "That Diana!" [Prince] To think that she has been hiding such an important secret from us! How dare she! Not only she rejected multiple marriage proposals from me, but she also awakened the blessing of ten heroes companion, and she actually been hiding the fact that those orphans who she took pity was actually the ten heroes themselves! "She just wanted to manipulate those ten heroes for her own!" [Prince] "Indeed, not only she rejected your grace proposal, she also been acting rather secretly behind your back. Not only that, she wanted to manipulate those heroes for her own sake" [Saintess Angela] "You''re exactly right!" [Prince] Just what I would expect from Saintess Angela! It''s like she''s reading my mind when she said that. Her opinion was the same as mine in the end of the day, so that is all the matter "If we didn''t act now, who knew what she will do to the ten heroes. They should be kept safe from her grip, don''t you agree, your grace" [Saintess Angela] "Indeed. I believe you already have a plan?" [Prince] "But of course, I did" [Saintess Angela] "Excellent! Let me hear it at once" [Prince] She''s as reliable as ever. A far better saintess than the fake Saintess Rumia from the new religion, no, those fake religion! Damn them! Now that I think of it, Princess Diana and Saintess Rumia were close friend. (I can''t afford to let her grasp those ten heroes. Once I done, I''ll just take Diana''s and those ten heroes for myself) [Prince] _________________________________________________ "I see, thank you for your info, Mr Filvisar" [Fourth queen] "It''s my pleasure, your highness" [Filvisar] Filvisar just finished his side of story, about the incident a hundred year back as well as his travel afterward to the audience. There are quite a number of peole that I knew attend. King Estel, Fourth queen, Diana, Qis, Ceanu Reaves, Crow, King Malsia, Princess Nurhaliza, King Druser and some of his trustworthy aide, King Leogris with his aide, Aries, Queen Rinz, several adventure guild master including Ram, Rumia and Saint Louis, and of course, us. "If that really happened, then we should at least prepare some sort of keep as to record these ten heroes journey. It will prove useful for the future generation" [Queen Rinz] "Indeed. I believe the scholar Lisa that I hired can help with that" [Ceanu] "I''ll tell her later regarding this" [Aries] I see. That is a good thing to do. Someone or something keeps on giving us trouble to find out about the fallen god. I believe having a record will be beneficial "Then how about their training?" [Malsia adventure guild master] "Indeed. We should consider developing their strength from now on" [King Druser] "Then, how about we each send the best instructor we could offer. That way, they can get the very best training possible" [King Leogris] "..." [Ash] I don''t sense any ill intent from them. It is a splendid idea if I must say as I alone cannot train them in different form of style suitable for them. But... I look at Charlotte just beside me. She''s quite anxious now "Also, regarding the holy beast. If we can share information with each other, we can pinpoint them down and have them bless the kids" [Crow] "Indeed. That sound logical" [Ceanu] "Then we should exchange information regarding it later on" [Ram] "..." [Seraph] Another wonderful idea. Right now, they''re blessed with Reshir, the ice dragon blessing as well as Az, the time keeper blessing. It can further augment their power. But... Now Elise the one becoming anxious... "Then how about their education?" [Beastman noble] "I believe things like just now are bound to happen in the future. Perhaps we should consider sending them to a noble school. That way, they can learn how to interact with different kind of people in the future" [Demon noble] "I believe Princess Diana and Saintess Rumia can help us regarding that" [Beastman noble] """...""" [Diana, Qis, Rumia] Well, it''s true. No matter who you are education is a powerful tool. Again, I don''t sense any mal-intention from them, but... "You''re awfully quiet. Did something happen?" [King Estel] "True. You''re usually proactive when those siblings of yours involve" [Crow] That startle me for a bit. I just realize myself that I. awfully quite "Well, all of the suggestions just now was splendid indeed. Just that, I appreciate it if you actually ask my siblings opinion as well. At the end of the day, they''re the one at the receiving end for all of it, so it would be much better if you at least ask them whether it is ok for them" [Ash] "True. I know it is for their own good, but sometimes, those good things will come back to haunt them. I''m just worried in the future they have to act out of obligation since we provide them with all kind of things" [Diana] "It will be better if we follow their own pacing rather than we set it up for them" [Qis] "True. Plus, regarding the holy beast blessing. It is up to the holy beast itself. Of course, we could try to find them, but what happen if they don''t want to corporate?" [Seraph] "Plus, Ash did mention the goddess wanted the kid to enjoy their childhood as well, so I thought maybe those suggestions just now will be a bit of burden for them" [Rumia] "I see..." [Crow] "They''re also right. I''m sorry for overlooking it" [Ceanu] "Then what should we do?" [King Malsia] Haha, they actually took it seriously. They''re a bunch of good people. These siblings of mine also become less anxious. "Can I talk for a bit?" [Rean] "Sure you can" [King Estel] "Thank you... Your highness" [Rean] How polite. Now I feel ashamed of myself "I appreciate all of your effort in helping us. Truth to be told, I don''t have any problems with it, but not the rest of them. While I was the first one to awaken this blessing, I remember how lost I am at that time, why am I the one that been chosen? I''m sure all of them are still feeling the same, in fact, even I still have a bit of it currently. That''s why, please, give us some time, as to let us decide the direction that we will all take in the future" [Rean] "Rean..." [Diana] "Why am I feeling overly proud now, but nonetheless, well said" [Ash] With that, we continue our discussion. They each ask feedback from my siblings first before anything else. Few important thing were agree upon 1. As much as possible, they will disclose the identities of all twelve of them as to protect them. They will also help track down any information broker or dark guild people that try to sell their identities. They also will try stopping any selfish attempt by those royal, noble and merchants to adopt them 2. They will make it possible for the kids to travel in their countries easily from now on. Whether it is for mission, of education, or simply because of holiday. They will get something like a free pass 3. They swore to support them from here on now and in the future in any way possible. Chapter 220 - Red Lion, Sachmis [Rean point of view] Yesterday meeting wasn''t as nerve wrecking as I thought it would. Maybe it was due to the fact that we knew majority of those who attended the meeting. With that said, "Please, take care of them, Kucin and Anjin" [Black cat lady] "Make sure both of you visit your mother frequently! Got it!" [Khamishah] ""Yes!!"" [Kucin, Anjin] "Saint Louis, Saintess Rumia, and all of you. Bye-bye!" [Nun C] "Have a safe journey!" [Rumia] "May the goddess be with you" [Saint Louis] Following Queen Rinz departure, those from the Kiserre''s orphanage also went back home. It is only for a short period of time, but I already grew attached to them. Maybe it was because all of us are in the same situation, growing up as an orphan. In light of yesterday''s meeting, the guild master with the black cat lady requested the pair of S rank sibling adventure, the female black cat Kucin and the male golden retriever Anjin to stay inside Estel for a short while as to provide support for us. They initially disagree with it but their mother pleaded them to do so. I feel bad for them though Not only those from Kiserre will be leaving today. "Take good care of them sis" [Kanji] "Seo Ah, study hard and become a splendid sister one day, will you" [Mira] ""I will"" [Naoto, Seo Ah] "Is everyone ready? Make sure to double check all of your belongings" [Kana] Those from Malsia''s orphanage will also leave today. However, two of them, Sis Naoto and Seo Ah will stay behind. Naoto is in the same situation as Kucin and Anjin, and as for Seo Ah, she will stay with us to study under saintess Rumia. As for her "It''s an honour for me to take your mantle, Mrs Aries" [New female paladin of demon kingdom] "You seem nervous. Don''t worry, everything will turn out fine" [Aries] "But, for an adventure like me to..." [Female paladin] "You won the battle royale the other day. You lead the ten heroes to drive out Drant''s minion, and you''re an A rank adventure as well. I say you''re qualified without a doubt" [Druser] "True. Take care of yourself master. It might be only for a while but I appreciate all of your teaching" [Muse] "Muse... Thank you for trusting me as well. Don''t scare Rean too much though" [Female paladin] "Well, a little bit of it wouldn''t hurt, if not, he will cheat on me!" [Muse] "What did I just say..." [Female paladin] Muse will never change... Her master, the female paladin adventure was scouted by Princess Diana and Brother Ash to become the new paladin for the demon kingdom, replacing Mrs Aries who will stay on Estel. As for the Beast Kingdom "Leogris. Just stop it. I already lost count on how many times you apologize" [Ash] "But it hurt my pride that our Beast Kingdom doesn''t have anything to offer at this moment" [Leogris] "Sigh... Don''t worry. Your promise to aid them in the future is more than enough" [Ash] "My pride as a royalty... Fine! At least one of you take this Royal Pendant of mine!" [Leogris] "EEH!" [Other] "Oh pick me! Pick me! That pendant look similar to what my mother left behind!" [Singa] ""SAY WHAT!!"" [Ash, Leogris] Say what? The pendant of beast kingdom royalty is the same as the one that Singa''s mother left behind? That revelation came out of the blue! "Wait. Here it is!" [Singa] Taking his small old item bag on which he used to carry with him everywhere from his now new and bigger item bag, he then brings out the same pendant like King Leogris. The pendant that King Leogris was about to give have a symbol of a tiger in the middle and is made out of pure Orichalum metal. The one Singa brings out however is slightly different. It''s made out of pure platinum with the symbol of female tiger in the middle. King Leogris waste no time on inspecting it along with his fellow aide. "This... This is!" [Beast noble] "No doubt! This is Sachmis''s pendant! Boy, how did you?" [Leogris] "Well, mother did say to show it when the times come. Though I don''t really understand it" [Singa] "Mr Ash, did you know about it?" [Beast noble] "Absolutely not! I was just as surprise as everyone here!" [Ash] "And who is this Sachmis?" [Claude] "She is... The daughter of the duke for beastman Kingdom... She''s my childhood friend, and..." [Leogris] "And?" [Ash] "And her families were found to plan a coup to the royal family... She didn''t agree to it and thus she was being "silent" by her family. But, I''m 100% sure she didn''t even marry! Plus, I didn''t even know she survived!" [Leogris] This... This is a really sudden revelation! So that mean, Singa here is a son of noble? I didn''t even know about that. No, Singa himself never really reveal it to us all. Different from Farhah who have been secretive about the fact that she''s an Avery from the start, Singa here didn''t even realize the significance of that pendant! "Oh Goddess... You know what, please don''t reveal this matter to anyone, and I should send one of my sons or daughters to the embassy. That way he or she can look after him as well" [Leogris] "Got it... Everyone please keep quiet about it" [Ash] "We will" [Rean] "And here''s your pendant, alongside mine as well. Please, keep both pendant safe, and don''t easily reveal your mother pendant to anyone!" [Leogris] "Yes!" [Singa] Singa put back his mother''s pendant into his item bag and now brag about the pendant he received from King Leogris to other younger group children. Looking at it, one couldn''t help but to feel worried... "Singa. Let me hold that for you" [Ash] "No! It''s mine!" [Singa] "Urghh... Fine, just give me a second. Calypso, can you help with something" [Ash] "With what?" [Calypso] And the two of them uses few spells as to make the pendant invisible and unnoticeable to others while the rest of us can see it. "Well, I guess that will do" [Leogris] "Make sure to take good care of it" [Elise] "I will" [Singa] After a little bit more of chatting, they finally said their farewell. Seraph wanted to bid his farewell as well, when he got scolded by Brother Ash. Well, he will stay at Estel to look after us as well, so there''s no need for us to bid farewell to him. (I wonder when can we meet again. The mansion feels bigger and quieter than before) [Rean] Chapter 221 - About Singa and Farhah [Singa point of view] "They really have to wait until this long to start calling us... Well, not that I wouldn''t understand, they must have their own pride as the court magicians" [Ash] "What are you waiting for! Let just go! I don''t want to make a princess waiting for me!" [Calypso] "True. Time management is an important thing no matter who you are" [Filvisar] "I''ll go as well. She said she wanted to meet me, am I right?" [Rafiah] "She did. Well, we are off. You guys please don''t be naughty as to cause trouble to Claude" [Ash] "Right" [Other] A messenger from the castle request Brother Ash to come and help them doing something. It looks like they''re having difficulty on getting something from the one that hurt us the other day. Brother Ash is strong and can do everything on his own, so surely he will succeed in this task of him Just after they left, Mrs Aries and Mrs Lisa comes and drop Kara and Mara as well. Looks like they''re getting summoned as well. Just as they''re about to go "Bye-bye mother Aries" [Charlotte] "Bye-bye, and tak...! Can you repeat that once more?" [Aries] "Bye-bye mother Aries!" [Charlotte] "One more time! Please!" [Aries] "Bye-bye mother Aries!" [Charlotte] "One more..." [Aries] "No! Tired!" [Charlotte] ((Charlotte... Amazing. We still haven''t called her mother yet)) [Kara, Mara] "Haha. Then, bye-bye aunt Lisa" [Savel] "Aunt... I am an aunt but still..." [Lisa] "I guess I am satisfied with it. Take care everyone" [Aries] And they left after taking some simple cake made by Grandpa Claude. Mrs Aries seems extremely happy while Mrs Lisa seem sad after Savel call her aunt "Now, what should we do?" [Zerolith] "Well, how about we ask Singa here about his mother. That pendant of yours seems important after all" [Karon] "Good idea" [Rean] "Well, I have some time left before my study session with the saintess, so I wanted to know as well" [Seo Ah] "Ok" [Singa] My mother? She''s a beautiful red female lion! She''s gorgeous, she''s dependable, she''s strong, she smells nice all the time and she always protects me from some people that chasing us all the time, so we have to keep on moving from places to places in order to be safe "Chasing you? Why?" [Claude] "I don''t know. All mother said is that they''re dark bad people that wanted to separate us. Still..." [Singa] "Dark bad people. Could it be, the dark guild?" [Elise] ""It is likely"" [Lara, Nara] "That''s bad... Still, Lara, Nara, you two sure become more expressive as of lately" [Seo Ah] ""Hmmph!!"" [Lara, Nara] "And back to square one" [Mara] "Can you continue, Singa. What about your home?" [Kara] My home? I can''t really remember about it. Mother did say she used to live inside of a big mansion. That''s all. What I do remember is my time playing with... Playing with whom again? "What''s wrong?" [Farhah] "I feel like, I am always with someone" [Singa] "Well, from the sound of it, you''re still young when that happened. So, you not remembering it is normal" [Claude] "Is it a young person or an older person?" [Rean] "Man. Dark hair lion. Can''t remember much about it, but I don''t think I call him father" [Singa] ~Ring ring~ "Oh, for me? Thank you Housey" [Seo Ah] "-.-- --- ..- .----. .-. . / .-- . .-.. -.-. --- -- ." [Housey] "Seo Ah, Saint Louis and Saintess Rumia were summoned by Princess Diana as well just now. You may come a bit late if you like" [Priest] "Oh no, it''s fine. I''ll come right now itself! Can''t be late on my first day of apprenticeship" [Seo Ah] "That''s the spirit" [Nun] "Bye-bye everyone! Singa, please tell me more when I come back home" [Seo Ah] "Right" [Singa] After taking her call, she quickly left. Apprenticeship... "Hmm?" [Singa] "You remember something new?" [Savel] "Yes. I feel like my mother and that person did say something about apprentice" [Singa] "Motra did say that noble in Beast Kingdom as well as noble in Demon kingdom taking apprentice from commoner to lift their status up, so maybe that man is something like an apprentice?" [Rean] "I don''t know" [Singa] "It''s fine... But Motra... Sigh" [Elise] "Sorry, bad memory for all of us" [Rean] "Anyway! Anyone else has some super duper secret or something that they would like to share! Let just forget about that bastard and talk something nice!" [Zerolith] "That bastard!" [Charlotte] "ZEROLITH!" [Elise] "I''m sorry! I''m sorry! Charlotte, why do you love repeating bad words!" [Zerolith] (They''re still a little bit traumatize... If only I decided to kill that Motra the moment we met. Talking about secret, Charlotte there still didn''t know about it...) [Mahsuri] The mood becomes bad. The name Motra is like some kind of curse word for us all. No good! Let be happy as always! A noble lion will always make other feel safe and happy! That''s what mother always told me! "How about you Farhah? What is an Avery?" [Singa] "That..." [Farhah] Oh no! I''m sorry! I don''t mean to! I just wanted to change the topic. Quickly, think of another topic "Avery, from what I could understand, is like how Saintess Rumia to Goddess Achalasia is" [Farhah] "Huh?" [Other] "They said that Saintess Rumia can communicate with Goddess Achalasia directly. So, in a way, us Avery needs to communicate with mother earth. While mother earth will always hear us, we can''t hear what she''s saying, but the Tree of Life can fixed that problem" [Farhah] "That''s what Master Filvisar theorise as well" [Claude] "Then can I know why you''re so secretive about it... No, bad questions. Motra already shown us all why..." [Rean] Motra again... He/she really did haunt us all... "Well, I don''t know whether this is true or not, but it''s said that whoever can communicate with mother earth, they will have any of their wishes fulfill. So, an Avery like me will always be targeted" [Farhah] "By dark guild?" [Singa] "Maybe by all" [Farhah] Feel like she had it worse than me... "By the way Singa, how did you ended up here in Estel?" [Zerolith] "Hmm... I remember some ancient tunnel and then the dark lion leave me behind... That''s all. It''s blurry" [Singa] "I see! My bad! Farhah?" (Shit, why am I making it worse!) [Zerolith] "Teleported by mother earth I guess" [Farhah] "This feel like some sort of destiny" [Kara] "True. All of us are the heroes, and all of us are being taken care of by Brother Ash. Goddess Achalasia sure act in a mysterious way" [Mara] He sure does. I feel like a tiny flea right now when thinking about how Goddess Achalasia can make all of this possible ""Rean, Elise, are you guys home"" [Kucin, Anjin] "We are coming in!" [Liyana] "Pardon my intrusion" [Muse] "Oh, welcome all of you" [Claude] "You guys seem like you''re telling a story or two" [Ray] "Love story maybe?" [Mile] "About me and Rean? Oh Rean, when will we buy our matching cloth?" [Muse] "There she goes again" [Kadeus] "Perfect timing. All of you will train with me. There''s few hours left before the training hall open after all" [Mahsuri] "Ehh!" [Other] Oh god... I wanted to run. Her training is usually intense... but (Remember, we Noble Lion will always protect other. Will always make them feel safe and happy!) [Sachmis] (Mother...)"Please train us hard!" [Singa] "That''s the spirit" [Mahsuri] Chapter 222 - Vincent, Maria and the fallen god "You seem like you''re in heaven. Something good happens?" [Ash] "Charlotte just called mother Aries. I couldn''t be happier" [Aries] "Aww, she''s cute, so whenever she called me Sister Diana, I feel the same" [Diana] "I see. And Lisa here, based on your mood, I suppose Zerolith, Singa or Savel called you an aunt, am I correct?" [Ash] "It was Savel" [Lisa] "Now now, he''s just a child. Don''t take him too seriously" [Rumia] "But a child is usually honest, so..." [Ash] "You''re right..." [Lisa] "Ash!" [Rumia] (Well, technically she''s an aunt right now) [Saint Louis] Right now, we are being call by Diana in order to crack open that brain of the old follower leader just to get some information. Apparently, Rafiah''s friend and the old follower leader have some sort of barrier that prevents them from leaking out any information, prove evidence when Rafiah''s friend wanted to talk about the Achalasia Externa group, only to develop a seizure. That old fart, well, he didn''t even bother talking despite all the torture. Damn, that actually pretty impressive, not that its matter since at the end of the day, there''s that barrier that prevents him from talking "Why can''t they perform memory dive? Surely that will be faster?" [Lisa] "They did, but that barrier still prevents any sort of information leakage" [Qis] "So I suppose we''re call to dispel those barriers?" [Ash] "Exactly" [Diana] "Alright, count me in!" [Calypso] And we went and follow one of the guards, who take us all into an interrogation room, well it can fit all of us, so it''s no small room. Sitting in front of us all is the old follower leader, who had been gagged and his eyes being covered by a black cloth. I can see that he have lose some vigor. Still, I can''t find myself to pity him at all, after all, he kidnapped Savel, Charlotte and Cupid back then, and almost killed those kids back then. Oh, reason why we will dispel his spell first and not Rafiah''s friend? Simple, if anything goes wrong, Rafiah''s friend wouldn''t suffer, since she actually the cooperative one between the two "Are you fine with this, Rafiah? Rumia? Saint Louis?" [Ash] "I''m fine..." [Rumia] "Obviously not" [Ash] "You can go out if you don''t feel well, if not, let gets started" [Saint Louis] "Then excuse me, I would like to see my friend condition first" [Rafiah] "I''ll follow" [Rumia] "Can one of you follow them?" [Ash] "As he says" [Diana] "?" [Other] "Nothing, just continue as usual" [Qis] "I suppose I''ll see what I can do first" [Filvisar] I can sense two of the vampires guards following Rafiah and Rumia as they went out from the room. The guard then guide them "Hmm..." [Filvisar] "You got something?" [Ash] "The barrier. It sure is a strong one" [Calypso] "Not only that, I can sense mana of Saintess Angela as well as the blessing from fallen god strengthening it" [Filvisar] "!" [Other] "Angela? Who?" [Ash] "Remember the one that implant Drant''s power into me? She''s the one" [Aries] "You mean the corrupted Saintess in the Holy Palace?" [Ash] "Can you break it?" [Diana] "I''ll try my best" [Filvisar] As they keep channeling their mana into the leader forehead, I notice something strange. "You still have some residual blessing of the ten heroes? Colour me impress" [Ash] "It isn''t much but with this..." [Filvisar] ~Shock~ "FILVISAR! CALYPSO!" [Ash] They''re being electrocuted as they try to dispel the barrier. Aries, Qis and I quickly move them faraway from the leader while Saint Louis quickly looking over their condition. One of the guards quickly call the young healer inside of the castle, while another quickly calls Rafiah as he seems to remember her as one of the young healer as well "Such strong barrier, and even with his blessing... I suppose I can try something" [Ash] "It''s dangerous, so be careful" [Diana] "I will" [Ash] I might not have the blessing of the ten heroes but "Why the scythe?" [Aries] "To get some help" [Ash] Mother, Father. Please, help me. As I try to call the soul of my parent inside the scythe, I quickly touch the leader forehead, entering his mind. I could see some form of white barrier being strengthen by blackish mana. It foul that''s for sure, and it reminded me of the miasma that Motra''s use back then. Guess the source is the fallen god after all "HAHAHA! Vincent and Maria, and what this, their son! How irritating" [?] (Strong... Is this, what they will face one day...) [Ash] "We meet again" [Vincent] "Not a reunion that we wanted with our son" [Maria] Plus, this isn''t inside the leader mind. This is like we are in a totally different dimension "Stand up Ash. Don''t be afraid of him" [Vincent] ~Nod~ I try my best to stand up. The thick miasma and mana make it extremely difficult to do so. Just how on Achalasia can the two of them stand up so bravely? Not to mention, I find it difficult to breath normally as the miasma keep getting inside my respiratory system "Reincarnated on earth and die pitifully as Angkasa couldn''t save you, and now, you send that child of yours to finish the job? Achalasia and Death sure have a stupid taste on my creation" [Fallen god] As he says that, he keeps on changing his form. From blending with air to becoming an elder dragon, to that of the human. I feel like I miss majority of their conversation since, but I try my best nonetheless. Just that "No worries, my son here as well as his siblings will defeat you for sure, God of..." [Vincent] "Such arrogant" [Fallen god] "Let us go, Ash" [Maria] "I''ll crush you before you can...! Achalasia, why you!" [Fallen god] "Vincent, Maria, and Ash. Come with me" [Goddess Achalasia] "Thank you..." [Ash] . . . ~Heavy slam~ "Ouch!" [Ash] "Charlotte! Don''t do that!" [Diana] "Yes, sister Diana" [Charlotte] "Where am I... Mother? Father? Goddess Achalasia, where are they, and..." [Ash] And... "THE FALLEN GOD! WHERE!" [Ash] "Calm down, you''re in the castle treatment room" [Qis] Now that I look around, isn''t this the room where I treat Qis back then? Why am I here. From the looks of it, after Goddess Achalasia come, I lost my consciousness, and thus they brought me here, just that "Why are you guys here as well?" [Ash] "You have been sleeping for around 36 hours, so they got worried and ask to come and see you" [Flinar] "And boy oh boy, you should be glad that scythe of your, Saint Louis, Seraph, Mahsuri, Lara and Nara remove the miasma from you, if not..." [Yefefiah] "I see. Thank you, Lara and Nara. Where are the other? And what happen afterward?" [Ash] ""You''re welcome"" [Lara, Nara] "Well..." [Diana] Chapter 223 - Treating Ash and Filvisar [Lara and Nara point of view] "She''s strong..." [Kucin] "As expected of her" [Anjin] "You two are not half bad. Weaker than Ash individually but your teamwork are phenomenal" [Mahsuri] We are homunculi, just like her, but when we compare our power and abilities to her, it feel like we are tiny droplets of water in a vast pool. Then, there''s another strange homunculus beside the three of us, though that person still didn''t realize it. Strange because we can clearly tell that person is a homunculus, but at the same time, that person didn''t have any magic core unlike the three of us. The two of us can''t help wondering what that person actually is "Lara, Nara, here''s your cold juice" [Claude] ""Thank you"" [Lara, Nara] We homunculi don''t need any food or water in order to survive. Just give us mana and we could survive, but having something to eat and something to drink make us full, make us feel like we are human like them as well. It makes us feel alive "Practice among yourselves now" [Mahsuri] "Right" [Other] Once again, after training us all, she left, and as usual, she sits in her favourite sofa, not moving an inch. Maybe because we are fellow homunculi that the two of us sit right beside her, copying her actions. "..." [Mahsuri] "..." [Lara] "..." [Nara] It''s calm. As our eyes becoming heavier by each passing second ((Lara/Nara, I''ll sleep first)) [Lara, Nara] Communicating with each other telepathically, we closes our eye and fall asleep until "Brother Ash and Grandpa Filvisar are what!" [Zerolith] "We are still treating him now, so please calm down" [Qis] "It''s getting late. We will update about their conditions tomorrow. So, please rest first, all of you. If you want, I can bring you to the castle tomorrow. Princess Diana already approve of it" [Rumia] "Thank you, Saintess Rumia" [Seo Ah] "You''re welcome, and sorry I can''t teach you anything today, dear Seo Ah" [Rumia] "It''s fine. There''s always next time" [Seo Ah] Trouble. Something happen. But what? "I know all of you are worried, but just eat your dinner first and slept early afterward. They will fetch you tomorrow" [Claude] We both eat at the dining table together with other, and after our dinner "Kara and Mara, goodbye" [Farhah] "I''ll fetch you all tomorrow, so sleep early" [Aries] "Right" [Other] The other twin left. We aren''t that sleepy as we already fall asleep after the training, but with nothing better to do, we went to the bed, when "HAHAHA! Vincent and Maria, and what this, their son! How irritating" [?] Brother Ash, with two other people. Wasn''t that, the soul inside of his scythe? And there''s a powerful being right in front of them, it aura and mana, it''s similar to what they implant to us back then before we are being rescue. Similar? No, it''s stronger, as if that was the original source for all of it ((Head... hurt)) [Lara, Nara] This is just a dream, but it feels to surreal. "I''ll crush you before you can...! Achalasia, why you!" [Fallen god] "Vincent, Maria, and Ash. Come with me" [Goddess Achalasia] "Thank you..." [Ash] Someone that''s refer to as Goddess Achalasia come to their rescue just when that powerful being about to crush them with multiple thick spheres of giant miasma. The holy mana that she radiate, it''s warm and it washes away all of our headache. She then brought those three to safety before approaching us "This might only be a dream. What you''re seeing is what happen to your Brother back then, but nonetheless, it still affecting both of you. That''s how powerful the fallen god is" [Goddess Achalasia] She placed her soft hand and pat our head, before giving us some of her mana. She as well as "..." [God of Death] Another powerful being. A tall skeleton with a scythe. He looks like that of the noble Brother Ash brought back to life. "Death, if you would" [Goddess Achalasia] "..." [God of Death] With his skeletal hands, he put his hand, piercing our chest. It didn''t hurt, it just went through, before pouring in his power as well "It might not be the blessing of ten heroes, but with this, you''re having the same power as Ash, without feeding on his mana every day" [Goddess Achalasia] ""!!"" [Lara, Nara] "Please, help your siblings in the future, Lara, Nara..." [Goddess Achalasia] . . . We wake up first. We might sleep in different room, but we could tell that we both have woken up at the same time. Both of us are feeling confuse, and agree to check our new power Sneakily going out, we pass through in front of Mahsuri and Grandpa Claude when suddenly "Looks like Goddess Achalasia and God of Death bestowed you their blessing" [Mahsuri] ~Nod~ "What!" [Claude] "You want to test it out? Come" [Mahsuri] ~Nod~ When we arrive at the training hall, both of us have a quick sparing session with Mahsuri ((Fire Lance! Water gun! Earth needle! Wind cutter! Mirage cloud! Darkness spear! Light sword!)) [Lara, Nara] Testing out our new power, we could feel that unlike the usual Brother Ash mana that are coming out from our magic cores, this time around, it''s our own mana that were emitted. All our mana from the cell concentrate first into the magic core in our heart before being unleash. We can use all seven elements of magic, plus ""Soul pierce"" [Lara, Nara] "!" [Mahsuri] Sensing danger, she quickly dashes toward us and cancel our technique through brute force. Our hands hurt from her powerful grip "You both aren''t ready to use it yet. Still, even Ash haven''t noticed he can use this power from God of Death. You both do surprise me" [Mahsuri] "Lara, Nara, what happen?" [Claude] ""Will tell later, with other"" [Lara, Nara] "Sure..." [Claude] "What just happened?" [Rean] "Both of us can sense your mana in the training hall, so we decided to come and check" [Elise] ""Later. After breakfast"" [Lara, Nara] . . . After breakfast, we tell them, including Kara, Mara and mother Aries (she seems extremely happy when we call her that, while Kara and Mara becoming even more depressed) "I see, that means you both have the same blessings and power as Ash does" [Claude] ""Not as powerful, but can develop further"" [Lara, Nara] "If that''s indeed the case, maybe you can help and treat Mr Filvisar and Ash in the castle" [Lisa] "Only if it is safe for them to do so, otherwise, better not. Understood?" [Aries] ~Nod~ "I''ll follow as well. Claude, use your mirage magic and put a disguise on me" [Mahsuri] "What! I mean, sure!" [Claude] "Why?" [Savel] "They will just make a ruckus should they see me walking around. It is annoying, so better myself some disguise" [Mahsuri] "I see" [Singa] Grandpa Claude make Mahsuri looks like black hair mother Aries. Somehow, it makes us as well as Kara and Mara happy. Maybe it because it feels like there is another pair of twin among us . . . Going to the castle, we were guided to the treatment room, where we can see Grandpa Filvisar and Brother Ash being surrounded by the same black miasma, like that in our dream. We were all told what happen yesterday, and it seems like Calypso doing fine, maybe she managed to escape. ((That is...)) [Lara, Nara] Just beside Saint Louis and Mr Seraph who keep on removing the thick black miasma, and the young healers who supported them. It''s Brother Ash cloth and scythe. We approach it as our instinct tell us when it happens "They''re glowing! What happen?" [Yefefiah] "Look, Lara and Nara, their clothing change!" [Rafiah] "Isn''t that... Like Brother Ash..." [Karon] "It opposite of their hair colour. Both the scythe and the cloth" [Zerolith] "Lara have almost the same black cloth and scythe like Brother Ash even though his hair is white, and Nara having whitish cloth and scythe even though her hair is black" [Kara] "Linda, do you know what''s happening?" [Diana] "I can feel the god of death blessing inside of them, other than that..." [Linda] "Please allow me to explain" [Rean] As Rean explain what happened to us, Mahsuri and the two of us quickly absorb and destroy the black miasma from those two. This black miasma, it like it have it own mass with it own physical property. Just how powerful is the fallen god, and we are surprise with how powerful both Brother Ash and Grandpa Filvisar are, since they''re still trying their best to fight the black miasma, even though they''re unconscious. This amount of mana and miasma can easily kill someone should they''re not treated, and yet here they are "Do it slowly. Don''t rush or both of you will get affected as well" [Saint Louis] ~Nod~ "I''ll dilute this miasma with my holy mana first, so can the two of you then absorb and destroy it?" [Seraph] ~Nod~ "Thank you. Mahsuri as well" [Seraph] "..." [Mahsuri] "Don''t overexert yourself. Tell us if you''re feeling fatigue" [Saint Louis] ~Nod~ Let them dilute it first, then both of us absorb it, and then destroy it. Repeat this every single time until the miasma is all depleted. Mahsuri however, can straight away destroy the black miasma, albeit little at a time as to not cause the miasma react violently. Repeat Repeat Repeat . . . We did it! But now, we are tired. Please, allow us to sleep . . . "THE FALLEN GOD! WHERE!" [Ash] "Calm down, you''re in the castle treatment room" [Qis] Looks like Brother Ash is fine. Thank goodness. Grandpa Filvisar also startle a bit, just like us as he wakes up after sleeping "I see. Thank you, Lara and Nara. Where are the other? And what happen afterward?" [Ash] ""You''re welcome"" [Lara, Nara] That feel nice. "Well..." [Diana] Chapter 224 - A witch, a seraph and an Iblis [Rafiah''s point of view] "You have come" [Old follower B] "I have..." [Rafiah] "..." [old follower B] Right now, Ash and Filvisar is still under treatment after the mysterious black miasma infecting them. That''s not to say that their effort were fruitless, according to Princess Diana, a powerful holy mana actually came out of nowhere both from Ash and Ash''s scythe just moment after Ash was struck with the miasma. She theorised that mana source were most likely from the soul inside Ash''s scythe, or maybe, from a higher being. That could only mean... With that mana severely impaired the functioning of the barrier that prevents this friend of mine as well as the Estel''s leader of old follower, the royal court magician wasted no time to dispel the barrier. It proved difficult even after the barrier was weakened, but the court magician manage to do it with the help of Seraph and her highness herself, which is why right now, for the sake of those kids, I will "So, what will you do. Will you torture me to get the answer, or will you let me know the truth" [Old follower B] "The truth?" [Rafiah] "Playing dumb aren''t you... Saintess Angela mentioned something about a special witch she once takes good care of. A witch who after escape, somehow travel with us before deciding to play house with few orphans and a traveler" [Old follower B] "It could be anyone..." [Rafiah] "You aren''t denying it..." [Old follower B] "I..." [Rafiah] Saintess Angela did take care of me, even though she knew I am a witch, an angel and a demon, all at the same time. In fact, she''s the one that gave me a special bracelet before I replaced it with the one Ash made when he was at Malsia. "But that was all, nothing but a fake. She... she..." [Rafiah] "She?" [Old follower B] If Mrs Aries can say it. So do I. Plus, I need to make sure this friend of mine didn''t get torture. Those kids are precious to me, but so is she. "She tricked me..." [Rafiah] "..." [Old follower B] "Sorry... I can''t say it" [Rafiah] I don''t want people to know who I actually am. Seraph and Ash might have suspected something, but I''m afraid. I''m afraid that I will have to depart and leave them should they know who I really am. I know they won''t, but thing change, and so does people. I wanted to believe in them as they would believe in me, but... but... "Rafiah?" [Old follower B] Taking the bracelet with the effect of concealment out, my short black hair black eyes disguise wore off. Now, my original appearance appear before her, blonde hair with an ashen horns protuding from my temporal bone, with a wing of an angel on one side and the wing of demon on another side "!" [Old follower B] "Sorry... Sorry... Sorry..." [Rafiah] "Rafiah, what are you!" [Old follower B] "Sorry... Sorry... Sorry..." [Rafiah] "Hey Rafiah! Snap out of it!" [Old follower B] "Sorry... Sorry... Sorry..." [Rafiah] "Somebody help her! Rafiah snap out of it! Don''t hurt yourself!" [Old follower B] Control. Control myself. The war of succession of the demon kingdom, it''s not my fault. (I might be old, but I''ll have one of my three son to claim you theirs. The power of Seraph, and the power of Iblis, it belong to the demon kingdom) [Previous demon king] (A witch, with the power of Seraph and Iblis. How rare, in fact, one of a kind. Guess the rumour of previous Seraph just marrying anyone to strengthen his bloodline is true. Still, your power are nothing but a mess. Come with me and I...) [Saintess Angela] The soul. The soul lost during the demon kingdom success war. I don''t know whether they''re real or not, but, they keep coming (You kill us) "Sorry... Sorry... Sorry..." [Rafiah] (Why are you still alive!) "Sorry... Sorry... Sorry..." [Rafiah] (An Iblis. She''s not a demon nor an angel! She''s the devil herself! Go and die) "Sorry... Sorry... Sorry" [Rafiah] (And a witch nonetheless. She''s the reason all of us were killed) "Sorry... Sorry... Sorry..." [Rafiah] "Rafiah! Rafiah! Rafiah! Snap out of it!" [Old follower B] "Move!" [Aries] . . . Sudden blackout. I feel a sting in my neck a bit, feel like I was being restraint after losing control of myself. This is no good... I still can''t tell her anything. I wonder what happen to them. "You''re awake" [Yefefiah] "Yefefiah..." [Rafiah] She bring me some bread and a milk. She''s currently helping Saint Louis and Seraph to treat Ash. I guess she must have been worried about me, and ask permission to take care of me instead. "Thank you" [Rafiah] "It''s fine. By the way, your siblings will come here to see Ash and Filvisar condition. Why don''t you see them. Maybe that will ease your mind a bit" [Yefefiah] "I..." [Rafiah] Should I? I''m afraid they will "Come on now! Let''s go!" [Yefefiah] "Wait! Yefefiah!" [Rafiah] She should have seen it! Or at least heard about it. My bracelet of concealment might be attached to me, presumably by Princess Diana since she knew about my identity as a witch, an angel and a demon. Even so, I''m sure the guard and other who saw me spread the rumour around, so why? "There they are! Come! Let us go!" [Yefefiah] Going to the treatment room together, we are greeted with the sight of Ash and Filvisar''s treatment, when Lara and Nara suddenly approach Ash''s scythe and cloth "They''re glowing! What happen?" [Yefefiah] "Look, Lara and Nara, their clothing change!" [Rafiah] "Isn''t that... Like Brother Ash..." [Karon] "It opposite of their hair colour. Both the scythe and the cloth" [Zerolith] "Lara have almost the same black cloth and scythe like Brother Ash even though his hair is white, and Nara having whitish cloth and scythe even though her hair is black" [Kara] "Linda, do you know what''s happening?" [Diana] "I can feel the god of death blessing inside of them, other than that..." [Linda] "Please allow me to explain" [Rean] So, that actually happen. Goddess Achalasia and God of Death blessed them with the power to help their siblings. It''s strange, like all of them under a roof. Just what plan do the goddess have for them (Not just them. The goddess must have her own plan to you as well) [?] (!) [Rafiah] (Don''t be afraid. I am the holy beast of light Angkasa, and while I don''t plan on giving my blessing to you nor the children just yet, she must have included you as well, otherwise you wouldn''t be here with them) [Angkasa] (Really?) [Rafiah] Silent. There''s no reply from the proclaimed holy beast of light. My role... (If what she said was true, then my role is... at least for now is...) [Rafiah] "Rafiah? Where are you going?" [Diana] "Princess. Can you allow me to interrogate my friend once more? I''m begging you! I will succeed this time!" [Rafiah] "Just what happen... (Why is she suddenly so determined?) Just make sure it doesn''t happen again? I can''t control other people mouth easily you know" [Diana] "I will! Thank you so much!" [Rafiah] (One of you, please follow her) [Diana] (Yes, your highness) [Vampire guard C] I don''t think I can tell her what she want, but at least I can persuade her nonetheless. There are still many things that I am lacking, bit nonetheless, for now, I will support those children Chapter 225 - Going to holy palace? The results of interrogation, as well as Rafiah''s friend corporation, with that Diana deduce two things 1. The Holy Palace, they will one way or another, oppose me of taking care of those ten kids. Bring it on is what I would like to said, but things aren''t that easy as well. The old follower supporter, while not as many as it seems, are still there. Should Diana and I go and mercilessly beat them around, be it physically or any other method like political, economical etc, it will come back to bite us, and those ten kids might get hurt the hardest. How, first, they might not trust them. While this might seem trivial to me, that little bit of mistrust will affect them, from hiding important information to straight up betraying them in the future. The last thing that any of us wanted is when the people that those kids will one day protect ended up betraying them. "This is such a pain in the ass..." [Ash] "I do agree with you. Well, let me continue" [Diana] 2. Saintess Angela, she might be connected with Agnes. This is something that Seraph himself confirm as he had saw Angela once long time ago, and the other day with Agnes and Motra. Not to mention, Rafiah''s friend double confirmed it, saying that the witch and those transported them the other day, was indeed Agnes and Angela. Rafiah''s friend also mentioned that Angela was actively supporting that section of the church that we wary the most. The Achalasia Externa group. "Which mean, she will come to us, not only to take the kids away from Ash, but to exterminate them altogether" [Crow] "While we can ask our guard to tighten the dungeon entrance, with how they use the portal stone, it will be almost pointless" [Ceanu] "Not to mention, the interconnecting ancient tunnel. And let us not forget, that one of the kids is an Avery, so The True Beastman Group that lurk god no where..." [Saint Louis] "Hmm..." [King Estel] "What''s wrong, dear?" [Fourth queen] He''s thinking something. I wonder what, but from the usual patterns, I can guess what he will say, which is why "This is without a doubt getting repetitive, but I don''t want to go! Not after what happened the last time I wasn''t around!" [Ash] "I know, which is why I am having troubles of what to do right now. They will come, the convoy from the holy palace, that''s almost a guarantee at this point. If we send our people first, we might at least delay them and also get a gist of idea of the force they will send. I can think of few people but..." [King Estel] "The problem will be without a doubt, what our citizens will think of. Even if we didn''t send you there, they coming here will cause a huge burden for us. From the nobles that will do anything so long as they get to lick those people shoe, to the merchants that will "donate" generous amount of money just to get themselves a fortune, to that of usual citizen willing to cross bushes and thorns just to get a chance to be with them" [Diana] "How come Saint Louis and Rumia here doesn''t get the same treatment. Don''t get me wrong, I like how they welcome you, not to shabby but not to excessive nor fanatical. But hearing from what you said... It kinda scary to be honest" [Ash] "Well, unlike them, we do thing rather moderately" [Saint Louis] "Then, how about I go and scout ahead first. Just like the last time when we free those beastman and demon from their clutches, we can use the same modus operandi" [Seraph] "The operation which saves me few years back... I don''t think they will be so foolish as to let the same thing happen twice" [Aries] "That also require manipulation of the goddess orb as well as perfect disguise. Like Mrs Aries, I don''t think the same tactic will work twice" [Rumia] "I might as well send few spies just to get information first before deciding what the best for us" [King Estel] "Then, should I go?" [Linda] "But, how about Liyana? Will she be alright?" [Ash] "I''m worried, that''s for sure... Even though my parents and Liyana knew that I was resurrected as minion of God of Death, things still haven''t changed. For better or worse. They still try to engage Liyana with the first prince, and forbid Liyana''s from interacting with me, so much so that we do it in utmost secrecy. But... Motra mentioned he/she couldn''t detect me the last time... So, this is something that only I could do" [Linda] "Then I should accompany you. I can shape shift, and Motra him/herself didn''t realize it as well" [Seraph] Linda... Now I feel ashamed of myself. I guess even after death, her noble attitude doesn''t change. She''s worried about his little sister but put her utmost faith in her friends. And then there''s me, who is skeptical about them not being able to protect those kids. Plus, I fail to protect them properly as well when Motra decided to attack us... "Fine. I see what I can do. I''ll join the two of you as well" [Ash] "Must be because of Linda''s influence" [Diana] "Hmm..." [Saint Louis] "Saint Louis?" [Rumia] "Then, I should go as well" [Saint Louis] "!?" [Other] What did he just said? "With tension ever rising between the old and new teaching, surely this will be a bad move..." [Ash] "True, thing might escalate, but knowing them, they will create a problem just to mess with us, so waiting for it to happen will be even worse. Plus, the reason I travel from the headquarters in the first place was to have a talk with them. Just so you know, I''ll try to enter the place through official route, so we act separately afterward once we are inside of their country" [Saint Louis] (Princess, should I?) [Alaric] (Can you?) [Diana] (I''ll try my best) [Alaric] (Please by all mean) "I''ll send one of my personal guard as well then" [Diana] "Glad to have you on the team, Alaric" [Ash] "This guy... You will make a bad politician if you can''t keep an important secret" [Diana] "Maybe, that is if I wanted to become one" [Ash] So, it''s decided. Alaric, Linda, Saint Louis, Seraph and I will go ahead and scout what happen first. I should tell those kids. Hope they''re not too anxious with me suddenly leaving... Well, I am the anxious one right now Chapter 226 - Ash vs Kucin&Anjin "And that''s why, your brother needs to go to the holy palace" [Aries] "Bye-bye" [Charlotte] "That was really quick there, now I''m sad" [Ash] "Byeeeeeee-byeeeeee" [Charlotte] "That''s not what I mean..." [Ash] "Be safe" [Savel] "Kick their asses!" [Singa] "Who thought you that word!" [Ash] "You" [Singa] "..." [Ash] ""Brother Ash!!"" [Seo Ah, Elise] "Still, be careful" [Rean] "Make sure to come back safely" [Zerolith] "It can''t be help..." [Kara] "Mother did explain it clearly, I guess there''s nothing we can do but except accepting it" [Mara] "Mother do know how to explain thing" [Kara] "Did you just..." [Aries] ""??"" [Kara, Mara] Well, let just leave them. Kara and Mara are quite confuse now as to why Aries suddenly hugging them. After giving my mana to Housey and Calypso Tree as to prepare them for the worst, I went to the training hall, since I wanted to train and see Lara and Nara new power when "This training hall is good" [Anjin] "True" [Kucin] "Right! We should totally train here every day" [Anjin] ~Nod~ "And the kids are good one as well. Man, can''t believe we are protecting the future heroes. Don''t you feel proud" [Anjin] "I am" [Kucin] The pair S rank adventure sibling, Golden retriever beastman who is a chatterbox with his female black cat beastman, who only reply one or two words every time, Kucin. Khamishah did say they''re reliable, and I''m glad for that since they''re taking their time to help protecting the kids "Oh, it''s you behemoth slayer. Why don''t you join our training" [Anjin] "Can I?" [Ash] "It''s our pleasure! Right Kucin" [Anjin] ~Nod~ "Well, I''m kinda interested, but right after I train Lara and Nara first" [Ash] ""No!!"" [Lara, Nara] "Huh?" [Ash] ""Want to learn, from three of you fighting!!"" [Lara, Nara] They really becom more and more expressive. That''s good. I guess the two of them wanted to see me using every bit of my arsenal to beat those two, and I heard those two pair of siblings have a really good teamwork, so maybe they wanted to take note of it as well, in which case "Hey, you guys young adventure there. When you''re finish, can the three of us use the space afterward?" [Ash] "Actually, we heard a good thing just now, so please, allow us to watch as well" "Plus, you don''t need to ask, you''re the owner after all" "Behemoth slayer vs the pair s rank sibling, this will be exciting!" "Then let me be the judge" [Aries] "Thank you" [Anjin] "Alright, let us begin" [Ash] Waiting for Aries signal, the three of us stand at the middle of the training hall. Those two, they''re both a swordman. Anjin using the broadsword and Kucin using the long sword "Begin!" [Aries] Not wasting any time, I quickly dash toward those two. Firing several fireballs magic at once, and they didn''t even bother dodging it. Guess they''re having good fire affinity, and judging by their mana, they have light and dark affinities as well "How about this! Exploding earth needle!" [Ash] I split the spell and let it travel into two different direction, as those two are currently locking me in a pincer attack. They quickly imbued their sword with fire magic, and "Light chain" [Anjin] "Dark spear" [Kucin] I see, my guess was correct. Anjin having fire and light affinities, like Elise was before she received Az, the holy beast of dark blessing, and Kucin having fire and dark affinities like Rean does. Anjin multiple light chains tried to bind me as Kucin dark spear keep on attacking me. Not only that, while Kucin is attacking me, Anjin make sure to restrict my movement and provide support, and when Kucin is overwhelmed by my barrage of attack, they quickly switch their role, naturally at that. I don''t even see any nodding movement nor any signal. They must have known each other so well that it occur to them rather naturally. No wonder Lara and Nara here wanted to see the match "Not bad" [Ash] Time to step up the gear. Throwing my scythe imbued with thunder and storm magic, Anjin quickly dodge it, but little did he knew (Short range teleportation) [Ash] I quickly teleport to my scythe, and slash him in the back, but he anticipated it and quickly block it with his sword. This show information is vital. I guess me being able to use all kind of elements and magic must have spread far wide, and he must have prepared himself mentally for such action "Hyaa!" [Kucin] Kucin quickly follows with her barrage of attack while Anjin keep on trying to pin me down. "Flash bomb!" [Anjin] "Darkness cover our eyes" [Kucin] "Shit!" [Ash] He literally throws a strong blinding flash bomb right in front of me. It hurt my eyes so much that I quickly use darkness magic to quickly worn out the effect of blindness. Not gonna lie, I kinda scare it will permanently blind me (Mirage mist) [Ash] Those two are on full throttle, attacking me while simultaneously. It hard enough, and now it''s even harder. (Just need to stall out for a bit) [Ash] Let the mirage mist do it job, while I will also keep on sending spells after spells to distract them. ""Combine attack! Sword of light and dark!!"" [Anjin, Kucin] A combination attack! Avoid it! Avoid it! ~Slide~ Kucin quickly slide behind me and try to stab me while Anjin is ~Stumble~ "!" (Must be because of the mirage mist, messing with his perception!) [Kucin] "Good! Now!" [Ash] At the place where Anjin''s stumble, I quickly raise the ground at high speed, throwing him directly at Kucin, where she reflexively grab his adoptive brother "Exploding earth needle!""Wind palm!" [Ash] Using my usual exploding earth needle, as well and wind palm to hold them both in place. They almost got hit when "I believe it is my win" [Ash] "Correct" [Aries] I dispel the magics. It was a tough match, and they''re indeed strong. I guess if it was a real death match, both team will have roughly 50-50 chance I guess? Maybe I will get around 60% chance. Maybe. I am stronger than them individually, but yeah, the teamwork they show was no joke "Man. You''re strong. If you''re an adventure, your rank will be S, without a doubt" [Anjin] "Haha, I''m flatter. You guys are strong as well" [Ash] "Is the rumour true?" [Kucin] "What rumour?" [Ash] "Mrs Khamishah, beating you up" [Kucin] "You just remind me of my nightmare... It''s true. I''m still no match for her" [Ash] "Good!" [Kucin] "Hahahaha. Forgive her, Mrs Saga is her idol, so naturally she will root for her" [Anjin] "Will surpass her one day" [Kucin] "Hear that Rean? You have yourself a rival" [Ash] "I won''t lose!" [Rean] That''s the spirit. As for Lara and Nara "Alright, both of you are up next! Show me what you got!" [Ash] ""Hmmph!!"" [Lara, Nara] Chapter 227 - Sending them off _________________________________________________ [At the Beast Kingdom] [New paladin for the Demon kingdom point of view] Being scouted by Princess Diana and Ash to take the mantle of Paladin Aries, this is an honour for me. Leaving Estel, my birthplace makes me sad, but nonetheless, a person can''t grow properly should she only knew comfort "It''s connected!" [Haliza] "With this, we can communicate with both the beast and demon kingdom with ease" [Mira] "Try giving behemoth slayer a call" [Leogris] "As you wish" [Female paladin] "If possible, we should connect with Queen Rinz of Kiserre kingdom as well as Mrs Saga" [Druser] "By your command, your highness" [female paladin] "You don''t have to be so formal..." [Druser] "That''s how human are. But, you''re the odd one among demon. Demon royal and noble usually take pride of their status and uphold it with their best. That''s why demon royal and noble are regarded highly, but you seem a bit of slacker" [Leogris] "Forgive me for my rudeness, but King Leogris is right" [Haliza] "Well..." [Druser] Currently, we are testing the telephone that was given to us by Princess Diana and Ash. Thanks to the legendary treasure chest, both of them manage to replicate dozens of communication stone so that we could set it up along the dungeon, thus, creating a network of communication between five kingdoms, and the kingdoms are Estel, Malsia, Kiserre, Beast and Demon kingdom. There are plan to add the headquarters of the new religion as well, and it will be done none other by Saint Louis himself after he''s done with something "You certainly seem natural there" [Aries] "Agree" [Khamishah] "I still have a lot to learn, replacing someone as capable as you" [Female paladin] "All that''s left is Saint Louis part. Well, he will do it eventually, since he''s rather busy currently" [Ash] "I promise, once my job is done, I will do it as soon as possible" [Saint Louis] "No hurry O saint. We did have Saintess Rumia grace. She can help us communicate with the new headquarters just by her prayer alone" [Haliza] "That''s true" [Diana] "Still, I would like yo extend my gratitude to both Princess Diana and the behemoth slayer. If it wasn''t for you lending us the legendary treasure chest, who knows how much cost it will take" [Leogris] "I agree with Leo, for that, thank you" [Druser] "Gratitude receive" [Diana] "No problem" [Ash] As they continue to talk among themselves, I notice that the quality of the call vary depending on the location. Mrs Saga image is blurry with her voice being like that of a brick, while Princess Nurhaliza as well as Head of Director of Orphanage, Mira are the clearest. Make sense. Based on what being explain by Ash, the magic wave signal becoming weaker the longer the distance are, couple with only one communication stone being implanted in each floor of the dungeon, the connection becomes harder. Kiserre being the furthest while Malsia the nearest to Beast Kingdom will explain it all "Oh yeah, you will be hitting that bastard house. Tell Diana if you got anything" [Ash] "That, as well as Singa mother''s house, Sachmis the red lion" [Leogris] "Please do, and thank you" [Diana] And all of us hung up the call. After leaving the beast castle, all of us went to his/her house, where his/her family await us... (Motra''s family...) [Female paladin] We have to dig up any secret regarding the heroes enemies _________________________________________________ [Rean point of view] "You finally decided to wear the matching cloth you buy! Oh Goddess, thank you for answering my prayers" [Muse] "You have been pestering him 24/7, that''s why" [Lily] "More like guilt trip him if you ask me" [Kadeus] "Nonetheless, you actually look great. Your usual red and black cloth are cool, but seeing you wearing bright yellow and green cloth is something fresh" [Ray] "Haha, thanks" [Rean] Right now, we are waiting for Brother Ash as he''s out shopping after taking the phone call from the female paladin. To go to the holy palace, he has to take the ice dungeon into the neighboring country and then use the holy dungeon to reach to his destination. The five of us, accepting a D rank request at the Rock and Sea dungeon decide to see him off near the dungeon entrance, and when the other knew about it, they decided to do the same as well. "Sorry I''m late. Just finish stocking up some food and drink for the long journey" [Ash] "You will be taking the camper van golem right. Have you stock the food inside?" [Rafiah] "Claude help me do so yesterday" [Ash] "Seraph and the other are already there, so you should go now" [Aries] "Right" [Ash] "I''ll drive the bus golem for today!" [Farhah] "No! Today is my turn!" [Zerolith] "Boo..." [Farhah] And the engine for the bus golem is ignite. Brother Ash already park his camper van golem inside his item box, and he will use it once he is inside the ice dungeon. Steering the wheel for today will be Zerolith. He loves to unnecessarily play with the horn, but not with Mrs Aries sitting with us. I guess having a motherly figure like her make him a bit scared to pull any sort of mischief "There they are" [Linda] "With those kids nonetheless" [Qis] "Come to see your friend off? How nice" [Ash] "True. Plus, we also accompany Liyana here" [Diana] "She keeps on glancing at Linda. Guess she doesn''t want to separate with her sister" [Alice] "How nice" [Rumia] "Now I''m jealous. There''s no one here to see me off. Perhaps one of you young ladies can give me a kiss to send me off?" [Seraph] "Seraph. There''s a young children here, and you joking about it in front of a saint and saintess make it even worse" [Ash] "But I''m serious" [Seraph] "..." [Other] (Should I dispose of him?) [Alaric] (Please don''t) [Diana] After the short conversation, all of us send them off. After they enter the ice dungeon, we enter the Rock and Sea dungeon. Near the entrance, we see a group of beastman, and "..." (Something strange about those beastmen...) [Muse] "Is something wrong Muse?" [Rean] "The only thing wrong here is that you are still not in love with me" [Muse] "I''m being serious here!" [Rean] "And so am I <3" [Muse] I can''t understand what she''s thinking, but her glance to those group of beastman just now... (Something off... but what?) [Rean] (Rean, we will talk about it later) [Muse] (Understood) [Rean] For now, let just ask one of Bobunny''s clone to make a note and pass it to nearby trustworthy adventures Chapter 228 - They are coming? _________________________________________________ [Motra''s family house] [Female paladin point of view] Insect beastman. While not exactly rule of thumb, most can be divided into male, female or gynandromorph. Since Motra is the first one I ever who is a gynandromorph, I thought that his/her family would be the same. "Your highness... I beg forgiveness for what Motra had done" "I never thought he/she would... he/she is an upstanding noble and adventure... Not to mention how those who he/she train and make apprentices all adore him/her" "That''s up to the judicial system of us to decide. For now, let me ask you few things" [Leogris] "Yes" Judicial system of the Beast and Demon kingdom. Unlike that of human country where nobles are the one holding and running it and thus, abusing it, here however, they''re entirely a separate organisation. Not to say it is perfect as they can still be bribed etc, but at least it''s noteworthy enough to gain the attention of both Princess Diana and Princess Nurhaliza. If I''m not mistaken, one of Sir Ceanu Reaves objective to travel was to find multiple talents all across Achalasia, but sadly for him, he couldn''t find a good judge or lawyer to recruit "And how about Zin? You don''t even know how that half giant disappears overnight and mysteriously appears in Estel?" [Leogris] "I''m afraid not. Zin usually a very gentle and likeable person. So him suddenly gone missing do make us worry. We ask for adventure and our own knight to search for him but none could find him" "But..." [Young noble] "What is it, young man" [Leogris] The young noble, a male butterfly beastman, Motra''s little brother suddenly speak after staying quite "I don''t know whether this is relevant..." [Young noble] He appears unconfident. Maybe it''s because of Motra being almost a perfect role figure for him suddenly turn out to be fighting on the wrong side. At least that''s the impression that I got from his body language "Speak, young man" [Leogris] "Right... Zin is usually with brother. They are always together. But, when that lady came..." [Little brother] ""That lady?"" It appears Motra''s parents didn''t knew about this lady. They genuinely have no idea who is that lady "Zin suddenly become... Imbecile I guess? I notice that his already limited speech pattern becoming even worse, and as for brother... He seems to have some sort of plan with that lady. They always go out just right until the time Mrs Aries came back then" [Young noble] "Back then? You mean before Princess Diana debutante party?" [Druser] "Yes. I thought it would have something to do with the mysterious lady. Plus, every time she came, Zin speech pattern become worse" [Young noble] "Could she be... The mysterious witch, Saintess Angela?" [Female paladin] "Hard to say, but the probability of it seems high" [Leogris] "Agree. That, or Agnes. Both are indeed plausible" [Druser] Still, this only shows that Motra''s involvement with the group Achalasia Externa, something that we already knew. If anything, we need new info but "Let just move on. If anything, I''ll come here again at a later date" [Leogris] ""Yes, your highness"" Looks like the other are getting the same idea. Further questioning might not reveal anything new, so (Singa''s mother, Sachmis house. I wonder what we could find there) [Female paladin] _________________________________________________ [Rean point of view] "This treasure chest contain the mystic water!" [Kadeus] "Finally..." [Lily] "After 46 treasure chests, and more than half of them are mimics with no loot..." [Ray] "Now now, we did get SOME valuable loot out of it, so..." [Rean] (...) [Muse] "Something wrong, Muse?" [Ray] "You have been acting weird ever since at the entrance" [Lily] "Did Rean do something bad to you?" [Kadeus] "Oh... Well, Rean still refuse giving me a goodbye kiss, that''s his wrongdoing" [Muse] "Ohh!" [Lily] "Joke aside, I notice you both have been acting strange, about the group of beastman at the entrance was it?" [Ray] "Sharp, aren''t you" [Rean] "True. Something about them feel off, but I guess this is not the right place to mention that" [Muse] Muse gives us a signal to quickly went back to the dungeon entrance, and all of us quietly nods and move quickly Once we are outside the dungeon, she quickly went to the adventure guild, looking for "Alice. I know this is your last day here, but could you check something for me?" [Muse] "LAST DAY!" [Other] "So that little lady, Lisa there is..." [Swordman adventure] "I''ll be replacing her, since Alice will become a school teacher in Princess Diana and Ash new school" [Lisa] "I plan to keep it a secret until my shift ended, but, what do you want, Muse?" [Alice] I did know about it. Brother Ash spoil the secret. Lisa, the teenage girl, who lost her family in Kiserre''s incident and currently living with Mr Bond, Kronbir and Cupid, are replacing, or should O say filling in the spot left by Sis Alice departure from the adventure guild "The ancient tunnel in the Rock and Sea dungeon? And the suspicious group of beastman that you saw back then" [Alice] "Lisa, give us a hand. We will search about the document pertaining to the ancient tunnel" [Ram''s daughter] "I will" [Lisa] While the three adventure guild receptionists did their job, two adventure enter the guild "Rean. I received Bobunny''s message from you, and indeed, the beastman group you mention are acting rather strangely" [Jacks] "I knew it! But..." [Muse] "But?" [Other] "Rean, I never knew you ask Bobunny''s clone to relay a message! What other secrets have you been hiding from me!" [Muse] "Muse, now is not the time" [Rean] "Before things escalate, here, the record regarding the ancient tunnel" [Alice] "Right, thank you. So, Muse, what is this all about?" [Rean] "Dodging the question aren''t you! Fine, I''ll sulk!" [Muse] She do love teasing and messing with me, but she quickly analyzes the ancient tunnel map before "Before that, Mr Jacks and Mr Hunter, care to explain about the beastman? What strange thing did they do?" [Muse] "Well, I can say that they''re close with each other and..." [Jacks] While the other adventures and receptionist coming in closer to hear what Mr Jacks are saying, I notice guild master Ram also did the same. When did he came? "That''s indeed a little bit strange" [Dwarf adventure] "True. All of them could just stay at Alice''s parent inn, and yet, they choose not to" [Female elf adventure] "True. Alice''s parents inn isn''t fully booked, and those guys seems rather familiar with each other, which make it even strange. At least that''s the impression that the both of us got" [Hunter adventure] "I see. Well, something was off with them, but I couldn''t exactly tell. Can you Muse?" [Rean] "Indeed. What make you think they''re rather suspicious?" [Kadeus] "Their clothes. Rather, the dirt on their clothes" [Muse] "?" [Other] "Let me explain. From the way they dress up, it gives the impression of someone traveling from far away, and since they''re traveling using the Rock and Sea dungeon, you would expect their clothes to be wet as well as sticky with some beach sand, and yet, they didn''t" [Muse] "So that''s why! Now I know why you''re asking the ancient tunnel map! The dirt on their clothes, its resemble those who just enter a tight closed space like a tunnel or a cave!" [Rean] "Suspicious indeed. But there could be other explanation like they just use earth magic, and because of that, they become dirty" [Ram] "Indeed. That is also plausible. But that still doesn''t explain why they didn''t get wet from the countless waves hitting the main road. Plus, the timing is rather..." [Muse] "Rather?" [Rean] "This might be me, overthinking, but what if they''re The True Beastman Group, trying to get their hands on Farhah. They are known to kidnap elves after all" [Muse] "!" [Other] "Indeed... There''s a possibility on that one... Plus with Farhah identity being exposed by Motra..." [Alice] "Good grief. The timing couldn''t be more obvious. I''ll tell Princess Diana about it. Jacks and the other, keep following the beastman. Report any suspicious activity. As for the rest of you, coordinate among yourselves regarding the timing of patrol" [Ram] "Yes!" [Other] Farhah... I hope Muse is wrong about it, but "Thank you Muse" [Rean] "I just hope I am overthinking about it" [Muse] "Indeed, but sometimes, your prediction can be rather accurate" [Ray] "Let just hope nothing bad will happen" [Lily] "True beastman group... I guess Lily and I should involve more actively. Don''t want them to cause trouble for us all" [Kadeus] "Let do our best!" [Lily] Chapter 229 - A scream _________________________________________________ [Sachmis''s family house] [Female paladin point of view] A duke house, comparable to that of Sir Ceanu Reaves. If something didn''t happen to Singa''s mother, Sachmis, then he will probably live here, studying to become an upstanding noble. If that indeed happens, how will the goddess plan to let him meet with the other? Will he corporate with them? "Your highness, what makes you come here to visit us today?" [Old Lion] An old lion. It isn''t obvious to me, but for some reason, the beastman noble react rather strangely. They mention something about resemblance, so, could it be, Singa and this person here bore some resemblance? This old lion here is quite old, maybe he is the biological grandfather to Singa? Nonetheless, he gives the impression of retired noble, living a carefree life "Can''t I even visit my childhood friend house?" [Leogris] "Of course you can. Please, come inside. King Druser and his companions as well" [Old lion] "Thank you for the hospitality" [Druser] "Excuse us" [Female paladin] Since the king of two prominent kingdoms comes and visit the house, it''s only natural for the head of the house or the representative of the house to guide them. Still, I could see a human butler accompanying the old lion. As we are being shown around the house, the old lion bring us all to a nice little resting place in his garden. It''s surrounded by nothing but a fiery fire red roses. It burns ever brightly with occasional blue and black flame coming out of it. As for the smells, this type of rose usually will give a very strong rose smell, one that a beastman might not particularly fond of, but even I am surprise by how pleasant the smell is. It must have been carefully selected and breed to give such nice and soft smell, pleasant to the nose "Please, have a taste of our specially brew rose tea" [Old lion] "Sachmis''s favourite tea. This sure brings back pleasant memories" [Leogris] "That, it does" [Old lion] As the two of them go down the memories lane, I can vividly imagine just what kind of person this Sachmis is. Duke''s daughter as well as an adventure just like King Leogris back in their younger day. There appear to be another person alongside the two of them, another lion beastman, and the name of that person suddenly escape from the old lion mouth "Simba... As in, the leader of the true beastman group!" [Female paladin] "Going down the memories lane make your mouth a little loose isn''t it" [Druser] "Ought to be careful there old man, this is our secret" [Leogris] "Well, this is just a prologue to our discussion. It would be rather infuriating for them should they not fully understand what you truly wanted to ask" [Old lion] "!" [Other] As expected. No wonder he guided us here, not really secluded, but there''s rarely any person that comes here, giving an impression of almost secluded place "Do you know why all of us come here, and what we wanted to ask?" [Leogris] "Not really. But I guess it has something to do with my daughter, Sachmis" [Old lion] "Exactly. I hope you can give us the full details, about what happened back then, from your own perspective" [Leogris] "Very well..." [Old Lion] _________________________________________________ [Savel point of view] "Water sphere!" [Charlotte] Practicing my water and ice magic with Charlotte, I realize even when I have the bigger portion of Reshir, the holy beast of water blessing, my water and ice magic are still pale in comparison to her "Water sphere!" [Savel] "Water love! Water cube! Water triangle!" [Charlotte] "Hahahaha! This is fun. How about we make a golem!" [Savel] "Then we should use the marine spawning block straight away!" [Singa] "Let go go go!" [Charlotte] "I wanted to join as well!" [Cupid] Water golem! What kind of water golem should we make? A dragon? A hydra? A water wyvern? A kraken? Or maybe even a Leviathan golem? Oh boy, the possibilities are truly endless "Welcome. You are new here, aren''t you" [Kronbir] "Well, yes..." [Grasshopper beastman] "Well, let me guide you about how we do things here in this training hall" [Kronbir] "Appreciate it" [Grasshopper beastman] Looks like we have ourselves a new costumer! I never see a grasshopper beastman before. He is green, and his eyes is a bit strange. Guiding him is the newest worker in this training hall, Kronbir. Right now, Mr Bond is in charge of driving a bus golem for a new carriage company made by collaboration of Princess Diana, Mrs Gizzere and Brother Ash. Kronbir here lend us Brother Ash a helping hand by working in the training hall, Lisa replacing Sis Alice as the receptionist in the adventure guild and lastly Cupid, as our fourth warrior! "So, what should we make?" [Singa] "Something cute... Sea dear!" [Cupid] "Agree!" [Charlotte] "No! Something fierce! Sea lion!" [Singa] "How about sea dragon! Or Leviathan!" [Savel] And thus, our heated discussion goes on and on and on, with Singa and I wanted something which is fierce and powerful while Charlotte and Cupid wanted something cute. "Then kraken! Kraken are cute, strong, and cute, huge and cute!" [Charlotte] "I agree with Kraken, but, Kraken are fierce!" [Singa] "Where will you find a cute kraken!" [Savel] "There''s bound to have a cute kraken in the vast sea" [Cupid] "Just what are you four doing?" [Karon] "Plus, you''re blocking the way. Other might wanted to use the marine spawning block you know" [Farhah] ""''''Sorry"""" [Singa, Savel, Charlotte, Cupid] The two of them are right. We can''t block the way. Look, the grasshopper beastman who wanted to bring out his weapon, he must have "GAAAHHHHH!" [Grasshopper beastman] "!" [other] "".. -. - .-. ..- -.. . .-. / .- .-.. . .-. -, .. -. - .-. ..- -.. . .-. / .- .-.. . .-. -"" [Housey, Calypso Tree] "This is!" [Karon] "Housey and Calypso Tree said Intruder alert! That grasshopper is!" [Farhah] Karon quickly use earth wall to shield the four of us while trying to launch an attack to the grasshopper beastman who are still being electrocuted by Housey and Calypso Tree. "Damn the behemoth slayer! Guess I have no choice!" [Grasshopper beastman] Karon quickly fully shield us, and "KYAAA!!!" [Farhah] A scream Chapter 230 - Going to holy palace part 1 Ice dungeon, its cold alright, or supposed to be cold. Good thing I know how to perform adaptability magic and apply it constantly, to me and the three other (apparently Linda doesn''t feel the cold striking her). While traveling the dungeon, Seraph with his ever changing musical instruments keep on playing his various masterpieces, while the rest of us just listen, appreciating his fine artistic touch. Some of his song burn our spirit while other make us feels relax. I must say, as annoying as he usually was, I really love hearing his musical performances. Maybe I should create a CD? No, maybe not, the camera I created and integrated with the phone already have recording features, but then again, it''s still expansive and only few people can get their hands on it. Plus, with my kinda bad reputation among the noble (thanks to my foul mouth and usually bad attitude to the noble), the sale is actually kinda low. So, maybe a CD with affordable cost can be sold to commoner, so they can enjoy the masterpiece, or maybe I can use the CD and integrate it with the communication stones that are placed alongside the road of neighborhood area, that way Seraph masterpiece can be played at set time. Or maybe a musical box? That is also affordable and easy to made "You seem to be in deep thought" [Saint Louis] "Oh, hearing Seraph''s masterpiece actually give me plenty of idea" [Ash] "Oh, care to share" [Seraph] "Well..." [Ash] I told them. Their reactions are actually favourable, so much so that I think this might actually work "You''re always full of ideas. As expected of someone from another world. Your view is quite different from us" [Alaric] "Now that I think of it, does your people worship Goddess Achalasia as well?" [Linda] "No. At least to my knowledge, no" [Ash] "Then what religious belief does your people hold onto?" [Alaric] They''re rather interested in this subject, not just Saint Louis. Guess I should just tell them While I told them regarding the major religions back on earth, I also told them a short history of each religion. I kinda realize that while back on earth there are different religions, here in Achalasia, well, ultimately, they all worship Goddess Achalasia. Even the squabbles between the old and new teaching here still worship the same goddess "Hmm... with so many religion, I bet there are many conflicts arises" [Seraph] "That''s true. Not to say I blame the religion, but it basically boils down to those in power, using religion and races as one of the reasons to start conflicts. You can say what happen here and back on earth are almost identical. You want to grab political power? Boom, blame those who are different from you and have them targeted for each and every single thing, however nonsense it sounds, they will buy it. You want to seize the economy? Well, support our people or else those people will squeeze every single penny from your pockets. I can rant non stop, but, all and all, I believe us common folks just wanted some peace, but those who are in power, not so much I guess" [Ash] "Getting philosophical, but that is indeed identical to what happen here in Achalasia" [Saint Louis] I can see that my opinion just now affecting Saint Louis more than I thought it would. Heck, I was just giving him my serious two cents, and he takes it very, very, very seriously. Not surprising, considering that one of the new religion teaching prohibited needless and groundless discrimination being bashed from every single direction, especially by the old teaching, he must have felt some sort of connection to my talk. "Still, I can''t believe your people discriminating other based on skin colour as well. What happens to other races with different skin colour, for example, the blue wing angle? Were they discriminated more than other?" [Seraph] "Ohh, I forgot to tell, there are no other races beside human on earth, I mean there are no intelligence species other than human. Dwarf, elf, beastman are mostly fairy tale while demon and angle appear inside a religious script" [Ash] "Really!" [Linda] "Not that I aware of. But... now that I think of it, is it a pure coincidence that those old fairy tale back on earth described the races and creatures that can be found on Achalasia" [Ash] "Interesting indeed. Maybe there are some sort of parallel between your world and our world, and maybe that is one of the reason why Goddess Achalasia bring you here as well" [Saint Louis] "Maybe. Well, she did mention that the reason was because my parents giving up the chances to be reincarnated, but..." [Ash] Parallel between Achalasia and earth, and reason of my reincarnation beside that of my parents deed. Is there so hidden connection that I fail to look at? "Well, just out of curiosity. What will you do should the holy palace suddenly decided to make peace with other people of different races?" [Saint Louis] "Well, theoretically if they somehow decided to do just that without any sort of hidden bad intention, then I will support them as well. But, we are speaking of those people right. The same people that wanted to pull out Cupid''s horns from her head just to be sold into black market, and the very same people that wanted to peel Savel''s dragonewt scales as well, and the very very same people that wanted to kill my siblings and when they found out they''re the ten heroes, suddenly wanted to take care of them. Somehow, I can''t see that happening. At least not in the nearest future" [Ash] "Well, if only I am a better saint, maybe I can sort thing out nicely so all of that wouldn''t happen" [Saint Louis] "It wasn''t your fault O saint" [Alaric] "Indeed. Whatever you do, they will always react negatively and try to bring you down" [Seraph] "If anything, I am glad there are people like you and Princess Diana. It makes me wanted to support them wholeheartedly" [Linda] "Cliche, but I agree" [Ash] Despite the cold environment of the ice dungeon, our topic of discussion sure aren''t. "Oh yeah, can you tell me more about the old follower and their teaching? My knowledge of it is superficial at best" [Ash] "Well..." [Saint Louis] Just when Saint Louis wanted to say something, a monster that I once beat, appear. A Yuki-ona Chapter 231 - Going to holy palace part 2 The Yuki-ona, an ice type lady monster that wear the Japanese kimono, and this time, having a katana on one hand, bluish tinge and longer than the one Rean having, and on the other hand she''s holding an umbrella, and I don''t why she decided to open it up and use it. Her appearance screams icy queen both literally and figuratively. The Yuki-ona we fought back at the challenge dungeon was a limbo between A to S rank in terms of power, but this one in front of us is definitely an S rank based on her mana alone. "Why did a powerful monster like that doing in the main road" [Linda] "Sincerely reminded me of Mahsuri" [Ash] Like mention before, every dungeon have a main road literally right in the middle of each floor and monster tend not to appear here, which make traveling easier and safer should you not stray away from the main road. The further you go from the main road, you will encounter monster more frequently, and they will gradually becoming stronger, which is why having a powerful monster right in the middle of main road is strange and dangerous nonetheless "Please. Follow me" [Yuki-ona] "!?" [Other] Did she just speak? If so, how... Well, not that surprising since there are record of intelligence monsters that can communicate with human. The behemoth I once fought kinda understand what I wanted to say, though this is the first time I came across a talking monster, the Thanatos back at Malsia and Drakaini which fuse with the Kiserre''s prince didn''t really count "Is this a trap?" [Alaric] "Well, she seems smart enough, so I don''t think she would try something so foolish as to trap us, considering our line up" [Seraph] "Then again, because she''s smart, she might actually plan just that in order to win" [Ash] "Dear Yuki-ona, why do we need to follow you?" [Saint Louis] Directly asking a monster hub... Well, there''s nothing wrong with that I guess. "The master of this dungeon wanted to see the one blessed with the Goddess Achalasia as well as the God of Death blessings" [Yuki-ona] "!?" [Other] The master of the ice dungeon wanted to see me!? The master, I can only think of... As we walk just behind the silent Yuki-ona, the scenery of the dungeon begin to change. From that like an artic to that thriving with the winter trees. There are multiple trees with fruits that only grow in cold environment, and some of it are actually quite rare that I uses my wind magic to pick it up from the trees and immediately stores it inside my item box. I guess I should just pick it up as much as I could, for the journey as well as for the kids once I get back home "Ancient tunnel?" [Linda] "looks like it" [Ash] And now, we enter a cave. The structure of the cave is like that of any other cave, but what makes it feels like the ancient tunnel is because of how unnaturally well structured it is. I''m no geography expert but shouldn''t cave be something like vast, not like a tunnel that is only constant in size As we go further and further inside the ancient tunnel, I can sense a magic being use to all of us ""This is..."" [Ash, Alaric] ""Space magic!"" [Seraph, Linda] (Quite different from the time I encountered Titania, but I guess just like back then, we are being transported to..) [Saint Louis] The space magic teleport us to an icy platform, and right below us is "That is!" [Linda] "The master of the dungeon" [Alaric] "Yeah, The Holy Beast of Water, Reshir the Ice Dragon" [Ash] What a huge ice dragon. Drant is big but this one is even bigger. If my ice shark missiles is around 6 meter in length, and Mahsuri''s tyrant Megalodon which is around the size of a blue whale around 25 meter, than Reshir is at least a 100 meter. It has four wings made out of clear ice crystals as well a single horn protuding from it forehead. Plus, the mana around Reshir is thick enough to form its own miasma. I don''t know whether there is a rank between holy beasts but Reshir here is indeed a terrifying dragon. "So, you have come" [Reshir] "Yes, and may I know why you''re requesting this meeting?" [Ash] "To ask you, regarding the children" [Reshir] "You mean those siblings of mine?" [Ash] "Indeed, those ten heroes. Their progress are rather slow, even with her being there" [Reshir] "Her? You mean Mahsuri?" [Ash] "Indeed, but what truly baffling me is that why has she decided to move? An unresponsive homunculus who suddenly regain back her life. I can only think of you being the cause" [Reshir] "Who knows. My theory is that homunculi and God of Death are closely related, but I am nowhere near to solve the problems just yet" [Ash] Huh, from the children then to Mahsuri. I wonder what next "And the blue hair girl, Charlotte. Is she doing fine? And did Mahsuri do anything yet to her?" [Reshir] "Why her specifically?" [Alaric] "Based on your reaction, I can assume those mermaids still in bind" [Reshir] Mermaids? Is he talking about the strange mermaid activities over the past one year? There have been sightings of strange mermaids appearing all over Achalasia. Do Charlotte and Mahsuri have anything to do with that? "And you, King of Angel, Seraph. I can sense shape shifter and few other traits not found in angel being inside of you" [Reshir] "The previous Seraph are known for marrying variety of species in act of polygamy, though I suppose shape shifter is one of my stronger genes" [Seraph] "I suppose God of Light doesn''t bother anymore about angel" [Reshir] "?" [Other] I do know majority of angel follow the god of light, and those granted power by her are called angelic, but why did Reshir suddenly brought that up? "And lastly, why did the lingering of Titania''s mana still persist on you?" [Reshir] "Me? Titania''s mana?" [Saint Louis] "Looks like you didn''t notice it yourself. She will only do that to an Avery, so why did she do that to a human?" [Reshir] "Could it be, to give Farhah..." [Linda] "Plausible..." [Alaric] "This conversation is a stale one. We aren''t going anywhere..." [Ash] "That''s up to you. Just like Goddess Achalasia, I believe nothing good will happen should you spoon-feed a person. Yuki-ona, if you would" [Reshir] "Understood" [Yuki-ona] "Wait! I wanted to ask you somet..." [Ash] Not being able to finish my sentence, we are all transported out, back into the ancient tunnel, before the Yuki-ona left us. "That was rather... unproductive" [Ash] "There are few things that I find strange, but let just discuss it at night when we are resting" [Alaric] "Agree" [Saint Louis] When we exit the ancient tunnel, we walk in for a bit before "Just like Titania back then..." [Saint Louis] "That''s the entrance to!" [Ash] Chapter 232 - Prelude to the succession war _________________________________________________ [True beastman leader, Dark Lion Simba, point of view] That fool of a grasshopper. To think that he would just barge in into the training hall operated by the orphanage. Seems like I was wrong to believe Agnes and Angela, to let them be modified as to increase their power. Those underlings of mine aren''t Motra, who can withstand the side effects of modifications with ease. Their mental function have deteriorated, not as much as Zin the half giant, but at least to the point that they have the nerve to disobey my order "Boss! The princess had started to search for us" "Even the adventure guild started to do the same" "I can''t contact the dark guild of Estel. According to information broker, their previous location was raided by adventures, Valkyrie and a mysterious group of vampires" As expected. Princess Diana of Estel do take fast action as to ensuring the safety of those ten heroes. The adventure guild master is also worthy of such praises. As for the mysterious vampire, could it be, the vampire that fought Motra the other day have something to do with the vampires that attack the dark guild. Valkyrie is under the command of Princess Diana, so one could assume that they are at least connected. There is also the fact that a powerful monster, Mahsuri is staying with them and seems to care deeply for the ten heroes, at least enough to save them from any sort of danger. Not to mention, three powerful adventures from outside are currently staying in Estel by the request of guild master and Princess Diana herself. The siblings S rank adventures Kucin and Anjin as well as the A rank adventure, the elemental arrow, Naoto. Last but not least, Paladin beloved by God of War, Aries is also here and her twin daughters are also the ten heroes. We might bite more than we can chew... "That damn grasshopper" "But we can''t just stand here and not avenge him" "True! We could just launch an all out attack!" "We just need to get the Avery! Nothing else matter!" "Right! Worst come to worst, we could use "that thing" Saintess Angela and Agnes gave us" "We have nothing to loss! Once we get the Avery, everything will follow accordingly!" "What do you say! Boss!" These fools "Boss...?" ~Loud Roar~ It has been a while since I roar this loud. When was the last time... Maybe it was the time when Sachmis, Singa and I was on the run from her family as well as the dark guild people chasing after us "It seems that you are no longer respecting me as your leader" [Simba] "Of course no!" "You''re the pride of our group" "We would never do anything funny against you" They really have change ever since Angela modified them. There are still fears, but give them more time, and they will start to rebel. If that indeed happens, then they are nothing more than parasitic pawns, no longer someone that I could consider allies nor friends "If it is direct assault you want, then you would have it!" [Simba] "HOORAY" "BUT! You must obey every order strictly! UNDERSTOOD!" [Simba] "YES BOSS" It''s a shame that I have to dispose of them. Agnes, Angela and Motra, all of you are next on my list _________________________________________________ [Beastman Kingdom, Sachmis house] [Female paladin point of view] "I''ll start with the obvious fact. It''s my brother that so wanted the royal throne of the Beastman Kingdom, so much so that he planned the coup. Naturally, most of us would disagree with such idiotic statement, until..." [Old lion] currently, we are still listening to the old lion, who we believe to be the biological grandfather of Singa. To summarize, we are hoping to know the circumstances which lead to the death of Singa''s mother, Sachmis and shed some truth of what is happening. It is out of simple curiosity but there might be an unexpected answer that we could find "Until the previous demon king started to secretly involved as well" [Old lion] "!" [Other] "Impossible! How!? I never knew about this!" [Druser] "But it is. One could even say that this is the hidden prelude, a prologue to the succession war of the demon kingdom that almost ravaged the entire Achalasia" [Old lion] ~Gulp~ The prelude to the entire succession war, and now, I am replacing the very same person that is said to have a pivotal role in stopping it... _________________________________________________ [Little bit earlier] [Bladel point of view] "Night slash" [Bladel] "Gaah!" We are currently cleansing up the stain in our society. The dark guild. Those despicable people that will do anything so long as they''re being paid handsomely are seriously the worse. Trying to assassinate Princess Diana as their clients, the first queen requested so, mimicking the case of infamous serial killer dwarf during the debutante party preparation. Kidnapping and enslaving commoners so that they could sell it to willing buyers. Capturing exotic monster and bringing it inside the countries through the ancient tunnel. They are nothing but scum! "Retreat! Don''t let them get any of you!" [Dark guild leader] "I don''t think so!" [Anjin] With his sword being imbued with hot flame, he slashes multiple dark guild members at once while Kucin blocking their escape path "Take this!" "And this as well!" ~Clang~ ""Damn you!!"" "Hehe, you can''t beat us from this faraway" [Female elf adventure] "Focus. It''s not over yet" [Naoto] Try as they might, we have them in a pinch. Any futile attempt will be quickly neutralise by archer standing by, some equipped with the pistol Ash gave "What with this restraint!" "The vampire! This is the vampiric blood restraint" "Tchh! Should have just killed them long ago instead of trying to sell them, and now, they''re with that princess!" "And for that, we are grateful to her" [Vampire guard A] "This is just like the bloody saint attacking us!" As we keep on pressing them, we also intentionally set a path for them to escape, that way they would escape to the next dark guild location, and we would quickly follow suit, raiding and destroying that location as well. As thing looks like it will be under control here, I take my leave and follow those who manages to "escape" As expected, they''re all going to a single location. An abandoned field with some dried up well as the entrance, Jacks and I as well as few of us started to launch an attack when "Surprise surprise" [Traitorous prince] That''s the traitor prince of the demon kingdom! What is he doing here "Now then, if you would be so kind as to help me tame these beasts of mine, I''ll be more than happy to pay, until then, bye-bye" [Traitorous prince] "Wait!" [Jacks] As he says that, he releases multiple towering boa. It is still immature so it isn''t exactly an A rank threat, but "Something off... This is just like back then, during the orphanage''s incident" [Jacks] "Agree, but we can''t let these monsters escape, and we don''t have enough manpower to pursuit other as well, so we should beat this thing right here and now!" [Bladel] "Understood!" [Other] _________________________________________________ And at the Estel''s dungeon entrance, another incident happened. One where the barely surviving guard describing a dwarf with scars on both side his eyes with a knife directly attach to the amputated arms. Fear struck the citizen as the rumour serial killer dwarf, return to Estel, for an unknown reason Chapter 233 - Whether it was justifiable _________________________________________________ [Sachmis''s house] [Female paladin point of view] The succession war of the Demon Kingdom, it is said that the war was initiated by the two elder prince of the previous demon king (now known as traitorous prince of the demon kingdom, or simply the traitorous princes) after the vacancy left by the demon king who suddenly die due to unknown reason. It''s a period of turbulence where both the traitorous demon prince wage war over the other, even went as far as sending force to faraway country just to savage them of good as to fund their own greedy campaign. Some army forces of them mysteriously appears in unsuspecting countries through unknown method, while some march from the Demon kingdom itself, braving the dungeon just to invade other countries. Of course such large force would be detected easily, but with such powerful armies, that little bit of drawback might mean almost nothing for them. At the end of the day, King Druser and Paladin Aries, along with the support of new religion (especially Saint Louis and Saintess Rumia) manage to stop the war altogether and thus, the new demon king, Druser was elected. Now, this old lion here claim that there was an unknown prologue to all of this. Simply outrageous, but coming from someone who once holds the title of Duke of the Beastman Kingdom, I couldn''t help but to take his word for that. Not just me, I''m sure the other feels the same as well "I don''t know the exact reason, but don''t you found your father behaviour seems awfully weird. No, I would said he suddenly changed before his death? As if, he was gaining something unbelievable. That''s at least my impression, and there is one thing that our intelligence networks found" [Old lion] "And that is?" [Druser] "There was a witch. A witch who our intelligence claim to be a half demon and half angel. Her power seems to cause something to change within the previous demon king. Even Saintess Angela said the same" [Old lion] "That, if we were to take her word for granted" [Leogris] "Exactly my king. Beyond here is a mixture of fact and some of my wild theory, but I assure you, the fact is nothing but the truth. Before the succession war happened, both the demon prince approached my brother, with both side not knowing the other offer the same. Take the Beast Kingdom throne and join us, and when we became king..." [Old Lion] "We should rule Achalasia together?" [Female paladin] "Perhaps, but sound good for anyone craving for power. Especially the foolish brother of mine" [Old lion] If that indeed happens and the coup from this Duke''s house was a success... I can''t imagine how much fearsome would the war get... But "Then, how about Mrs Sachmis? I could understand if she was just imprisoned by her own family if she didn''t agree to it, so why was she..." [Female paladin] Why was she murdered by her own families then? "Because she was one, if not, the only person that knew the location of The Holy Beast of Fire, the Hell Tiger, Har, location, and yet, foolish enough as not to relied on the Holy Beast help" [Old Lion] "!?" [Other] _________________________________________________ [Karon point of view] "Karon..." [Farhah] "Something the matter Farhah?" [Karon] "Umm... nothing..." [Farhah] "I see..." [Karon] She''s avoiding me isn''t she. Who wouldn''t. I guess my old man blood get the better of me when dealing with that grasshopper beastman. While most of them agree that it was nothing more than an act of self defense, I do know they''re also asking the same the question inside their mind. Was my actions really an act of self defense? (Honestly speaking, I was wondering the same) [Karon] It is understandable if it were only a blow to the face. Just a strong blow with my hammer would be fine as that grasshopper was weakened down by Housey and Calypso Tree attacks. Maybe I don''t even need to attack him at all as I''m sure the function of Fortress defense magic inside Housey and Calypso Tree would do its job just fine. (But to hit that damn grasshopper multiple times until his eyeball splash out, leaving Farhah traumatize in the process... Like I said, even I was wondering the same. Whether my actions was justifiable. And most importantly, whether it was truly my father influence, or it was just me, enjoying it but putting all the blame on him) [Karon] I was disgusted of course. By the scene, by the scream, by the sound that grasshopper make. It was just random spouting, it was incomprehensible but somehow, I knew he was asking me to stop. And a new doubt had occurred to me since then. Am I really one of the ten heroes? Aren''t hero supposed to be someone who brings peace and also bring comfort and feeling of safety to other? But, here I am, somehow making the cheerful Farhah avoiding me As I am thinking about it, I wonder into the dining room where Mrs Gizzere, Grandpa Filvisar and Claude was discussing something. Maybe about the new school "You seem to be in a bad mood" [Gizzere] "Doubting yourself dear Karon?" [Filvisar] "I..." [Karon] I don''t feel like sharing it... what will they think of me should I said it. Maybe they will think negatively of me "I see. You must feel conflicted about what you did the other day, and by the looks of it, a new seed of doubt been sprout inside your mind" [Gizzere] "!" [Karon] How did she... As if she''s reading my mind. "Are you by any chance doubting whether you''re worthy of being one of the heroes?" [Filvisar] ~Nod~ "Master can definitely help in this area, but..." [Claude] "Indeed. For a quiet child like him, maybe someone of your age would be better" [Filvisar] "Then how about Rean? He had the same doubt before, surely you can consult with him easier than with us" [Gizzere] "True, but if Rean somehow couldn''t help you, please don''t hesitate to ask any one of us" [Claude] "I will. Thank you" [Karon] Asking Rean. That isn''t a bad idea, in fact, something that I truly need right now. As the eldest among us and as the first one to manifest this blessing (not that my heroes blessing manifested yet), surely he knew a lot more than us (When he comes back, I will ask him!) [Karon] In the meantime, let just use the training hall and train for a bit . . . As I practice, I can hear the gossiping of the young adventure with new soldiers recruits. Here I am, thinking they will bad mouthed me but instead (The serial killer dwarf... Father, why did he decided to come back to Estel!?) [Karon] Chapter 234 - Launching a surprise attack "So, this isn''t exactly a country, but rather a meeting place, or one could say an intersection point between various dungeons and countries where everything and anything can take place?" [Ash] "That''s correct. It doesn''t really have any official name, and different countries called it by different names, but the most popular one so far is "exchange land", because many exchanges took place here. Transaction between merchants, both legal and illegally. Cultural exchange, money exchange, even slaves. This exchange point here doesn''t have any ruler nor nobility governing it. One could say this place is akin to the "cursed land" just a dungeon away from our headquarters, in fact, some scholars, like Mrs Aries little sister, Lisa do agree that this place here as well as the cursed land share some resemblance as well as history dating back to the creation of Achalasia itself" [Saint Louis] "The similarity doesn''t end there though. Both exchange land and cursed land share similar properties. The mirage, light and dark affinities in both of the land are higher as compared to other countries which are both reflected by the ground having elemental colour of these three elements, both having mysterious origin and history, both land abandoned, and coincidentally, just like how one could get to the new headquarters of the new religion through the cursed land, one could go to the holy palace part through the holy dungeon connected by this exchange land here" [Seraph] "Though I heard unlike here, the cursed land is inhabitable" [Linda] "That''s correct. One could even say that the cursed land behaved almost similar to that of the dungeon, with random monster spawning almost regularly, and just like dungeon, you would be safe to travel there by using the main road. Though, random treasure chest keep on spawning as well, thus, making that spot a heaven for adventures and mercenaries alike" [Saint Louis] "You learn something new every day" [Ash] Currently, the four of us are roaming around waiting for Alaric to collect some info about the situation inside the holy palace. Here I am thinking he doesn''t have any sort of connection just like me, but I guess I was wrong. The Ministry of Defense of Estel have few regular information brokers here that he wanted to utilize to full extent. Just when we are about to sit down and talk about the old teaching "Any news?" [Ash] "Big one. The Holy Palace prince and his convoys, they are here" [Alaric] "!" [Other] Now that''s some big news alright. In a way, one could say our objective is already completed. To get the news of what''s happening inside the holy palace, but "Tell me where he is" [Ash] "You couldn''t think of..." [Linda] "Bold one aren''t you. Let me warn you, the guards guarding that prince is nothing to take light of" [Seraph] "I knew you would say that, so here is the other information I manage to get. I even manage to heard where he is going shopping before setting out to his next destination" [Alaric] "Estel, am I correct" [Saint Louis] ~Nod~ "Well, I sincerely don''t want to trouble the other, but since this is a free land, what are the probabilities that other passerby will meddle with our affair?" [Ash] "If the prince were in trouble and decided to pay any random stranger handsomely, then chances are almost nill, but I do recommend doing it somewhere secluded" [Alaric] "Got it. I guess we should start planning then, is everyone ok with this?" [Ash] "I hope this will turn fine" [Linda] "I''ll help, but do exempt should you interrogate him. Can just erase the memories should he see me but better not take any unnecessary risk" [Saint Louis] "Then leave the interrogation to Alaric and me" [Seraph] "Thanks, but first, we need to capture him" [Ash] As I listen to Alaric giving out his intel, I couldn''t help but to notice that something are staring at us. That thing have been doing it ever since we left the dungeon. Well, that thing wouldn''t stand in our way, so I should just ignore it for now "I see. Going to the slave auction house next" [Ash] "The way to that place can be pretty secluded depending on route taken, and I believe he will take the road where passerby rarely use as to avoid any unwanted gaze" [Alaric] "Perfect for us. Guess he didn''t want any unwanted attention is a fortune for us" [Seraph] "But this also shows he has the utmost confidence in his guards" [Linda] "True, plus, we need to make it quick or else trouble will follow us" [Saint Louis] Going first to the possible road that will be taken by the prince (and after confirming with Alaric and Linda who are constantly relaying minute by minute info to us), I decide to use my earth magic to make a large pitfalls. Make a pitfall, cover the hole back and imbued my earth mana as well, that way I could activate this pitfall at will (don''t want any random stranger, or worse any one of us to fall into it). Some magician might detect the mana, so I mask it with mirage, light and dark mana as well. The land here really have abundant of those three mana. It kinda strange (I should also add silence spell, and a large one for that, so any commotion will go unnoticed) [Ash] Just like how I set it up back then at Kiserre, I''ll do the same, just at a much larger scope. Again, blend it with the free mana floating in the air "You sure have a lot mana" [Saint Louis] "Have to thanks Goddess Achalasia for that" [Ash] "They are coming!" [Alaric] "Then we should hide first" [Seraph] "Goddess, please help us" [Linda] (Yeah, really need the goddess on our side now) [Ash] The prince, inside of his carriage, with 20 of his guard. I do know they don''t want to attract attention, but just who bright idea was it to let the guard still wearing their uniforms? You might as well just use the damn common road to the auction house! Seriously, somehow I feel bad attacking them, feel like I am about to attack a child with this kind of incompetency. The least they can do as to not attract any attention is change their freaking cloth! (Ash now!) [Seraph] ~Nod~ I feel like my internal monologue just now blow away all the little nervousness I have inside, which is good since (Pitfall trap magic! Activate!) [Ash] "What!" "The ground! "It''s a trap!" "Protect the prince!" "I don''t think so! Wind magic, great wind palm! Squeeze them!" [Ash] Making a large palm like figure from my wind magic, I forcefully push them to the bottom of the pitfall, and holding them in place as to avoid any retaliation. Not only that, I also send in my six ice shark missiles golems to neutralise them "Light needle! Destroy their equipment!" [Saint Louis] "I should support you" [Seraph] Saint Louis sent it countless light needle and continue to attack the guard. They sure are strong. I reckon most will already succumbs, but some of them are already back on their feet, but not for that long Since the presence of light mana here is strong, Saint Louis astronomical affinity to light magic become even stronger, and with how Seraph supporting him, let just said I don''t want to fight them in this kind of terrain. Seraph skillfully vibrate the air and thus stimulate the light mana to resonate with Saint Louis light needle, boosting it power even further (are all bards capable of doing this?), and as for the guards equipment, most of them are tailored as to increase the output of light magic, and that very same tailoring are being exploits by Seraph as to make it broke even faster. He overloads those equipment with light mana, breaking it from inside, couple that with Saint Louis constant attack, they stood no chance whatsoever. Anti climatic, but I would take it rather than prolong fighting (Still, that damn carriage is still intact. I know that Saint Louis here purposely avoid damaging it to his best of ability, but damn...) [Ash] "Seraph, help me teleport all of them" [Linda] "You have somewhere in mind?" [Seraph] "Found an abandoned building. We could use it" [Linda] "Then one support magic to teleport them coming right up" [Seraph] And thus, we are teleported (not before I cover back the pitfall) Chapter 235 - Have you? "And the last one" [Ash] "Umm! Ghh! Tchh!" [Guard] "Speak properly will you! Oh wait, you can''t, forgive me" [Ash] Stripping the guard of their weapons and armour, as well gagging their mouths and blindfolding them, and lastly restraining them with my magic by binding them as well as casting various status ailments (mainly weakness, paralysis and petrification) and debuff (especially strength and magical debuff), all in order to interrogate the holy palace''s prince. Saint Louis, Linda and I will be keeping an eye on these guards while Seraph and Alaric will be conducting the interrogation. Well, not like we are in a separate room or anything, this abandoned building is just one big hall, so we can see how the interrogation going on. "Release me you lesser worm! Don''t you know who I am!" [Holy palace''s prince] "Geez, I have said it before and I''ll most likely said in the near future as well, but do nobles and royals really have sudden vocabulary loss syndrome when they''re angry? I''m sure I have heard those line multiple times" [Ash] And I sound like a broken tape myself. Guess I also have this syndrome when it comes to complaining about nobles "Untie me! You better do it now or I will kill you" [Prince] "And how exactly will you do that?" [Alaric] "You think those in the holy palace won''t notice my absence? They will surely realize come to the rescue" [Prince] "And when they realize, you are already in the stomach of a gluttonous orc" [Alaric] "!" [Prince] That''s a good line. Better take note of it, for future reference "Now then, depending on your corporation, those fate might be avoided, so would you agree on it?" [Seraph] "Why should I? Listen, I am the prince of the holy palace, and I won''t repeat myself, release me and all should be forgiven" [Prince] "Looks like we have to do this the hard way" [Alaric] "What! What do you mean!" [Prince] Taking his knife, Alaric makes a fine cut on the prince''s right middle finger, and a droplet of blood can be seen. It''s only a little cut, but I''m sure that scream is nothing but over exaggeration "Hmph, if this is enough to make you scream, then how about this?" [Alaric] Infusing his mana into the prince''s blood vessel, I notice something, and soon, all of us begin to appreciate it as well. The prince''s finger, it slowly becomes necrosed, from the nail all the way to the base. The skin colour changes to like that of a blue at first, denoting deoxygenation of the tissue around that area before changing colour to that of a corpse, brownish black. This time, the scream of that prince is a genuine one. That must hurt, and some evil idea inside of me thought, hey Ash, why don''t you use pain exaggeration to him, for which I will shall he not corporate with us. "Ghh! Tchhh!" [Guard] "Hmm, Hmm" [Guard] (Guess they''re demanding us to release the prince...) [Linda] After the prince finally stop screaming, Seraph once again ask the same question to him. I guess Seraph here play the good cop while Alaric play the role of the bad cop "Why should I. All you lesser worm should just die! When we get ahold of those ten heroes, we will wage war and I swear to god I''ll find and kill all of you!" [Seraph] Ahh... Why am I not surprised. Not surprised but it still makes my blood boil, thinking how a selfish individual like him wanted to use my siblings as a tool for war "You, I swear by the name of Goddess that I..." [Prince] "Swear what?" [Saint Louis] "Who''s that!" [Prince] Saint Louis snap. I can see he is holding back his anger evidence by his reddish cheek. That''s scary, someone who is usually calm and nice suddenly turn all angry. Still, I''m impressed, not only because of his aura that make all of us flinched, but he actually manage to change his voice without using any magic (I guess he does that since he doesn''t want the prince or the guards knowing he is here with us). Still, where did he learn that? "I swear.. I swear that..." [Prince] The prince becoming more and more restless. As Saint Louis approach the blindfolded prince, his usually comforting aura becomes that of the menacing. It kinda different from that of Diana, King Estel and Queen Rinz. Their aura when they''re angry is that of a true royal, an authority aura that one couldn''t help but respect, while here, it is more of a war veteran... No, there''s more to it, something indicating of his dark past, that''s the impression that I got "Tell me, have you starve before?" [Saint Louis] "Huh?" [Prince] "Have you starve before?" [Saint Louis] "Gulp... No! Only lesser worm would starve, not me" [Prince] Saint Louis asks the same question, in a more menacing tone. Even Linda can''t help but to gulp along with the prince "Lesser worm... Have you ever starve so much that you take nearby grass and eat it raw. You know it will not bring nothing but harm but yet, you have no choice but to do so, to ease the pain of hunger?" [Saint Louis] "..." [Alaric] "Have you killed someone that you considered sub human, and wake up the next morning, feeling nothing but regret that you cry and cry and cry until there''s no tear, but you keep on crying until you puke all over your clothes!?" [Saint Louis] "..." [Seraph] "Have you ever witnessed a mother, crying and begging for their child to be safe. Crying as she see in front of her eyes, the child that she raise with love being burnt put into a barrel and burn alive. Screaming mother mother until the sound was there no more" [Saint Louis] "..." [Ash] "Have you ever smell, the charred corpses of those innocence, stinging your nose. That smell keeps on sticking on your clothes, and you can''t wash it away. So you''re forced to smell it over and over and over again, and that keeps on reminding you about all those lives that want nothing but peace, being lost in war!" [Saint Louis] "..." [Linda] "Have you ever need to take a job, that you know is wrong, but you have to, as to fill the stomach of your siblings. Feeding them the meat you brought while you''re in guilt, but have to in order for them to survive, only to see them being slaughtered while running away from all those sword and spell that barrage one house?" [Saint Louis] "..." [Guard] "Have you, have you ever considered what other feels like! Only thinking about your own ideal, while not caring about sacrifices of other. Have you! Have you ever go to the war! Have you ever lose someone because of war! Have you ever considered the smile loses because a wife loses her husband and son! Have you ever read or learn anything about war!" [Saint Louis] "..." [Prince] All of that... That''s his own experience. I believe there''s more to it, but I am to afraid to ask him, plus, now is not the right time "I''ll ask you once again, will you corporate with us" [Seraph] Chapter 236 - The adventures are having a meeting _________________________________________________ [Beastman Kingdom, Sachmis''s house] [New female paladin of Demon kingdom point of view] "She''s the only one that knew the location of the Holy Beast of Fire, Hell Tiger Har, and yet she didn''t want to use it..." [Leogris] "That''s correct, though I must correct you about something. While the official statement do say she''s being murdered by those wanting the coup, that wasn''t really the case" [Old Lion] "You mean, she was!" [Leogris] "That''s correct. This is Sachmis we are talking about. She managed to survive and are on the run ever since then. Don''t you find it strange that the True Beastman Group leader, Simba actually disappear, almost without a trace for a short while" [Old lion] "Then you mean, she and Simba are on the run together" [Leogris] "That''s correct. Why she didn''t bother to come back home after all the commotion happen, is beyond my knowledge... and frankly, I would like to know it as well..." [Old lion] He tightens his grip, before sipping a cup of tea. It seems like there is a period of time where even he didn''t know what happened to Sachmis "Then, could it be Singa was born during this time? Around the time of the succession war?" [Druser] "Singa? Born?" [Old lion] "I''m not surprised if you didn''t know, though... your highness, please let King Leogris explain to him. Don''t just suddenly jump into the big revelation" [Paladin] "Already becoming like Aries..." [Druser] "Well..." [Leogris] As King Leogris explain about what happened at Estel, and how Singa show all of us the pendant of Sachmis, which belong to this house, the old lion eyes become fully dilated, couldn''t be more obvious as how shocking of the revelation it is, to know that he actually have a grandchild that he doesn''t know "Are you serious..." [Old lion] "I am. Believe us, all of us are equally surprised as well when he shows us that pendant" [Leogris] Now then, what will he says _________________________________________________ [Estel adventure guild] [Samurai Jack point of view] Three big incidents happen just as Ash left Estel The first being of course, the infiltration of the true beastman group into Estel, with their most likely target Farhah. We were told that she was a special kind of elf, one that''s different from any kind of elf. Even our elves adventures were surprised when they found out about her being an Avery. We are not sure about what exactly an Avery is, and those elves adventures seems reluctant to tell us about it . It''s not that they''re plotting something bad, but more like they''re keeping this a tight secret, as they''re concerned about what will happen if the information of an Avery in Estel. It''s frustrating but I agree with them keeping it a secret, even those true beastman group that we captured doesn''t really know what an Avery is, just that they''re ordered to kidnap her as they were told she''s important. If what an Avery is being exposed, and more and more people know about it, then the threat surrounding Farhah will increase multiple folds "Right. Today will be our rotation to watch over the orphanage area" [Syah] "Borg, Lin, how about your children?" [Mimi] "Kat and Blanc will be with the orphans. As for Ray and Mile, they''re old enough to take care of themselves" [Borg] "Though that doesn''t mean we should neglect them. They will most likely having a sleepover on the orphanage together with the younger two" [Lin] With that out of the way, the second problem arises. When we are all disposing of the dark guild member, one of the traitorous demon prince shown himself. He is saving those escapees from the dark guild while also releasing the immature boa, which are under the influenced of the artificial blessings "To think those two decided to show up now out of all times" [Aries] "Sorry. If only we manage to capture them beforehand" [Anjin] "Sorry" [Kucin] "Don''t worry. Your report about them is valuable without a doubt. I already have the copy of your report from Malsia''s guild master, and we will distribute it to all of you. Make sure to read it!'' [Ram] "Right!" [Other] "You can take the copy in the counter after the meeting of course" [Lisa] Report aside, those pair S rank adventure do tell us about it. It seems likely that those two traitorous princes are involved with the Achalasia Externa group, as evidence by their possession of portal stone. Their current objectives however was unknown, but we are going under the pretext that they''re as dangerous as Motra Third, the sudden appearance of the serial killer dwarf. This send chill down to our spine, as the infamous dwarf are known for his tenacity and the number of victims that he killed... It wouldn''t be exaggeration if a scholar that study about him says that he single-handedly kills more than a thousand person during his killing spree. While he was active in Estel the most, he was also reported doing those horrible deeds in other countries, making those numbers, believable "If only we could catch him! I''m ashamed of myself for letting him escape" [Dwarf adventure] "Your life are important as well. Should I come a moment late, then who knew what will happen to you" [Naoto] "True, Erinmorlin will be sad shall you suddenly fall victim to him" [Aries] "Still, just why did he suddenly appear?" [Rean] "True. His timing with the appearance of true beastman group as well as the traitorous princes couldn''t be a mere coincidence. While we can''t rule out he isn''t related to those two groups, we also couldn''t rule the possibility that he is related to them. For now, Princess Diana, Sir Ceanu Reaves and I agree that we are going under the pretext that he is working together with them" [Muse] "If that was indeed the case, then we should increase our patrol activity as well. Also, make sure that none of us are ever alone while going out on patrol, especially lower ranking adventures. A mere number might be nothing but a laughable advantage on his eyes, might also stimulate him to attack those larger group, but alas, it''s much safer that way" [Jacks] "Take note of what Jacks just said. I also will plead to the Ministry of Defense once more. They''re still delusional about the severity of the threat, but alas, it gotten easier this day" [Ram] "Ohh, how is that so?" [Lily] "Princess Diana really are one heck of a princess. Slowly but surely, her influence have begun to spread. There are even some of her personals on the Ministry of Defense right now, so it became a lot easier for me to deal with them. Plus, this time around, even the knight captain agree to dispatch his unit, without the permission of the minister" [Ram] "The Rude Captain did what!?" [Kadeus] "That''s indeed surprising" [Ray] "Sure am" [Ram] Princess Diana is indeed becoming more popular and powerful. Even though her debutante party is nothing short but disastrous, but somehow, our support to her doesn''t decrease one bit, in fact, becoming stronger. Seeing as how there is someone like her who will do her best to make a better change, one couldn''t help but to wholeheartedly support her. That''s also the reason why us adventures are supporting Ash, even as far as offering free services to protect the orphanage while he was away (which he rejected the free service of us, saying he will pay us appropriately) "Well, if there aren''t anything else, you may all dismiss" [Ram] Chapter 237 - Mysterious regress beastly transformation _________________________________________________ [At the castle of Demon kingdom] [Female paladin point of view] "Looks. It''s her" [Succubus maid] "The new paladin! She''s gorgeous!" [Demon maid] "But she need more than beauty to replace our beloved Paladin Aries!" [Lilith maid] There are gossiping about me again. It''s understandable, I am replacing one of the most important figure in this century, so they should criticize me more so that I wouldn''t take my job lightly. If anything, they''re just too welcoming, that I am starting to think they''re being sarcastic (which is 1000% false. They''re good people, and they''re showing and helping me to their absolute best). If anything, I think the Lilith maid just now have her point made clear. My job at the demon kingdom is a demanding one, and I am more than glad to be blessed with wonderful people that supports me. Their citizens, although at first feels that I was not suited to replace Mrs Aries, slowly accepting me, which is a good sign. The noble? They''re not much different from that of a human noble, but they uphold their job better than those at Estel. If anything, I''m glad the time I spent with Muse came in handy on how to deal with rowdy nobles (which once again, a rare sight for a demon noble) (These demons... They''re clearly different from what the old follower wanted you to believe. I feel ashamed of my old self) [Female paladin] Truly, I''m glad I ask Princess Diana and Saintess Rumia to make me their paladin. I''m glad that I accept the job for the Demon king, Druser. I''m glad that I don''t become the typical narrow-minded follower when Ash announced he''s opening an orphanage in Estel. Truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you O Goddess Achalasia ~Ring~ "Hello, Paladin of Demon kingdom speaking. May I help you sir?" [Female paladin] "Sorry, I didn''t meant to bother you, as you see, I''m just testing out this telephone that Behemoth Slayer create. Truly, a marvelous creation" [Old lion] "True. With this, Estel, Malsia, Kiserre, Beastman Kingdom and Demon kingdom are all connected. We should wait for Saint Louis to install the communication stones so that we can add new headquarters to the list" [Female paladin] "That reminds me, how goes the embassy related matter? For both Estel and Kiserre?" [Old lion] "Ahh, that. You see, King Druser will be handling those matter as I still don''t know about most of the demon nobles houses, but I do think of sending some young children from Demon kingdom with them. That way, they can be enrolled in Princess Diana new school, thus, cultural exchange can be established. This will also strengthen the relationship between the two countries. Hopefully" [Female paladin] "I see. Interesting indeed. While both our countries do take apprenticeship from commoner to help raise their status, I believe this will be the first school for commoner to ever be created. Truly, another marvelous creation. May I suggest the same things to my king, King Leogris?" [Old lion] "Please, do so. Plus, with you as the one running the Beastman Kingdom''s embassy in Estel, I believe King Leogris will be more than happy to do so" [Female paladin] "Thank you Mrs Paladin. Please, take care of yourself" [Old lion] "Same goes for you" [Female paladin] The line is disconnected. He truly is eager to go and meet Singa, his grandchild in Estel. Not only that, he''s eager to contribute for the strengthening of relationship between Estel and Beastman Kingdom as well. Again, I am blessed, being surrounded by such wonder people. "Excuse me. Do you know where our lord is?" [Female paladin] "King Druser? If I''m not mistaken, I saw him at the royal library just now. I can guide you there, Mrs Paladin" [Lilith maid] "I see. Thank you, and please do so" [Female paladin] "I will" [Lilith maid] She was criticizing me moment ago, and yet, she still feels obliged to help me. How wonderful _________________________________________________ [At an empty road, Estel] A figure of a dark silver wolf beastman, holding something akin to a portal stone in his hand. At a glance, it''s almost similar to that of the portal stone, but it is an entirely different stone. "With this, an enhance regressed beastly transformation is possible" [Wolf beastman] Taking the stone, the wolf stab his radial artery, injecting an unknown substance as well as allowing the artificial blessings to be circulated inside his own body He begins to become more and more of a monster. His fangs become sharper and bigger. So does his claws. He become larger overall, and from bipedal, he suddenly becomes Quadrupedal, walking on all four. His clothes, are all ripped apart, with some falling on the ground while some are still loyal to the place where it belongs ~Howl~ His howling feel the silent night. Little did he knew, the howl of his, which is the howl of the predator, attract a predator eating predator "From beastman to a werewolf. No matter, killing you is all I need to do" [Serial killer dwarf] _________________________________________________ [Next morning at Estel adventure guild] [Rean point of view] "Really!" [All] "I agree with Ray on this one. Just think about it, why would a monster wear a cloth with a weapon attached on it? Or even crazier, why would someone force a monster wear a cloth with a weapon on it? It has to be some sort of regress beastly transformation!" [Muse] "Which leave us with the questions, how does the wolf beastman transform into a unique regress beastly transformation, and who kills him?" [Ray] True. There are two types of beastly transformation. Evolved beastly transformation, like the one Elise have (as she will transform into mythical nine tail fox in the future) as well as regress beastly transformation (where one would become more and more like the species they are but still retain beastman like characteristics). Thing is, that wolf beastman transformation is nothing short of regress beastly transformation, if anything, more like turning into a monster "Princess Diana, do you have any idea?" [Liyana] "The killer? I do, and based on the autopsy report, I agree that this is none other than the serial killer dwarf doing" [Diana] "!" [All] "Another question will be, why? Satiate his lust for killing? Revenge?" [Qis] "In any case, please be careful. All of you" [Diana] "Right!" [All] As usual, we gather at the adventure guild this morning for the regular update of the current situation. Things are looking bad with each passing day. "Sigh... They''re pain in the ass" [Kadeus] "Agree. Still, you both really are great at deduction. Ray, Muse" [Mile] "I''m just trying to keep up with Ray" [Muse] "Yeah right!" [Ray] "Haha. You guys sure are spirited. I have some free time before my next meeting, so how about I accompany you?" [Diana] "Yes please!" [Kara] But unlike usual, this time around, all of us from the orphanage (minus Seo Ah who is currently studying under Saintess Rumia, diligently) join the meeting as well. And since all of us are here, Mrs Aries wanted to train us inside the ice dungeon, which all of us agree with Inside the ice dungeon, after using the adaptability magic, we went to the first floor. Just when we are searching for any ice ogre "Such powerful foe!" [Aries] "Indeed" [Qis] A strong Yuki-ona appear. Even someone as powerful as Mrs Aries and Mrs Qis can''t help but to gulp at her presence. As I prepare to unsheathe my katana to protect them "No need to worry. You''re the ten heroes aren''t you? Your brother asks me to deliver something" [Yuki-ona] "Ash did what!?" [Diana] She then bring out an ice cage out of nowhere, before putting it in front of us, and inside is... "You!" [Diana] Chapter 238 - Going to holy palace part 3 [Inside the Holy Dungeon] While driving my camper van golem, a sudden thought crosses my mind "Oh my god!" [Ash] "What is it!?" [Linda] "I just realized what I did was nothing short than an act of international terrorism!" [Ash] "I''m surprised you just realized that" [Alaric] "Well, they will suspect it was us, but they have no concrete evidence to say it was us who did it. So don''t worry" [Saint Louis] He said that in such a relax manner while eating a red bean pau with some hot tea. "For a saint you sure are overly relaxed after what we have done, no... more like, you actually have done this more than few times. During the succession war perhaps?" [Ash] "Looks whose talking. Plus, you wanted to ask something to else, aren''t you. Something about my past" [Saint Louis] "You aren''t cutting around the bush. I''ll be honest, what you said did leave a deep impression on me, so much so that I wonder what you have gone through" [Ash] "It isn''t anything special. Just that I was once the dark guild master during my younger age" [Saint Louis] """"I see"""" [Ash, Alaric, Linda, Seraph] "..." [Saint Louis] Dark guild master. Cool. That mean that... """"WHAT!!!!"""" [Ash, Alaric, Linda, Seraph] Saint Louis is... Saint Louis, the very same saint with the title saint beloved by Goddess Achalasia was once the leader of the dark guild! "Please tell me you''re joking..." [Linda] "I don''t, though not many know about it" [Saint Louis] "Then just how on Achalasia can you become a saint?" [Alaric] "Haha! Can it be, when you meet Mr Filvisar not to long ago?" [Seraph] "Short version is..." [Saint Louis] "Hold on! Let me put this camper van golem of mine on autopilot mode!" [Ash] Quickly turning it into autopilot mode, I let the camper van golem drive around at slower speed as to avoid any accident. I can just hear it while driving, but that will be disrespectful to a saint. Plus, it''s interesting, so I wanted to hear it with my full concentration "Sorry, now please continue" [Ash] "Ash, he''s still a saint you know! Have more respect!" [Linda] "It''s fine. I''m more comfortable with it. Though don''t do it when you''re with children. You''re someone with the title guardian of children, which makes kids believe in you and imitate you more, so you should remember that" [Saint Louis] "Ohh believe me, I have tone down my usual rudeness way more than any one of you think. Just ask Alaric" [Ash] "That''s true, but you''re still a bit rude if I''m being honest" [Alaric] "Anyway, about this story of mine, just don''t go around telling other about it. Even Saintess Rumia didn''t know about it" [Saint Louis] ~Nod~ Taking a deep breath, Saint Louis started to tell us his past. "I was an orphan with quite a number of elder and younger siblings. We aren''t rich, but we aren''t exactly poor either. Even then, we can keep our stomach from becoming empty, until..." [Saint Louis] Until... "Until the royalty in my country started to draft us all, immobilising all the national fund and forces for one single objective, and that''s to capture the Holy Beast of Wind, the Rampaging Garuda" [Saint Louis] "I see. That famous accident" [Seraph] "Is it really true that the holy beast of wind actually goes on a rampage?" [Linda] "Of course not. It was only an excuse to seize the holy beast power for themselves" [Saint Louis] "But I do heard that the holy beast actually attack the country" [Alaric] "That''s nothing but a retaliation from the holy beast side. Just like how a country will retaliate when another country attack them, so does the holy beast. In this case however the retaliation from the holy beast make the people believe the propaganda from the royalty, which make the mobilization of funds and soldiers alike easier" [Saint Louis] "What happen afterward?" [Ash] "Well, the holy beast manage to beat the country forces, and disappear afterward. The citizen, angry with the royals and nobles who trick them, but little did they knew that it was to late. Those at the top simply fled the country and thus leaving us crumbles. With nothing much to do, that''s when my journey as the members of the dark guild began. In order to feed my family as well as my neighbors, I begin to take various job while wearing various masks. Killing contract, slave auction. Name it, I actually quite proficient with it, so much so that they make me the guild master while not knowing my identity" [Saint Louis] "And...?" [Ash] "Well, of course I feel guilty, but at the same time, there was a friend of mine who is now an S rank adventure as well as the current adventure guild master in our headquarters. He suggested to me to raid the nobles and royals who fled the country, bringing back the wealth" [Saint Louis] "I suppose it works" [Seraph] "Indeed it does. With wealth starting to pour in, people started to become healthier and happier, and at the same time, people need someone to guide them, and that''s when this persona of mine, Saint Louis come into play. I work for both the light and the darkness of our country. Bringing back the wealth of the country while killing those royals and nobles who comes back as they wanted to claim their right to rule us once more. As for the light of the country, it was also at the same time that I met Mr Filvisar, Saintess Rumia and the other, and thus I perform my duty to lift their spirit up, ended senseless discrimination so that the country can move forward as one. I keep repeating it, both lifes of mine, until my life as a saint becomes that of a true devotee, but..." [Saint Louis] "I see. You also have your life as the dark guild leader, which brings a problem to your life as a saint. So, how do you handle it?" [Ash] "Did you know what those people at the dark guild called me now?" [Saint Louis] "The bloody saint?" [Linda] "Indeed. The origin of that begins when I tried to cleanse the country from the dark guild. It ironic, as they''re the one that help to rebuild the country, but alas, they refuse to serve in the light, feeling comfortable with doing various nasty things for easy money, and thus, this bloody saint as well as my adventure friend started to massacre them, all of them in a single night. Not leaving a single one of them behind, and thus, my life as the dark guild leader ended and my new life as the saint can truly begin. Than as you know, I help stop the succession war as well. I guess along the way, I received the title Saint beloved by Goddess Achalasia. As for bloody saint, you can say that being their leader once, I kinda know their modus operandi and where to looks for them, and instead of successfully converting them to become a devotee, I ended up killing them, which understandably gain me the title, the bloody saint" [Saint Louis] I see. So that''s his backstory "Pretty epic if you ask me. Not everyone can do that" [Ash] "True. If anything, you actually make a fine leader" [Alaric] "I can see how you actually received that title from the goddess" [Linda] "Pity for me as I can actually compose multiple epic songs from your story. Alas, I won''t. This is a secret that we should carry to the grave" [Seraph] "Appreciate it" [Saint Louis] Chapter 239 - Going to holy palace part 4 [Inside the holy dungeon] "Take care, the three of you" [Ash] "May the goddess be on our side" [Saint Louis] "We will need that" [Linda] "How about a quick song from me to buff us up, as well as making us even more motivated" [Seraph] "Can''t hurt to do that. We will need all we can since we''re infiltrating the holy palace" [Alaric] Exiting the camper van golem, we let Seraph buff us up and motivate us for the last time before splitting into two groups. The first group will be entering the holy palace (the country where the holy palace do have its name, but it''s easier and more frequently referred as the holy palace as a whole) via the official route, and that''s they will use the dungeon entrance to gain entry into the country. The one on this group will be Saint Louis as well as Alaric (who will use shadow dive once they''re near the checkpoint) and Linda (which can go undetected. Either this is the effect of being minion of god of death or because of her being the lesser lady of the holy death, Santa Muerte is still uncertain). Saint Louis will come under the pretext of official visit, all "alone" (hopefully those two remain undetected) and we will meet him once all of us are inside the country. According to him, there''s an inn where the new religion operated silently. "Alaric. Try to use shadow dive on Saint Louis once again" [Ash] "Right" [Alaric] As mentioned before, those who use the shadow dive will usually have their light susceptibility increase, and with Saint Louis here having a phenomenal light affinity, let just hope Alaric here won''t get toast alive. "Are you alright?" [Saint Louis] "Sting a bit, so long as you''re not fighting, it will be fine" [Alaric] "Tell me quickly shall you are in trouble. I will teleport you right away" [Linda] "Will do" [Alaric] Last minute checking for them, and looks like everything are clear. As for Seraph and I, we are the second group, and we will try to find a way in by using the ancient tunnel. Reason we can''t just enter the country straight or at least use some sort of bluff like back in Kiserre? Simple, it''s risky for both of us. I am basically an archenemy for those old follower, so it''s like a terrorist trying to enter the country while being inspected by police and army back on earth (so does Saint Louis, but he still hold some power, so they can''t easily turn someone as influential as him away). Seraph here also have some bad records with the old follower. He can shape shift but that still doesn''t really hide his identity from the goddess orb. Should just ask Rumia to manipulate the orb for us, but oh well And why don''t I use shadow dive as well? Simple, to avoid detection. It easier to spot two people rather than a single person "We are off" [Ash] "Good luck everyone" [Linda] Parking my camper van golem inside my item box, Seraph and I begin to search for nearby entrance to the ancient tunnel. Seraph claims that he knows a nearby entrance, but how to navigate it... Well, we will think of something. As for Saint Louis and co, they will walk there, traveling along the main road. Traveling the holy dungeon, I definitely didn''t sense anything holy about it. It basically a light elemental dungeon, nothing holy here like holy mana or holy miasma floating around. In any case, I don''t think they mistakenly put the name holy dungeon when deciding the name, it just all for propaganda if you ask me. You have a religion which have the holy palace as their headquarters, so it makes sense if the dungeon leading to the country be called holy dungeon. That will sound better for them "There''s the entrance" [Seraph] "Sure is a small entrance as compare to other" [Ash] "At least we can still walk comfortably" [Seraph] "True. Don''t want to squeeze around" [Ash] So the entrance is all set, which leave us with "Going through it blindly will be our last resort, for now how about we think of something" [Seraph] "Agree" [Ash] As the two of us brainstorm idea together, we decided few plausible idea 1. If its looks like someone with high enough ranking among the holy palace member are close by, we will attack him while pretending to be a mole monster. Drag him to the ancient tunnel and see whether he knows the way in or out. Kinda risky and kinda unreliable, plus no way to know whether he can navigate it. I thought of just straight up using memory dive, but again, risky. He might be train to resist it, or worse, train to identify the user. Plus, if I didn''t do it right, he might suffer brain shutdown and this will cause trouble for all of us. They might blame the easy target, that is Saint Louis doing something to him. I don''t prefer this instead, 2. Use earth sonar magic and hope for the best. Again, kinda not prefer this one, so 3. Hopefully there are dark guild members nearby. Kidnap him, memory dive and straight away navigate the ancient tunnel. Better alternative between the three, but sadly (The archbishop...) [Seraph] (We don''t have a choice, aren''t we. No sign of dark guild member after searching for so long, and this might be our only chance) [Ash] (Then operation attack him like a mole, begin) [Seraph] (Debuff him quickly!) [Ash] (Right!) [Seraph] Seraph quickly debuff the archbishop, weakening his mirage mana resistance, that way, he can be more susceptible to illusion magic. He looks like he''s searching for something, I don''t know what it is but I don''t care. I quickly use mirage magic and "Giant moles! So many of them" [Archbishop] (Good! Now!) [Ash] Using earth magic, I quickly drag him into the ground, knocking him unconscious by giving him a strong blow to the head with rock magic as well since I don''t want any unnecessary resistance from his side. Once that''s all done, we put him inside the ancient tunnel, and watch him away from afar (Worst part is, waiting him to regain his consciousness back. Goodness, how long will you stay unconscious!) "Huh... Where am I?" [Archbishop] (FINALLY!) [Ash] "Huh! Damn! I survive! That stupid moles! Plus, this looks like the ancient tunnel! Blast it!" [Archbishop] (Ooh...) [Seraph] "Whatever!" [Archbishop] He quickly navigate the ancient tunnel. From the looks of it, he seems to know his way around. Good! (Holy palace, here we come... Hopefully) [Ash] Please just go back to your home... Chapter 240 - Rean vs Karon [Karon point of view] Early in the morning, before Rean going to his usual adventure''s briefing, I stop him in his track, to talk to him regarding the uncertainty within me "Rean, can I have a moment please?" [Karon] "By all mean. Actually, I also would like to talk with you" [Rean] "Really?" [Karon] "Yes. Lately, you feel off. I say that, but I only just notice it this morning. I don''t know what or why, but is there something that has been bothering you lately?" [Rean] I see. I''m glad that he actually noticed it, albeit I am also a bit disappointed since he noticed it quite late. "Umm... When you awaken the blessing for the first time, did you feel, any uncertainty?" [Karon] "Uncertainty? A lot of it" [Rean] "Really!? Someone who''s calm and composed like you feel that way!" [Karon] "I might appear calm on the surface, no, I have to appear calm in front of all of you, since I''m your elder brother. But it''s true, me, Brother Ash, and even Princess Diana feel many worries and uncertainty. Maybe along the way, we just learn to hide it from all of you" [Rean] That''s rather unexpected. I always got the impression that he''s calm, mature and someone that could think something through rather easily. In a way, much like Brother Ash, he''s dependable but also quite opposite from Brother Ash usual brash personality "Then, how do you deal with it?" [Karon] "Just like what you do now. Seeking advice from other. I got it from Brother Ash, Princess Diana, and even Mrs Gizzere" [Rean] "I see. Well, there''s some feeling that is rather hard to explain, but it has been bugging me" [Karon] "Take your time and explain it step by step" [Rean] "Well. Lately, I have this feeling, each time I was in battle, there was a part of me that wanted to kill someone that hurt us... I have always thought that it was due to my father, but, could it be, it was all me? The more I think of it, the more I think thought something is wrong with me, that I, ughh, this is frustrating, I don''t ..." [Karon] "I see... Well, how about we spar for a bit. Just the two of us" [Rean] "Huh? Why is that?" [Karon] "Master Jacks had taught me an art to read through an opponent mind and feeling. Think of is as a way for one to dig through his opponent mental status through clash of steel. He says that often time, word that are hard to describe, or rather a hidden emotions will often spur out during stress situation. Be it battle, or sport, exams or any stress related matter. That''s why, I think it''s better for us to spar for a bit" [Rean] I see. If that help me sort out my feeling, I will gladly accept it, but "What if, I accidentally kill you?" [Karon] (Ooh, I can suddenly feel a bit of blood lust... But, it''s rather...) "Do you really think you can beat me, Karon" [Rean] "!" [Karon] He uses Brother Ash favourite phrase. "Very well, but don''t complain if you got hurt really bad!" [Karon] "Challenge accepted" [Rean] As the two of us go to the training hall, I can see that Rean is rather calm. I''m sure part of my negative emotions leak out just now, and yet he is still... "Here we are. Draw your weapon" [Rean] "I warn you. You might get hurt" [Karon] "A small price to pay, to better understand you" [Rean] Somehow, I feel irritated... ~Dash~ "!" [Rean] Taking my hammer from the item bag, I quickly launch a dash attack. Rean was a bit surprise, but he reflected the attack rather well, so much so that I trip because he is using my own momentum to push me (Kill someone that hurt you) [Serial killer dwarf] (Rean is... Rean is my family!) [Karon] "..." [Rean] "Exploding earth needle!" [Karon] The sudden spell outburst is nothing for him, as he simply dodge it sideway before counteract with his own darkness spear. It wasn''t at his full strength, maybe because he took pity on me "How about this!" [Karon] ~Throw hammer~ As expected, Rean dodges it easily, and he is coming to attack me, but "Do you think I''m a fool!" [Karon] Using my earth magic, I pull the hammer through my magnetic magic, and the hammer, Rean and myself are in one alignment. The hammer will surely hit Rean''s spine shall he not avoided it "How naive" [Rean] "!?" [Karon] "Circle of fire" [Rean] As if he was dancing, he swing his katana around, making a full 360 degree with flame following him. The flame and the rotation cause the hammer of mine to be deflected in the air, before he grab it and about to attack me with it (This is bad!) [Karon] ~Sudden halt~ "!?" [Karon] "I believe it was my win" [Rean] "How irritating..." [Karon] "Hahaha. Sorry abou..." [Rean] ~Sudden headbutt~ ""Ouch!!"" [Rean, Karon] I know that he wouldn''t prepare for my sudden headbutting, but I feel like my own brain is going full numb from it. "Hahaha... I kinda understand now" [Rean] "About what" [Karon] "You''re actually a nice person Karon. Don''t ever doubt that about yourself" [Rean] "What are you talking about?" [Karon] We both get up before Rean continue to talk "You see, your bloodlust just now, was actually like how Brother Ash was when he was confronting Motra" [Rean] "!?" [Karon] "Well, in Brother Ash case, it''s from his own desire, and in your cases, there''s another person driving it, am I correct?" [Rean] ~Nod~ "It was my father..." [Karon] "I see... Well, in any case, your father was nothing more than a passenger in your mind, behind every action of your" [Rean] "Meaning?" [Karon] "Think of it like driving a bus golem around. You''re the driver for your own mind, and everyone else is a passenger. Some passenger, let say Brother As... Princess Diana will always bring positive influence to the driver. Encouraging the driver and putting the driver mind in a state of ease" [Rean] (He wanted to use Brother Ash as an example of a person with positive attitude isn''t he...) [Karon] "And this father of your, in each swing of your hammer, in each spell of your, he actually interfere with your true reason of fighting" [Rean] "My true reason?" [Karon] "Yes. You''re fighting to protect those who you care, and yet I got this feeling, your father isn''t someone like that, he was like Motra. Those two conflicted with each other, making you rather uncomfortable" [Rean] I see. Master Jacks must have taught Rean so well. It feels like Rean is dissecting my brain pieces by pieces to understand what I am feeling right now. I wonder if Mrs Gizzere, who people always call someone that can read other people''s mind was practicing the same art, albeit in a different manner "So, what should I do?" [Karon] "Well, you''re the driver of your own mind, and your father is only a passenger, so you can just kick him out from your mind. At least that is what I am thinking" [Rean] "How?" [Karon] "That... I don''t know. Maybe we can ask someone else?" [Rean] "That''s a let down..." [Karon] "Sorry" [Rean] "No. It''s fine, and Rean... Thank you" [Karon] "You''re welcome" [Rean] "Ohh Rean, can you please tell Princess Diana and Guild Master Ram that I would like to tell something during the briefing" [Karon] "Huh, sure" [Rean] The fight and talk with Rean was rather a refreshing feeling. Like something suddenly vanish from my mind, though the core problem doesn''t go away just yet. I should talk with other about it, but who... Anyway, I better tell the other that we should all go to the adventure guild this morning. I''ll tell them about... Chapter 241 - About the serial killer dwarf [At Estel''s castle] [Diana point of view] Seriously. One trouble after another. To think that Ash would kidnap the prince of the holy palace and asked a powerful monster, Yuki-ona to deliver it is just... I just hope he realized that what he did was nothing short than an act of international terrorism. And I''m sincerely glad that Yuki-ona manage to disguise her "special delivery" with a valuable ice crystal, Eternal Ice (and when we are carrying the "special delivery" away, people thought we are "only" carrying the Eternal Ice). Eternal Ice, it is an ice crystal that would never melt, even if one to push it inside of lava. The only way to melt it is to continuously use high rank fire magic. Well, it will never melt but it''s quite brittle, so a blacksmith should handle it with care. The block of Eternal Ice is now under my storage (If possible, I would like use it to upgrade my knight, Valkyrie, the orphans and the adventures equipment). And as for the prince of holy palace (Seriously, what did Ash and Alaric do to make him so docile... Plus, why would they do it when Saint Louis is present? To think they drag the kind hearted Saint to do such nasty things. Ash is one thing, but it seems Alaric have also loses his common sense. I just hope Saint Louis will forgive them) [Diana] ~Door open~ "Princess, it almost time" [Qis] "I see. Anyway, how goes the interrogation?"[Diana] "The prince. He''s a wimpy kid. The knight, they''re a tough nut to crack" [Bladel] "I see. Once they manage to extract every bit of information, then tell me" [Diana] ""Right!!"" [Qis, Bladel] There are only few peoples who knew about the holy prince being abducted. Us who was there during that time, Valkyrie, father and the adventure guild master Ram. This matter should be kept as a top secret no matter what, especially from dear mother and dear step mothers. I don''t even tell beloved dear step mother the fourth queen about it since one wrong move and they will have a legitimate reason to wage war with us. Plus, the second queen have a good tie with the old follower, so she will definitely use this info to her advantage shall she knew about it. Last but not least, should I dispose of them after all is done? If possible, I would like to wring out every bit of vital information from them and then have them work with us. Be it suicide bomber or use mental hijack to control them from a far. I should consider various options to use them before eliminating them completely "Such terrifying thought" [Qis] "Oh please, your idea must be more brutal than I am" [Diana] "I can guess what you two are talking about, but what is there to pity. They threaten us and ready to do something horrible, affecting our citizens, if anything, death is to light of a punishment" [Bladel] "Indeed, just leave that kind of thing to us. A splendid soon to become queen like you should appear clean and noble in front of the citizen" [Qis] "I''m counting on you, just don''t push yourself to hard" [Diana] ""Yes"" [Qis, Bladel] I say that, but my mind are still preoccupied on that matter until the carriage arrive in front of the adventure guild "Sister Diana" [Charlotte] (Charlotte! Don''t!) [Elise] "Don''t worry Elise, I say that myself right, you guys can call me Sister Diana should you like" [Diana] "BUT!" [Elise] "Don''t worry. Don''t worry" [Charlotte] Well, the only one that call me that are Charlotte and Cupid. Other, not so much. Singa and Savel still use princess and sister interchangeably, and it''s cute seeing them like that "Princess, Guild Master, Karon would like to talk something first, so can he do that?" [Rean] "Sure""What is it Karon?" [Ram][Diana] "Well..." [Karon] That''s rare. The usually quite Karon suddenly wants to talk something. Unlike Kara who is generally shy at speaking with stranger (unlike her younger twin Mara), Karon here rarely talk because, that''s just who he is. I wonder what will he says? "The serial killer dwarf, he''s my father and..." [Karon] "WHAT!" [All] "Hold on, so the father that you mentioned during this morning training was..." [Rean] "Yes. The very same serial killer dwarf" [Karon] A sudden bomb of truth just explode. To think that our little quiet dwarf boy is actually the son of the serial killer dwarf is a shocking one indeed. I can see the faces of young and new adventures, knights and soldiers, they''re all in terror. "I see. Knowing you, that isn''t all there is to say, isn''t it" [Aries] Mrs Aries appears calm. Not only her, the S rank sibling was surprised but quickly regain composure as they wanted to analyse what Karon is about to say "Yes. I think it''s safe to assume that my father is acting all alone. Not siding with the true beastman group nor with the dark guild or the traitorous princes" [Karon] "Why?" [Kucin] "It''s just how he is. After mother''s death, he become unusually reserved. Plus, if he were to side with either one of them, and their objectives were indeed to kidnap us all, then father would have managed to do so, and yet he didn''t" [Karon] "I see. Do you have any idea why he comes back though?" [Ram] "That, I don''t, but I do find something strange..." [Karon] "And that is?" [Diana] "Well, I''m not entirely sure but the number of cases, it''s awfully low for someone like him" [Karon] "Meaning?" [Anjin] "I SEE!" [Lisa] The scholar Lisa suddenly shout, and of course, it attracted the attention of all of us inside the guild. Karon stop speaking as to let her talk "Karon. I''m sorry to ask this, but by any chances, is the first victim of your father killing spree happened to be a female dwarf?" [Lisa] Karon looks pale. He didn''t want to say it, and thus simply nodded to the question "Sorry to cause you feel like this, but just like Karon said, we can rule out that the serial killer dwarf is working with them. In fact, for whatever reason, he is hunting them! At least the true beastman group!" [Lisa] "Please explain it" [Alice] "Right. I have been studying all records ever since the serial killer dwarf are said to come back once again at Estel. What I found was something odd. His first victim, while not conclusive, one of it was said to be the female dwarf that Karon validated just moment ago. The killing spree went on and on until it stop" [Lisa] Lisa begin to explain it in details, and neither one of us wanted to interrupt her as we all sit down and listen to her theory "Here''s the thing that I notice. His killing spree, albeit a short one does cause a significant number of casualty to his target group. The first being multiple cases of female dwarves being brutally murdered before stopping for period of time and then he moves on to target his next group, the elves. This cycle of massive killing in short period of time before period of resting continue on and on until his failed attempts of group of nobles and royals, in which he failed on taking the live of the second prince of Estel, which lead him to flee Estel" [Lisa] Everybody nod to her theory simultaneously, even Karon. Some even get the full picture as to why we can safely assume he''s targeting the true beastman group "And as to why Karon find it odd about the number of cases is relatively low, it''s simple. His next target is that of a beastman, and not just any beastman, his target is beastman who is affiliated with the true beastman group! In other words, he is actively hunting those true beastman group!" [Lisa] "If that''s indeed true, then all the unique regress beastly transformation victims that were killed was indeed part of the group" [Ray] "So the situation now is that the serial killer dwarf are actively pursuing the true beastman group, and the true beastman group are actively pursuing Farhah. It''s becoming clearer now" [Muse] "With that out of the way, we only need to figure out the objective of the traitorous princes" [Anjin] All of them suddenly becoming restless. It''s a huge step forward in solving the current situation, and no less thanks to "Thank you Karon, for telling us this" [Diana] "Aren''t you mad?" [Karon] "?" [Diana] "My father try to kill your brother, so aren''t you..." [Karon] "Well, it''s true that your father tried to kill my elder brother, but that was his sin, not yours. Plus, I consider you and the other as my siblings as well, so no big deal" (Plus, not like both my elder brothers never did awful things...) [Diana] "I see..." [Karon] "Don''t worry. Your secret is safe with us, and even if the second prince wanted to do something to you, I will not allow it! So rest assured about it" [Diana] "Thank you princess" [Karon] "Sister Diana will also be nice, but sure" [Diana] Well, figuring it out is one thing. Best case scenario will be the serial killer dwarf wiped out all the true beastman group and then we safely capture him, but it''s highly unlikely... Maybe the unique regress beastly transformation was due to how desperate they are so much so that they are willing to transform into something like a monster. "Princess?" [Lisa] "Sorry, in any case, we should still capture those from the true beastman group as well as the dark guild... I wonder if I can become a valuable lure and..." [Diana] "NO WAY!" [All] They''re angry at me for making such a ludicrous idea... I''ll appreciate if Ash is here with us, he will most definitely agree with it... Still, a lure... "Haa!" [Diana] "What is it this time..." [Qis] "Listen, all of you! I got a plan on luring them" [Diana] This might attract the dark guild members more than the true beastman group, but we still need to capture both, so it''s worth the shot Chapter 242 - Faris and Faizi inn "Finally out! That damn moles. I should force the young knight to eradicate them all the next time!" [Archbishop] After a long underground session of tailing the archbishop from a far, Seraph and I have finally infiltrated the country of holy palace. It was a nerve racking experience but I have to admit, a certain OST of a certain spy movies keep on playing inside my head all the while. I hate to admit, but it''s actually an exhilarating experience when the OST keep on auto playing in the background of my mind, but not so much now as I need to focus (I have leave traces of my mana, that way we can escape using the same route should something happen) [Ash] No disadvantages of being overly cautious I guess. Well, there are one in this case that I could think of, I just have to hope that no talented magician will suddenly inspect the route we taken tenaciously and find out the traces of mana I left, and in turn finding about us. It is highly unlikely but still plausible. "Start your disguise Ash and let us go to the inn Saint Louis and I mentioned" [Seraph] "Right" [Ash] Well, since the OST of that spy movie still playing of my mind, why don''t I use that spy appearance for this mission. "Perfect" [Ash] "And done" [Seraph] "Ohh, isn''t that the noble appearance you use back during the Motra''s attack?" [Ash] "It sure is" [Seraph] Along the way "Did you hear the news?" "That damn false saint" "He''s inside the holy palace now?" "Maybe! That poor walking Saint can''t even afford a carriage? Such a shame! Using our country resources to escort him pisses me off!" "To think that he has the nerve to step inside this holy land of ours" "He''s the beastman, the witch and the devil supporter!" "Shall the holy palace order us to kill him, then my blade will be the one that take his life!" "Damn false new religion! They only acts to separate us human from each other before the fallen god resurrection!" "Plus, he''s on a good term with the Guardian of children who take good care of the rumour ten heroes" "The Estel''s guardian of children or the Malsia''s guardian of children?" "Both you dimwit!" "Shit! If that really is the case, Saintess Angela should do something and save those heroes from his clutches!" Looks likes Saint Louis manage to gain entry into this country (and as expected it becomes a huge and hot topic in an instant among their citizens), and thank goodness Alaric and Linda goes undetected when they enter together with him. According to the plan, Linda will almost always stick with Saint Louis to support him, and Alaric will move according to the situation. I won''t be surprise if Alaric was already there inside the inn "Still, this country sure have a nice view" [Ash] "That, I won''t deny. If it weren''t for the situation, I can compose multiple religious songs" [Seraph] Kiserre have a Vatican like feeling when I first enter the country, and this right here? It even grandeur than the one in Kiserre. And just like any other countries in this world, the castle, or in this case the holy palace which serves as both the royal throne as well as the main church for the old follower religion is also at the centre of the country. Well, unlike the Vatican, the top of the castle seems to be made out of pure gold. Honestly, it''s beautiful and yet feel overly excessive at the same time. Plus (As expected, it''s nothing but a sea of human here. Same situation as Kiserre before Queen Rinz take over the throne) [Ash] There is not a single site of any other species present. Not a dwarf, elf, beastman nor half giant present, only human, human, human and human "Take this turn here and we will arrive at the inn shortly after" [Seraph] "Right" [Ash] And what do you know, five minutes after taking the turn, we arrive at the inn calls Faris and Faizi inn. Why do I get the feeling they''re twin... Aren''t twin suppose to bring bad luck in old religion believe? Well, maybe they''re just sibling, that''s all "Welcome" [Skinny black beard gentleman] "What will our two guests like?" [Chubby white beard gentleman] "Hmm..." [Seraph] After looking left and right and making sure that nobody is here, Seraph shape shift back into his original form "!" [Black beard gentleman] "How long has it been, Mr Seraph" [White beard gentleman] "During our raid together which safe the infamous paladin" [Seraph] "Indeed, and he is?" [Black beard gentleman] "Guess I should introduce myself" [Ash] I dispel my illusion and "Ash from Estel. Well, people often referred to me as Behemoth Slayer or the Guardian of children" [Ash] ""!!"" [Gentlemen] "Faris, Faizi, can you guide us to that room?" [Seraph] "That room? Sure" [White beard gentleman] Taking a key from a hidden locker, the white bearded gentleman guide the two of us into the storehouse just behind the inn before revealing a large hidden room. It''s well furnished and more importantly "You''re already here" [Ash] "It''s too risky for me to follow Saint Louis, so he sent me to help you" [Alaric] "And how about Linda?" [Seraph] "She''s with Saint Louis. Since she didn''t teleport to us, we can assume she is still undetected by those in the holy palace" [Alaric] "Rest first. Faris will bring you some meals" [White beard gentleman] "Guess you''re Faizi then" [Ash] "That''s correct" [Faizi] A rest, I guess it can''t hurt to take a break here before further discussion. The two of us sit on the sofa before hearing how Alaric manage to find this inn. Apparently, he have to keep using shadow dive from building to building after leaving Saint Louis side, and once he arrives, he mentioned the password that Saint Louis told him and boom, VIP treatment. As for us, the two bearded gentlemen seems to recognize Seraph, so naturally they will straight away give us this room Bringing some well roasted chicken and a cold cocktail, the three of us with Faris (since Faizi need to take care of the counter) share our meals. After making sure the counter is close and making sure those who stayed at the inn are all sound asleep, the five of us begin our discussion Chapter 243 - Saint Louis and Saintess Angela [Inside the country of holy palace] [Saint Louis point of view] "Tchh! Stupid saint, making us work hard. Stay here until we get the permission!" [Guard] "Thank you. I''ll appreciate all your hard work" [Saint Louis] Getting a kind reply throw the guard off, and since he didn''t know what to say, he just quickly sent a message to the holy palace about my sudden unexpected arrival (From the looks of it, the magician that guard the dungeon entrance couldn''t detect Alaric nor Linda, but...) [Saint Louis] Linda drew her power from the limbo of life and death as the minion of god of death, so it is highly unlikely for anyone to detect her if she keeps hiding her presence, in fact, almost impossible but as for Alaric, he''s just a mortal like us, so sooner or later, they will detect him (Alaric, listen to me) [Saint Louis] (What is it, O saint) [Alaric] (I''ll tell you about an inn and the secret password that we use on the inn, so as soon as everything is clear, please proceed there. Linda and I will take care of the rest) [Saint Louis] (Understood) [Alaric] I tell him about the Faris and Faizi inn. That inn is actually operated by us from the new religion. Serve as an inn to other, it main purposes however come as an insider to provide us with all the latest information regarding the country. That, as well as serving as information brokers to our allies. The two of them are actually my neighbor before the false drafting to chain the holy beast of wind, Rampaging Garuda. Since I come here under the pretext of official visit, it is highly unlikely that I''ll get to meet them as the holy palace will surely prepare a room to monitor my every movement. Plus, I don''t want them to get suspicious of the inn, so sad as it might be, I should not visit the inn for the entirety of my journey here (They sure are late) [Linda] Linda, who muster her courage just now, floats around near the vicinity of the magician and various guard. She even swings her scythe in front of them, but alas, there are no reaction. I guess this literally what the ancient text referred to as when they say death is always just beside us. As she comes back to us, even she herself freeze for a moment, and that''s because (Agnes can feel our presence, luckily she isn''t inside the country right now, so don''t get careless, dear lesser lady of holy death) [?] ~Gulp~ Another minion of God of Death. Stay calm. I don''t want them to get suspicious. That mysterious minion of God of Death suddenly vanish before our eyes (Linda... who, no, what is that?) [Alaric] (That is... Thanatos...) [Linda] (The Thanatos that strike fear in Malsia not so long ago?) [Saint Louis] (I guess it is the very same Thanatos) [Linda] I see. Is it safe to presume that other Minion of God of Death are also inside the country? If so, Linda and Ash will be the key for us to communicate with them. (Alaric) [Saint Louis] (I know, I''ll tell Ash about it) [Alaric] (Thank you) [Saint Louis] "Here''s the carriage! Move quickly O Saint!" [Guard] "It''s a wonderful carriage, thank you" [Saint Louis] "!!" [Guard] The guard once again, can''t find a proper word for a reply. This isn''t the official carriage of the holy palace, that is for sure. If anything, it awful design is intentional as to embarrass me. No worries, as I can do this! "What are you doing!?" [Guard] "The carriage look likes it will fall apart the moment I step in, so I just reinforced it with my magic" [Saint Louis] "Just... Just get in there quickly!" [Guard] Well, all the traps are destroyed, and the carriage have been make even grandeur as my light mana envelop it. Not to mention, the sudden outburst of my light mana serve as a good distraction for Alaric who quickly use shadow dive to get out of here, into the direction of the inn Along the way, I can feel the hostile feeling of the citizen here as they keep looking at me with those hateful eyes. Some of the children even wanted to throw rocks at me but hesitate to do so as the poor looking carriage that I envelope with my light magic makes it looks so grandeur that they think it''s an official carriage of the country Once Linda and I arrive at the palace, they force me to hand over my staff, which I don''t mind it at all. It''s only a second hand imitation staff that I prepared beforehand knowing this will happen. Linda on the other hand, quickly stray off and start to gather information "Dear Saint, Saintess Angela would like to have a word with you" [Butler] (That was quick) "And how about the royalty?" [Saint Louis] "Sorry, they''re preoccupied right now" [Butler] From his hesitant tone, I can tell that they have caught wind of the disappearance of the holy palace''s prince, and yet they still unable to identify the culprit. Well, the culprit is standing here... The butler take me to the royal hall, where unexpectedly, only Saintess Angela is present... Nobody else is here. Strange... "No need for the cautious, O Saint. I would like to talk in you in private before the official talk between all of us" [Saintess Angela] "Indeed, I guess being cautious is a stupid move since I can easily win against you" [Saint Louis] Before discussing further, I move my position a bit, and she also does the same and the reason being... "Indeed. I don''t think I can win against you at all, not back then when you help the young paladin Aries, neither now when you''re far stronger than before" [Saintess Angela] "That brings me back, so... What are you planning on doing once you get your hand on the ten heroes?" [Saint Louis] "How awful of you accusing us of such horrible deed, you have no proof other than the mysteriously disappearing prince saying it" [Saintess Angela] "Who knows, you also don''t have any proof of the true culprit" [Saint Louis] "Indeed. For someone as capable as you, hiding an evidence or two is an easy job, why don''t you confess and make this quick?" [Saintess Angela] "And why don''t you confess on all the illegal experimentation you have done as well. Well, the evidence are already a out long time ago and yet, there isn''t a single official statement of apologize yet from your site" [Saint Louis] "Quite a comedian aren''t you. You and the kings haven''t issue an apology statement from the illegal invasion on our land" [Saintess Angela] Both of us know what others are doing and yet, both are just playing dumb at this point "Is that all. Guess with you, this pointless conversation will keep going on and on forever" [Saint Louis] "That might be true, but I actually like having you here with me. I''ll arrange the talk with our saint and the royal soon, so in the meantime, please, enjoy our hospitality here" [Saintess Angela] "Thank you" [Saint Louis] Calling the butler, she quickly asks him to guide me to the guest room, and once inside the room "Really Linda..." [Saint Louis] "Sorry, but she really can''t detect me. That''s a surprise" [Linda] "But a good surprise nonetheless" [Saint Louis] While Saintess Angela and I are having our conversation, Linda here keep on staring dagger right in front of the Saintess face, even went as far as placing her scythe right in the saintess neck. I''m just glad the saintess can''t really detect he Chapter 244 - Bait _________________________________________________ [Somewhere in Estel] [True beastman leader, Dark Lion, Simba point of view] "I see. Don''t be fool, it is an obvious trap set by Princess Diana" [Simba] "Right! I''ll tell the other" [Tiger beastman] Still, how did Princess Diana procure such a large amount of such valuable ice crystal in short period of time? That''s interesting indeed... Perhaps the rumour of her receiving the treasure chest of the goddess from the behemoth slayer hold true (Whatever method she''s using to produce large quantities of the Eternal Ice, I just hope my foolish men wouldn''t fall for it) [Simba] Or perhaps, she''s hoping for something else? Or could it be that it''s nothing more than a simple lure precisely because she knew of how my underlings started to become more and more disloyal. If that''s indeed the case, she''s indeed one terrifying foe... _________________________________________________ [Estel''s adventure guild] [Diana point of view] "Thank you your highness, to think that my katana can now wield an element of ice itself" [Samurai Jacks] "It''s fine. Plus, you have certain someone to protect. Make sure to protect my best friend from any savage beast!" [Diana] "Princess!" [Alice] "Yes, I will! You can count on me!" [Jacks] "Jacks!" [Alice] "If only Ash is here with us, he could continue teasing both of you" [Diana] "Grr...!" [Alice] Right now, we are going around distributing the Eternal Ice fragments to adventures and knights alike so that they can upgrade their weapon and armour. Of course, those at the orphanage have already gotten their fair share. They don''t really have much request, but when I found out that Ash have been saving multiple valuable loots as well this current situation of me giving away the Eternal Ice, I straight up ask the royal blacksmith to forge them some new weapon and armour. It''s the least I can do for them (and of course, I ask it to be tailor to their current level. Can''t have them wield a powerful tool this early on. It will cause more harm than good) "Then what about you!" [Alice] "?" [Diana] "You choose Ash as your first debutante partner! Surely there are some sort of feeling!" [Alice] "It was just a spur. The mood was a festive one" [Diana] "Oh really... I guess your highness the fourth queen was just gossiping around with me" [Alice] "Grr... You''re also the same! Dancing with Jacks at that time!" [Diana] "Oh my my, someone trying really hard to change the subject" [Alice] What''s with that smirk and tone... It feels like she really insist that there''s something going on between Ash and I. And what did dear step mother gossiping around. I know that she''s currently giving advice to Alice as the do and don''t when managing a school, but to think she found herself a gossiping partner, and it have to be Alice which have rub Kara with her romantic novel obsession. If those three meet up, dear step mother of the fourth queen, Alice and Kara... Well, I don''t want to think about it "Sigh... Let just go" [Diana] "Want me to call your first dance partner?" [Qis] "Not you too!" [Diana] Taking a small open carriage, the boxes inside containing a fake eternal ice are also here. My plan was simple, lure any of the dark guild or true beastman group members who are on dire need of money and those foolish enough to disobey their leaders. It''s plain as day that this can be nothing but a trap, and yet I''m sure there will be those who will take the bait. Dark guild people aren''t the most loyal type of person, so I''m sure I can catch plenty of them targeting my bait, and the bait being newly recruited knights or adventures carrying Eternal Ice with them. Those knights and adventures will walk all day, talking about how they got a freebie of Eternal Ice all the while high ranking knights and adventures will be following them from far. And when those foolish enough to take the bait come in closer to snatch the bait, they will then be immediately apprehended. The same can be said to the true beastman members. They''re quite loyal from what I heard, but (I don''t know what happened, but their loyalty are starting to sway) [Diana] The grasshopper beastman trying to kidnapped Farhah at the orphanage, and multiple mysterious regressed beastly transformation which seems sporadic at first, but at a closer look, is nothing more than a miscommunications between timing and places to attack. It shows that they aren''t as loyal as the rumour makes them, or their loyalty start to dwindling "Look! Princess Diana!" [Zerolith] "Coming back from training?" [Diana] ""Yes"" [Lara, Nara] Looks like all of them really train hard. I can see how sweaty they are. Must have been an intense training "Thank you for accompanying them" [Diana] "It''s my pleasure to do so" [Naoto] "Even you?" [Qis] "Saintess Rumia told me to take a day off. She asks me to practice my magic with them" [Seo Ah] "I see. She must''ve notice how hardworking you''re. Guess this is her way of telling you to spend more time with other" [Diana] "That''s her true intentions? I see" ~Jot down note~ [Seo Ah] As we are walking, a group of ruffian started to encircle us. They''re all from the pig beastman group, looking with their greedy eyes to these boxes containing fake Eternal Ice. I''m happy my plan works but they''re nothing but a fool. Who would attack a royalty in the first place... Ash will... Alaric will... Nevermind "Heard you got some valuable ice. Give it to u... Ouch!!!" [Pig beastman A] "You have the nerve to do this to Princess Diana" [Naoto] The A rank adventure from Malsia, elemental archer Naoto quickly shoot two arrows, with one striking the left foot of the pig beastman while another one on the right. That arrows look heavy, and it effectively chain him down, and as for the other. She also does the same to other pig beastman "Not even worth a challenge" [Qis] "So cool!" [Mara] "Her slashing speed is incredible" [Rean] "They''re both so strong!" [Singa] "Guess I should just use darkness rope to tie them" [Elise] "Earth cage would be better" [Karon] "How about wooden cage from me?" [Farhah] "Just combine them. It would be better" [Kara] "Krakeny can bind them!" [Charlotte] "Krakeny?" [Diana] "Charlotte''s first water golem. A kraken water golem" [Savel] "I see" [Diana] While we are being careless "Tchh. Pisses me off!" [Pig beastman B] "If we''re going to get caught, we might as well as use "that"" [Pig beastman C] "You''re right! Just consume them now" [Pig beastman D] (I don''t know what they will do, but it feel dangerous) "Sleep spell!" [Savel] Those ten pig, they swallow something, and their body started to change Chapter 245 - Vs man-eating pig [Rean point of view] It''s huge. The mysterious regressed beastly transformation of this pig beastman takes the form of what we presume to be a man-eating pig, and there''s ten of them, with one of them larger than the rest, signaling that it is the leader of this group of ten pigs. The leader eyes are also like that of a spider, with fangs like that of a snake. It breath stink and carry ailments of slow poisoning. The other nine are smaller and carry the same traits like that of the leader, just with lesser number of eyes as well as smaller fangs ""Area heal"" [Diana, Seo Ah] "Thank you!" [Rean] And there''s ten of them. We are still faraway from the neighborhood area, so the fairies couldn''t comes and help us, but ~Loud multiple chucklings~ Bobunny and its clone are doing a fine job and suppressing them. Multiple rocks were shoot at them, causing their skin to be have multiple abrasions while some have the muscle being flung at them, but "Quickly, we must eliminate them all!" [Qis] "True, just like the Cheenos and the Yetis back then, they become stronger through cannibalism!" [Naoto] "Yes, and it feels like they''re growing at an alarming rate... It''s simply abnormal!" [Diana] "Could it be, just like back then during the orphanage and the Kiserre''s incident!" [Naoto] "So the artificial blessings are in play as well!" [Elise] "Talk later! Eliminate all of them first!" [Qis] "Seo Ah, go and tell any nearby guards or adventures about it!" [Diana] "Yes your highness!" [Seo Ah] Seo Ah run as quickly as her legs could, she wanted to drag the youngest three as well but "No! I''ll help! Krakeny go!" [Charlotte] Charlotte quickly summons a water golem, her beloved Kraken golem. It''s from the C rank magic core which she painstakingly got after a very rough battle using the marine spawning block (which ended up with Grandpa Filvisar and Claude help to defeat the kraken spawn from it) Krakeny quickly wrap the leader of the man-eating pig all the while Bobunny''s and its clone pour down rain after rain of rocks. It isn''t exactly a lethal damage, as even though Bobunny was made from an S rank magic core, its stats is quite lacking in attack department, but with its incredible clone producing ability and self repair, it can summon countless rabbit clones which then pour down countless earth magic attack, especially rock fling. Couple this attack with Krakeny binding the leader, as well our own attack, the leader of the man-eating pig is worn out quickly ~Roar~ "Bad pig! Don''t hurt my cute krakeny!" [Charlotte] As she gets angry with the pig, she quickly heals the torn tentacles of her kraken, just by supplying it with her own water mana. It''s straining but with Charlotte''s high water affinity, it''s quickly done under three seconds "Take this! Dark arrow machine gun barrage!" [Zerolith] With his staff, Zerolith also launch countless wave of dark spear. Just like Bobunny''s pattern of attack, the individual power of each attack is lackluster, but with that amount of dark spear being made, it prove fatal. "It still doesn''t work!" [Kara] "They''re gaining strength at unbelievable speed!" [Mara] "True, but the damage they sustain aren''t healing at a good enough pace, so as long as we keep attacking, they will wither down sooner or later!" [Naoto] "If we can prevent them from healing, the battle will not be dragging!" [Qis] (Prevent it from healing, that mean) "Elise!" [Rean] "On it! Lara, Nara, help me will you!" [Elise] ""On it!!"" [Lara, Nara] A spell that she once use when fighting a Drakaini in her adult form. Heaven and hell fire. She quickly infuses her fire mana into the pistols on both her hand, with the right-hand pistol having the attribute of light representing heaven fire while the left-hand pistol with dark mana representing hell fire. This is a hard spell, and even though Elise has been practicing it diligently, the firepower is still lackluster as compared to her adult form version, but it is fine, as this man-eating pig are at best a B rank threat, while the Drakaini from back then was an SS rank threat. Plus, she got Lara and Nara to support her ""Now!!"" [Lara, Nara] "Right! Take this!" [Elise] She fire the spell at the group of pig, and the scream of the pig becomes louder as not only it burns the pre-existing wound, it also prevent it from healing. Plus, the fire quickly eat away the expose flesh and nerve, making it even painful. Charlotte also order Krakeny not to extinguish the fire with its water tentacles "Singa! Make a teleportation spell please, one here and one above them!" [Karon] "I see! Hey Savel, you know what to do" [Singa] "Like back then!" [Savel] "Rean, won''t you join us?" [Karon] "No, you guys continue with the plan, I need to be ready as to prevent them from running wild" [Rean] "Right. Farhah, help Charlotte to restrict their movement with your wood magic" [Karon] "Right O! One fire resistant wood to constrict the pig BBQ coming right up" [Farhah] Farhah wood magic, along with Krakeny''s tentacles further restrict the movement of the pigs, and once Singa two point teleportation spells are ready, another set of barrage attack from Karon and Savel rain from the sky above the group of pig, and with this "Just need the final push!" [Diana] """On it!!!""" [Naoto, Qis, Rean] Sis Naoto quickly fire several explosive arrows and torn the limb of the pigs apart, and as for Sis Qis and I ""Take this!!"" [Qis, Rean] With our blades, we quickly cut down the remaining standing pigs, including the leader, and thus "We did it! Yahoo!" [Zerolith] "You still have the energy to..." [Kara] "Haha, come on now! Be more positive will you!" [Mara] "True, you ten did a splendid job supporting us" [Qis] "Feels like they''re putting more works than the two of us combined though" [Naoto] "That''s not true" [Elise] "Now all that''s left is to..." [Rean] ~DEAFENING ROAR~ With a roar so loud that it create a force to push all of us several meter away, the leader once again stand up, and gulping down the remaining corpse of his former friends, without even chewing ""Shit!!"" [Naoto, Qis] The two quickly react by attacking the leader, but the leader after getting the boost it needed start to throw poisonous breath into us. "Earth wall!" [Karon] ""Thanks"" [Naoto, Qis] "Elise, bring the other away from here right now!" [Rean] "But!" [Elise] "Just do it!" [Rean] And as for me, I will "Careless. Karon, didn''t I tell you before, to kill your enemy!" [?] "No way! Why are you!" [Karon] A dark hair muscular dwarf, with vertical scars on both eyes, with one hand having knife directly attack to it muscle, and since Karon reacted strongly to him, it could only means... The dwarf quickly stab the many eyes of the leader pig, while the leader throwing a tantrum, smashing the dwarf up and down, and yet, it doesn''t even bother the dwarf. As the continuous stab continue, the dwarf finally slice through the skull of the pig, before pulling the brain out, while the leader pig is still alive, effectively killing him "That is..." [Diana] "No mistake" [Qis] "The very one and only" [Naoto] "Kill your enemy, before they can hurt you, have you forgotten about it, my son" [Serial killer dwarf] His eye, it''s an eye of predator eating predator, sending shiver down to my spine... "Chrono Mellontik¨®s!" [Rean] "!" [Other] Before things going south, I''ll protect them all! Chapter 246 - From top to bottom "To think Thanatos is also here with us..." [Ash] "So, does that mean the other minion of God of Death are here?" [Seraph] "Hard to say... I don''t know how to communicate with them whenever I need to" [Ash] "Then the best we can do is searching for any concrete lead, and if possible foil whatever their plan is" [Alaric] "While it''s hard, you guys are like that of an elite squad of a country. Fighting them all head on might be asking a bit too much, but sneak around, collect information and go, that''s indeed something a small group like you can do" [Faris] "Leave the information gathering to us. We are information brokers after all" [Faizi] "Thank you, but honestly speaking, I don''t know what to check other than the Achalasia Externa group. The scope is just to big" [Ash] "Indeed, the scope is big, but at the same time, that makes it easier" [Faris] "?" [Ash] "Let us explain" [Faizi] The two information brokers explain to me about data gathering process. While it''s true that we almost know next to nothing about them, that will also give us many directions to tackle this issue, where it will both become an advantage and disadvantage at the same time. First, define what we know. We know for a fact that the old follower headquarters are here inside this country, and their base are at the holy palace itself. Within those old follower, there is an organisation, or a branch which is responsible for Research and Development (R&D). This R&D branch has been infiltrated by a smaller and more secretive group called the Achalasia Externa, and one of their objectives, at least the one that we all know is to awaken the fallen god just like hundred years back. Their known members as of now are The Immortal Agnes, The half male half female butterfly beastman, Motra, The half giant Zin and Saintess Angela "I see. That''s how you organise the info. Start from top most or largest most, in this case the religion itself, and going down the line, it becomes smaller both in number and things to focus, in this case the members" [Ash] "True, and as you go down the line, the importance of the subjects mention will increase. For example, not all old follower are part of Achalasia Externa, but those like Agnes are surely part of it, and an important core member for that" [Faris] "Now, with this in mind, what do you think should we search?" [Faizi] "Well..." [Ash] I can think of several things if going by this method of thinking. Starting from the top, I guess it will be 1. Their true number. Surely, not everyone from the R&D will be part of Achalasia Externa. It simple logic, even in the movie, some character won''t realize they''re working with the baddie. So, in this case, we need to ascertain their true number. This will also make us aware of their true threat 2. Their other objectives. Even within the same organisation, different people will have different objectives. 3. Their location. It will be the best if all of them are station just inside the holy palace, but that is highly unlikely. There must be some other places for them to gather, kinds like mini gathering places 4. The other core members. Agnes, Motra, Zin, and Angela. We should seek out those people near them and confirm the other core members 5. The method to achieve their objectives. So far, I have seen them using various variant of portal stone and artificial blessings, and it scares me just how many more variants they have in store. Not only that, they also have developed a powerful staff for their people, so that is something we should keep in mind as well "A little bit disorganized, but nevertheless, we should check for it" [Faris] "Not only that, we should also add about their next short term and long term movement as well" [Faizi] "What they will do next and what will they do in a long run" [Alaric] "From what the holy prince say, they wanted to capture those ten kids and use them to wage war, but..." [Seraph] "What if the prince objective is different, solely from the fact that he might not be part of the Achalasia Externa group" [Ash] "True, but to do that, we must first tackle about their number first" [Faris] So, starting from the top it is. That way, we can identify a key figures among them, and from there we can tackle the next issues (if we kidnap him that is, but kinda dangerous as I''m worried they will frame Saint Louis for their disappearance), that is their objectives. Once we knows about their objectives, we can know about their methods, and that is again, if we kidnap the key figures "What should we do then?" [Ash] "For now, nothing" [Faris] "?" [Ash] "Just leave about finding their number etc to us. Once we have a concrete info, then we might ask you to help" [Faizi] "If you say so. We aren''t that familiar with this country either, so how about the three of us go out tomorrow and take a good look around" [Seraph] "Alaric, you want to go with me?" [Ash] "I''ll pass. Better to spread out first" [Alaric] "If you say so" [Ash] Where should I go? Maybe I should go to the cemetery and see if there''s any lower rank minion of god of death around? They can surely tell me more abou what Thanatos has been doing around here lately. I should also mark the periphery and key location around the holy palace as to make infiltration easier. I should also see or try and get close to Saint Louis and Linda and see how they''re doing (if possible) (For now, let just rest) [Ash] I have a lot to do tomorrow morning. What I will find will affect the future of my siblings, for better or worse, that''s why, I will give it my all (I wonder what they''re doing right now... If only the telephone functionality can reach Estel) [Ash] Goddess, please protect them Chapter 247 - The first saint and saintess "So this is the local speciaty. It''s spicy, but I have to admit, it''s kinda addicting. The mini explosion in your tongue couple with the nerve piercing feeling when the spice hit, it just the best" [Ash] "You sure you don''t want to try it Alaric?" [Seraph] "No thanks. I hate spicy food" [Alaric] "Haha, I''ll ask Faizi to cook non spicy food this afternoon, in the meantime, please, have more of this bread and jam" [Faris] "I will, and thanks" [Alaric] As we discussed yesterday, Alaric, Seraph and I will go out to familiarize ourselves with the nook and cranny of this country. We might not be gathering information (at least not directly as of now), but there are still much to do. For example, marking the point area around the country. (Maybe I should take a look at the local adventure guild...) [Ash] Better ask Faris first "The adventure guild? They''re mostly comprise of local people, so I don''t think it''s a good idea to pay them a visit" [Faris] "So an extra big no for me" [Alaric] "And the merchant guild?" [Seraph] "Let me guess, the same" [Ash] "Indeed. I think it best if the three of you avoid those two areas" [Faris] "Got it" [Ash] Well, I''ll still go and see it from a far, at least I should know their location, those two guild are sort of like landmarks After we finish our breakfast, Alaric quickly use shadow dive and went out. Seraph quickly shape shift himself into the same noble appearance that he once uses, but this time around, he makes a slight adjustment, making an older female version of the noble with grey white hair in fear of colliding with Motra (we still don''t know if he/she is here or not, but better not take any unnecessary risk) As for me, the same spy that I used back then should do the trick Quickly going out from the inn, I went to the direction of the adventure and merchant guild first, then only I will go and visit the cemetery and see whether there are any lesser minion of god of death "Did you hear what happen!" "The king would like to have an audience with Saint Louis this afternoon" "He''s being treated rather nicely!" "Dude pisses me off, why can''t we just burn a heretic like him!" "Not only the king, I heard other nobles are also being called as well! Basically, all of them would speak with Saint Louis!" "They must win! I don''t know what they will talk about but they must win! Don''t lose to the false saint!" "True! We must protect the ten heroes from his hand and also from the hand of behemoth slayer as well as Princess Diana" "The sooner our prince marry Princess Diana, the better!" "Agree" I see, I wish you the best of luck Saint Louis. As for getting their hand over my siblings, what could I say except over my dead body! (And Diana... First Fawaz ,the son of Queen Rinz of Kiserre, and now the prince of holy palace. She sure is one heck of a popular princess. Somehow, I feel extremely irritated and furious should any one of them marry her) [Ash] Jealous? Maybe... But more toward a feeling of a friend protecting another friend from a fiend I suppose. I mean, I don''t want to see her all depressed if she ended up with a wrong person, and now I can''t help but think about my siblings future. (Rean with Muse... Ok maybe? But the girls, definitely not! Once again, over my dead body! As for the boys, maybe Rafiah will be the overprotective one) [Ash] "Oh, that''s the merchant guild" [Ash] As always, full of people doing transaction after transaction. No sign of anyone I know, so better go to the adventure guild (and as expected, no sign of anyone I know of) After confirming it, I went straight to the cemetery, and there (Not a sight of lesser minion of god of death... Guess I''ll just wait and have a look around) [Ash] As my body begin to move by its own, I begin to wonder, wouldn''t this arouse suspicion? I mean, what business will someone have in cemetery other than visiting their deceased beloved one, maybe I should just head out and come back later... (What is that?) [Ash] There appear to be two special graves right in the middle of the cemetery. Upon closer looks, the sign written indicate that it belongs to the first saint and saintess, and [Here lies the first ten heroes: the first saint and saintess. May both of their souls be in peace after the fight with the fallen god] Now that''s interesting. I knew that Estel was founded or at least was founded during the time of the original ten heroes (courtesy of the first prince of Estel for telling me that), but I never found their graves in Estel. But these, these are the graves of the first saint and saintess which are also part of the original ten heroes. There are no record of their names but it was said that they both fell in love with each other, and their marriage was blessed by Goddess Achalasia herself. I wonder if that is true. (Maybe that''s why this country here is considered sacred, because of them being buried here, but...) [Ash] There are no souls... I can''t sense any souls within these two graves. How interesting. Maybe there was never a body being buried here in the first place? (No. The body of the two of them are buried here) [Goddess Achalasia] (!) [Ash] That''s surprising. Maybe the sacredness of this area allow me to communicate with her (So why aren''t there any souls here?) [Ash] (The same reason as to why your souls isn''t on earth) [Goddess Achalasia] (Interesting, logical indeed...) [Ash] So, just like how I was reincarnated here on Achalasia, those two are reincarnated to earth. (That''s sweet of you. Usually you will tell this is part of my homework, and ask me to search it for myself) [Ash] (You still have a lot to learn) [Goddess Achalasia] (Huh? Why do you suddenly said that?) [Ash] And there''s no response. A simple no would be better... (Well, I guess hanging around here appreciating the graves wouldn''t look suspicious) [Ash] Better stay here and hope any minion of god of death comes Chapter 248 - Kucin vs Serial killer dwarf _________________________________________________ [Demon kingdom castle] [New female paladin of the demon kingdom point of view] "And this is the list of orphans in this country" [Welfare minister] "Thank you. Regarding their new house?" [Female paladin] "I already buy a small mansion for their use, but as for their caretaker..." [Welfare minister] "No need. I already have it covered" [Female paladin] "May I know who will it be?" [Welfare minister] "Me. I''ll take care of them" [Female paladin] "Pardon...?" [Welfare minister] "I have grasp the scope of job needed to be done, and as such I believe it will be manageable for me to take care of them" [Female paladin] "But, wouldn''t it be hard?" [Welfare minister] "It is, but that''s also why I will take this job. The two guardian of children of Estel and Malsia, as well as Mrs Saga, it''s hard for the three of them, and yet, they still manage to take good care of the orphans. One is a traveler that keeps on bringing changes with Princess Diana, one is a merchant that keeps on striving despite the setback, and one is the strongest adventure. All three are a great role model and as such, even if it is just a little, I wanted to take care of them, to aspire those orphans as to become a better person in the future. That''s the role of the Director of Orphanage, not simply just feeding them" [Female paladin] "I understand, still let me know if you wanted any help. Surely, taking care of children are no mere task" [Welfare minister] "Yes I will... How about you search the list of single mother who are jobless with good record. I might consider hiring them to help manage the orphanage" [Female paladin] "I''ll do just that!" [Welfare minister] After the fruitful discussion, I left my chamber for a while, and just ten seconds afterward, Demon king Druser come and approach me. It''s regarding the person whom we will send to take care of the Embassies in Estel and Kiserre. "I see. I''m not well acquaintance with them, so can you arrange a meeting with them?" [Female paladin] "Hahahaha, isn''t it suppose to be the other way around. Some king am I getting more works push by his assistant" [Druser] "I''m sorry! I didn''t meant that way! I swear!" [Female paladin] "No need to worry, I already have you covere..." [Druser] "Such low grade assistance! Don''t you dare increase the burden of our king!" [Demon duchess] A cold beauty from the succubus line, though she have a tinge of humanoid features as well, suggesting her ancestors marrying a human. Her shiny gray horn with lustering silver hair and her choice of clothes, truly a beauty that surpass other succubi. She held from the duke family. She''s the eldest daughter of the house, and inherited the title after her parents die due to ailments. She''s still single and hard to approach but somehow my feelings tells me that... "Don''t be like that. You do that to Aries and now to her" [Druser] "But!" [Duchess] "It''s fine, and my lord, can I have a moment with her?" [Female paladin] "What do you want!""Sure. Have fun" [Duchess][Druser] King Druser quickly leave the two of us alone... Where did he run off to this time... "What do you want!" [Duchess] "I''ll be straight. You actually love Druser aren''t you" [Female paladin] "THAT''S!" [Duchess] Bingo _________________________________________________ [Rean point of view] It''s straining. Using Chrono Mellontik¨®s right after the fight with man-eating pig, but it has to be done in order to ensure their safety A quick dash at the serial killer dwarf, and instead of avoiding my attack, he dashes right into my direction, parrying my slash before punching me right in the solar plexus ~Vomit~ "Not bad kid, but I don''t have interest beating my son''s adoptive elder brother" [Serial killer dwarf] Can I take it for granted... No! Better be sorry than ~Poof~ "Rean!" [Farhah] "Let go of him!" [Karon] "Sure" [Serial killer dwarf] After transforming back, he tosses me like a paper back into the group. Just as he is about to say something "!" [Serial killer dwarf] A dark fire attack is launch toward him "Make it in time" [Kucin] The S rank adventure, black female cat beastman Kucin. Seo Ah manage to get help from her. That''s good "Dwarf! Won''t you surrender?" [Kucin] She already takes an aggressive stand "Interesting. My only target as you manage to deduce is only the true beastman group. I have no interest on other, and surrendering... As If!" [Serial killer dwarf] (How did he knew we manage to deduce his true intention!) [Diana] He tried to escape, but a wall of black mana prevent him from doing so Kucin quickly cover the surrounding perimeter with her own dark mana, forming something like a zone of dark mana, and from there, countless hands sprout out from it carrying various weapons. She didn''t use this technique when during her sparring session with Brother Ash, so I guess this is a new technique she develop later on Still, even when multiple darkness hand restraint and injured him, his movements isn''t affected at all, in fact, he is becoming even nimbler! As the multiple hands keep on attacking him, couple with Kucin own swordsmanship, the battle continue, so much so that Princess Diana''s hidden guard came out to help. (I knew that they will only act openly during true emergency, but why didn''t they help during our fight with the pigs...) [Rean] Still, you would think that this will give nothing but trouble to the serial killer dwarf, and yet there he is, still standing strong. He manage to grab one of the male vampire and throw him at the direction of spear holding dark hand, and Kucin aren''t able to act fast enough to dispel the hand, causing the male vampire''s right knee to be pierce from the back (This dwarf. His tenacity is admirable. Mrs Saga can boast about her unparalleled strength, Mrs Aries about her defense, Saint Louis is said to have astronomical affinity to light magic, and Ash with his magic and unique scythe weapon, but none of them come close to this level of tenacity... This fight, the longer I drag it, the harder it is for all of us) [Kucin] What this... I can sense Kucin gathering her neutral mana. That as well as her dark and fire mana. What will she do (I thought of testing my new found power to beat Ash, but it can''t be help...) "Evolved beastly transformation! Splinter cat!" [Kucin] She become larger, and her tails grow even longer, with dark fire hovering around her, forming a layer on top of her clothes and fur. She quickly become quadrupedal and "!" [Serial killer dwarf] "Dark hell slash" [Kucin] Her speed drastically increases. I see, splinter cat evolution focus more on the speed aspect as compared to other parameters. She also gains access go higher spell variant. Plus, the hand from the mana zone quickly transform into countless kittens, ready to become a suicide bomber, exploding when it comes in contact with the serial killer dwarf "Blood... NICE!" [Serial killer dwarf] "!" [Kucin] His shout makes even Kucin flinch. Even when it is obvious that Kucin got the upper hand, it''s nothing more than a mere illusion as the serial killer dwarf can quickly throw out the advantage his opponent have "Let finish this quickly!" [Kucin] With her sword''s handle now on her mouth, she gather around all of her mana and make one final slash, cutting the dwarf in a vertical line from his chest up till his umbilicus, and still "NICE! NICE! NICE!" [Serial killer dwarf] (Are you kidding me!) [Kucin] How come he''s still standing! Just what kind of person is actually this serial killer dwarf! Is he even a mortal! Kucin''s evolved beastly transformation have come to it ends. Things look bad, should I use another Chrono Mellontik¨®s spell? "Karon! Wait!" [Zerolith] "Huh?" [Rean] Karon quickly run toward his father, with a more menacing blood lust than he displayed during the training, and yet "Nice hammer technique" [Serial killer dwarf] "SHUT UP!" [Karon] "You still lack power. How will you protect humanity once you awaken your blessing!" [Serial killer dwarf] (Again... How did he knew... True, the fact that the orphans are in fact, the ten heroes should be widespread by now, but the information are still hazy to outsider, and yet, he speak it confidently) [Diana] "Train more you weakling!" [Serial killer dwarf] Again, another powerful punch to solar plexus, and again, he toss someone like a paper, and what''s that he give to Karon!? "Consider this a gift to the slow working princess there. This paper shows the location of the true beastman group right inside this country" [Serial killer dwarf] "How!?" [Qis] "How. Lady, how do you think I manage to kill thousand upon thousand of people and yet I am still here? Brute force aside, nothing can beat me when it comes to this kind of intellect" [Serial killer dwarf] "AND YET YOU THROW THE GIFT OF INTELLECT JUST TO KILL OTHER!" [Diana] "Yes, because it''s more fun that way" [Serial killer dwarf] And with that, he left, leaving three furious person behind "Father... I hate you!" [Karon] "Even after all that, to think I lost!" [Kucin] "Very well. For the sake of other, I''ll take this gift of yours. When our path meet once more, I''ll capture you!" [Diana] Chapter 249 - Racial magic _________________________________________________ [At the demon castle''s flower garden] [New Paladin of the demon kingdom, Female paladin point of view] "This tea break is really what I need right now. Thank you for inviting me" [Druser] "A break like this is more often than not, a necessity for a ruler. Overworked and you''ll collapse one day" [Female paladin] "Hahaha! You don''t have to worry of that ever happening to me. If anything, people like you and Aries will be collapsing from overworking, not me" [Druser] "If anything, you''re actually a hard worker yourself, but not up to the demon noble standard" [Female paladin] Again, comparing me to Mrs Aries. It''s clear as day even for someone new like me, but there''s no doubt in my mind, the demon king, Druser is in love with her. So the situation right now is The Demon Duchess who are in love with King Druser --> King Druser are in love with Mrs Aries --> Mrs Aries ignoring it or simply didn''t realize about it --> Love triangle happen --> Mrs Aries find out about her twin daughters still alive --> Mrs Aries decided to quit as the paladin of demon kingdom so that she could start her new life with Kara and Mara in Estel --> King Druser with a heavy heart agreed --> Demon Duchess thinking she finally had a chance to be with King Druser --> Me, a replacement of Mrs Aries appear out of nowhere --> Demon Duchess think I am her new rival ~Ring~ "Please excuse me. I have to take this call" [Female paladin] "Please continue" [Druser] Just as plan. Thanks to the demon Lilith for calling me, I excuses myself from our short tea break session, and that''s when (Good luck!) [Female paladin] ~Nod~ As she nodded, the Demon Duchess approach King Druser and join him on a private tea session just between the two of them. Now all that''s left is for her to make her advance. She''s a succubus after all, so getting a man or two right under her grasp should be a cake walk even for a cold beauty like her. In fact, she looks overly prepared with that elegant choice of light blue dress. A perfect dress for this tea break (Succubus easily getting a man... I should remove that racist stigma from my mind, especially given my position right now! Anyway...) [Female paladin] Operation to get the Demon king, Druser fall in love with Demon Duchess: Begin! _________________________________________________ [Diana point of view] I hate people like the serial killer dwarf. People like him who received gifts and talents from god and yet decided to wasted it, or worse, to use it for their own selfishness, they''re just the worst. With his intelligence and his power, he could easily become an S rank adventure, even becoming a high ranking knight under me, helping other people out and yet! And yet! (I don''t mind if he act like Ash, at least Ash is "easy" enough to reason with!) [Diana] Just thinking about it makes my blood boil even more! "Sigh... Focus Diana, you have enemies to capture" [Diana] Based on the maps and intel given by the serial killer dwarf, there are around 125 members of the true beastman group including their leader infiltrating this country through various route, from using the dungeon to using the ancient tunnel. Their objectives, as expected, is kidnapping a special elf known as Avery, in which case it is Farhah. (And with some simple calculation and guessing, the number should be down by half after our efforts to capture them. That, and the fact that the serial killer dwarf had been actively killing them) [Diana] Futhermore, while the reason is unknown, their loyalty to their leader, the dark lion Simba had plummeted. Also for an unknown reason, they''re actually much stronger than previously encounter, as well as they manage to get their hand on something strange, something that can forced them to underwent something they dubbed as enhanced regressed beastly transformation. (I see, so that''s the name the true beastman group are using for this mysterious beastly transformation) [Diana] Much are still left to be desired in the field of beastly transformation, as for once, not many beastman are able to underwent either evolved or regressed beastly transformation, but some fact from research did come into light. Ash once said that human doesn''t have any sort of racial magic, and in return, the goddess enable human race to use their neutral mana to use a lesser version of each racial magic from each race. As for the racial magic of the beastman, they''re beastly transformation, with evolved focusing more on mana quality and regressed focusing more on physical strength. (Still, the serial killer dwarf, could it be, he actually discover the racial magic of the dwarf?) [Diana] It''s a topic almost unknown to all. Researchers knew about most racial magic, for example Elf = Flora and Fauna magic. They''re after all commonly referred to as the master of wood and fairies. Ash might be able to use wood magic as well, but nowhere near the level of Flinar and Filvisar Vampire = life force magic. Alaric can use it pretty neatly Beastman = Evolved or regressed beastly transformation Dragonewt = Dragon transformation The almost extinct giant = Extreme Gigantification Plus, even in those races, some different ethnicities will have a variation of racial magic. Take Elise for example, in the future, she can access her evolved beastly transformation and become a mythical nine tail fox, one of the many branches available for the fox beastman beastly transformation But dwarf? Nobody knows... And speaking of the unknown, the demon and the angel race are also another races with an unknown racial magic. Zerolith, Lily, Rafiah, Yefefiah and Seraph, I believe none of them are able to use their racial magic... (Sure, Rean''s friend Lily the succubus have high affinity to mirage magic which allow succubus to use charm magic, but that''s not really a racial magic... Anyway, that serial killer dwarf, no doubt about it, all my instinct are telling me that...) [Diana] "Princess, it''s almost time" [Qis] "Already. Time sure flies when you''re deep in thought" [Diana] "Are you thinking of the serial killer dwarf" [Qis] "Yes, and my intuition is telling me that he actually uncover the mystery of the dwarf racial magic" [Diana] "!" [Qis] But what actually is the nature of dwarf racial magic. What could possibly make him having extreme tenacity, and taking countless fatal injuries without breaking a sweat... Could it be... Chapter 250 - Saint Louis vs everyone [At the holy palace] [Saint Louis point of view] The way the Knights move, and their extreme precautions towards me. The way that the maids and butler suddenly treating me a lot nicer than they previously would. Plus, by what Linda had been gathering, they mention something about a plan to justify their actions afterward. All of this could only mean... "Please! You have to reconsider! You''re the saint of the new religion! If you''re to... If you''re to die, what did you think will happen to other! What will Saintess Rumia do! Please dear saint, reconsider all of this!" [Linda] "Don''t worry. They won''t kill me, not in the nearest time anyway" [Saint Louis] During the talk with all the noble, royal, as well as the religious figures, they will surely launch an attack. Running away now is a viable option, but "We still haven''t grasped the location of the Achalasia Externa group. The one where Mrs Aries had been caged was a different one. Not only that, you also heard about the conversation between the half giant Zin with Saintess Angela, didn''t you" [Saint Louis] "Yes... Finally, the time have come, and even the ten heroes will not be ready for it" [Linda] "Precisely. That could only mean, the fallen god, it will awaken sooner than any of us expected. Those kids, they''re still young and some of them haven''t even awaken their ten heroes blessing yet. If by me getting purposely capture just so that we can discover their location l, we can halt their plan for a bit longer" [Saint Louis] Chivalrous? Maybe I am, but that''s not what matters to me. Shall the fallen god really awaken once more when Ash''s siblings just started to bud, they will have a harsh road ahead of them, no... They will surely get slaughter. A saint like me, someone who had killed others both for the light and the dark, can be replaced by anyone. There are countless talent back in the headquarters that can replace me should I fall here, and I''m sure Goddess Achalasia will help us to replace the Saint position should I really die. "Listen Linda. I really am counting on you. The number of enemies they gather, no matter how I look at it, I can''t win. That''s why, when they manage to capture me, you should follow wherever they drag me to, that will be the location where all their plan are put into action, and most likely, that will be where the location they plan to release the fallen god" [Saint Louis] "But what if you''re wrong! What if they just imprisoned you elsewhere! What if you reall..." [Linda] "Linda. Trust me. Saintess Angela, she''s a sadistic person, so I''m sure she will bring me to their hideouts just to have this big reveal about the fallen god, to drag my spirit down before experimenting me, so, once we get there, I want you to tell Ash and the other about it, understood!" [Saint Louis] (He really is serious about it...) "I can''t change your mind, am I... Just, be safe, that''s all I ask" [Linda] "I can''t promise you that" [Saint Louis] Thank you. All that''s left now is for me to mentally prepare myself. Achalasia Externa, Saintess Angela, and the fallen god. (O Goddess, I might not be able to converse with you like how Saintess Rumia did, but please, lend me your strength) [Saint Louis] (Granted. Please survive, O saint) [Goddess Achalasia] (!) [Saint Louis] So this is her voice. It''s like a melody, a voice that grant you calmness in the middle of sea of violence, a voice that can encourage you when despair is everywhere, and a comforting voice that can even make the toughest person, feel like they''re in their mother''s womb. My envy to Saintess Rumia multiplies as she could always hear the goddess sweet whisper whenever she wanted to, but at the same time, I''m glad, as that mean she will always be under her care "O Saint, it''s time" [Butler] "Right. Thank you for telling me that" [Saint Louis] "..." [Butler] He''s nervous. Looks like he had been informed about it, most likely a warning to never leak out this matter to outsider. As I walk with him, I can see that the castle guards a d knight are all having a tight face. They''re well train, so one wouldn''t notice it without any prior information that their life would be targeted. That, as well as the fact that I am the former dark guild master that handles many illegal cases, so it is obvious to me, as even the toughest person will make some sort of unpleasant facial expressions in a tight spot, no matter how well they try to hide it "Once they start attacking me, you better run. Maybe even bring your friends far away from here" [Saint Louis] "!" [Butler] He''s innocent, someone that was forced into this kind of situation without his consent, so that''s why I feel like telling him that "I... I... I... Please be careful. Our view in religion might differ, but I don''t want to conspire in such horrible deed" [Butler] "Thank you" (If only there are more people like him) [Saint Louis] As the door to the meeting hall opens up, the butler with his guilty face quickly left, and I could hear the sound of his strong footsteps, running away from what will become another big turning point in the history of Achalasia The royal and noble of the holy palace, their knights, as well as Saint and Saintess Angela. They''re all here, like a lion watching a powerful prey. Always cautious, and yet, confidence enough with their abilities "Welcome, dear Saint Louis. I hope our meeting today will..." [Saint of old follower] "Great light spear! Shatter!" [Saint Louis] "!" [Everyone] Whatever happens after this, no matter the outcome, will severely shaken the land of Achalasia, for better or worse. Countless version as to what actually transpired here will rise, with the truth and lies interwoven so tightly that it could not be separated. "Capture him!" [Holy palace king] "Just how did he know about it!?" [Holy palace queen] "Looks like I really underestimate you O saint, but thank you for the open fire, you save us trouble for creating excuses afterward" [Saintess Angela] "Someone, treat our Saint! His heart has been pierced by that false saint!" [Knight] As the countless wave of light magic thrown at me, all of my thoughts and prayers went not for me, but for the future generations, especially for the ten heroes. Fight Fight Fight For the future is always worth it to protect "SAINT LOUIS!" [Linda] Linda, I leave the rest of it to you. Chapter 251 - Meeting it once again [At Faris and Faizi inn] "They crossed the line!" [Ash] "Indeed" [Seraph] "Just thinking about what they will do to Saint Louis makes my blood boil" [Alaric] "Still, what you tell us is a worrisome news" [Faris] "The fallen god will awaken much earlier than anticipated. If that was indeed true, then I can see why Saint Louis taking such drastic action" [Faizi] "But... There are other ways!" [Linda] "Sigh... What done is done. At least he is still alive right now, and you have located their location, am I right" [Ash] "That I do. If only there isn''t a powerful barrier that mess with other unauthorized person from detecting it, then Saint Louis won''t resort to such tactic" [Linda] "Don''t be too hard on yourself. Remember, we are fighting against a group of fanatic that manage to infiltrate a major religions and they believe awakening the fallen god is a prophetic act. A powerful barrier is expected in such case" [Seraph] "True. Instead of self blaming, why don''t we discuss each of our finding first" [Faizi] "Please do so" [Alaric] True. Right now, time is gold, NO! If what Saintess Angela said was true, time right now are more precious than gold. I''m sure Linda is loathing herself for letting Saint Louis do a reckless plan all by himself, and I personally feel the same. He has my gratitude for doing this with my siblings in his mind, but shall something bad happens to him, then I don''t know how I will face Saintess Rumia and explain it to her what transpired here. Heck, the guilt will most likely consume me, and that''s exactly why I have to make sure Saint Louis will come home safe and sound Listening to Faris and Faizi, the two of them repeat back about the Achalasia Externa group. They can''t find a concrete number but it''s safe to assume that they''re around 1000 of them. Quite little from what I imagined, but given that they''re controlling most of the behind the scenes of this old religion, than it''s safe to assume that they''re dangerous and should not under any circumstances be taken lightly, and "The group are promise to go to the other side, to meet with their creator, Goddess Achalasia" [Faris] "But according to what you told us, the information from Mr Claude and Filvisar, their true goal is indeed the awakening of the fallen god" [Faizi] "Then it''s safe to assume that majority of them are being lied, and being used by the true core members of the group" [Alaric] "I will agree with that. I don''t know how they can accept the lie, but given the circumstances, I''m sure once they manage to awaken the fallen god, those guys will become the devils that will serve the fallen god" [Seraph] The term devil once again come into play. Demon is a race in this world, and as for devil, it''s the one that follows the fallen god, and just so happens that majority of the devils are from the demon clan way back then "Sigh... So that means that even if we were to capture the many of the thousands, it will be useless, no even less than useless, a complete waste of our precious time and energy" [Ash] "Indeed. They''re nothing more than sheep, so we should focus more on capturing the true core members, like Saintess Angela and the half giant Zin" [Faris] "Easier said than done" [Alaric] "True. We severely lack in manpower. This isn''t like back then during the Kiserre''s incident where we just barge in into the castle" [Ash] Back then, we have Queen Rinz of Kiserre herself supporting us, and not to mention the various nobles and knights as well as adventures supporting the five of us, and now, there are only six of us (and we have to minus both Faris and Faizi since they''re non combatants), basically suicidal if we barge in straight. Our only option is infiltration into the place where Linda had found, but it''s still dangerous nonetheless. "This is dangerous, our only option is just infiltration but with only the four of us... If only Thanatos is here!" [Ash] "You can''t find him?" [Linda] "Sadly no" [Ash] I have waited in the cemetery for ages, hoping any minion of God of Death to appear all the while appreciating the graves of the first saint and saintess, and yet, there is none of them there. I even went looking around at other places and yet... ""!"" [Ash, Linda] "What?" [Alaric] "Both of you are acting rather strangely" [Seraph] ""Could it be..."" [Faris, Faizi] Just now, what''s with that chills... Only the two of us can feels it, most likely due to "Hey why don''t we go and check the cemetery once again" [Ash] "Please let it be what we think!" [Linda] "All of you go, and as for us, we will try to gather any more information" [Faris] "Right! Be careful" [Alaric] "We will, and the same go to all of you" [Faizi] "Depending on the situation, we might go to the palace straight away, so if that were to happen, we will let you know" [Seraph] ~Nod~ Not bothering to disguise myself, the four of us went out into the empty night street and went straight to the cemetery direction. It''s a chilly night with the wind blowing rather strongly and thus making the chill even worse. There are occasions where we will stumble with a group of people and as expected, they''re rather calm, indicating that the whole operations to capture Saint Louis was done under utmost secrecy. Saint Louis does have a reputation of wandering all alone, so even if the new headquarters were to press an answer, they can just feign ignorance and say that he might be lost inside or getting attack my a powerful monster inside the dungeon "There''s the cemetery" [Ash] "Right! Let''s hurry up!" [Linda] Once we arrive, Linda and I went straight to the centre of the cemetery, the same one where the first saint and saintess graves are, and "As expected!" [Ash] "I don''t know their name but..." [Alaric] "Each one of them are powerful" [Seraph] "Please! Help us!" [Linda] "Thanatos, I suppose all of you gather here because of the fallen god related matter?" [Ash] "Indeed" [Thanatos] Chapter 252 - Estel vs Serial killer dwarf vs True Beastman Group part 1 _________________________________________________ [At the demon kingdom castle] [Female paladin point of view] After confirming and memorizing the list of the orphans in the demon kingdom one last time, I take my telephone to call Princess Diana. I hope she isn''t busy. I do wanted some of the orphans from the demon kingdom to receive their education in Estel, that way they can broaden up their view. While the old follower wanted you to believe that the demon and beast kingdom are uncivilized, they''re anything but far from it, in fact, as someone who once step foot into the holy palace, I can confirm that the two countries are more civilized than the holy palace. Still, even here and in the beastman kingdom, the opportunity for commoner to receive formal education are hard to come by, and the reason is, poverty. They live to work and work to live, and there''s no time for anything else, even if that means to improve their quality of life. While it''s better here as compared to other countries since the noble and merchants are taking apprenticeship from the commoner to lift their status up, it''s far from satisfying which is why "I see. Still, I would love to receive them, just not in the nearest time as..." [Diana] Serial killer dwarf and the true beastman group are in Estel! "Understood. Do you need any help from our country?" [Female paladin] "I can assure you everything is still under control, but I do appreciate the thought" [Diana] "Right. Please take care" [Female paladin] "Back to you" [Diana] That''s worrisome... Still, this is Princess Diana, so I''m sure everything will be fine. Regarding the plan to send some of the orphans to Estel, maybe I have to set back the date. Initially, I thought of sending them there two months from now, but pushing it a little bit further would be a wiser choice. I should discuss this with King Druser and "Good timing, how goes your date with King Druser?" [Female paladin] "His highness doesn''t even know it was a date" [Lilith maid] "Sad as it sounds, it''s the truth. Still, do you need something?" [Demon Duchess] "It''s regarding the orphanage" [Female paladin] _________________________________________________ [Diana point of view] She seems rather well adjusted to her current job. I''m glad I asked her to take the mantle from Mrs Aries as the paladin of the demon kingdom, but that also means I lost one of many gems in Estel. Rather sad, but the sadness inside of me for losing her is quickly overshadowed by the fact that she''s doing well, helping to bridge the relationship between Estel and Demon kingdom "You seems happy. I must say, I did not expect for her to be this quickly adjusted to her job" [Qis] "Budding talent I suppose. I''m glad about it though" [Diana] "With that out of the way, shall we?" [Qis] "By all means. Is the Valkyrie there already?" [Diana] "Bladel already have it covered" [Qis] "And Mrs Aries?" [Diana] "She should be in the orphanage, guarding them from any sort of danger with Mahsuri" [Qis] "Right. Let us go" [Diana] "Yes!" [Qis] Just like how back during the orphanage crisis, where the old follower and the duchess attacked the orphanage followed by kidnapping Savel, Charlotte and Cupid, which make all of us gather around to save them. Just like back then during my debutante party where all of us together ward off Motra''s plan as well as "defeating" the Holy Beast of Earth, Tyrant steel ant, Drant, this time around, we will gather to beat and capture two separate and yet closely related targets, the serial killer dwarf as well as the true beastman group After analysing the "generous gift" from the serial killer dwarf regarding the current location of true beastman group, I came up with the plan to lure them and capture all of them, including the serial killer dwarf in one go. "We have arrive" [Qis] "Thank you" [Diana] As expected, they''re all here. I''m glad. I''m truly glad from the very bottom of my heart. I''m glad as a ruler, that I have been blessed with such wonderful people, that will follow me both in easy time as well as through hardship. Those that can treat me as their equal and also treat me as their leader when the time comes. Those that will look at each other, giving and receiving equally. Those that will put their trust not only on themselves, but also to others as well as trusting their very own life on my hand as I guide them. As a princess, I am really blessed by their presence, truly, it''s a gift from Goddess Achalasia herself "Princess!" [Lisa] (Feeling emotional isn''t she...) [Alice] (I can''t deny it. For her to keep reminded of how truly blessed she was when seeing us, not many ruler can feel that way) [Gizzere] "I''m fine. Sorry for the delay. Everyone, will you please listen to what I have to say" [Diana] "Absolutely" [Hunter adventure] "If it''s you, then there''s no problems!" [Female elf adventure] "I just love this atmosphere" [Guard A] "Indeed. Hardship await us and yet, we are strangely calm and motivated" [Jacks] "Guess the princess presence makes that possible" [Borg] (Princess Diana... She''s something else don''t you agree) [Anjin] (Indeed) [Kucin] (As a citizen of Malsia, I''m just glad my princess is on a good term with her) [Naoto] "Alright! Quite down! Just listen to her" [Ram] "Right!" [All] "Once again, sorry for the delay, and sorry for the teary eyes just now. Right now, our objectives are capturing of the serial killer dwarf as well as the true beastman group. I''ll go with the beastman group first. They''re currently scattered across the country, but we manage to pinpoint their location. With all of you here, we will divide ourselves into 3 major groups. One group with the largest number of peoples will work on capturing the remaining true beastman group, while the second group will focus on locating and capturing the serial killer dwarf. The last group will remain vigilant, making the round at a predetermined route and your job will be supporting the two previous group whenever needed, but don''t think it''s an easy job, you will be tasked on helping to capture the dark lion Simba as well as the serial killer dwarf, presumably at the same time" [Diana] "At the same time!" [All] "The serial killer dwarf, I got this feeling that said ..." [Diana] ~Monstrous Roar~ What was that! What is with the deafening roar, and "FIRE! FIRE! "Help! There are monster everywhere!" "My child! Some tiger beastman inject something into him and he turn into a monster!" Just what''s happening! "Princess!" [Swordman adventure] "Calm down! This must be the work of the true beastman group. Looks like they''re growing rather inpatient! Like I said, quickly divide yourself into three groups and go to your predetermined area! I''m sure the monster are just the beastman in hiding turning into one, so the plans I made is still viable!" [Diana] "You heard her highness! Everybody, I give you two minutes to form a group!" [Ram] "YES!" [All] Chapter 253 - Estel vs serial killer dwarf vs True Beastman Group part 2 _________________________________________________ [Orphanage of Demon kingdom] [Female paladin point of view] Taking the Demon Duchess and the Lilith maid with me, the three of us embark from the castle and went to the mansion that will be home to the orphans of the demon kingdom. For Ash, he is currently stirring the orphanage to leave harmoniously with his neighbourhood area, and it works splendidly. For Mrs Mira from Malsia, she handles her orphanage almost like that of the apprenticeship system of Beast and Demon kingdom. With the crystal spawning block of her which produces ton of valuable crystal, processing it, selling it, marketing etc, all of it are done by the orphans. The orphans will receive appropriate "salary" so that they can use it for their personal use, either saving it up to buy a new gear or saving up to make their own business in the future. She guides them like a true merchant she is. As for Mrs Saga, she has the toughest of all. At least for now, she''s still trying to bridge the relationship between human and non human in Kiserre through the orphanage, and honestly, it didn''t looks good. The old follower there are simply stubborn for a change, even when their queen is actively trying to change that "And for us, the orphanage will serve as a bridge to further diminish the gap between nobles and commoner. Quite bold of you" [Demon Duchess] "True. It''s bold without a doubt, but I believe it''s possible. Even back at Estel, Princess Diana manage to close the social gap between the royal and her subjects through the orphanage. Of course it is only successful for those following her but the effect can be seen, sprinkling and affecting other as well. As for me, I propose this because the Demon and Beast Kingdom have the narrowest gap between a commoner and a noble, and if we can slowly alleviate the social status of commoner other than the apprenticeship system..." [Female paladin] "I see. More and more people will be like me, which mean more resources for the country" [Lilith maid] "True, and with some of them going to Estel to receive formal education..." [Female paladin] "You''re thinking of emulating Sir Ceanu Reaves from Estel aren''t you. Well, unlike him who gather talents from all over the place, you''re trying to spread the raw talent of the country elsewhere and bring them back after they become a fine gem. I like this idea" [Demon Duchess] "True, but... At the end of the day, it''s up to the children, because while we are thinking for the best future for both sides, we also have to take into account of their childhood happiness. After all, I don''t want an orphanage where the kids are constantly having a sour face" [Female paladin] "I see. That''s also true, but for that, we have to see and get to know the orphans better first and foremost" [Demon Duchess] And with the conversation between the three of us come to an end, our official palace''s carriage arrive at the orphanage (Dear Goddess Achalasia, please, give me the strength like the two guardian of children and Mrs Khamishah, as to better guide the orphans. Please, give me the strength to become the fourth director of the orphanage) [Female paladin] _________________________________________________ [Somewhere in Estel] [True beastman leader, Dark Lion, Simba point of view] A report came and mentioned that the serial killer dwarf had a blast, beating the S rank adventure, Black female cat Kucin in front of Princess Diana, and at the end, he gave something to her Knowing how the serial killer dwarf operate, I''m sure he gave Princess Diana information about us. About our location, our number and strength. It''s obvious as to what he wanted to accomplish (He wanted for the princess to gather her force and raid us all, and when the sudden unexpected raid does happen, the remaining forces of mine will start to panic, leaving their post behind, and that''s when he will strikes) [Simba] Chasing his prey who are in fear of death, and beating his prey to death while his face fulls of ecstasy, as he watches the horror on his victim''s face, in terror and slowly losing the warmness of blood. He is a true apex predator. For him, the thrill of the hunt is what matter most. NO! for him, both the thrill of the hunt and the results MATTER! (And Princess Diana isn''t a fool. She will gather her force soon and raid us, that''s for sure, all the while having a countermeasure for when the serial killer and I clashes) [Simba] So now, it''s simply a matter of whom outwit the other. Whether it''s Princess Diana with her goals of capturing both of us, or him, trying to kill as many of my underlings as possible or me, using the remaining forces to kidnap the Avery With around half of my underlings left, and with quite the amount of this unique portal stone left, I should just went all offensive from the start, not giving a chance for Princess Diana to gather her force. Not only that, I will force few of my henchmen to kidnap any young beastman, and force the enhanced regressed beastly transformation onto them, so that they can either be used to strengthen my fellow henchmen through cannibalism, or simply as more distraction. And speaking of distraction, starting an arson will be good. With my power, that shouldn''t be much of an issue (And I have to move presuming my plan is what that damn dwarf expected. The moment I see him, I will unleash "it" and burn him to death) [Simba] To think I have to resort doing it, forgive me, Sachmis Telling all of my underlings, we will start the plan right at 800pm, without delay, and "Now!" [Simba] Using my fire ball magic, multiple huge fire balls are thrown randomly at nearby building, burning them and the residents inside alive. That''s the signal for others to start transforming into a monster, and also the signal to start kidnapping any young beastman they see, running away from the fire and turn them into monster. Let the beastman turn monster then cannibalized each other and get stronger! ~Monstrous Roar~ Looks like they got the signal "FIRE! FIRE! "Help! There are monsters everywhere!" "My child! Some tiger beastman inject something into him and he turn into a monster!" Now, how will you react, damn serial killer dwarf and Princess Diana! Chapter 254 - Stopping the fallen god awakening part 1 [Somewhere inside holy palace] [Saint Louis point of view] The constant groaning of pain... My enemies dragging me. They''re victorious, and yet they''re the loser in the fight they initiates The dark hallway or was it because of my dim vision not appreciating the torch and the fire stone being placed left and right to lighten up the hallway "Another one..." "Poor him... Getting the same fate as us" "No. She wouldn''t hurt someone before experimenting on it. He got it worse than us" "SILENT!" [Old follower C] I see. They will bring me there. To her playground. An extreme playground builds for her passion of tormenting other and to satiate her own desire "Now, take the head crusher and bring it to me!" [Saintess Angela] "Yes!" [Old follower A] It hurts. My body is aching all over the place. My eyes feels like it''s burning from the excessive input of my own light mana when fighting against all of those trying to kill me during the meeting. My hearing, all I heard are some buzzing sound accompanied by feeling of excessive vertigo and nausea. Blood might have stop dripping from wound all over my body, but my periphery are unusually cold, and it''s not due to the environment, but rather due to the excessive blood loss I sustained during the battle. When was it, the last time I feel this scared... Was it when our home was raided, or was it when one of my brother corpses was mutilated right in front of me... (Stop thinking about this Louis! Stay calm and composed, whatever happens, you must stop their plot to awaken the fallen god!) [Saint Louis] "Here is the head crusher!" [Old follower A] "Now leave! Let me have some fun first before throwing this guy into the abyss!" [Saintess Angela] "R...R...R... Right!" [Old follower A] And the old follower quickly left after seeing the true demeanor of his beloved saintess. "Hahaha..." [Saint Louis] "You shit! What is it you find so funny!" [Saintess Angela] "So unlike a saintess, not that I am one to complaint after killing more than half the attendees, or maybe you''re simply furious because of the large wound I gave to you" [Saint Louis] "UUUUUUUUURHHHHHHHHHGHHHHHHH!" [Saintess Angela] The large wound that I gave to her, it run from the very top of her forehead down to her umbilicus, and even below, and a deep one at that. More than unhappiness because her beauty appearance is there no more, the constant high pitch screaming is more due to the torn from her excessive pride being shattered by me Saintess Rumia, you''re without a doubt far better than this screaming sadistic person right in front of me. I''m glad it''s you the one that supports me "Come here! I''ll crush your head!" [Saintess Angela] "Ouch!" [Saint Louis] Taking my head and slamming it at the metallic base of the head crusher, Saintess Angela quickly operate the head crusher. This torture device is composed of a screw, a large screw with a wide base being controlled by a small spinning wheel. It serves no purpose other than to torture people, as when the screw pressed on a person''s head, it will not only bring intense pain, but the pressure will also crush one skull, protruding one''s eye balls and also shattering one''s teeth. A famous torturing device from the black market sold by the dark guild. How ironic is it, no, more like a karma as I once sold it to a noble to feed my family "GAAAHHHHH!" [Saint Louis] "Do you feel it! Do you feel the pain!" [Saintess Angela] Calm down Louis. Just use your magic and withstand the pressure "More! More! I''ll crush your head more!" [Saintess Angela] She keeps on spinning the wheel, making the screw pressing on my face deeper and deeper... This is bad, I''ll seriously get kill... Trick her, shatter my own teeth voluntarily ~Teeth shatter~ "Hahahahahaha! Hahahahahahaha! Hahahahahahahahaha! Hahahahahahahahaha! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Shatter more! Shatter more!" [Saintess Angela] ~Maxilla shatter~ "Opps... My my, how unholy like of me. Plus, a fine specimen like you shouldn''t be treat so roughly. Forgive me O Saint Louis. I''m truly sorry for shattering the handsome face of yours, will you forgive me?" [Saintess Angela] "Ha...Ha...Haa...." [Saint Louis] I survive... If I didn''t trick her by shattering my own teeth and maxilla, only the goddess what would happen to me "Still, I would like to make you mine and mine alone. Before I turn you into one of ours, how about I show you something interesting first" [Saintess Angela] ~Feigning ignorance~ "?" [Saint Louis] "Interested aren''t you. Very well" [Saintess Angela] What will she show me? I just hope that it is something related to the fallen god awakening. Please goddess, let it be something related to the fallen god! Going out for a short moment, the saintess comes back bringing me a sort of wheelchair. She single-handedly places me into the wheelchair and bring me to a deeper place, just the two of us, alone, leaving behind other old follower. Based on my mental calculation, it isn''t that far off from the place I was tortured "Now, we have arrived" [Saintess Angela] "Angela. Who. Is. This?" [Zin] "My next specimen, and a fine one at that. He will become a strong puppet of ours after I show him what''s inside" [Saintess Angela] "New. Friend?" [Zin] "Indeed, a new friend" [Saintess Angela] "Nice. To. Meet. You. New. Friend. I. Am. Zin. The. Half. Giant" [Zin] "Hello..." [Saint Louis] "My my, how polite of you. Now then Zin, can you let the two of us pass" [Saintess Angela] "Right. Angela. And. New. Friend. Can. Go. Inside. Meet. Our. God" [Zin] "!" [Saint Louis] Finally! My prediction is correct! I''m glad I ask Linda to follow this plan of mine. Still, with a half giant that is reported can use his giant racial magic, Extreme Gigantification, as well as Saintess Angela beside, and not to mention my less than ideal conditions, the best I should do for now is survive and tells Ash and the other what happen. Resorting to fight should be my last option The half giant Zin open the large steel doors, and Saintess Angela brings me inside, and inside of this large room, something is there, right in the middle of the room. So that is the... Chapter 255 - Stopping the fallen god awakening part 2 What a mess! Upon seeing what appears to be a scene straight out from any action movie, I can tell how intense the fight between Saint Louis and all the attendees. I mean, I can still clearly feel Saint Louis''s light mana lingering around in the air as if Saint Louis is still here, fighting. Surely it''s a statement of how powerful and how desperate Saint Louis was at that time. Linda mentioned that Saint Louis manage to kill almost half of the attendees, only because he was the one that initiated the first assault. From the sound of it and from the looks of the scene, it''s clear to me he gave everything he got right from the get go, like throwing a nuclear bomb when the enemies only throwing a rock at him as a provocation, thus throwing the enemies plan into array, making the casualty count, possible (Still, the holy palace haven''t released any official statement about it... What could they be plotting? Surely Saint Louis was the one that "open fire" at them, so why the delay on telling their own citizen about Saint Louis "bad deed") [Ash] Or could it be that they''re ashamed of themselves, losing so many lives just to restrain a single saint. Maybe, but I personally don''t think that''s the case. (Head straight down from here onward) [Linda] (Right) [Alaric] (Looks like our infiltration are made easier because of Saint Louis fighting them) [Seraph] (Yeah, that''s a blessing in disguise indeed) [Ash] Saint Louis intense fighting might have causes few of these things, if not all of it 1. The magic core they use for fortress defense magic might had been damaged, thus allowing our infiltration go rather smoothly undetected 2. And since the magic core for the fortress defense magic had been damaged, surely their court magicians been working tirelessly to repair them 3. The guards, the Knights and the magician patrolling around, their numbers are significantly reduced. They might be dead, or injured, or treating the injured. Some might even be skipping their round as to rest after fighting Saint Louis 4. The noble and royal. I''m not sure as to what happen to them, but since I don''t see any of them while we are sneaking around, I can assume they''re all "celebrating" their "victory" against Saint Louis, and thinking about their next plan (There are guards in front of us) [Seraph] (Ash. Linda) [Alaric] ((Got it!!)) [Ash, Linda] There are five guards doing their patrol. Following Alaric''s lead, I use shadow dive, and just to be extra careful, invisibility magic on myself as well while Linda, due to her being generally unperceived by other, charge straight into the group of five people, and on Alaric''s signal, the three of us take them down. Linda and I use our scythes to decapitate the guards head while Alaric simply silent them by striking the guard with his knife, which pierce the brain matter out (Mind helping me strip them apart? I can use it to shape shift myself into the guard) [Seraph] (Make it quick) [Alaric] (Once you''re done, tell me. I''ll store the corpses into my item box) [Ash] (Geez... Both of you turn around, but not Linda. She can peek around should she like) [Seraph] "I WON''T!" [Linda] ((Quite)) [Ash, Alaric] (Sorry...) [Linda] Way to get us mad at you Seraph. Way to go "And done" [Seraph] "Well, let''s get going" [Alaric] "And I''m done as well. The corpses are stored" [Ash] "After this door, I''m not so sure as to where we should go" [Linda] "We can go separately... but it''s rather risky" [Alaric] "True, but I''m inclined on it, we are rather short on time. How about I went alone and search about the fallen god, while the three of you go and find Saint Louis" [Ash] "Oh no! I object! I won''t let what happen to Saint Louis happen to you! How am I suppose to answer Diana and your siblings should anything happen to you!" [Linda] "Chill... Thanatos and the other should be there already. We might run into them, so it''s safer than you thought" [Ash] "No means no! I''ll go with you!" [Linda] "Alright, let make this quick. Linda and Ash, both of you should prioritize searching anything about the fallen god, while Seraph and I will prioritize searching for Saint Louis. Of course, should you encounter Saint Louis and should we encounter anything regarding the fallen god, we will change the objective from that moment" [Alaric] "Sounds like a plan" [Ash] "Given the situation and time constraints, I''ll vote for a yes" [Seraph] "But!" [Linda] "It''s 3-1. Now move!" [Ash] ""Right!!"" [Alaric, Seraph] "Grrr... fine..." [Linda] Now going our separate ways, Linda and I proceed carefully and deliberately around this dark dim hallway. I can sense multiple peoples being caged inside, but unfortunately for them, I have to ignore them for the time being, at least until my objectives are complete. Once it''s done, I will try to release all of you. So for now, shadow dive and invisibility magic it is "Shit! My hand still hurt like hell!" [Old follower C] "All because of that damn Saint" [Old follower A] "Hope he die and went to the deepest layer of hell!" [Old follower G] Wait! Aren''t they... (Hmm!) [Ash] (What now!?) [Linda] (You sound annoyed... But that! That''s your answer) [Ash] (What about them?) [Linda] (Oh right, you have never met them before. Long story short, they''re Rafiah''s friend, the one responsible for attacking my siblings) [Ash] (Them! Are you sure!) [Linda] (Positive. I''m million percent sure about it. Since they''re here, one could presume that they at least know a bit about fallen god. Plus, from the sound of their cursing, they seem to know where Saint Louis currently is, so...) [Ash] (On it!) [Linda] (No, you scout around first and see if there are anyone left. Once you''re done, I''ll handle them alone) [Ash] ~Nod~ Linda quickly scout ahead, and once she confirms everything is clear, I quickly assault the three of them. Put some sleep spell so that they''re drowsy first and (Take this!) [Ash] A strong blunt force at nape of the neck, a decisive elbow strike and a powerful punch right in the middle of their ugly face. Since they''re unconscious... "Linda... I''ll try memory dive spell, so please, check the surrounding. Just warn me if anyone approaching" [Ash] "Right!" [Linda] Here goes Chapter 256 - Estel vs serial killer dwarf vs True Beastman Group part 3 _________________________________________________ Chapter 257 - Estel vs serial killer dwarf vs True Beastman Group part 4 [Rafiah point of view] Chapter 258 - Stopping the fallen god awakening part 3 [Somewhere deep below the holy palace] Chapter 259 - Stopping the fallen god awakening part 4 [Somewhere in the holy palace] Chapter 260 - Estel vs serial killer dwarf vs True Beastman Group part 5 [Somewhere in Estel] Chapter 261 - Estel vs serial killer dwarf vs True Beastman Group part 6 [True Beastman Leader, Dark Lion Simba point of view] Chapter 262 - Stopping the fallen god awakening part 5 [A little bit earlier, before Zin''s rampage] Chapter 263 - Stopping the fallen god awakening part 6 _________________________________________________ Chapter 264 - Estel vs serial killer dwarf vs True Beastman Group part 7 [Lara and Nara point of view] Chapter 265 - Estel vs serial killer dwarf vs True Beastman Group part 8 [True Beastman Group leader, Dark Lion Simba point of view] Chapter 266 - Devil invasion, sign of fallen god awakening _________________________________________________ Chapter 267 - Damage after the fight _________________________________________________ [Somewhere in the ancient tunnel] [True beastman leader, Dark Lion Simba point of view] I have lost everything. The True Beastman Group is no more as the only surviving member right now is me. No, I have to correct that statement, the only useful surviving member is me, the other are only at the level of a street thug. I should have taken Sachmis''s last word more seriously, not trusting Saintess Angela and Agnes to experiment on my fellow members. Thinking back, am I bewitched by that damn witch? I can restart back the group, using the same modus operandi as I used back then, but after what happened back at Estel, seeing all of them, fighting for one united cause, under one leader, without bothering about the small petty difference, I wonder if I should just continue all of it once more. Retiring at some random country sound nice as well. "Hahahaha. You look positively awful Simba" [Serial killer dwarf] "You!" [Simba] Damn it. I halved expected that he would follow me, but thinking it will be this soon... I am not in the best condition to fight him. (No! My life depends on this fight! I should summon Har right now!) [Simba] "Wait. Before anything, take a look at this thing" [Serial killer dwarf] As he says that, he throws a four arms creature right in front of me. What is that? It looks deranged. I can make out that it is a human, but something about it scream apocalyptic. For once, any normal human won''t have four arms, and this thing, it''s taller than your average human, no taller than your average Beastman. "Could it be... The devil" [Simba] "So even you think of the same thing" [Serial killer dwarf] As he mutilated the corpse to do an autopsy, strange dark miasma are released, like a gas escaping from a tight container. While doing so "I have a proposal for both of us" [Serial killer dwarf] "?" [Simba] _________________________________________________ [Rean point of view] "I''m glad you. Guys are doing. Fine, thank god." [Kadeus] "You aren''t hurt are you Kadeus?" [Lily] "I''m fine Lily. There''s no need. To worry about. Me." [Kadeus] "Still, your speech..." [Zerolith] "Sorry Kadeus, if only..." [Rean] "It''s fine Rean. And you guys. As well. At least I. Am still alive" [Kadeus] "True, but it still hard to accept such fact... Anyway, be strong! Sorry, I have to go now. Need to help Princess Diana" [Muse] "I''ll help as. Well" [Kadeus] "Sure. You can''t do the office job, but I''m sure Sir Ceanu and Crow have something in their mind that requires your assistance" [Muse] "If that''s the case, let us all go as well" [Ray] "The orphanage have been repaired thanks to Housey and Calypso Tree, so we should help around" [Elise] "Let''s go go go" [Farhah] Kadeus. He''s acting tough isn''t he. Right now, his lower half takes the form of a horse monster while his upper part still retain the human body parts of a centaur. Not only that, his speech, it just strange. He can''t say more than three words at a times, like a baby just starting to learn forming a sentence As we walk to Diana''s hall, we can see that the construction of the surrounding area started to take place. The goddess treasure chest sure comes in handy. Compare as to Motra''s assault with the Holy Beast Drant, the damage this time around are lesser, with no casualties from the innocent bystander nonetheless, nothing short of a miracle, and yet "That''s the monster!" "Go away!" "Don''t come near me!" "Why did Princess Diana and Saintess Rumia decided to spare the twelve surviving monster!" "Silent! They''re the one that save us all! I would not tolerate any foul mouthing!" [Kebab owner stall] "!" As he silent the bystanders, he quickly give us some free kebabs, before telling us to go to the Diana''s hall quickly, as our services are likely require, and sure enough, on our way there, Liyana''s personal carriage come to fetch us up "Sorry Kadeus, it just..." [Liyana] "I understand that. Don''t worry about. It, I can. Run faster with. This body" [Kadeus] "I wanna ride on Kadeus back!" [Singa] "Me two!" [Savel] "Me three!" [Charlotte] ""You guys!!"" [Kara, Mara] "Sure, hop on!" [Kadeus] """Yeah!!!""" [Singa, Savel, Charlotte] "Is it really alright?" [Karon] "No big deal" [Kadeus] And inside the carriage, Liyana talk about the assault done by the prince of holy palace. According to the official report, they''re the one responsible for this tragedy, and Princess Diana managed to subdue them all, but unfortunately she had to kill them as one of them run amok. Strange, Brother Ash brought them here as prisoner, and Princess Diana said that they''re being placed under a maximum security prison, so how did they manage to escape and cause all of this. (They being captured aren''t made known to the public, and this incident is caused by True Beastman Group and serial killer dwarf. It doesn''t make sense, unless...) [Rean] Princess Diana, could it be, she''s using the holy palace as a... If that''s indeed the case, all the blame will be pushed onto them, thus... (No. No. I''m just overthinking... Am I?) [Rean] Arriving at the hall, all of us are quickly assign with small tasks to help around. Apparently, Princess Diana, Saintess Rumia and Sir Ceanu Reaves are talking with the other through the telephone. I wonder if something happens? "Well, make sure to be extra careful. And by extra, I mean EXTRA CAREFUL" [Crow] "Right!" [Other] As the other start to leave the office, "What''s wrong Rean?" [Crow] "Could it be, you want to be alone with me? How wonderful <3" [Muse] "No, it just that..." [Rean] Even if I ask, I don''t think they know the full details. Plus, the thought just now is mere speculation from my part "Nothing. Please, forgive me" [Rean] "Wait! Can''t you stay here with me...? Ouch!" [Muse] "That''s enough flirting Muse. Get back to work" [Crow] "Meanie!" [Muse] "Hahaha..." [Rean] Better get back to work ""Quickly"" [Lara, Nara] "Right" [Rean] Chapter 268 - Welcome back. Wheres Ash? [Diana point of view] [One week after] My plan to use the connection between the holy palace and the second queen is now coming to its conclusion, with dearest father as the judge "My dearest wife and son, I hereby sentence both of you to live long imprisonment. Please, do not resist..." [King Estel] "You can''t do that to me! I''m innocent! I''m your wife!" [Second queen] "Mother, do something! Father, please!" [Second prince] "..." [King Estel] Success. I''m 100% sure father is well aware of my ploy, maybe part of him is disappointed with me for using such methods, but I know for a fact that part of him also agree that this has to be done, in order to free the grasp of the old follower from Estel. The second queen and her son, with them being plucked away, and with Saintess Rumia here, the old follower can say goodbye to Estel. With that, the two of them are finally remove. Still there are a bigger obstacle and that is "Hmm... It about time for parasite like them to be churn away from our system" [First prince] "And your dearest little sister will be next, or you could just make her vanish after ascending the throne" [First queen] "..." (Fool of a mother, Diana is strong in her own way) [First prince] Looking at the overall picture, it isn''t far fetched to say that 35-65 difference are still there between the two of us. I might have the support of various faction, but so does brother. Even when the Merchant guild master, Gizzere is on my side, he still holds the ministry of finance. Even when the adventure guild master, Ram is on my side, he still holds the ministry of defense, though that''s fine. There are many parasite within those ministry where both of us are aware of, so I''m sure he will struggle on that regard. (Plus, education and citizen welfare are my strong points now. If I keep on expending the two, it can rival him in the future) [Diana] As for diplomatic relations, I guess we are equal on that regard. He might win over quantity, but quality wise, I am confident my allies will come in time of need "Dearest sister, we are you going?" [Zaidi] "I have some work to do, and you?" [Diana] "Studying, will you..." [Zaidi] "Sure, I''ll accompany you for a bit" [Diana] "Really!" [Zaidi] And then there''s our youngest brother. I just hope elder brother will not be using him for his own personal gain. Plus, I wanted Zaidi do grow normally, not unlike me. I don''t mind if he grow up into a fine man and claim the throne, but for that, I should guide him properly, from here now on itself. The same can be said for the orphans as well as other children, and for that, a school for commoner is a must. Alice already have it covered and we will soon put that plan into motion It will be nice if the school and R&D to be integrated. I can ask Ash for help on that regard, since his ideas as someone from another world would benefit us all tremendously, and speaking of Ash (Just what are they doing right now... Please be safe) [Diana] The information broker had told me about what happened back in the holy palace. The info are still like droplet of water, and as such, it will be better if I just listen to what Ash and the other have to said (This feeling again... Please... Don''t...) [Diana] "Princess, how about the two of you take a rest. All we can do now is believe in them and wait patiently" [Qis] "Yes please" [Diana] "You look tired. It''s fine, I can study on my own" [Zaidi] "It''s fine. I''m alright" [Diana] Just like how playing with Charlotte and the other is a form of therapy from my daily stressful life, spending time with Zaidi is also one of it. As such, I should properly utilize this time well "Excuse me, sorry to interrupt, but Your Highness, they are here. They are currently with His Highness King Estel and Saintess Rumia" [Bladel] "Ash and the other!?" [Diana] "Yes..." [Bladel] ""??"" [Diana, Qis] What''s with her depressed tone. I don''t like it, this anxious feeling of mine, it keeps on growing. I can practically hear my heartbeat becoming faster and stronger by each passing second, and my throat suddenly become dry because of it (Diana, please take care of them...) [?] No. This is Ash we are talking about, so it couldn''t be... With Bladel taking the lead, we went to the room where Ash and the other are. Zaidi also follow along with us "Dearest sister..." (She looks... pale) [Zaidi] I don''t know how fast I walk, but I arrive at the room in no time, and "Welcome back... Where''s Ash?" [Diana] He isn''t here, and the mood, it''s all depressing. "That guy! Please tell me that he went to the orphanage... Right?" [Diana] Saint Louis is full of injury, and Rumia is treating his eyes. Alaric, Linda and Seraph, they''re relatively unscathed, but I can tell from their looks that something really happened back at the holy palace "Or he is..." [Diana] "Diana!" [Rumia] Rumia with her loud voice shout. I almost forgot that for such a petite person, she can produce such a loud sound "Ash, he is..." [Rumia] No. I don''t want to hear it. Please, don''t tell me. Deep down, I know that "He''s dead... Isn''t he..." [Diana] "!" [Other] "That''s correct..." [Alaric] What should I do... I am the one that sent him there (Diana, please take care of them...) [Ash] "So, it was really him at that time... His final message..." [Diana] "Your highness! Calm down!" [Qis] He insisted not to go to the holy palace, and yet, and yet "His siblings, do they know about it?" [Qis] That''s right. Rean, Elise, Kara, Mara, Lara, Nara, Zerolith, Karon, Farhah, Singa, Savel and Charlotte. Even Seo Ah is here. "We still haven''t told them about it" [Linda] "We ask those who saw us not to tell them that we are back at Estel. They might become anxious if they knew Ash Isn''t here when all of us safely arrived..." [Seraph] What should I do... Breaking the bad news to them, it won''t be easy... "For now, please tell us what happen back at the Holy Palace" [King Estel] "Yes, we actually..." [Alaric] Chapter 269 - Conversation with Goddess Achalasia [Rean point of view] "Brother Ash is..." [Elise] "Ash. Ash was..." [Claude] "Goddess!" [Filvisar] "..." (Again, I failed to protect him again. Forgive me, Vincent, Maria.) [Mahsuri] "No way. That Blondie wouldn''t kick the bucket so easily!" [Calypso] "You''re joking right!" [Mara] "I. I don''t believe it!" [Kara] "Kara, Mara..." [Aries] ""Dead"" [Lara, Nara] "It couldn''t be! This is a joke! A joke!" [Zerolith] "He is here right? Waiting for the right moment to prank us all!" [Farhah] "Zerolith, Farhah..." [Rafiah] "..." [Karon] "Dead. As in, no more, like my mother?" [Singa] "So we couldn''t play tag with him any longer?" [Savel] "We, we couldn''t see him? Just tell him to come back. I will even give him my favourite chocolate banana cake" [Charlotte] "Charlotte, it isn''t that..." [Seo Ah] If only thing is that simple. If only a cake is all that is needed to make him come back to life. How I wish that statement is true, but no matter how you look at it, it wouldn''t be that simple. Looking back, he is always there for us. It isn''t an exaggeration to say that our whole life are turn upside down, and for the better just because of him. This warm house, the warm sensation of finally having a family. The stomach that rarely growls nowadays thank to his kindness. The power we got as we keep training day in and day out together with him. The time we spent together. All living creature are bound to die, but that isn''t a fact that most creature will think about, and when their closest loved one went back to meet their creator, no matter how prepared one is, "Sob. Why. WHY!" [Rean] "Why are you crying? Let just take a cake and Brother Ash will surely..." [Charlotte] "Charlotte! He wouldn''t come back!" [Rean] "!" [Charlotte] And now, Charlotte is throwing a tantrum. Keep cursing at me with all her might all the while stressing the point that Brother Ash will come back one day "Charlotte. Please, stop it" [Diana] "No! Brother Ash will come back! He wouldn''t leave us behind! He promised! He promised to be there for us!" [Charlotte] "True, he promised...Uwwaaahhhh" [Elise] Elise suddenly let out a big cry. Usually, she will be the one that comfort the younger one, but now, she''s the one getting comfort by them. This feeling. I hate it. The orphanage should be a place filled with children laughter and joy, not a place where you will find a bunch of children crying Then again, I had cried back then, when the Duchess suddenly attack us. Oh how I remember. We got blessed with The Holy Beast of Dark, Time Keeper Az and then, the dream... The dream? The dream? The dream? (Alright everyone! Stand on your ground! This is Brother Ash we are talking about, and we have to give everything we have got to take him down!) [Rean?] (Right!) [Other] "THAT DREAM! NO! The vision from the future!" [Rean] "Rean? Are you alright?" [Rumia] "Vision from the future?" [Saint Louis] "Elise, Zerolith, remember that dream we got? Right after the battle with the old follower? We discussed it and..." [Rean] "Of course! The Time Keeper Az is the one responsible for it!" [Elise] "Then, that mean!" [Zerolith] While everyone were having a confused look, from the King, Princess Diana, Qis, basically everyone present, the three of us suddenly become happy once more. If this really is the vision from the future, then... "Goddess? You want to speak with them?" [Rumia] "!" [Other] What? The goddess would like to have a word with us? Hold on, this is the goddess we are speaking, so surely we are not in our best too "It''s fine Rean. I have always watched over all of you, so little bit messy wouldn''t bother me" [Goddess Achalasia] "!" [All] This is, this is her voice. It is coming from right above Saintess Rumia head, as if Saintess Rumia is just a representative figure from the goddess. More importantly, it''s soothing. Her gentle voice, it resonates greatly with our hearts, soothing it, like a mother gentle voice to her crying baby "Coming back from the topic, Rean, how about you explain the vision that Az bestowed upon the three of you to everyone, just so that we are all in the same page" [Goddess Achalasia] "Ri..Right!" [Rean] And I told them the dream the three of us had. It happened right after Az the Time Keeper bestowed upon us his blessing, and as such, we came in conclusion that wasn''t a mere dream, but, a premonition for the future "So, there are around twenty older version of us, fighting Ash who still looks young, and by the end of the dream, you concluded that we manage to save him?" [Diana] "That''s right!" [Elise] "If that''s indeed true, then there is still hope for young Ash to be save!" [Filvisar] "That''s indeed true, however..." [Goddess Achalasia] The word however from a goddess, it makes us hold our breath in unison, waiting for her next word, our heartbeats synchronize, anxious, and yet hopeful "However, that all depends on Ash himself. Currently, his soul is stuck between the possession of God of Life and God of Death. In the dream, it seems that the God of Life prevail, taking Ash for herself. Plus, when you meet him next time, it all depends whether or not the twenty of you are strong enough to bring him back" [Goddess Achalasia] "Then could we ask the God of Life to..." [Rumia] "That''s impossible, as the God of Life is in fact, the Fallen god itself" [Goddess Achalasia] "!" [Other] "Wait, what!" [Diana] "Please explain it to us, O goddess" [Saint Louis] "That''s impossible. The curse that the God of Life cast upon is strong, strong enough to even affect Goddess Achalasia herself not to talk about herself, which is why record of the fallen god are scarce" [Mahsuri] "Is that true!" [Alice] "Unfortunately, it is" [Filvisar] If that''s indeed the case, no wonder Goddess Achalasia keep on using the term homework to Brother Ash and Saintess Rumia. It not like she doesn''t want to tell them, but she couldn''t, and as such can only guide them into the right direction. This also mean, the fallen god, no, the god of life, is strong enough to even defy Goddess Achalasia "7 year" [Goddess Achalasia] "?" [Other] "The time Ash manages to buy for all of you is 7 year. Make no mistake, the minion of fallen god will steadily be release into Achalasia, but the fallen god herself, will set freed 7 years from now on. In the meantime, please, fully prepared yourself for the upcoming battle, I have faith in each one of you" [Goddess Achalasia] Faith. For the goddess herself to have faith in us "Lastly, how about I tell you your Brother final message" [Goddess Achalasia] "Really!" [Mara] "Thank you!" [Kara] Ans thus, like a video, Goddess Achalasia flash upon us Brother Ash final word. As we listen to his word, each one of us, resolve ourselves, to become stronger, so that one day "Alright everyone. We have a mission. 7 year from now, the fallen god will awaken, and it''s up to us to stop that disaster! That, as well as saving Brother Ash from his clutch! For that, each one of us will have to become stronger, strong enough to even beat Brother Ash on one on one battle!" [Rean] "Right!" [All] "Good luck with that. For the remaining of you whom still haven''t awaken their blessing, I already blessed you with Ten heroes blessing just now" [Goddess Achalasia] "It''s true!" [Zerolith] "Oh wow!" [Karon] "But this also mean..." [Linda] "When the ten heroes finally shown themselves..." [King Estel] "The end of the world begin" [Diana] Chapter 270 - The raging water magician, Charlotte [6 year after the first portal of devil opened] [12 years old Charlotte point of view] "Tyrant Megalodon, chomp it down" [Charlotte] The portal of devil, summoning an icy devil from the demon race open up at the Rock and Sea dungeon. There are other adventures and knights here as well to help me, but they''re simply unnecessary. I have told Sis Diana about it, and yet she still insist on sending the 13 year old 4th prince Zaidi with few back-ups to help me "GAAAAAH!" [Icy devil] "The devil, it''s struggling to even beat her Tyrant Megalodon down!" [Zaidi] "That''s the power of the raging water magician, Charlotte!" [Apprentice knight] Time to end this, as I signal the Tyrant Megalodon to ripped down the neck of the icy devil, decapitating it in instant. When all is done, another portal open, and this time, an army of the same devil enter the fray, quickly marching toward us "All knight and adventure! Prepare to back her up!" [Zaidi] "Yes!" [Other] "No need. This is my domain here, plus, they''re weak" [Charlotte] "What? You can''t be serious!" [Zaidi] "You should put a little bit more trust into me" [Charlotte] This is after all, the rock and SEA dungeon. There are water literally everywhere! Even the air in this dungeon contains abundance of water mana that I could easily manipulate, but the real advantage of me fighting the devils here will be manipulating the sea water "Raging sea! Swept them to the bottom of the sea!" [Charlotte] And thus, a mini tsunami swept the army into the depth of the sea. Drowning is a horrific way to die, even if your opponent is the devils themselves, thus, using the pressure from the depth of the sea, I quickly crush their skulls, ending their lives instantly. Their blood can''t even make it to the surface as bloody sea leaches already eat it. Suffice to say I also kill the sea leaches as currently, we have no exact idea about what will happen should a monster eat any part of the devil. Some scholars claim nothing happens, while some reported the monster becoming highly violence. Better be safe than sorry "And that''s that" [Charlotte] "Unbelievable, simply unbelievable" [Zaidi] "Told you that I don''t need any help" [Charlotte] "Can you please take whatever loot the devils carried?" [Zaidi] "Eehhh..." [Charlotte] "Please" [Zaidi] "Right..." [Charlotte] The loots only consists of few armors and weapons, but they''re of great quality, but I don''t think it will be of any use for me, and thus, I let the fourth prince take it and distribute it for the knight and adventure here. My staff and pistol that Brother Ash made are more than enough for me Taking the lead, Zaidi and I went back to the dungeon entrance. Greeted by the same old guard that us siblings come to know from six years back, we quickly use Zaidi''s personal carriage and went to the castle to report the incident to Sis Diana. Strictly speaking, this matter fall under the job scope of the Ministry of Defense, but since the first prince had attempted to use us for personal gain in the past, Sister Diana quickly take countermeasure and thus, both the prince and princess take the matter into their hand, though Sis Diana has a better response, as Zaidi once said, it''s a hassle to request the Ministry of Defense to deploy their knight, and by the time they''re deployed, damage is already done "Dear sister, we are here to report the incident at the Rock and Sea dungeon" [Zaidi] (Can''t he report it by himself, why am I getting drag along...) "Chocolate banana cake!" [Charlotte] "There you are, come here and eat with me, Charlotte" [Diana] "Yes!" [Charlotte] Chocolate banana cake! Chocolate banana cake! The head chef of the castle always make the best chocolate banana cake. A bite of it, and I can feel the melt of the chocolate sip through the very deep layer of my tongue, spreading evenly. The smell, the taste, it''s heavenly "There''s my cute Charlotte. You aren''t cute when you try to imitate Ash you know" [Diana] "I ain''t imitating Brother Ash!" [Charlotte] (Yes you are) [Qis] "Well, you quickly changing from imitating Ash to your true cute self has it own charm I suppose" [Diana] That again! I swear, I''m just Charlotte! Eating the remaining of the chocolate banana cake all for myself, I quickly make the report about what transpired inside the Rock and Sea dungeon. "I see. Thank you Charlotte for all your hard work. You too Zaidi, I''m proud of you" [Diana] "You''re welcome. Plus, they''re coming after all. As their sister from another orphanage, it''s my job to protect them" [Charlotte] "True. Before you leave, here take the cake and give it to your siblings" [Diana] "Right" [Charlotte] "Can I join, I feel like using the training hall" [Zaidi] "Someone having a crush on Charlotte" [Diana] "I''m not! And Charlotte, what''s with the disgust face!?" [Zaidi] No, let not talk about it. As the two of us quickly went out, I take Zaidi offer to use his personal carriage, and before going to the orphanage, it''s my turn to do the shopping today, when "Ahh, Sis Charlotte!" [Green hair boy] "Can we join you?" [Orange hair girl] "Sure, but don''t buy too much sweet, Sis Diana gave us enough Chocolate banana cake for dinner" [Charlotte] "Right!" [Orphans] Taking our sweet leisurely time, I almost forgot that there is someone else with us, and when I told him that he can go ahead to the training hall "Don''t worry, this is also part of my daily breather" [Zaidi] "..." [Charlotte] "I told you I don''t have any crush on you!" [Zaidi] "But you''re blushing?" [Orange hair girl] "That''s!" [Zaidi] "..." [Charlotte] "I give up..." [Zaidi] That''s fun, teasing him like that. I wonder, is this what Brother Ash and Sis Diana did to each other back then? Probably a big yes After the shopping, we quickly went back "I''m tired..." [Elise] Looks like her daily routine as the vice leader of Valkyrie once again leave her tired. Out of the twelve of us from back then, only Elise, Kara and I are currently in Estel, while the rest went out to other countries to do some work. I wonder, what are they doing right now Chapter 271 - Current state of the orphanage Another day closer to the awakening of the fallen god, or should I say the God of Life. We are getting stronger, but there''s no doubt in my mind, everyone is feeling extremely anxious about it. One year from now, the decisive battle will take place, and I pray, that our lives, wouldn''t be lost, as I just wanted to live longer, getting old with them Today, it''s my turn together with Elise to cook up our breakfast, but as always, Rafiah and Grandpa Claude are already up. I''m glad we wake up earlier than usual, if not, they will just do all the cooking by themselves. "Roar" [Behe] "Go.d Mor..ng" [Housey] "Mornin." [Calypso] "Morning, the three of you" [Claude] "Care to help us wake the children up?" [Rafiah] And the three of them quickly agree to it. Behe has become an adult light behemoth, but he can freely change his form from the cute baby behemoth to the ferocious big baddy, but most of the time, outside battles, he will retain the cute form as it''s easier for him to watch over the children, and the children of Estel come to love that form of him. Our two fortress defense magic core, they started to learn how to talk just so that they can communicate with children, especially babies. There''s nothing wrong being able to communicate telepathically with them, as all of us can intuitively understand what they will say, but I guess that''s part of their self-learning behaviour "Let see, where are the ingredients?" [Charlotte] "Are you making another chocolate banana cake!" [Elise] "No, just the regular banana cake" [Charlotte] "That''s the same! So don''t! Always feeding our younger siblings sweets aren''t healthy!" [Elise] "But..." [Charlotte] "No but!" [Elise] I guess I have to give up on that one. Maybe something else like a donut or "No donut or anything sweet! Period!" [Elise] "What are you! Mrs Gizzere or something?" [Charlotte] Just how did she read my mind so easily? More importantly, why am I the only one that seems unable to read other people intention? I spend quite a lot of time with Mrs Gizzere as well, so why can''t I get the art of reading other people mind? This is frustrating "Grandpa, can you please carry this plate for me?" [Charlotte] "Already done" [Claude] "I should have known better. You''re still a great butler after all" [Charlotte] Well then, time to eat up. The orphan siblings of ours quickly eat their portion of breakfast. They''re generally divided into three, those from Estel who have lost their families due to various reason, those from other countries that lost their families mainly due to devil attacking them, and orphans from anotherer orphanage, living here because they''re enrolled into Ash school for commoner, or also known as Estel school. Well, most people will only call it school, as the only other school here in Estel is the noble school for the noble "Do remember about you helping out at the school today" [Claude] "Of course. Kara did remind me of it yesterday" [Kara] Kara took up the teaching position at the school, becoming one of the teachers there. The principal of the school is Sis Alice, and the school, also serve as partially to pursue higher education integrates themselves with R&D and few other departments. There is medicine lead by Flinar, Engineering by Erinmorlin, and scholar by Lisa. "Can I drive the bus golem for today?" [Cat boy] "No! Me me!" [Green hair boy] "No. You aren''t ready yet. I''ll drive it" [Charlotte] Usually, Behe will be the one with them, making sure they all went to school safely from the orphanage and vice versa. Plus, the road are fill with elemental trees that were planted way back during Sis Diana debutante party, and now cover almost half of Estel. The sight of fairies are no longer considered rare here in Estel and as such, while taking cover from the devil invasion and using the trees as their homes, they provide protection mainly to children, regardless orphans or not While going to the school, we pass through Diana''s hall. Still going strong, with the head of the new religion, Saintess Rumia here. I should pay her a visit once I am done helping Kara "And we are here" [Charlotte] They quickly step into the school, where other children from all over Estel, and some even from other countries join in as well. There''s dorm just nearby it. As for me, once I park the bus golem in designated place, I quickly went to the teacher lounge where "You''re here quite early. There''s still one hour left before your lesson" [Kara] She really becoming more and more like her mother. Her long hair and soft voice, no wonder she became the most popular teacher in school "Just feel like seeing you. You and the other have been so busy that you don''t even call us!" [Charlotte] "Sorry, but you''re right. I should call other often, not just Mara and Zerolith" [Kara] Of course she will call her twin sister more often. Well, the two of them are currently working at Demon kingdom "So, Mrs Favourite teacher, how should I service you today?" [Charlotte] "Well Mrs youngest court magician, maybe you can give them an overview of magic and tell them your experience fighting the devils" [Kara] "Is that all? Both you and Elise can do just that" [Charlotte] "True, but you''re closer to their age, and as such, they will become more interested learning about it coming from you" [Kara] "Are you saying I am small!" [Charlotte] "Of course, you''re only twelve" [Kara] She also have take few points from Mara apparently. I am sure she wouldn''t say that few years back, guess time really change us all "Is any material fine, or should I use the school provided material?" [Charlotte] "Any materials are fine, just make sure the level is appropriate for the students" [Kara] "Guess I can handle it then" [Charlotte] "Thank you so much Charlotte. My class also started one hour afterward, so how about we have some tea and biscuits?" [Kara] "Sure! Make it extra sweet!" [Charlotte] Chapter 272 - Devil army Since it has been a while since I talk with Kara, the two of us talk about various things, especially about her daily routine as a teacher at the first ever school for commoner. As expected, even though she has gain confidence over the past few years, she still feels a little bit of anxious as she''s only a few year older than her students. If you ask me, she''s 18 years old now, and most of her students are around 10, some younger and some older. If anything, I should be the one who feels insecure, having to teach them magic "Still, you''re a court magician, so they should cone to respect you" [Kara] "And you''re the beloved teacher at this academy. What award was it again? Oh right, the best teacher award! Surely teaching is your calling" [Charlotte] "True. I feel fulfill with my jobs" [Kara] And before we know it, there is 5 minutes left before we each start our class, and as such, we quickly take the teaching materials and went in our separate way. As for me, I should go to the beginner class Taking the 900am beginner magic class, some of the students are as old as I am, but the looks on their eye tells me everything. They''re eager to learn and cast aside all their pride and worries just to improve their life. It is a big sacrifice, as the time they spend here can also be use for them to work, just so that they could put a bread on their plate, but persuasion from Principal Alice and Kara, as well as policy made by Sis Diana, they''re more than willing to attend the school As I take the chalk and start explaining the basic of magic, I can see that there are student jotting it down rather quickly, while some just try their best to concentrate as not to miss a single thing, and as usual, come my favourite part "No. Chanting a spell aren''t necessary. You don''t said out loud every time you walk or breath right?" [Charlotte] As expected, their jaw dropped to the floor. This is our first reaction when Brother Ash taught us six years back, and it has become my favourite catchphrase when teaching someone magic. "Is that how you become the youngest court magician?" "Partially yes, but also through rigorous training. Lots and lots of training are required" [Charlotte] "But you have the blessing of ten heroes and the Blessing of Holy Beast of Water, Ice Dragon Reshir as well. Talk about luck" "True, I won''t deny it. But that also means that I should sacrifice my life should the fallen god awaken, did you want to get the same fate?" [Charlotte] "..." "Now, let us move to next topic, since we are already talking about the fallen god" [Charlotte] That actually makes me sad a bit, but then again, Grandpa Filvisar survives the ordeal one hundred years ago, and as such, I believe the ten of us along with Lara and Nara will also survive, hopefully defeating the fallen god once and for all and bring peace to Achalasia Coming back into the topic of fallen god and devil, for once, the fact that the fallen god is actually the God of Life and other relevant facts are being spread and recorded, in case we couldn''t defeat it properly, that way the next generation of ten heroes will have much easier time, though I suppose the fallen god will do everything in its power to wipe that record out "Is the demon actually the devil?" "NO! A BIG NO! Spread that nonsense and you''ll get a free jail time" [Charlotte] Even though six years have passed since the incident known as the beginning of devil invasion, false rumour like this keep on spreading. It wasn''t requested by Kara, but I guess I should touch upon that topic before ending the lecture, for now, I will explain to them regarding the devil Devil =/= Demon. They''re just the follower of the fallen god, and majority of those followers just happen to be people from the demon clan "So does that mean a human can also become a devil?" "Yes. The famous S rank adventure, The blade of wind Samurai Jacks as well as A rank adventure, Dark fire samurai Rean have reported to us that they actually fought an army of human devil not too long ago, alongside soldier from Malsia" [Charlotte] "Ohh! I''m from Malsia. They''re famous for helping us out back then!'' "Is there a rank among them? I mean rank of strength, or are there any captains among the devil?" "Well, rank wise, we are still unsure about it, but strength wise. Yes, they''re much stronger than your average usual person, with different appearance and anatomy as well. Even the monster will be significantly stronger, for example..." [Charlotte] Let take the example of human devil invasion into Malsia not too long ago. Rean alongside Samurai Jacks, Naoto, Kana and Birdie with other soldiers and adventure fought with various form of human. There are human devil with multiple arms, some with spider like eyes and some with tails. They''re also strong, stronger than average human at least, and among them, there is an elite soldier that gave Naoto a run for her money. She''s still an A rank adventure, but her strength isn''t something to make fun of. She managed to defeat it with Rean''s help, plus "Different type of magic?" "Yes? Their magic are different from us. Apart from using the standard magic, they can also use what they call miasma magic. We are still analyzing it, so once we are done, maybe I''ll give a talk about it" [Charlotte] Take the icy devil that I fought yesterday. Sure, it can use ice magic as its name implies, but it can also use miasma magic. Think black miasma capable all three offense, defense and support. It is theorized that it was a gift by the fallen god for her follower Continuing the class, various questions are asked, especially about the devil, and as such, with 20 minutes before ending the class "How about I tell you about the incident known as the beginning of devil invasion" [Charlotte] Chapter 273 - The beginning of devil invasion Whether you''re interested in the political power struggle of Estel princes and Sis Diana or not, or whether you''re interested in the old and new religion debate or not, there''s no denying, that the beginning of devil invasion six years ago is something that have changed the world Traveling between countries have become more dangerous. The supposedly safe main road at the centre of the dungeon is no longer safe as there are countless cases of devil coming out from a portal and wreaking havoc there. Some monsters, whether they''re an F class monster to an S rank monster are equally effected as well. Some getting slaughter by the devil, while other being tamed or being made into a devil itself The ten heroes and their fellow companions have been working hard, trying their best to stop the crisis, as the special blessing of the ten heroes made it easier for the heroes themselves, as well as their allies to gain the upper hand during a battle with the devil All, all of these can be trace back six years ago. There are countless tales of the version, but most prevailing one is the one from the church of old teaching, and the one told by Estel and New teaching Let start with the old follower version of the story. One day, a fault saint from the new religion suddenly visited them at the holy palace, all by "himself", or so they''re lead to be believe as the saint had a reputation of traveling all alone. The saint arrival and the disappearance of the Prince of Holy Palace at that time was no mere coincidence, and as such, they took the saint to the castle in order to investigate the truth, and that''s when the saint, along with the infamous behemoth slayer at that time performed an unknown ritual to summon the fallen god into this world, and thus, marking the beginning of devil invasion. Both the faulty saint as well as the behemoth slayer lost their lives, as the first fault devil they summoned was a giant, a giant towering even other giant, said to be as large as the Holy Palace itself. The giant almost destroy the entirety of the country when the courageous Saintess Angela put her life on the line to stop the giant, she survived, at the cost of being turned into a Penanggal, a cost she gladly accepted in order to raise the banner to fight the fallen god. And now, onto the Princess Diana and Saintess Rumia version of the story. As the ten heroes are all living inside of Estel, and the various plots of the old follower to kidnapping them, Saint Louis alongside the behemoth slayer went to the Holy Palace in order to negotiate with them, and that''s when an unfair treatment to the saint begin as Saint Louis was being put under a restraint inside the holy palace. The saint, alongside the behemoth slayer then found out a ploy from the holy palace. They send the Holy Palace prince and his convoys to kidnap the ten heroes, conspiring with the believer of the fallen god. Thus, the two heroes bravely put their lives on the line to stop the ploy, and Saintess Angela, sensing she was about to be defeated, unleash the giant to beat those two, only to backfire, causing destruction toward the holy palace The political impact of it was interesting. Second prince and Queen of Estel had been put under house arrest ever since, Saint of old follower loses his life, and both the saintesses taking charge of the religion As the students analyze the story, they found similarity between the two. Both version indeed admitting that the incident started at the holy palace, with the four role involving Saint Louis, Saintess Angela, the behemoth slayer and the giant as the key figures in the story, and both story ended up with the death of two of the key figures, as well as the destruction of the country And interestingly, both versions are woven with both the truth and lies, so much so that only those who were directly involved know the truth behind what happen six years ago. Princess Diana, Saintess Angela and Rumia, Sis Qis, Principal Alice and Rean seems to be knowing the truth, but I guess each keeping it a secret, each for their own reason "Is it true that a demon will be the one replacing Saint Louis soon?" "It''s too early too said that. I can ask Saintess Rumia if you like" [Charlotte] And another thing, Saint Louis was officially declared death by all, even by the new religion, by his own request. Those who knew he is still alive dubbed him the traveling saint, as he alongside Seraph, the fallen angel king travel across Achalasia in order to investigate the dark guild, the two traitorous princes of demon kingdom and their connection with the fallen god. He will occasionally use the Goddess orb found through the Achalasia, as well as the one inside a church to communicate with Saintess Rumia in order to relay any information to us. Apparently, he awakened the same ability as Saintess Rumia does, albeit only a small portion of it "That''s all for today? Do you have any questions?" [Charlotte] "Teacher, how did other countries without heroes fare? The heroes only helps Estel, Kiserre, Malsia, Beast Kingdom, Demon kingdom and the headquarters of new religion. Isn''t it a bit unfair?" "True. We mostly help those countries because they''re the one that have been protecting and supporting us for the past six years. As for the other countries, even though there have been an attempt to kidnap us in the past by their royalty, we will still lend them our support, just that they aren''t as friendly as the aforementioned countries. Calling us the princess dog etc. Plus, when one of our owns help them, they had the nerve to block out the exit, just so they can have the heroes all by themselves" [Charlotte] "That seriously happen..." "Yup" [Charlotte] Well, that all happen in the past, and should I go to that country once more and they did the same thing, I will just storm their castle. The only one stopping me from doing it the last time was the adventures accompanying me and the Estel''s embassy there Chapter 274 - Marriage After finishing the class, I went to Diana''s hall, to see how Saintess Rumia is currently doing. I don''t have anything in particular to do as a royal court magician today, so I thought a little bit of strolling would be nice. Plus, even though those siblings of ours should be capable of going back to and fro from the school by themselves, I feel responsible to bring them back home today, and as such, I should just kill some time while waiting school to finish Since the school and the hall isn''t that far, I decided to walk there. The lush colour of elemental tree really cause a soothing effect to those seeing it. Brother Ash might planted it back then as a security reason, but no, it serves as sort of garden as well. It nice smelling flower, the sight of fairies playing around and the fresh air they give, it feels heavenly "Charlotte. Going for a walk today?" [Kebab stall owner] "I thought of going to the church" [Charlotte] "I see. Take this kebab. All on me kid" [Kebab stall owner] "I''m not a kid! I''m twelve already!" [Charlotte] "Baaah... Still a kid. Plus, as long as you keep imitating your brother, I will treat you as such" [Kebab stall owner] "Grr..." [Charlotte] As much as I am angry, his kebab taste delicious, and I have been eating his food since I was a kid, so it should be wasteful to rejec... "It''s delicious! Yummy!" [Charlotte] "There''s the cute everyone love" [Kebab stall owner] "I''m noth aa kidh" [Charlotte] "Slow down, don''t talk while you''re eating" [Kebab stall owner] Saying my thanks, I quickly went to the church, and just as the church session finish, I can see Saintess Rumia, Sir Crow, Sir Ceanu Reaves, Linda and Liyana discussing something. I thought of just waiting at the back until "Charlotte, just come here and join us" [Liyana] "Alright. What are you discussing?" [Charlotte] "What else. Alice and Jacks will get married next month, and so did Rean and Muse. We are discussing about what should we give them as a wedding gift" [Linda] "Have you thought of anything?" [Rumia] While everyone seems older (except the minion of God of Death, Linda of course), Saintess Rumia still retain a bit of her baby face, making her ever so popular among the men. Well, she''s still oblivious just like Rafiah. Still, the horizontal scar on her face, she could easily remove it when she got it six years ago, and yet she insisted on keeping it, calling it her reminder of how incompetence she was. I wonder what really happened six years ago "I actually don''t. I thought of just looking for something valuable inside the dungeon, but..." [Charlotte] "Princess Diana still worry about you getting kidnapped by other countries? Make sense. You''re youngest among them, so they would think you''re an easy target" [Crow] "We have put a pressure on them politically, but at the end of the day, there''s so much we can do, that''s on a paper" [Ceanu] That''s too bad. I thought everything will be fine, but maybe I am still a naive little girl inside... "I''m free today. How about all of us girls take a stroll on the market today?" [Rumia] "I WANT TO JOIN!" [Charlotte] (That''s easy, to lift her mood in an instant) [Linda] And thus, the four of us went to the market. There are so many cute accessories that I want for myself, but... (Money... If only I didn''t spent that much money on sweets and baking powder) [Charlotte] Plus, if I buy them now, I will not have enough money to buy anything nice for their marriages. Ohh "Charlotte. Here is some sweet for you" [Liyana] "Thank..." [Charlotte] (Hmm? Usually she will be joyful when receiving sweet. Is something bothering her?) [Liyana] What should I do. I should save up money but at the same time, I really want that expensive looking hair clips. Its nice and cute! Maybe I could buy a matching pair for Principal Alice, Muse and myself, that way I can kill two birds with one stone! "Alright. It''s decided!" [Charlotte] "You can''t buy hair clips for marriage gifts" [Linda] "WHY NOT!" [Charlotte] (So that''s what bothering her) [Liyana] "Well, you can, but what will you give Rean and Jacks then? Isn''t it a bit unfair if you don''t give them anything?" [Linda] "Right..." [Charlotte] Guess I am the one to be blame for the sweet shopping spree. Salary as a court magician is good, but as a "minor", Sis Rafiah is the one responsible for managing it for me. Good call, but now I don''t have the money to but this thing. Maybe I should beg her like the other day to withdraw some of my money, but, I might ended up getting scolded by her since I''ll probably ended up with sweet shopping spree once more... My final option is begging Sis Diana to let me dive into the dungeon freely in search of valuable loots. Maybe some treasure turtle will be nice. "Charlotte, Liyana. How about the three of us buy this matching hair clips? It''s on me of course" [Rumia] "I can pay on my own, but I''ll still buy it, how about you Charlotte?" [Liyana] "I''ll buy it on my own as well..." [Charlotte] "Ohh, but just the other day, you went on your sweet shopping spree, do you still have money to buy it?" [Rumia] How did she found out! As I beg her not to tell Sis Rafiah, she agreed to is so long as she''s the one buying it for me. I guess I have no choice but to accept her gracious condition. Plus, I really want that hair clip. "Oh Charlotte, fancy meeting you here. You wouldn''t happen to come here to vis..." [Fancy looking noble] "NO AND BYE!" [Charlotte] Urrrghhh! That irritating noble has to be there! I don''t know what face I make, but I''m sure it a face of disguise as I storm out of the shop, leaving the three of them behind. I can hear the saintess preaching to that idiot pervert noble, who keeps on sending marriage proposal to me, ever since I was 7! If anything, I feel like blasting his face with my water cannon magic! Or maybe ask Krakeny and Tyrant Megalodon to snap his neck and chomp him into pieces! (If anything someone Like Zaidi... No. He isn''t that good as well!) [Charlotte] Plus, we are talking about Rean and Principal Alice wedding, not mine! Chapter 275 - Invasion of the corrupted sea beast part 1 Denied. My permission to enter the dungeon all alone to search for any treasure chest or anything valuable for Rean''s and Muse, as well as Samurai Jacks and Principal Alice wedding is denied. I should get at least Elise or Kara, or Mother Aries to accompany me, but they''re all busy, though there is one more person that I could try to persuade with my best friend, Cupid "Please Mahsuri! Can you please accompany us to the dungeon!" [Cupid] "Pretty please" [Charlotte] "No. It''s your own fault that you went crazy with shopping spree the other day, why should I be the one responsible cleaning up your mess" [Mahsuri] ""Please..."" [Charlotte, Cupid] "..." [Mahsuri] And there she goes, staring blankly at us once more. I guess the only thing to do is to beg Sis Rafiah for my own pocket money. Right. Steel yourself, she might be a bit of stern when it comes to managing the finance of the orphanage, and as such my own salary, but I know for a fact that she''s still the sweet elder sister she was "Sure. But I will go shopping with you. I don''t want you to spend all your salary on sweet. AGAIN" [Rafiah] "Thank you!" [Charlotte] Yes! I should just asked her from the start! Now there is no need for me to dive into the dungeon just to search for their wedding gift. Now, just to survey what gift should I buy "Sure. I am rather free right now. My shift at the merchant guild should start pretty late in the afternoon after all" [Cupid] "Great! Let us start right away!" [Charlotte] "Can we go as well?" [Blond hair girl] "Pretty please" [Cat beastman] "Let''s go go go!" [Charlotte] And now, Cupid and I alongside a couple of my younger siblings went around, seeing what should we buy. They keep telling us to buy matching clothes for Rean and Muse. Rean with his usual red and black cloth, and Muse with her usual yellow and green cloth is nice, but maybe we should buy them a pair of clothes that''s different from what they will usually wear. Wait, to begin with, can we buy clothes as a wedding gift "How about some nice tea pot. They will move out after wedding, so they are bound to use it" [Cupid] "I see. Then things like water heater, wardrobe and daily necessities will be a nice one" [Charlotte] That''s a good idea. She is an apprentice at the merchant guild after all, so I can trust her decision in this kind of thing. Thus, all of us went around and around, until we are too tired to walk. Before we know it, we ended up in front of the adventure guild. Maybe we can take a rest here "Cupid. Charlotte, and you guys as well, what are you doing here?" [Lisa] Lisa, Cupid''s adoptive sister greet us. She replaces Principal Alice six years back as a receptionist of the adventures guild, and true enough, her popularity sky rocketed ever since. As we keep chatting, familiar adventures faces from long back started to swarm us, and started to treat me like a child! They''re rude! I am no mere child! "Where''s the cute Charlotte we once adored?" [Female elf adventure] "True. She''s been imitating Ash, but when you gave her sweet, boom, cute Charlotte once again" [Swordman adventure] "In any case, thank you for what you have done at the dungeon before" [Syah] "True, the dungeon is now safer because of you" [Mimi] "To think we are the one used to protecting you, and now..." [Borg] "I''m just glad they''re safe after all these years! They have grown to become strong!" [Lin] And with all this commotion, she bound to appear "Guild master Aries!" [Ram''s daughter] "As expected. Whenever the orphans come, you will make a ruckus, albeit a good one" [Aries] While Guild Master Ram and Gizzere have retired, the one replacing adventure guild master is Mother Aries, and as for Merchant guild, it was their son who takes the position. Mother Aries is now an S rank adventure, but true to her nature, she rather work on administration side of things rather than going out and do the field work. I guess that''s just who she is "I wonder, when will the next devil invasion take place?" [Axeman adventure] "Idiot! Don''t jinx it!" [Dwarf adventure] And jinxing it he does, as just outside the adventure guild, a portal gate open, and a strange mermaid cames out of it. The appearance of the mermaids, something off. "Cupid! Take care of my siblings please!" [Charlotte] "Alright! You be careful out there" [Cupid] And thus, I quickly jump into action with Mother Aries on my side. Even then, she didn''t forget about commanding her fellow adventures on what to do, and the good thing is that this has become so common that all of us react just by using muscle memory. Action first, think a bit later. Tell that to Mother Aries, and she will knock my head, so better not tell her As the strange mermaids shoot water magic at random, some of them begin commanding sea creature of various sizes. Some floating whales, so barracudas, and some piranhas. They just strangely floating around the air, as if they have developed a lung to start roaming outside their usual habitats. "Water Javelins" [Charlotte] Shooting high speed water Javelins from my pistol with one hand and summoning my water golem with another, we quickly gain the upper hand in this battle. After all, this has become a common occurrence that we are now used to it, but "That is..." [Aries] "Water Behemoth!" [Charlotte] And a strong one for that. It''s far stronger, and far more menacing than your usual water behemoth. It is somewhat take an appearance of a hybrid between your typical behemoth and add in shark like features, like fins and gill, even the eyes of predatory shark as well. I wonder, is this how Brother Ash feels like back then, when he first found us Chapter 276 This water behemoth, it will be no good should I let it run amok inside the country, and as such, both Mother Aries and I quickly nod to each other before we both team up to beat this thing This water behemoth, something about it feels, just off... It is getting influence by the fallen god, but at the same time, it doesn''t. The same can be said to all that strange mermaids, just what are they? At any rate, since the only elements that I could use is water, and the water behemoth do have a high resistance against it, I might consider approaching it with different tactics, or at least consider supporting Mother Aries in this fight With each swing of the water behemoth paws, it summoned along with it a tidal wave, a strong magical tidal wave, and using that very same tidal wave, I quickly turn it into a water spear and attack it. The damage output isn''t nearly as much as I want to, but for now, that will suffice "Freeze dry" [Charlotte] Using ice attack this time around, I try to experiment whether the freeze dry spell will work wonder against the fight. It does, but the water behemoth also have high healing capability, and thus the damage I make quickly getting recover by its healing power, on the other hand, Mother Aries with her Lance seems to be doing good amount of damage. Her movement might be slower as compared to six years ago, but that''s most likely because she is rather inactive after taking the post of the guild master, and thus with each thrust, her speed and strength are slowly coming back The water behemoth tries to fire off a rapid water cannon at nearby building, but "Shield" [Aries] "Oh no you don''t! Water ship!" [Charlotte] With Mother Aries shield, she quickly take the damage by herself, and with my water ship inspired by tales of pirate, I quickly push the water behemoth, making it stumble before having Krakeny bind it "Large freeze dry" [Charlotte] Making sure not to hit Krakeny, I use the freeze dry spell once more, and good enough, the water behemoth sustain more and more damage. In fact, I can make out that part of its skin started to peel off, and attacking those areas will deal extra damage, in which case I did exactly that "Lance thrust" [Aries] Mother Aries once again, thrust her lance onto the behemoth, targeting its eye, and the behemoth response with slicing her through. It''s a direct hit, but one that she could bear off, and counteract by drilling its eye. The water behemoth scream echoes throughout the street, scary and I feel a bit pity hearing the scream "Help me..." [Water Behemoth] "!" [Charlotte] Just now. Was it my imagination? As Mother Aries try to finish the water behemoth "Mother Aries WAIT!" [Charlotte] "!" [Aries] She did exactly that. Confused as to why I asked her to stop, but nonetheless, still do it because she trusted me. Before things quickly went wrong, I should go and confirm it for myself "Hey Mr Behemoth, are you alright?" [Charlotte] "Charlotte, what are you doing?" [Aries] But there is no response. Strange, I could have sworn that I really did hear that behemoth talking to me, pleading for help "Princess..." [Water Behemoth] "It did talk!" [Charlotte] "What are you saying? I can''t hear anything?" [Aries] But what should I do? Who is this princess? Why am I the only one that can hear the behemoth? I''m sure if Mother Aries can hear it, she will be as equally confuse as I am, but ~Roar~ The roar of the behemoth push us away, and before we know it, black miasma started to take over the behemoth, turning it into a complete devil "Behemoth, what''s wrong? Tell me!" [Charlotte] I know it will be in vain, but I try talking to it once more and as expected, it simply tried to slice me with its paws And thus, the second battle between the behemoth and the two of us start. I try asking Krakeny to bind it once more, but now that it becomes a full devil, it power become even more powerful, and Krakeny is having a hard time binding it. "Large freeze dry" [Charlotte] But thank goodness, the same tactic work, and thus both of us quickly try to finish this fight. Since Krakeny won''t be able to hold the water behemoth any longer, the best I can do is ask it to whip the behemoth with its tentacles. It doesn''t really cause any significant damage, but the behemoth can''t ignore it either, and now it will have to deal with Mother Aries as well as Krakeny, but of course, it will try to wipe out Mother Aries first as she poses much larger threat than us "Lance thrust!" [Aries] As Mother Aries try to damage the already damaged eye of the behemoth, the behemoth retaliate by again, sending in large tidal wave, but alas, it is nothing but useless as I simply control the wave, clearing the path for Mother Aries to put in her final strike. Her lance thrust deal significant amount of damage, thrusting deep into the skull of the behemoth, and before long, she simply nodded to me as I tried to finish the behemoth by using the power of blessing alongside my own magic, ending the fight "Mother Aries... I" [Charlotte] "We will talk later. Right now, how about we help the other. The Valkyrie should be on their way as well. So does Kara to lend us her hand" [Aries] "Right!" [Charlotte] As we try to get thing under control, sure enough, the Valkyrie and Kara did come to our aid. Still, the mermaid, and the sea creature, something about them feels really off. Just why? Again, I can tell that they''re being consumed by the fallen god power, but there is something else. Something else that comes into play as well, and it is not necessary another evil, but just what? Chapter 277 "Please, don''t worry. You can just leave it to us Valkyrie and the adventure" [Mile] "Other soldiers will help us to. For now, you have other important issue to solve, am I right" [Bladel] "Captain Bladel, Mile... Right, thank you for letting me go!" [Elise] After the fight and leaving the clean up to the other, Sis Diana, Sis Qis, Mother Aries, Elise, Kara and I went to the adventure guild office, searching for case files of the strange mermaid appearing all over Achalasia. After searching through multiple files, even going as far as referencing old literatures and start arranging it according to time of appearance, something conclusive can be drawn "Their last appearance was approximately six years ago, shortly after the appearance of the devil" [Kara] "True. And looking at the report made by Saint Louis that he shared with the adventure guild in the past, it seems he actually spotted the said mermaid together with bunch of fairies, searching for a blue hair girl" [Aries] "May I know the date of the report" [Diana] "Of course, it was just after your debutante party, and right before that incident happened. It was spotted in the country adjacent to the New Headquarters. Similar report by Sir Crow can also be found, where the mermaids are said to appear inside of Kiserre, although he didn''t see the mermaid at all" [Aries] "Still, a blue hair girl..." [Elise] "Why me? It could be anyone... right?" [Charlotte] While I do have this feeling that blue hair girl might be me, I can''t make any logical reasoning as to why it is. My earliest collection of my memory, it was with them for a short period of time before being saved by Brother Ash. Other than that, I can''t remember anything, not even my parents or any of my relatives. How I ended up in the slum with them is also a mystery for me Right now, Elise is trying to piece all of the information she got, together with her impression she got for me based on her memory. With no other lead, we let her takes her sweet time "Charlotte, you said that the water behemoth talk to you right? [Elise] "That, it sure does, though Mother Aries can''t heard a word that behemoth said" [Charlotte] "Hmm, could it be possible, that this is your second time around, no, in actuality, who knows how many times you have communicate with a sea beast?" [Elise] "Huh? I''m sure not" [Charlotte] "Well, actually you might have. Whenever we went to the Rock and Sea dungeon six years ago, you always, ALWAYS, know where are the mermaids. Every single time" [Elise] "Now that you mention it..." [Kara] Really? Why can''t I remember it then? Mermaid, mermaid. I think I did remember it, knowing rather instinctively where the mermaids are, but as far as communicating with the mermaids, I''m sure I haven''t done anything like that before "Then how would you explain it?" [Elise] "Don''t ask me that. I don''t know!" [Charlotte] "Still, I don''t think it was a coincidence. Plus, you have a high water affinity to begin with, maybe right now on the level of Mahsuri, if not, slightly lower. And speaking of Mahsuri, you''re looking like a younger teenage version of her, is there some sort of connection that we don''t know yet?" [Kara] "Water affinity. Mermaid. Rock and Sea dungeon... Hmm... I wonder, I once asked Ash about the mermaid kingdom..." [Diana] It seems like Sis Diana intuition is coming into play. All of us are waiting for her say, if there is a better lead right now, it would be her instinct that have guides us all, after all this year "Ash once said that his teacher mentioning about the existence of the Mermaid kingdom" [Diana] "And who is this teacher of him?" [Aries] "I don''t know, he never mentioned it to any one of us, but, we all know who Ash really was" [Diana] "You mean someone from the other world?" [Qis] "Close. Someone who received the goddess blessing, and in fact, he is quite close with the goddess, though not as Rumia level" [Diana] "I see. So if we take into account that the teacher Brother Ash mention is the Goddess herself..." [Kara] "Then our next destination should be, the Mermaid kingdom!" [Charlotte] The Mermaid kingdom! It''s only a legend as far as I know, but to think that an unknown underwater kingdom inhibited by the mermaids do exist! "Let''s go go go!" [Charlotte] "Thing is, even Ash himself didn''t know the location of the kingdom" [Diana] That''s a bummer... Just when I was hoping to go to the mermaid kingdom, an obstacle presented himself and block all the paths. How bothersome "Can''t we search the Rock and Sea dungeon?" [Charlotte] "That''s impossible. You yourself know it. That dungeon has 50 floors, with each floor depths are unknown to us. Plus, the deeper you go into the ocean, the stronger the monster become!" [Qis] True, that will be almost impossible. While going through floor to floor inside the dungeon might seems instantaneous thanks to the dungeon''s own teleportation device, in reality, the dungeon sea floors are uncharted territory. I''m sure I don''t even see the full list of monster spawning around the Rock and Sea dungeon, and might never will "Can''t we ask the holy beast of water, Ice Dragon Reshir, or Mahsuri for that matter? They will surely know something" [Aries] "They might, but those two are rather tight lipped, plus, we don''t even know how to meet with the Ice Dragon without the help of Yuki-ona. Still, ghere isn''t a reason not to ask them though. If they ignore us like they usually does, we just have to think of an alternative" [Diana] True. There isn''t a reason not to ask, other than the fact that God know how many times Mahsuri didn''t bother telling us. She might be generous enough on her training, but when it comes to this kind of matter, she''s awfully quiet Chapter 278 As we want an answer to the Mermaid kingdom we are looking for, Elise, Kara and I wasted no time to ask Mahsuri about it, and "I see. So he finally succumbs" [Mahsuri] "He? Who?" [Elise] "The mermaid king, before Reshir the ice dragon, he was the original holy beast of water" [Mahsuri] "Wait... What?" [Elise] Upon hearing this, the three of us were shock. It seems like Mahsuri did know about this, but just what is her connection to the Mermaid kingdom? "My connection? Simple. Just like me, the mermaid king is a homunculus as well, created by Vincent. Though..." [Mahsuri] She look intensely at me. It''s scary, and yet, I can detect sorrow in her eyes. Did something happen to me that she suddenly becomes worry "I guess my time is nearing then... Looks like I might not be able to help you fighting against the fallen god" [Mahsuri] "Huh? Why did you suddenly say that? Please don''t scare us like that... We already lost Brother Ash, so this isn''t funny!" [Charlotte] "..." [Mahsuri] Again, with that looks. She''s serious. She never said unnecessary thing, so it isn''t like her to suddenly joke around. She might act uncaring most of the time, but when we are all in a pinch, we can always rely on her, so what should we do, if she really is gone... "Find the route from which the mermaids come. Once you have done that, we will depart" [Mahsuri] "The route?" [Elise] "You mean we have go and search the Rock and Sea dungeon for them?" [Charlotte] "You can do that, but you could also use the route that the traveler king created from them. I''ll handle the rest" [Mahsuri] "So, we have to search an ancient tunnel that were used by the mermaids? Is that what you want?" [Kara] "Precisely" [Mahsuri] The route that the mermaids use. Based on the case files we were looking with Mother Aries, there have been various sightings of the strange mermaids, but as far as route goes, I recall the one Saint Louis use, that as well as one in the Kiserre. Sir Crow had described it in his report, in which case "Let us meet Sir Crow and confirm it with him first" [Kara] "He should be in the hall as of now, so better start there" [Elise] "Right. Off we go" [Charlotte] Starting the bus golem, the three of us went to the hall, and once we are there, we are in luck as Sir Crow and Sir Ceanu Reaves are both there. "You three. What brings you here?" [Ceanu] "Sir Crow, can we ask you something?" [Kara] "Me? Sure, ask away" [Crow] "Did you remember the lake that was in Kiserre? Where you reported the strange appearance of the mermaids?" [Charlotte] "Hmm... I guess that was 6-7 years back... Let me recall it for a moment" [Crow] Sir Crow start scratching his head. It seems that he couldn''t remember everything, but nonetheless, he tries his hardest to recall it. "If I''m not mistaken, your brother actually went to that place" [Crow] """!!!""" [Elise, Kara, Charlotte] "Well, it wasn''t anything special. I can''t remember the specific, but we need to go underground as to map our infiltration route to Kiserre''s castle if I''m not mistaken. He went underground, did some stuff and found that underground lake. That was where he found good magic core to upgrade his ice missiles shark golems of his. Still, he didn''t report any strange mermaids appearance at that time." [Crow] "How about you? Did you see the strange mermaid?" [Kara] "I didn''t. It was an adventure from Kiserre, doing their patrol at that time that found it. You know, that time Ash rushed off with Lara and Nara to... yeah, basically I just went and inspect, but found nothing strange. I think Saint Louis, Aries and Lisa were there as well, but I''m sure they didn''t follow me" [Crow] "I see" [Charlotte] "How about we ask Mrs Saga for help. She can help confirm it for us" [Ceanu] "Great idea!" [Charlotte] "Give me a minute, I''ll call her" [Ceanu] Using the newest model of phone that were created by the R&D department, the call went smoothly. It always been smooth, but now the sound and images become clearer and there''s less static sound. It still the fastest form of communication in this world, and thanks to Brother Ash patenting it back then, the orphanage across Achalasia get small percentage of it for their funds "Hello. This is Khamishah speaking. How may I help you?" [Khamishah] Chatting with her for a bit, the three of us then ask her for help, just to confirm the presence of the strange mermaids "I''m not sure about it, after all, that time I was... Never mind. I will ask around the adventure guild and see what I can get. I''ll call you back later" [Khamishah] "Right! Thank you" [Charlotte] "You''re welcome" [Khamishah] (That time... Right... She had a fight with Ash if I''m not mistaken. Yup, that she does) [Crow] "Anyway, I''ll ask Princess Diana permission so that you can went to Kiserre smoothly. I''ll also inform Kiserre embassy as well as our embassy there to help you should anything arise" [Ceanu] "Thank you. Please do that" [Elise] Not that we need it. There''s an orphanage there, so we could just sleep there and play with those siblings of us Going back, the three of us buy some extra dinner for other, and went training before eating. Kara went back home We wait for the call, and just when I am about to fall asleep "I see. Right. Thank you very much for the confirmation. I see. Right. Thank you!" [Elise] Looks like we hit the jackpot. As the two of us tell Mahsuri about it, she tell us to get some rest and we will depart tomorrow morning after breakfast. Looks like the four of us will go to the mermaid kingdom! "I''ll tell the other about it first. At least they will know what we are up to" [Elise] "How about Lara, Nara, Farhah and Karon? Can you reach them?" [Charlotte] "Well..." [Elise] Still no. That makes me worried Chapter 279 It''s morning, and before departing to Kiserre, all of us gather around to have breakfast with the other. Grandpa Claude and Sis Rafiah actually makes Elise and I favourite foods and drink, and even cook extra so that we can store it inside Elise''s item box magic. As we eat the breakfast, some of them who were from Kiserre ask us to give Mrs Saga some decoration that they make. That''s sweet, even when they''re apart, they still remember Mrs Saga who have been taking care of them tirelessly The two of us, together with Mahsuri then went to the adventure guild. We thought to bring Behe with with us, but decided not to since it''s better for Behe to stay here, protecting them together with Bobunny. Plus, having Mahsuri with us is more than reassuring enough The adventure guild open early, with some of the adventures already taking request. Mother Aries and Kara are already waiting there for us, and so does Sis Diana, making sure everything is ready for the four of us "As usual, I am quite reluctant to let you three go, and even Mahsuri went with you this time around, but alas, this is what we discussed six years back, not to let any country monopolize you, including me. So please, take care, and call us once you arrive at Kiserre" [Diana] She is almost always worried about us, but her eye, it shows that she has confidence, confidence that we can prevail in any situation thrown at us. "I already inform the adventure that will help you once you''re in Kiserre. You just need to tell them once you''re ready" [Aries] "Thank you mother" [Kara] After saying goodbye, we enter the inter-dungeon carriage, drive by Me Bond. This company has grown ever since six years ago, with cheap price and comfortable travel using the bus golem and camper van golem created by R&D of Estel "Thank you for driving us there today, Mr Bond" [Charlotte] "I just can''t bring myself to let the other drive you around. So hop on" [Bond] "Is it really alright for you to..." [Elise] "Don''t worry, I have been to Kiserre multiple times after that incident. Plus, you guys are far more important than my past" [Bond] "If you said so" [Elise] Taking the carriage with other people as well, the four of depart to Kiserre. Inside the carriage, we are welcome like celebrities, with parents feeling safe with our presence. The carriage will travel non stop, and will likely arrive at Kiserre before dusk. What used to be days of travel can now be cut short with technology Of course, now, with devil rampaging around, and the wild monster becoming more and more active, even traveling using the main road carriers it own risk nowadays, but it is still safe, just have to depend on one luck. Should the devil suddenly emerge, the best advice will be to run as fast as they can. Some might chase after the carriage, some not. It totally random. That said, devil in the form of monster tend not to chase while those from the intelligence species like demon, beastman, human, elf, dwarf and rarely angel will, mostly to kidnap them and transform them into a devil itself As the carriage take us closer and closer to Kiserre, all of the passenger, including us pray that the devil will not show itself, and true enough, there isn''t a devil in sight. A good start to our journey And before we know it, we safely arrive at Kiserre, with the four of us getting an easy entry to the country. We are grateful for this, as the guard just let us pass once they recognize us. They didn''t even bother checking any sort of documents, but "Tchh... Filthy beastman" [Guard] "..." [Elise] "Hey! Watch what you''re saying!" [Charlotte] "Charlotte. It''s fine. Let us meet Mrs Khamishah straight away" [Elise] "But!" [Charlotte] "It''s fine" [Elise] "Please, excuse us" [Kara] It always like this. She didn''t even bother fighting back! Quickly saying goodbye to Mr Bond, I left the guard post with a distasteful feeling inside my mouth. Elise doesn''t do anything bad, no, she always prioritize other before herself, so why did they still have to judge her just because she''s from the fox beastman tribe Once we enter the country, the sight of human everywhere is something else. The ratio of human to non human here is still large, and those from nin human, more of them are children or those with some form of disabilities. I wonder, what truly happen here six years ago As night about to fall, the four of us wasted no time to search for the orphanage here. It suppose to be an old church, previously occupied by the old follower. It''s been awhile since we last come here, so we are a bit lost, but "You guys! Why are you here?" [Black cat beastman] "It''s Sis Kara and the other!" [Miriam] It''s the pair of cat beastman and her adoptive six years old human daughter. That female black cat, she''s the mother of a pair of amazing adventure, the S rank sibling, Anjin and Kucin. If I''m not mistaken, the two of them are currently inside the country. Maybe they''re currently taking some request from the adventure guild "I see. Follow me then" [Black cat beastman] "We will guide you there" [Miriam] As we follow them around, we tell them regarding our business here, about the strange mermaids appearing the other day back in Estel and the event that lead us here. Once we finish our part of story "Welcome! We have been expecting you!" [Nun C] "Welcome to our orphanage!" [Miriam] "Thank you" [Kara] Being surrounded by those from orphanage feels rather natural for us now. We could afford some luxurious inn, or even ask the Embassy to help us regarding lodging, but nothing beats the sense of familiarity here. "The four of you. Welcome. Just rest first, we already have room and beds ready for you, though I suppose one of you will rather sit on the couch, am I correct?" [Khamishah] "If you would" [Mahsuri] "Of course, I already prepared it" [Khamishah] The talk between two monster lady. Somehow, the three of us feel rather chilly Chapter 280 Morning come, and after a playful night with the orphans, we gather around the table, eating our breakfast. Mrs Saga isn''t what we would call a great cook, but nonetheless, her cooking have improved over the past six years. Most of us can cook better than her, but there is something about her food, something that just warm your heart when you eat it, and does, the three of us would crave for her motherly food. "I see, so you won''t go with us. That''s too bad but understandable" [Elise] "True. We are in a dire situation as of now, with the clashes between old and new follower constantly happening around Kiserre, so our defence force take a massive hit. Even the two S rank siblings work tirelessly around the clock, so I don''t think they will be available to help you. That said, should you need anything, just ask, I''ll try my utmost best to help you" [Khamishah] "Thank you for the offer, but we are the one that suppose to help you" [Kara] "True. It feels like for the past few years, we have been nothing but trouble to you" [Charlotte] "Don''t say that. You have help us much more than we can count" [Khamishah] If she''s talking about subjugating devil around the Kiserre''s part of the open field dungeon, then maybe we are, but then again, should her hand are free from the bind of her country, she could handle it all by herself After the incident of the beginning, much of the old follower gather around the holy palace, as well as the surrounding counties, and Kiserre, being one of the countries take the hit pretty hard, and now, the two religious are at each other throat, with the new religion having a massive disadvantage between the two "Well now, I already inform the adventure that will take you to the underground lake, so after breakfast, I''ll come and follow you, just until the lake that it" [Khamishah] "Are you sure? We don''t want to burden you any more than this" [Kara] "It''s fine. That spot seems significant, so the least I can do is knowing the location" [Khamishah] Since she insists to go, the three of us gladly take her offer. After breakfast, together with Mrs Saga, the four of us set out to the adventure guild, and "Fake heroes! Die!" "!" [Elise] A random old follower throw a package containing animal dropping at Elise, or at least try to, as Elise simply burn the package before it even reach us, and the horrid smell affect her keen beastman nose more so than any one of us ~Cough~ The horrid smell, I start throwing a cough, and looking at my condition, Mrs Saga snap, but against all odd, a fire of light and dark begin encircling that man "Wait! Let me go! Mrs Saga! Help me!" "Oh don''t worry. I will, but right after you apologize to Charlotte" [Elise] "Why... cough...cough... me?" [Charlotte] She didn''t reply anything, instead, just a big scary smile reminding me of how Sis Diana used to do to us (and yes, she still does it from time to time) "Never! I will never apologize to the fake heroes! I will rather die!" "Then die you should. Let''s go" [Khamishah] "True" [Mahsuri] "Wait! Please don''t leave me!" Being the first to start walking, Elise does not even hesitate to leave the man behind. As we walk, I can hear his voice getting weaker and weaker until ~Thud~ the sound of a somebody collapsing into the ground, and when I look behind, the fire were no more, only the man, lying, unconscious. He seems fine, other than the fact that he is breathing heavily and sweating profusely. Must be because of the fire cast by Elise "Is it really fine?" [Charlotte] "It is" [Elise] "Then why don''t you respond to the guard yesterday?" [Charlotte] Why did she keep quiet when the guard insult her yesterday, but react to that guy just now? I''m confused "Simple. You weren''t hurt yesterday, but just now, that guy causes harm to you, that''s why I snapped and do that" [Elise] "But your nose are more sensitive than I am! Surely you are affected more by it! Why don''t you get angry for yourself?" [Charlotte] "I can, but every time I get angry because for my own sake, it will ended up hurting my feelings even more, but not when getting angry for your sake, or any one of us for that matter" [Elise] "Sigh... I just don''t understand you" [Charlotte] "You will once you''re older" [Kara] "I''m old and mature enough!" [Charlotte] "Haha. old and mature, if that''s the case, I must be a grandma by now" [Khamishah] The conversation take a turn from a serious one to a comedy, even though my mind is still thinking why she didn''t bother defending herself. I''m happy that she will act like that if I was in danger, it makes me feel protected and love, but if only she gives herself the same treatment. Maybe I should be the one taking care of her if she didn''t want to do it by herself Going to the adventure guild, we thought of talking with Anjin and Kucin first, but they aren''t here, so we quickly talk with the adventure that will bring us there, as he described to us about the strange mermaids he saw back then, and as expected, it''s the same description from the one we investigate two days back. We enter one of the path leading to the ancient tunnel, and after taking multiple turn, we finally arrived at the location. It''s not a big lake, maybe pond will be a better word, but the water is surprisingly clear, just a clear water like this ought to attract attention of a life form. At least I would expect to see a fly and a frog, but there are none of them. I wonder why "Stay back. All of you" [Mahsuri] And following her instruction, we did exactly that Chapter 281 Mahsuri, telling us to step back, and all of us did so without questioning her. She simply touches the lake, analyzing it for few seconds before muttering something, and that result in the lake, suddenly glowing. No, not just the lake, the ancient tunnel, it resonate with the lake. It might be only a faint glow, but that simply because the lake in front of us shine brightly, masking the glow on the wall of the ancient tunnel "There. Is it done" [Mahsuri] "What... What did you do?" [Khamishah] "You know who created the ancient tunnel?" [Mahsuri] A sudden question, but the answer is simple enough "The traveler king" [Charlotte] "Correct. Now tell me, what is his race?" [Mahsuri] "That''s a hard one, but most scholars agree he is a dwarf" [Kara] "Correct. Remember how the serial killer dwarf use his racial magic to gain near invincibility and how Karon manages to craft living weapons? Here, it is the same, the traveler king simply use his racial magic, to construct the ancient tunnel for the original ten heroes, and by doing so, giving an "artificial life or intelligence", different from that of a homunculus or a golem. Karon''s coining the term puppet is well suited, as the ancient tunnel is nothing more but a huge puppet spanning across Achalasia to serve the ten heroes" [Mahsuri] "Unbelievable..." [Elise] All of us share the same reaction with Elise. To think that the ancient tunnel is one huge dwarf racial magic. Just how powerful is this traveler king, and his role to aid the original ten heroes, it''s similar like Brother Ash and Sis Diana "How do activate it then?" [Khamishah] "Those kids will learn it someday. For now, Elise, Kara and Charlotte, come" [Mahsuri] """Right!!!""" [Elise, Kara, Charlotte] Saying our goodbye to Mrs Saga and the other, we dive into the lake like Mahsuri did. I thought at first she''s a homunculus, does, she does not require to breath, as she simply dives in without using any adaptability magic like the three of us does, but once the three of us are inside, this strange feeling. Our mind instinctively know that even without said magic, we can actually breathe and talk. Again, strange, but I could detect adaptability magic in the water, so maybe that''s what allowing us to breath and talk, conserving our mana. My mind is boggling with questions. There''s so much that I wanted to ask her right away, and yet "Once we get to the mermaid kingdom and meet the king, I''ll tell you everything. For now, hold onto your question" [Mahsuri] Again, she seems reluctant to tell us. Is there some sort of secret that she didn''t want us to know? Her eye, once again, fill with sadness, directed especially toward me. I wonder, what is this feeling? It strange, and somehow, I feel scared by it Still, I ignore the feeling and keep swimming forward, focusing with the task on our hand, to uncover the mystery regarding the strange mermaids "Look!" [Elise] "It''s huge!" [Kara] "Isn''t that..." [Charlotte] A whale dragon. Unlike Mahsuri''s pseudo Leviathan golem, this massive leviathan is a bit smaller, and having more dragon like features as compared to its other counterparts. It glides through the water by using his wing, which act as a fin as well. Dragon like eyes and horn, and with four limbs like a dragon would. Truly, such wonderful and terrifying sight. And when it notices us, it cames rushing "Queen. Princess. You have come. After so long, we have waited for thus moment, surely you must have..." [Leviathan] "Don''t call me a queen" [Mahsuri] "It talks!" [Charlotte] ""??"" [Elise, Kara] Elise and Kara are a little bit terrified, their skin colour quickly turning pale at the sight of a giant beast rushing toward us, but they quickly get into their battle formation "It talks?" [Kara] "Again?" [Elise] And they can''t hear it, which only add more to their confusion. Thing is, only Mahsuri and I can hear the Leviathan speaking. Just now, did she just call Mahsuri a queen, and me, as a princess? Does that mean... The sight of Leviathan constantly swimming around us, as we travel into the mermaid kingdom. It tries to talk with Mahsuri, talking constantly without stopping, and yet "..." [Mahsuri] "This sting. Princess, why didn''t her majesty talk? I mean, that is always how she is, but..." [Leviathan] "Princess? Are you saying that I am a princess?" [Charlotte] "Why of course. I might not know what truly transpire, but..." [Leviathan] "Pseudo leviathan" [Mahsuri] Mahsuri suddenly launches an attack meant to the talking Leviathan, which causes the four of us to flinch. Even the Leviathan is left bewildered by her action "Your majesty! That''s cruel! Using my brother to attack me!" [Leviathan] "Brother? You mean that golem!?" [Charlotte] "Yes, that golem''s magic core belongs to my brother, it sure takes me back when we used to fight, but that was cruel! Simply cruel!" [Leviathan] "..." [Mahsuri] "Charlotte..." [Kara] "Why is the Leviathan making loud noise?" [Elise] "And why did Mahsuri attack him and let him get away" [Elise] "Well..." [Charlotte] Such interesting story shouldn''t be left a secret. I tell them and what did you know, they laugh a bit "Why are they laughing!" [Leviathan] "Sorry. It just we always thought that a Leviathan will be a strong monster, but to think even you cower in front of Mahsuri, that''s simply unexpected" [Charlotte] "Well! Of course! Her majesty is after all..." [Leviathan] ~Blood lust stare~ "No never mind. I still value my life" [Leviathan] I don''t think we can get much more information from him, at least not when Mahsuri is still around. As we keep swimming, the sight of a group of armored mermaid fighting a group of strange mermaid and devils caught our attention, and in the middle of all of that "Mine. Mine. We meet again, Aries''s daughter, and her siblings" [Motra] """Motra!""" [Elise, Kara, Charlotte] That half man half woman butterfly beastman, what is he/she doing here! Chapter 282 Motra, the half man half female butterfly beastman , and he/she is a follower of the fallen god. Looking at his/her creepy smile makes our skin crawl, especially true for Kara "Aries''s daughter sure has grown beautiful just like her mother does. I wonder, are you the one that I snapped the fingers, or the one I broke the arm?" [Motra] "Tch..." [Kara] Seeing Kara getting angry is rare. She''s scared, but at the same time, she''s rather furious. With each words coming out of Motra mouth, Kara becoming angrier by the second, but still manage to compose herself. I don''t know what he/she thinking, but simple provocation to Kara won''t work As I look closely at her, to analyse any weak spot, I notive something. He/she, I don''t think he/she change much, at least appearance wise, he/she is exactly how I remember, but I could tell, that somehow, he/she is stronger. Even the sight of two terrifying power house, Mahsuri and Leviathan doesn''t scares him/her at all. ~Roar~ "It''s the leviathan!" "And that is!" "Her highness!" "?" [Motra] The armored mermaids notice us, and they, as expected, react positively to Mahsuri presence, boosting their morale to a higher level as they once again, take arms to fight against the devils Mahsuri quickly takes her sword and slash through the despicable devil, and Leviathan with a sweep of his tail, demolish the army while trying to bring Motra down, and unfortunately, with his/her speed, he/she manage to Dodge the attack "Water compression!" [Charlotte] We are literally being surrounded by water, and as such, I take the liberty of crushing Motra by applying pressure throughout his/her body. His/her exoskeleton is hard, that I have to keep increasing the pressure. The fist I make started to get sore, like I am physically trying to crack that tough exoskeleton by my own hands instead of using magic, and despite all of that, he/she still have the power to swim around swiftly. Even his/her wings aren''t affected, in which case (I should just target one specific point!) [Charlotte] And target point will be there! At the base of the wing connected to the exoskeleton! I don''t know whether that will be a weak point or strongest point, but I''m sure concentrating all of my fire power there should do the trick "Wind turbulence! Thunder" [Kara] "Light and dark spikes" [Elise] With the two combination attack, a horizontal mini whirlpool electrocute the enemies, and the light and dark spikes being scattered by Elise cause additional damage to the armies. Some hitting them right in the eyes, while some accidentally swallow it when they''re screaming, causing their inner layer of digestive system to take severe damage. Even after all of that, that butterfly isn''t affected. (Just what kind of modifications did the fallen god did? Or is it the witch from Saint Louis story?) [Charlotte] Either way, I need to increase my fire power more! "Ice missiles shark! Krakeny! Destroy him/her" [Charlotte] And to make thing harder for him/her "Iceberg!" [Charlotte] Huge chunk of Iceberg being shot at his/her direction, and instead of dodging it "Steel body" [Motra] Making his/her exoskeleton even harder, he extended his/her arm right above his/her head, and just like a steel lance, he/she trusted him/herself into the iceberg, creating a hole. "Subzero freeze" [Charlotte] Hoping to freeze the butterfly, I drastically reduce the temperature of the iceberg. He/she is right in the middle of the iceberg, and to overcome this situation, he/she simply release large amount of earth mana, performing steel burst magic that crack open the iceberg from inside. The shatter iceberg, instead of scattered randomly, is use by me to attack Motra. Alas, as expected, he/she didn''t even flinch "Thunder birds! Prey upon him/her" [Kara] "Light shot! Dark shot!" [Elise] Small flock of birds made out of thunder magic chases after Motra, and yet, he/she simply deflect it with his/her wing. The same go for the shot from Elise''s pistol, but he takes extra precaution and used steel magic to reinforce him/herself before deflecting it. He/she looks traumatize with the pistol, I wonder why "Steel claw!" [Motra] "Wind block! Thunder wall!" [Kara] "Ice wall!" [Charlotte] He/she is targeting Kara, as Kara try to keep a save distance between her and Motra, Motra keep clawing him/herself through the multiples walls that we made. "Steel wing! Supersonic strike" [Motra] "Wind evasion" [Kara] No good, he/she is catching up to Kara. Elise''s attack from behind did almost nothing, maybe because she couldn''t perform her usual trick of combining fire magic with her two other elements as we are currently under water If that''s the case, it should be up to me to stop him/her (Increase the pressure! Just focus on increasing the pressure) [Charlotte] Again, just target the junction between his/her wings and the exoskeleton! Just make sure it snap before he/she hurt Kara "Now! Let me see that arm of yours, I wonder how I should snap it this time around" [Motra] "!" [Kara] Just as Motra about to hurt Kara, I exponentially increase the pressure of the deep sea to my absolute limit, giving me a headache, but ~Snap~ "!" [Motra] It''s worth the trouble. That small opening I created, exploit it! Exploit it! Rush the water inside his/her body! Let him/her swell from inside and burst! (Shit! The exoskeleton is preventing me from flushing the water out!) [Motra] He/she is struggling! Now is the time to finish him/her off for good! "Thunderstorms!" [Kara] "Light chandelier!" [Elise] A loud roaring thunder with wind strong enough that I could feel wave getting form, and chandelier bright and large enough its illuminate the battlefield. Surely, the spell will cause massive damage to Motra. His/her exoskeleton, it starting to crack up! Just as the two spell about to connect, Motra simply teleport him/herself out of the trouble, leaving the fight unsettled As for Mahsuri and Leviathan, the portals that summons the devil are still there, and yet, there are no devils coming out of it. Could it be, either they beat all the devils inside by themselves, or the devils are to scared too come outside. Either way, that is pretty impressive Chapter 283 As soon as the commotion just outside the mermaid kingdom quiet down thanks to our efforts, the armored mermaids, all of them start rushing to Mahsuri side. They are all happy, grateful and just down right excited, saying things like how finally the long awaited queen has finally come home, and how the mermaid kingdom will worry no more with her being here. Even Leviathan share the same sentiment, but I could make out that he is just to afraid too express it with Mahsuri being there, and speaking of Mahsuri, she is rather annoyed by all of it, thus "Silence!" [Mahsuri] One word, and in fear and respect, they all bow down before Mahsuri, like how the castle knight and guard will do when they see the king and Sis Diana around "You three, come" [Mahsuri] """Right""" [Elise, Kara, Charlotte] As we are approaching Mahsuri who already start swimming forward, the three of us could hear the mermaids whispering among themselves "That blue hair girl!" "It couldn''t be!" "So the queen and the princess, both of them are here!" "And those two, no, even the princess! They have the blessing of ten heroes!" "Surely, this is a lucky day for us mermaid kingdom!" Again, with the princess, then does that mean... Mahsuri is my mother? That''s just impossible... Mahsuri is a homunculus created by one of the original ten heroes after all, so if I was born from her, just how old am I? I''m pretty sure I am twelve, Biologically that is "Charlotte, you and Mahsuri, it couldn''t be, right?" [Kara] "You know that is impossible" [Charlotte] "Still, just like Kara look almost similar to Mother Aries, we can''t deny how you look like teenage version of Mahsuri, and that unparalleled water affinity you share with her, not to mention your ability to communicate with the sea monster directly without using magic" [Elise] "True, the more we think of it, the more likely that it is the case here" [Kara] "Anyway, Mahsuri told us that she will explain to us, so let just hear her explanation after this" [Charlotte] Now I am feeling anxious. The first thing I remember is my time with them at the slum before being taken care of by Brother Ash, and the first time I met with Mahsuri, is the same time like anyone else, during the time when the old follower and the duchess attacked us, so it just doesn''t make sense for her to be my mother! Thinking all of this just makes my head hurt, and before I realize it, a city made out of chalk white sea marble appears before me, and a statue of the king and queen strikes us out. That colourful statue really resembles Mahsuri, and as for the statue of the king, he might appear young but his beard is already long, around his belly button level "You look confuse princess, that''s your mother and father! The king and queen of mermaid kingdom that have serve the original ten heroes, and live to tell the tale! Unfortunately, his highness is currently..." They really are that old! If I''m not mistaken, two of the ten heroes are Brother Ash''s parents, at least that''s the conclusion we came up with the vague hints we received thus far, so I wonder, is it possible that... No, that will be impossible as well Unlike the dungeon entrance that lead to Estel or any other countries, the entrance here is just an entrance without any guard post. There are guards patrolling around, I wonder why? Maybe the mermaid kingdom rarely get affected by the devil invasions in the past? "Looks!" "The soldiers! They''re safe and sound after fighting the devils!" "And that huge monster! The legendary Leviathan!" "So Leviathan help them! Thank God" "Over there, leading the soldiers! Impossible!" "The queen! Our Queen have finally return!" "So the Queen and Leviathan help wards off the devil!" "And that blue hair girl... Her mana, her appearance, it couldn''t be..." The mermaids, old and young, they''re all celebrating the safe return of the soldiers after fighting the devils, and with how the unannounced return of Leviathan and their queen, I''m sure the news will spread like wildfire among the citizen, that is if fire can be ignited under water, well, other term will be, nope. Can''t think of one The mermaids, they try to get closer to us. The one already at the streets come closer and closer but the soldiers block their way. Those inside the house or store quickly came out, squeezing their way just so they can catch a glimpse of Mahsuri. It''s a joyous sight, but Mahsuri still unaffected by all of it. Maybe because we have live with her for the past six years, we can tell she isn''t happy with the treatment she receive. Guilt? Maybe Once we are inside the castle, the celebration basically continue, this time around, the castle workers and the guards are the one giving us those gaze. They however, know how to show restraint, bowing to us and at most, just wave to show us their excitement. As Mahsuri looks left and right, like looking for someone, an important looking person come "Your highness, I''m glad you''re..." [Important looking person] "Where is he?" [Mahsuri] "You mean His highness... His highness is..." [Important looking person] "He is still alive, just show me where he is now" [Mahsuri] "As your commanded. Please, follow me" [Important looking person] The important looking person, telling the castle workers to get back into their duty, quickly lead the way. He tried to talk to Mahsuri, and yet as usual, she didn''t even bother replying a single word. That''s odd, he seems important enough so surely he must know how to deal with her? Now that I think of it, if Mahsuri really is that old, then is it possible the mermaids is just as old? Somehow, I don''t think that is the case "Here is the..." [Important looking person] "I''m coming in" [Mahsuri] She simply barges in, and reflexively, the three of us did the same Chapter 284 Inside the room, there are two things that immediately stands out. One, is the fact that there is a giant orb, somewhat akin to that of the goddess orb, but larger and the colour is bluish, like that of clear sea water. It''s pulsating and keep radiating something strange. This thing also give out the feeling that it is alive The second thing that out is some old looking man, covered in blackish miasma that you''ll often find associated with the devil. Given how the important looking person bring us to "him", we knew that this bald but long beard looking old mermaid is in fact, the mermaid king himself. He''s bedridden and is in dire condition. With so much thick blackish miasma, I''m surprised how he is still alive "I''m removing it" [Mahsuri] "Don''t... You''ll get it as well..." [Mermaid king] His voice is weak, like someone on their dead bed weak, but nevertheless, we could make out what he is trying to say as he prevents Mahsuri from doing it As he keeps trying to say something to Mahsuri, he accidentally looks at our direction, and once he saw me, his expression took a sudden change "Charlotte?" [Mermaid king] "I am. How did you know who I am?" [Charlotte] I''m 100% sure I have never set my foot at the mermaid kingdom, and yet the citizen and the king itself knew who I am. It strange, it really is strange for me "Mahsuri, don''t you think I should know what happen? I am feeling rather confuse right now" [Charlotte] I just can''t stand this feeling anymore. It''s making me sweat as there are many questions that I don''t have the answer to. More importantly, I begin to question whether I am truly the Charlotte they''re looking for "In a sense, you''re without a doubt, the mermaid princess, but, that doesn''t mean I am your mother..." [Mahsuri] That sentence, that''s rather confusing. Since I am close with Sis Diana, I thought what she wanted to convey is that our relationship is similar to Sis Diana and Zaidi''s mother, the fourth queen "Once upon the time, during the era of peace after the sealing of the fallen god, the third homunculus was created, but her magic core was a strange one. Her magic core is unique in that it doesn''t allow the ability to absorb others mana, and at the same time, it keep growing in size" [Mahsuri] As she said that, she keeps rubbing her hand to the against the giant orb "The homunculus, is also a unique homunculus. I said created, but unlike other homunculus during the time, she was born from the love of the first Saint and Saintess as their second child, or supposed to be born, but a tragedy occur, and the saint and saintess, with his first three years old child was killed by certain someone who was seeking revenge for the fallen god. The homunculus, who was still in her mother''s womb, have zero chance to survive if nothing was done to her, and thus..." [Mahsuri] This time around, she look at me straight at eye, which makes me rather uncomfortable, but the three of us still listen to. "Sigh..." [Mahsuri] For the first time ever, I see Mahsuri out of all people letting out a sigh. It''s a worrisome sight. The mermaid king, who is lying around, try to encourage Mahsuri to talk "Urghh...!" [Mermaid king] Mermaid king is suddenly suffering with so much pain, as the blackish miasma finally cover all of his frail body. He began to develop a seizure like movement, a violent seizure as his skinny body flop up and down, all the while letting out a painful groan. Mahsuri stop her story telling and immediately started to absorb and throw away those blackish miasma from the mermaid king. Having the blessing of the ten heroes, the three of us also decided to help Mahsuri. We don''t have any holy mana yet, but our mana, once activated through the blessing, is an effective tool to fight against the fallen god and her minion, thus, we think that we have a shot at helping the frail mermaid king Unlike Mahsuri who try to remove the blackish miasma out, we can simply dilute it, as to make it easier for Mahsuri to remove it. At first, we have our doubt whether we are really helping or not, but seeing as to how Mahsuri able to scoop out more and more miasma at one time, we are convinced that it is working, and the mermaid king might have a chance at surviving this ordeal "!" [Kara] "Shit!" [Mahsuri] "Kara! Are you alright?" [Elise] The mermaid king suddenly grab Kara''s hand, and toss her across the room. In response, Mahsuri quickly grab her sword and stab the mermaid king directly in the chest, with blood spurting out violently as some of it find itself staining the door across the room Elise, who quickly check on Kara, find nothing wrong with her other than few bruises, and as for me, I am preparing a spell, just in case the mermaid king act out of control and needed to be put on a strain. The important looking person beg me not to harm the king, but I can''t promise him that. If this continues, I''m afraid the mermaid king will be consumed by the blackish miasma, and when that happens... (Is it just me, or is the miasma surrounding the mermaid king suddenly becomes larger?) [Charlotte] I have a bad feeling about this, and without a pause, I fire a strong water cannon spell at his direction, all while Mahsuri is still stabbing him. The important looking person try begging me to stop, but Mahsuri instruct otherwise "Neptune! Get a grip of yourself! You''re once the holy beast of water serving Goddess Achalasia! Don''t fall so low as to become the dark beast of fallen god!" [Mahsuri] Dark Beast of the fallen god. What is that? As I keep throwing spell after spell, a claw like that of a giant crab tries to pincer me. If it wasn''t for Kara quick reflex, I will be sliced neatly in half "Why you!" [Mahsuri] Feeling that what she''s trying to do is useless, Mahsuri pulled out her sword from the chest and try to decapitate the mermaid king, but "Try again next time" [Mermaid king?] "Looks like I really have to kill you now!" [Mahsuri] Chapter 285 Isn''t this a bad thing? The mermaids, they are all hoping for a positive outcome coming out after this visit of ours, instead, now we have to kill their king because we failed to save him from becoming a devil The old frail mermaid king was no more. He still smell a bit of an old man, but his appearance now is that of a young looking person, though that''s not all. He now possess two crab like pincers coming from his back, with the his mermaid tail becoming more like a elongated snake body, where in it, thick armor line up parallel to each other, boosting its defense The important looking person, having seen all of it, run away as quickly as he can, and I heard his screaming, telling the castle worker to neglect their job and escape, while asking those who can fight to provide support from afar. That might be a great idea As the mermaid king whip his armor tail like it was nothing, Mahsuri, almost resembling Mrs Khamishah, block it with her bare hand, while Kara, seeing this opportunity, use it to electrocute the mermaid king. It works as foam started to coming out of the king mouth accompanied by epileptic movement, but the pincer coming out of the king remain unaffected, like having a second independent nervous system, it started to attack Kara, which gracefully dodges the incoming attack before sending out wind gale magic into its direction. While part of it does pierce the skin of the mermaid king, causing him to bleed, the one sent to target the pincer cause no harm whatsoever In response to Kara''s attack, the bleeding part of the mermaid king heal itself, before a shell like a turtle appears. Strange, this must be his ability after gaining the power of a devil. He''s able to borrow the properties of aquatic lives and uses it to his advantages. I''m sure by the end of this fight, he will be unrecognisable Mahsuri start to unleash her wrath, swinging her sword, she peel off the shell like armor from the tail of the mermaid king, which kept flailing left and right, destroying the castle wall. "Freeze!" [Charlotte] In order to ensure he''s not causing any more damage, and to keep in him check, I simply freeze him, encasing him in an iceberg like structure, but somehow, his body begin to change. There are corals like structure coming out from his skin, with an orange structure taller than the surrounding corals, coming out and start heating up his body, causing the ice to melts. That structure then unleash an underwater lava magic, which Elise gladly take control of to peel the coral from the mermaid king The mermaid king extended both of his arms, and a harpoon with an anchor comes flying from both sides of the room. He uses the harpoon to stab Mahsuri, but Mahsuri fortunately saw it coming and block it with ease, and as for the anchor, that heavy anchor get swing like it was nothing before getting thrown at my direction. "Adamantoise!" [Mahsuri] Her golem shielded me. The sound of adamantoise shell and the anchor colliding produce a deafening bang, and I''m glad adamantoise shield me, if not, I will sustain heavy damage, or worse The mermaid king start to went outside, and there the first thing it do is to take control of the Leviathan. The Leviathan tries it best to resist, it really does, but against the influence of the mermaid king, there isn''t much for him to do but to abide the commands. Luckily, the blackish miasma that covers the Leviathan body didn''t transform him any further, so I guess he still keep on resisting it "Krakeny, Ice missiles shark! Go!" [Charlotte] "Pseudo Leviathan" [Mahsuri] Before the Leviathan starts to rampage and possibly destroy the kingdom, I decided to face him first. Without Mahsuri Pseudo Leviathan golem, I don''t think I will stand a chance facing against this creature, but now, I''ll try my hardest to beat it The two monsters wrap around each other, with each one of them trying to constrict the other into submission. That sight alone is enough to send panic across the kingdom as I can hear mermaids left and right screaming. Other soldiers also comes to my aid, trying their best to beat Leviathan "Freeze dry" [Charlotte] Covering the Leviathan with freeze dry magic while carefully sparing the golem, the magic cause the Leviathan to get hurt and let out a roar, but it simply ignore it since a bigger threat than I am is still constricting it. That''s good as I can keep sending this attack without getting "Water cannon blast!" [Leviathan] "!" [Charlotte] A simple spell coming out from the Leviathan, but coming from him, it actually hurts a lot as I get blown away easily. If it wasn''t for Krakeny for dampening the blow, and the ice armor I made, I will seriously get some bony fractures, though the soldiers, some were even unlucky The Leviathan start to bite his brother now turn golem, and part of the golem started to disappear. This is bad... This is really bad. I need to support the golem ASAP, but how... (That giant blue orb... She said it was a magic core isn''t it...) [Charlotte] Judging by her story, I get the feeling that I could utilize it, and so, I quickly swim toward the giant blue orb, touching it and (So much mana!!!) [Charlotte] This will be difficult to control, but rather than controlling it, what I should do is "TSUNAMI! TSUNAMI! TSUNAMI!" [Charlotte] Since the mermaid soldiers are there no more, I sent out giant waves one after another toward the Leviathan direction. At first, it simply resist my attack, trying it best to come towards my direction, but I simply increase the power output and create a bigger underwater tsunami which causes it to get swept along by the current. "Now! Warships. Ram into the monster" [Charlotte] Summoning legion of warships, it uses the water current to its advantages, ramming the Leviathan one after another. Since the influence of the mermaid king started to get weaker and weaker, I can see consciousness starting to appear from the Leviathan''s eyes, and without missing a beat, I propel myself with water magic, and try to remove any blackish miasma from it all by myself ~Chomp~ I dodge, almost getting eaten alive by it, but that''s not all, of course the blackish miasma don''t want to let go of it precious specimen, so it still try to control the Leviathan. The Leviathan, still under control, blast a whirlpool magic, dragging me inside of it before getting slammed hard against it flesh, before getting attack by the blackish miasma directly. "IT HURTS!" [Charlotte] Feeling enrage, I simply activate my blessing to it full capacity, trying my best to destroy the blackish miasma. It''s hard, and so "Ice missiles shark! Just chomp his skull away!" [Charlotte] I order my shark golems to eat part of the Leviathan. He try his best to ward off the sharks, but between the enrage me, the sharks, the Pseudo Leviathan and the warships ramming it non stop, Leviathan has a hard time countering it, and once the flesh is expose "Here! Help yourself and stop your rampage!" [Charlotte] I cleanse the Leviathan from the blackish miasma through the flesh. Sending all of my mana inside of his flesh, and just before my mana run out "Princess! Please stop! I''m fine! I''m fine!" [Leviathan] "Really...?" [Charlotte] "Yes! Yes! Believe in me!" [Leviathan] I guess I have to. I don''t have any energy left to fight. If the fight was to dragged any longer, or the blackish miasma influenced on Leviathan i stronger than I thought, than I wouldn''t have the chance to save him "Leviathan, please... let me rest a bit" [Charlotte] I''m dizzy. Me out of all people are now experiencing mana depletion symptoms. I just wanted to vomit right now, but I don''t even have the energy to do that. Chapter 286 Seeing from a distance, I can see that the fight between the mermaid king, Mahsuri, Elise and Kara is intense. The mermaid king, keep on mutating, I can see the trace of mermaid no longer from him. Hair likes that of a medusa, beard getting replaced by scaly like structure, multiple arms from various marine species, you name it, Lobster, Kraken, Crab,even a behemoth arm is there. The skin is cover with coral like structure, and the scaly tail becoming thicker and bigger as well Leviathan, after recovering for a bit, quickly went to Mahsuri aid. I can actually hear the panicking of the citizen. They''re all trying their best to stay calm and evacuate the kingdom, but alas, the intense fighting between the king and their queen is a scary sight, one that would strike panic in any citizen who just wish for a normal life I have almost zero mana left, and so, the best thing I can do now, is just one thing (Have to use that giant blue orb, and try to do something) [Charlotte] That giant blue orb, Mahsuri said it was an orb from a homunculus. I wonder, based on her unfinished story, could this orb actually belong to me? Whatever the case might be, I can use it to help evacuate the citizen, that and help the three of them to fight against the corrupted mermaid king Just going there by myself is a struggle, but thankfully it is near enough for a walk, and so I drag myself, forcing and mustering every last bit of my energy to touch the orb once again, and when I do that, I can feel my mana slowly getting replenish, but waiting no more, I quickly activate a spell "Dolphin armies. Help the citizen" [Charlotte] Dolphin is an intelligent creature, and it''s a trustable creature in time of need, so that''s why I decided to use it. They swiftly swim, helping mermaid that is stuck under a rubble, or give a ride to mermaid old enough to swim. Some of them even help the mermaid soldiers maintaining order. Maybe because it was my influence, but the dolphin armies I created do remind me a lot about the adventures at Estel. Plus, the mermaid citizen actually feels safer with the dolphin armies present, maybe because they can sense my mana from it Now, for me to help the three of them, no four of them as Leviathan is providing support as well It''s far away, but I can still see the silhouette figure of the mermaid king. Once again, he has transformed or mutated into something even bizarre. "Electric shark. Sonar dolphin. Scout tuna" [Charlotte] I create more assistance, and this time around, I order them to assist me. I''ll act as a sniper, building up a long range powerful water bullet. The tuna will swim around, giving me aid in the form of visual cues on what''s happening, while the two shark and dolphin will use their sonar senses to further help me pinpoint the exact location of mermaid king from afar, since I don''t feel like I can fire the water bullet consecutively "Neutral mana: Sensory up" [Charlotte] I might be bad at using neutral mana, but this should not be an excuse. One shot, in order for this one shot to hit, I have to use everything in my disposal to make it happen Gather. Gather around as mana water bullet that I can, then combines them, and compress them into one heavy bullet. Repeat that process as many times as I could, and keep on repeating it until it become so dense that it could pierce even the mightiest armor. Then, to launch it, since the bullet will be heavy, I have to create enough force behind the bullet. Again, just create a tsunami. No, maybe not, how about I create an ocean current right behind it. A strong one that could propel just about anything and direct it to the mermaid king. That sound good. (I can improve it. Ocean current is a continuously generated movement of water, and number of it will form a conveyer belt and the aquatic lives will utilize it to travel around) [Charlotte] So, what I can do now is create number of predetermined route that the water bullet will travel. Since the corrupted mermaid king have multiple aquatic lives component, maybe he will act on an instinct when he sense the belt, and try to use it, and at that time, I can launch my water bullet to hit him hard and let the other finish the job "Right let do just that. Shark, dolphin, tuna. Please lend me your hand, or fins in your case" [Charlotte] And so they did, even some of the dolphin armies help me create one. I can see multiple belts forming across the country. As the dolphins try it out, the momentum one would gain isn''t that good, so the penetrative power of the water bullet will not be good, but that''s fine. At the end of the day, my intention is just to wound the mermaid king as to give other an opening, that''s all. (Elise and Kara. They have take notice of the belts I created and use it to their advantage as well. That''s good, but I have to be extra careful not to hit them) [Charlotte] They use the belts to move around, launching spell after spell to help Mahsuri, and when they''re about to get attack by the mermaid king, they simply let the belts to carry them away, and that''s when "The mermaid king! He is using the belts! Shark, dolphin, tuna! Help me will you!" [Charlotte] Now, just have to wait for the mermaid king to get close enough before "NOW! Long range compressed water bullet!" [Charlotte] The water bullet that I launch from the giant orb, it''s as big as I am, but even denser. I don''t know how dense it is, maybe even denser than a hammer or a sword, and it travels at velocity enough to kill multiple people, but judging by the current strength of the corrupted mermaid king, it wouldn''t kill him, at least I hope it will not "!" [Mermaid king] The mermaid king realizes my plan, and try to exit the belt from the side, but unfortunately for him "No! You will not!" [Mahsuri] With her sword imbued with force of a tsunami, she uses the blunt side of her sword and hit the mermaid king hard enough to send him flying at my water bullet, and "A direct hit! The three of you! Now!" [Charlotte] I shouted so loud that it makes my throat hurt, but the three of them saw the opportunity and quickly surround the heavily injured mermaid king, finishing him off before trying to save him from getting corrupted further "That''s good... I will..." [Charlotte] Black. All I can see now is pitch black Chapter 287 "Where am I?" [Charlotte] "You have wake up!" [Elise] "Thank goodness" [Kara] Elise and Kara can be seen, with a raccoon like eyes. I see, the two of them must be worried sick because of me blacking out all of a sudden. I am told that this is the resting room inside of the castle. It remains unscathed even when the mermaid king is on a rampage, and speaking of the mermaid king "What happen afterward?" [Charlotte] "The mermaid king, he''s dead" [Elise] "!" [Charlotte] "After your assault with the water bullet, thing we''re looking good for a moment, but due to the massive strain that he get after going berserk, his frail body take the toll and..." [Kara] I see. In other word, we fail to save him. Now all that''s left is to investigate why did all of this happen, and for that "No! Stay in the bed! We will handle this" [Elise] "I''m no longer a child! Let me help!" [Charlotte] "This has nothing to do with that. Sick people should just rest" [Kara] They''re trying to prevent me from getting out of the bed, and they actually won. I am still feeling weak, so all they have to do is just hold me in a place with little to no effort at all "You three are in a good mood" [Mahsuri] Mahsuri, who suddenly look a bit older enter the room. Her usual thirty year old appearance take a decade and a half leap forward in time. What happen? "Why are you looking older all of a sudden?" [Charlotte] Wait, she did mentioned that she will be here no more, and she''s looking rather sad and worries about it back then, so is this what she meant? "I am supposed to be death by now, but I guess Death didn''t just caught up to me yet" [Mahsuri] She said it like it was no big deal, and the way she mentioned death just now, is she referring to the God of Death? "Now then, should I continue?" [Mahsuri] """!!!""" [Elise, Kara, Charlotte] The three of us, agree through mutual silence, and without missing a beat, she continues her story "Charlotte. Long story short, you''re actually the child of Vincent and Maria, the first saint and saintess, which makes you Ash''s biological little sister" [Mahsuri] ""WHAT!!"" [Elise, Kara] "You''re joking right..." [Charlotte] "I''m not, though I should speed up a bit. I don''t know whether the fallen god curse will catch up and prevent me from talking about it. Remember how I said the saint and saintess was killed with her three year old son? You''re still inside the womb and you have no chance of surviving whatsoever at that time, and thus..." [Mahsuri] Again, she pause. I don''t know whether she couldn''t talk about it, or simply refuse "Thus, in order to save you. I actually take you out from Maria''s wound and have the mermaid kingdom save you. The mermaid king and I by any means are no great physician, and there''s no one that can save you at that time... So, with what little knowledge we have at that time, we created what we know the best... A homunculus to save you" [Mahsuri] "So, I am a homunculus?" [Charlotte] "Half homunculus. You see, true homunculus like me, Lara and Nara are really hard to create, and so, in order to give you a second chance, we both actually shared half of our magic core and implant it inside of you, but as you can see, you''re simply an abnormality, and that happened" [Mahsuri] She pointed out to the direction of the large blue orb. There''s a wall that separates it, but since it emits mana, the three of us just pick it up straight away and know what she''s trying to convey, but "But that''s how many thousands of years ago?" [Elise] "True, if Charlotte really am the daughter of first saint and saintess, how can she lives in our era?" [Kara] "Some time later, the fallen god and its army try to capture the mermaid kingdom. They nearly..." [Mahsuri] Mahsuri suddenly stop. She tried her best to speak, but regardless, she can''t. Is this what preventing people from talking about the fallen god. If so, this is the first time I actually see it in action. Almost anything regarding the fallen god will be blocked, but the curse varied from person to person, since a large scale magic like this bound to have many loophole "Understood. Thank you for telling me that. I am really grateful for it, although I still don''t know how I ended up with the other, I am still satisfied" [Charlotte] ""Charlotte..."" [Elise, Kara] I shouldn''t be extra greedy. Plus, if I really need to know, I simply have to defeat the fallen god and come back alive, and have Mahsuri tell me the story once again "I''m tired, but I kinda want to see the mermaid kingdom and help around a bit, so can I..." [Charlotte] ""No!!"" [Elise, Kara] As expected, they aren''t making it any easy. Just when I wanted to say my counter argument, the important looking person come, with few of the soldiers just behind him, carrying what seems to be the scales of the mermaid king when he was corrupted "Your highness, please, have a look at this" [Important looking person] Not only Mahsuri, the three of us actually take a peek as well. There are some sort of inscription being written by heat on the inner layer of the scales, and """This is!!!""" [Elise, Kara, Charlotte] "And I suppose the other scales contain similar inscription?" [Mahsuri] "That''s right, though this one in particular is for the both of you" [Important looking person] The one we are looking just now contain the information regarding the fallen god devil executive on this era, and the one that is handled over to both of us says "Please. Take the throne and protect the mermaid kingdom in my stead" The mermaid king dying wish Chapter 288 [At Demon kingdom] [Mara point of view] With multiple head keeps protruding out, and with each fang of it lie poison so strong that it wither any plant in an instant, the Cerberus is a force to be reckoned with. A devil born out of malice of dog type monster, it keeps barking and roaring, some is nothing more than an empty threat, while other are a genuine dead roar "Lightning shoe" [Mara] Still, that weapon is of no use if it can''t touch me. One, cut his open flesh with wind knife Two, his claw, cut it with thunder axe Three, his eyes, blind it with bright light magic Keep it going, keep it going until the Cerberus die, and it will not take that long. Even when there are multiple heads with seemingly one dominant head, they aren''t coordinating well enough to pose a large threat to me. ~Roar~ A loud roar, accompany by a poisonous fire breath. So, a fire mana and earth mana is at play here. Extending my hand, I create a powerful gust magic, driving it back towards the source. It did nothing more than just to irritate it further. Looks like they are the type of devils that are immune to their own poison. Shame, I could just end it there itself, but that doesn''t matter "Now then, please stay still" [Mara] Taking out my custom-made Javelin, it''s one of Karon living weapon, from his practice time of using his racial dwarf magic. As soon as I grab it, I can sense that the Javelin by itself suck dry my lightning and wind mana, and stop when it thinks that it could one shot the Cerberus in front of me. Smart, but not that smart, as it didn''t take into account of what I am about to do Using thunder shoe once again, and a tailwind magic to support me, I create a distance between the Cerberus and I, before sprinting toward it with once again, using thunder shoe. "TAKE THIS!" [Mara] Using all of my upper body strength, and the momentum I gain from sprinting, I throw the Javelin imbued with my mana as hard as I could, and it travels straight to the main head of the Cerberus. It tries to dodge, but this is where the beauty of living weapon made by Karon comes in, as it simply redirected itself and "Wow. Gross..." [Mara] My initial prediction is that, it will pierce the skull of the main head, into the neck and exit through it abdomen, but now, with how the Cerberus dodge and the javelin redirect itself, it pierces through each one of the head, one after another while not giving a chance for the Cerberus to regenerate. It also uses my wind magic to pump in air from inside the skull, creating strong pressure that the eyes simply pop out. Even after the javelin comes back to me by it own, I can still hear the sound of air leaking out from the Cerberus "I feel bad for the worker that will clean this mess" [Mara] I am two floor away from the demon kingdom, inside the dark dungeon. After getting the info from Zerolith''s doppelganger, Htilorez, I was dispatched by the female paladin and her highness, the cold beauty demon queen to take care of it "Better get going" [Mara] If only the smart living weapon come with auto clean feature, that will be great. For now, let just store it inside my item box. Walking back to the demon kingdom, I warn the soldier that comes to dispose of the Cerberus corpse about the poison that will be emitted by the Cerberus, and they take note of it. I''m glad they already prepare some high grade antidotes "Greeting hero, good job out there" "Thank you" [Mara] "Have you found the wedding gift that you were looking for?" "Unfortunately no" [Mara] "Then may I recommend another shop?" "Yes please" [Mara] Recommending a high-end store, I thought of going there with Zerolith as he himself didn''t find any suitable wedding gift for Rean and Muse yet. I don''t know where Zerolith currently is, but I simply need to ask the citizen "The demon priest? He''s gone back to the orphanage last I saw" "Yes, I saw the same. He''s with the other demon girl" "I see. Thank you so much" [Mara] Zerolith, out of all the people, wanted to become a priest. Naturally, I was skeptical at first, but Saintess Rumia accept his determination and start training him with Seo Ah before sending him here. Since there isn''t even a single demon priest before, he became the very first, and thus garner quite a reputation for himself. As for me, even when he has changed for a better, I still can''t believe him as a priest, so when Saintess Rumia dispatch him here, I follow suit Taking the carriage ride and stopping fight in front of the orphanage, I can see the kids are happily playing tag with one another, before they inevitably drag me into it. I promise them I''ll play with them later as I wanted to clean myself first before reporting back to the female paladin and her highness "Right. Please take care" [Zerolith] Zerolith turn off the phone. I can see that he just finished his conversation with Kara. I don''t think it''s just the usual call, so "Zerolith, why did Kara call us?" [Mara] "Ahh Mara, well you see..." [Zerolith] Zerolith, who have become taller than I am, with a slightly longer ashen hair start to talk "Really!?" [Mara] "That''s true. Are you on your way to meet with the female paladin and the demon queen? If so, I''ll like to join and we could report it directly to them" [Zerolith] "Great idea, let me take a shower first" [Mara] If it was the old Zerolith, I''m sure he will be panicking about it, but now, he''s awfully calm, even after hearing what happen. Guess he really has matured Chapter 289 Three day had passed, and we are finally able to settle once and for all at Kiserre''s orphanage. It was a rough journey, to the Mermaid kingdom, fill with revelation after revelation. To think, in a sense, I am Brother Ash''s biological little sister, that''s one of the most, if not the most shocking thing I have ever heard, and I still find the fact a hard one to believe in and Mahsuri right now isn''t with us, so I couldn''t ask her more. Even is she didn''t take the post as the Mermaid Queen, she still couldn''t give the full explanation, so for now, I just have to accept the fact Elise and Kara are with Mrs Saga. The three of them are summoned by Queen Rinz regarding the recent incident that happened back then at the mermaid kingdom. I thought of going with them as well, but my mana isn''t fully recovered, so I was asked to stay behind by her highness herself (Still... The ten commanders...) [Charlotte] Based on what the mermaid king left behind, they are the ten elites among the Devil, almost like a mirror image of us the ten heroes. I''m sure this is some kind of sick joke from the fallen god, or maybe a sign that she wanted to settle the score with Goddess Achalasia once and for all. For that, the fallen god gather ten powerful individuals and bestowed upon them extra power and blessings just to rival us Terrifying... We are lucky that the mermaid king somehow able to access this information when he was being swallowed by the miasma. How he manage to do that is beyond our understanding, but we are still glad about it. Information is a weapon, and knowing is half of the battle. The ten are said to be from various races, and some are monsters turn into powerful devils, and the one leading all of that is Agnes... Isn''t she the one that kills Brother Ash. If so, that makes her the one that all of us hated the most, maybe even more so than Motra, and speaking of Motra, he/she''s one of the commander as well "Sigh... Motra is already that strong and it takes three of us to beat him/her... No, to make her retreat from further attacking the mermaid kingdom... And why is he/she is there in the first place!?" [Charlotte] I wonder how we will fare when fighting against all ten commanders at once. We are obviously the one at disadvantage here. We don''t even know all of them, so this, this feeling... (Aaahhh!) [Charlotte] Thank goodness this soft pillow absorb all of my screamingly sound, so I can just keep shouting without anyone barging in checking. Thinking about all of this just stresses me out. Why did we have to face against someone that strong... What should we do!!! "Sigh... I want something sweet, more specifically, I want some chocolate banana cake..." [Charlotte] At a time like this, a supply of sweet and sugar for the brain is what I needed the most. The kids are mostly playing, and since they see how struggling I am to take a step, they didn''t come rushing to tackle me (their way of saying play with us), Instead, they lend me their hand as we walk toward the fridge. That''s sweet of them, enough to makes my heart melt, but unfortunately, there isn''t even a single chocolate banana cake in my line of sight, but there are other sweets that we could snack on. "We want that one" "This is sweeter!" "No, it''s this one!" "Right. Right. The sister told us not to take too much, so I''ll just pick some, so make up your mind" [Charlotte] In front of the fridge, we are all debating about which sweets should we choose for our afternoon snacks. There are some tea leaves inside the jars, so maybe some sweet biscuits and tea will be a fine choice. "How about biscuits and tea. Mrs Saga and the other will come back soon, and we could serve them some. Surely they will be delighted. Plus, they will usually bring some sweets from the castle, so we should prepare more tea than usual" [Charlotte] "Right!" And we prepare the tea and biscuits for the snack. Since Sis Diana and I are quite close with each other, she taught me about the proper etiquette of brewing and making tea for snacks. It was a tough lesson, but one that is worth it in pursuit of the ultimate sweet tea time, and now "Ouch!" "Careful now. Here, let me heal you and demonstrate the technique once again" [Charlotte] Healing the little sibling... His hand is small, and quite fragile. I wonder, the orphans did pledged to support us in our fight against the fallen god, but what can this fragile hand do... "Sigh..." [Charlotte] "Am I doing something wrong?" "No. I''m just tired" [Charlotte] "Then let just eat it!" "Right. If I wait any longer, my stomach will start grumbling" [Charlotte] As we eat and drink our fair share of tea and biscuits, the three of them finally show arrive, and as expected, they brought some sweets as well. Good thing that I prepared some extra tea for them. They join us, and we talk about what they were discussing with the queen "Thing is, we might actually know half of the ten commanders" [Khamishah] "Really! How?" [Charlotte] "From the various encounter in the past as well as some rumour, but one of them is..." [Khamishah] "?" [Charlotte] "Anyway, I''ll tell you those that we are sure of. There are Agnes the immortal, Motra the half butterfly, Saintess Angela of the old teaching, Zin the monstrous giant and..." [Khamishah] "And..." [Charlotte] "The mysterious wondering scythe master..." [Elise] "Most probably..." [Kara] "Are you serious!" [Charlotte] "The one giving us this info is Rean. So, we should ask him about the details later on" [Elise] "Right!" [Charlotte] It couldn''t be... Right? If this is some sick joke from the fallen god, oh how unfunny it is. Chapter 290 Time for us to head back to Estel. As always, it''s hard for us to leave the orphanage, as our siblings from another orphanage feels reluctant to let us go, keep begging us "one more day" "one more day" all the while hanging tight to our clothes. It''s hard for them and even harder for us, but "They will come back. They WILL definitely come back, so let us pray for their safe journey" [Nun C] "True. All we can do for now is to pray for them, but when the times come, don''t hesitate to call for our help" [Khamishah] "We will. We will definitely come back" [Elise] "Until then, please keep praying for us" [Kara] "Then we can have another sweet snack time with everyone" [Charlotte] "Bye-bye" [Miriam] "Please take care. It''s a shame that Anjin and Kucin was suddenly called elsewhere, but I''ll tell them about the three of you coming here" [Female black cat] With the farewell, we went to the designated spot for inter-dungeon bus golem, where fortunately enough, Mr Bond is our driver once more. The passenger however... (Since Elise didn''t make any fuss about it, I guess I shouldn''t as well) [Charlotte] Plus, there are few more beastmen, and no ruckus is made by any one of them, so I should just stay back and maybe keep a bit of my guard up. Still, somehow, two of the figures seems odd? Familiar? I don''t know, but they don''t really emit any aura of dangerousness from them, which somehow makes my anxiety shoot up even more As the bus leave the dungeon, my mind beginning to drift. Sometimes seeing out of the window just to see the view. It''s the same as always, but with nothing better to do after reading a book and talking with Elise and Kara, the view become an interesting one. Plus, I can spot any devils should they decide to attack us, so I am technically watching over for all of us Anyway, back to the old follower, I don''t know why, but every single time I meet with an avid old follower, I somehow get some unease feeling, and when they''re having a quarrel with the new religion follower, it feels like some kind of bomb exploded, and this feeling... Sis Diana and Saintess Rumia did discuss about the possibility of religious war, and with how Saintess Angela is one of the ten commanders for the fallen god, I could see it happening, but... (How will they use them? Turning them into a devil? Or as a sacrificial paw...) [Charlotte] ~BOOM~ ~Glass shattering~ "Wind wall!" [Kara] "!" [Charlotte] "Kucin sure is fast to react" [Elise] "True, I just hope the preparator survive. I need to heal him up so that we could gain some more information" [Kara] "WAIT? What just happened?" [Charlotte] "We will fill you later, but for now, Mr Bus Driver, can you stop the bus for a while, I want to see the condition of my sister" [Anjin] "Su...sure..." [Bond] And that two familiar figures among the beastmen, so they are Kucin and Anjin! Just how come I didn''t notice them? Could it be, Queen Rinz created some sort of magical camouflage for them? She did create an impressive fortress defense magic for her castle all by herself, so that''s the only explanation that I can think of Just when the four of us wanted to check on Kucin, she simply appear at the bus door. From the looks of it, she just deactivated her evolved beastly transformation, and judging by all of this, my confusion begin clearing up (So someone tried to blow us all up with some sort of suicidal magic, and sensing this, Kucin quickly activate her beastly transformation and leap outside with that maniac) [Charlotte] I''m pretty sure that''s what happened, but judging by their reaction, it feels like they actually knew this will happen beforehand. I wanted to ask them about it, but (Left and right, the passengers are simply confuse, some even left speechless by this sudden event. It would be the best for me to hold back and find a better time to start questioning them) [Charlotte] "Mr Bus Driver, please just continue the journey. By my title as an S rank adventure, I can assure you nothing similar will happen throughout the journey" [Kucin] "Right. Thank you for the assurance" [Bond] Starting the bus golem once more, Mr Bond push the pedal a bit too hard as I can feel the bus golem accelerating rather quickly. Maybe he is a bit shaken about all of this. I''m sure his mind is loaded with nothing but questions, as he keeps peeking at us, trying to get the answer. He also tries listening to other passengers barging questions toward us, but "Please stay calm. I''ll report all of this to King Estel, Princess Diana and Saintess Rumia. They will then make a statement to answer all of your question. For now, please stay calm" [Kucin] "She''s speaking the truth. As one of the heroes, I can assure you there is nothing to worried about. Just stay calm and believe at us" [Elise] It takes some time to convince them, and they reluctantly agreed to sit down and just continue the journey like normal. They''re rather tense, and I can''t blame them. I''m sure all of us inside the bus golem feels the same, but panicking inside a dungeon will bring nothing but trouble. Once we arrive at Estel, I can see Sis Diana, Saintess Rumia and The Valkyrie are all there. Zaidi is also there. They''re all trying to explain something to the passengers. As for me "The fallen princes of demon kingdom?" [Charlotte] "The traitorous princes, but yes, we believe they''re the one responsible for the attack just now" [Anjin] "Are they targeting us because they''re with the devil?" [Charlotte] "True, but there is one thing I need to correct" [Kucin] "?" [Charlotte] "They aren''t with the fallen god" [Anjin] "!" [Charlotte] Chapter 291 While waiting for the commotion to calm down (that, as well as waiting for Sis Diana, Zaidi and Saintess Rumia to come and join us), the five of us take a few step and find ourselves a seat at the adventure guild. It is nearing dusk, and as such, it is expected that the guild will be closing in, but seeing the five of us enter the guild, The Guild Master, Mother Aries, Lisa and a familiar samurai adventure come and greet us. They''re talking over at the counter when they decided to have a talk with us. Seeing them happy and smiling when seeing us safe make us feels appreciate, and makes me wanted to try my hardest for them. We smile back, before asking Mr Samurai Jacks a question "Rean and Muse? They will be back soon. Princess Nurhaliza, Mira and Kana at requested them to stay for few more days until the commotion is truly over" [Samurai Jacks] "That commotion still isn''t over yet?" [Anjin] "Sadly, the group you mentioned started to attack Rean out of nowhere for no apparent reason... No..." [Jacks] "Both you and Rean are actively hunting the dark guild" [Aries] "Which mean they do it simply because of revenge" [Kucin] "Or maybe as a distraction" [Aries] Seating at a large table, I just realized we are seating with four S rank adventure. That''s something rare. Seeing an S rank adventure by itself is rare, but for four out of ten of them to be here, that''s even rarer. I wonder if I can meet the other six S rank adventure, that would be nice Since Sis Diana and the other are taking longer than all of us expected, we update them regarding what happen at the Mermaid kingdom and Mahsuri whereabouts now. They must have been informed by Queen Rinz through the phone, but hearing it from ourselves will clear up any misunderstanding they might had, so we gladly fill the details. After all, this is for the benefits of everyone, so being an awkward customer would be destructive for all of us As we are nearing our discussion, Zaidi come, looking tired. He has a panda eye, more so than Sis Diana. As for Saintess Rumia, she looks rather energetic for this hour. I guess Saintess Rumia must have been the one calming the bus passengers, more so than Sis Diana and Zaidi. Even Mrs Qis look tired, almost like dragging herself, which is rare considering she usually conducted herself too almost perfection "Just what happen? You look awfully tired" [Charlotte] "Just some political stuff... I''m sorry for appearing like this" [Zaidi] "True. Forgive us for our unsightly manner and appearance" [Diana] "I have no excuse" [Qis] "It''s fine. We all know how hard you work, so please take this time to rest as well" [Aries] "No, as a prince..." [Zaidi] "Zaidi, don''t try so hard in front of Charlotte. Some girl dislike the try hard type of man" [Diana] "I ain''t!" [Zaidi] "..." [Charlotte] (She give rather a nasty look to him) [Kara] "That is awkward... I''ll fetch some cold tea and l..." [Elise] "No, please allow me" [Rumia] Offering her prayer to Goddess Achalasia, a warm light greet us all, and with it, flowery aroma with a tinge of honey knock on our nose. Smelling it alone gives us a boost in energy. Plus, there is an extremely delicious chocolate banana cake as well!!! Thank you Saintess Rumia!!! Thank you Goddess Achalasia for this wonderful gift. I can''t wait to dig in, no I''ll dig in now! "Charlotte! Where is your manner!" [Qis] "Right..." [Charlotte] "Let just eat while we are discussing about the new group" [Jacks] "True, we are running short on time, so please forgive our manner" [Diana] As we sip the sweet honey flowery tea, Mr Jacks told us about his activities for the past few months, hunting down the dark guild. He also met with Saint Louis and Seraph and they exchanged information about "I see. That''s just as we expected, no.. maybe even larger. The two traitorous princes of demon kingdom, the dark guild, the newly resurrected true beastman group and the serial killer dwarf. We already have our hand fulls with the devils and the fallen god, and now this..." [Anjin] "They really are giving us headache. Nothing else but headaches" [Kucin] The two S rank sibling try to express their anger and frustrations. Anjin, he wanted to slam the table, but given the one in front of him is a princess, a prince and a saintess, he holds back with all of his might. Releasing a sigh. A long sigh. As for Kucin, she simply clenches her fist before moving on to discuss matter in hand, leaving behind her older brother who is on his third long sigh "At least we know one of their objectives" [Diana] "True. I''m sure Simba and his group will target Farhah once more. We do know of their location, but contacting them prove rather hard" [Aries] As Mother Aries said, contacting them are rather hard. Mr Filvisar, Calypso, Farhah and Karon, at least we know where they currently are even though making contact with them are beyond frustrating at a time, but they are nothing as compared to Lara and Nara. For starter, none of us know where the two twin currently are, thus making contact impossible "And another one, is Sis Rafiah..." [Elise] "At least that''s what the Beast king Leogris and the Demon king Druser said" [Diana] "Is there anyone that can help us collect more information on this one? Anyone in Demon and Beast Kingdom" [Anjin] "Well, Mara and Zerolith are currently in Demon kingdom, so we could ask them for help. As for the Beast Kingdom, we could ask Singa and Savel, they''re both there undergoing apprenticeship with Singa''s grandfather" [Kara] "We could also ask Sis Rafiah once more regarding this matter, but every time we spoke to her about it... It''s like her past trauma prevent her from doing so" [Charlotte] "Just don''t push her too hard, that''s all. For now, let just call them meddling third party before giving them a proper name. I don''t even mind calling them that to be perfectly honest" [Diana] If anything, maybe we could ask her best friend to help us. The angelic doctor, Yefefiah. She''s rather busy but I''m sure she would spare her time for our sake Chapter 292 It''s morning, and today is quite a chilly day. Getting all comfy in our big blanket that we share with each other. My little siblings who are still sleeping shows not even a sign of waking up, in fact, they are sleep talking. With the chilly day, comfy bed and blanket, and also the sweet faces that are sleeping right beside me, I give in my temptation of falling asleep for five more minutes, but (If I did that, Elise will get mad at me) [Charlotte] I suppose I have no other choice except to just wake up and went downstairs without waking the other up. Tip toeing into the door and closing it, I can see Elise already all dressed up for work, while here I am, still in my pyjamas. Good thing she didn''t bother about it, and the two of us went downstairs to find Behe eating a piece of grilled meat prepared by Grandpa Claude, and just beside him is "Sis Rafiah, can we ask you something" [Elise] "..." [Rafiah] Because of how close we are with each other, she can practically take a guess the question we are about to throw at her. She''s rather distressed about it, and keep telling us to focus on our duty as heroes rather than worrying about her. "But this involves other as well!" [Elise] "True. Even when they aren''t with the fallen god, they still pose a massive threat" [Charlotte] "Still, if this prevent you from doing your duty as a hero, it will be no good for all of us" [Rafiah] "..." [Claude] And we are back to square one once again. I guess the attack six years ago really took a toll on her. No, if what Mrs Yefefiah said was true, it was Brother Ash''s death that make her like this... Maybe like she said, Sis Rafiah just didn''t want to burden us any further, and thus, opt to stay silent. It is her way of protecting us, at least that''s what she believes It''s true that the adventure guild and few knights from different countries said that they will take care of the meddling third party, thus leaving our hand free to deal with the fallen god, but just leaving it to them will left a bad taste on our mouths. Plus, if we can churn them out at this stage, they wouldn''t pose a threat for us at later date, but "Time for our breakfast" [Claude] "You''re impossible..." [Elise] "Sorry..." [Rafiah] It''s rare to see Elise acting all rude, but I sincerely feel the same, just that I don''t want to express it to her. I wouldn''t be surprised if she''s the one to be blame if things do escalate, but for now (Let just have our breakfast and be done with) [Charlotte] But the breakfast feel rather bad for today. Maybe it is because of the atmosphere surrounding us, and our little siblings that comes didn''t help to elevate the mood either. They''re either ignorance about it or notices it but couldn''t find the proper word nor the courage to ask what happen. I guess I should just eat quickly and go to the castle to do my job Leaving with Elise, I thought of going together with her, since her work as a Valkyrie will often take her to the castle but "You''re going to meet Mrs Yefefiah at the hospital construction site?" [Charlotte] "Yes. I believe she will be there today instead of their usual spot at Diana''s hall" [Elise] "Either way, they''re close to each other... I guess I''ll join you" [Charlotte] "Won''t you be late for your work?" [Elise] "I''ll just tell them the reason. I hope they will understand" [Charlotte] "I sure they do. Let just finish this fast" [Elise] From her tone, she is still slightly mad and irritated to Sis Rafiah. All I can do is nod at her in fear, since I don''t want to get any unnecessary scolding from her. We leave the orphanage''s bus golem behind, and as usual opt for walking, and "You two are going to meet Mrs Yefefiah as well?" [Kara] "That''s right. Care to join us?" [Elise] "Absolutely" [Kara] Kara join us, and just as she''s about to ask if Sis Rafiah said anything to us this morning, I quickly give her some weird face signal, telling her to stop. She wanted to laugh, but she did somehow catch my message, and understand what happen during breakfast and choose to stay silent And when we arrive "Did you three need something? Well, let me guess, it''s about my bestie Rafiah right" [Yefefiah] "That''s true, Dr Yefefiah" [Kara] "Oh stop it with the flattering" [Yefefiah] Once a medical student, now a full fledges doctor, the angel race doctor who hates hiding her magnificent wings inside her body is still as cheerful as ever. She is quite the opposite from Sis Rafiah so much so I wonder how the two can become a best friend "And that''s what happened. Thing you can help us?" [Elise] "Is not like I can''t... But I''m pretty sure the result will be the same" [Yefefiah] "As expected..." [Elise] "But don''t give up just yet" [Yefefiah] "You have something on your mind?" [Kara] "That I did" [Yefefiah] Taking a bell like device from her item bag, she quickly show it to us "This is a lie detecting machine, made by Karon few years ago" [Yefefiah] "Why did you have that?" [Charlotte] "At first, I am rather inexperienced on differentiating out between those who are malingering and those who are genuinely sick. When I jokingly tells Karon about making a device capable of differentiating it, he took it seriously and..." [Yefefiah] "Is it really working!?" [Kara] "Not quite, it has all of it. False positive, false negatives, true positive and true negative, so you should rely on your instincts as well" [Yefefiah] "And what should we do with it?" [Elise] "Well, you could "interrogate" her, but... You know what, let us do it in your stead" [Yefefiah] "Us?" [Charlotte] Chapter 293 A truth or lie test. This is either fun or stressful, depending on the situation, and where you are, either on the receiving end of the question, or the one asking the question. I must admit, this actually piques my curiosity by a lot. If only I can use the dwarf racial magic, puppet magic, but alas, I think Karon is the only dwarf so far that can use it. He himself isn''t proficient enough, so it isn''t that surprising when other dwarves that he taught didn''t achieve mastery yet... No, I forgot about his father, the serial killer dwarf. Correct statement will be, the serial killer dwarf is the master of puppet magic, while Karon is far behind on the second place, followed by other "Sure, we are free today, and the clinic didn''t see much patient" [Healer A] "I''ll pass and stay behind, I feel bad for Rafiah for doing this as well as feeling bad if some patients come only to find an empty clinic" [Healer B] "Then I''ll stay behind as well" [Healer C] "I''ll go. Rafiah is easily intimidated with large number of people" [Healer D] "Great! Let us go and "play" with Rafiah a bit" [Yefefiah] And now, the three of us feels bad about it. I know how the healers are actually serious despite their laid back attitude. They can basically do a 180 degree turn over in, from laid back to being serious , especially when they''re treating a patient. I''m pretty sure this can be translated into this sort of activity as well "The orphanage should be empty by now. They''re all in school" [Kara] "Principal Alice gave you permission to go out?" [Elise] "She does" [Kara] "Then we should take full advantage of it!" [Yefefiah] Knowing that there is no one in the orphanage beside Grandpa Claude, Sis Rafiah and Kronbir (Cupid''s adoptive dwarf brother who works at the training hall), we rush, increasing our pace little by little, and... "Rafiah!" [Yefefiah] "You guys... What are you doing here?" [Rafiah] Sis Rafiah is on an alert. We caught her when she wanted to do her shopping. Wasting no time, Yefefiah and the other push her, entering one of the empty orphanage rooms all the while Sis Rafiah is struggling to say something to protest. Poor her, she couldn''t even protest for getting this harsh treatment from her friends, and even if she finds a word to protest, I''m pretty sure it will only fall on deaf ears While Sis Rafiah sit on a chair, other sit on the bed, or just stand in front of her. One of the healer set up a table between Sis Rafiah and all of us, and Yefefiah quickly take the bell like device from her item pocket and put it in the middle of the table. Sis Rafiah''s eye dilates, which suggests she already know what will happen to her "Sorry, but can we stop this?" [Rafiah] "Absolutely not!" [Yefefiah] As expected. I just hope I won''t get scold or getting a cold shoulder treatment from Sis Rafiah afterward. That will be scary "Come on now, put your hand on top of the bell" [Yefefiah] "Sigh..." [Rafiah] She have to agree. There isn''t much choice for her, and to test it out "Alright, first question. Is it true you and the hunter adventure start dating?" [Yefefiah] "Of course not!" [Rafiah] We don''t even need the lie detector to see whether that''s the truth or not. Her red face like a tomato just confirms it all, and (The bell didn''t react. I guess she really is telling the truth. That''s a relief) [Charlotte] I don''t know why, but the idea of Sis Rafiah dating someone is something that I oppose of. I wonder why, I can''t explain it myself "Alright, next question. Don''t you feel like dating Jacks?" [Healer A] "NO! Plus, he will get married to Alice soon!" [Rafiah] (Are they going to keep teasing her like this?) [Elise] (That seems to be the case) [Kara] And thus, the teasing session continue on and on. I swear, Sis Rafiah''s cheeks looks like two plum tomatoes ready to be pluck, and her teary eyes, it''s like she just cut some onions. Yefefiah then suddenly ask a serious question "Question. Do you really think hiding your true identity from your siblings will be a good idea?" [Yefefiah] """!!!""" [Elise, Kara, Charlotte] "Yes. Yes I do" [Rafiah] There it is! The 180 degree changes in character! Not only the healers, even Sis Rafiah did the same. The tomatoes and the teary eyes suddenly disappeared from her face! I know they all train under Mr Flinar, but seeing Sis Rafiah does the same thing still surprise me "Next question. Are you really sure you don''t need any help regarding this issue?" [Yefefiah] "I don''t need any help" [Rafiah] ~Bell ringing~ Her arms started to sweat, and the bell suddenly ring!!! So she did feel that she need our help, but then, why did she act so secretive? "What would happen if the traitorous princes come to you? Would you fight?" [Yefefiah] "That I will" [Rafiah] "Then why didn''t you ask your siblings or princess Diana for help? Because you feels that it will only disturb them?" [Yefefiah] "That''s correct. They''re the ten heroes, so I don''t want to burden them" [Rafiah] "Do you know of their objectives?" [Yefefiah] "I don''t..." [Rafiah] ~Bell ringing~ "!" [All] The bells ring for a second time! Yefefiah then keep barraging her with questions, but none hit the marks until "Is it because you believe you''re the one that cause the succession war of the demon kingdom, and you''re afraid that involving them will cause similar thing to happen again?" [Claude] "NO!" [Rafiah] ~Bell ringing~ We are stunt. Not only did Grandpa Claude appear out of nowhere (to be fair, he is a ghost), but that response, both from her and the bell could only mean "I''m sorry... But, I just remembered what Simba, the true beastman leader said when we met six years ago... You don''t need to elaborate, as I''m sure this is still haunting you, and to all of you, especially the three of you..." [Claude] """Yes...""" [Elise, Kara, Charlotte] "Apologize to her later. I''m sure Ash''s death haunted her and cause her to be like this. She''s trying to protect you in her own way. I won''t say it''s right or wrong, but I want you to acknowledge that" [Claude] "Sorry... This is also my fault" [Rafiah] "No... I guess it''s understandable now. For you to bear such a burden..." [Elise] "I''m sorry..." [Kara] "Me too..." [Charlotte] That''s the only word that I can think of. Chapter 294 It''s morning, at the castle ground where us court magicians will usually have our magic discussion. From the highest ranking court magician to the lowest ranking, everyone will gather around to voice out their opinion, well, almost everyone since I will usually find myself skipping it. While I did become the youngest court magician due to recommendation from Sis Diana, the other mostly swore loyalty to the first prince, and thus, they purposely make my work difficult. If only I am as brave as Brother Ash, I could just blast them all away without caring for the consequence. I''m sure if I am to snap, they will use the opportunity to bring Sis Diana down. Not that it will affect her, but I don''t want to cause any more trouble for her. She has done so much for us siblings that it isn''t an exaggeration to say that we are raised by her "Charlotte! Skipping again aren''t you. This is why I am against for commoner like you to be part of us" "And yet this commoner is the strongest among all of you" [Charlotte] "That''s because you''re blessed with the blessing! Nothing more, nothing less" "Doesn''t that mean I am worth it right from the beginning, from some noble who thinks he is a big shot?" [Charlotte] "Hold your tongue! If not, I wi..." "And what exactly will you do?" [Zaidi] "Prince Zaidi!" Zaidi, with his usual red attire come to the rescue. He might be the youngest prince, but he is a prince nonetheless, and thus, the so call court magician couldn''t help but to bow for respect as Zaidi approaches him "You still haven''t answered my question? What will you do to her?" [Zaidi] "Nothing your highness! I will just make sure she attends the court magician meeting" "Then she''s excuse for now. Charlotte, a group of fire crow devil was spotted inside the ice dungeon. We couldn''t dispatch the whole court magician as usual. So, by the order of King Estel and Princess Diana, you''re to be dispatch to take care of it with a platoon of army" [Zaidi] "Right, I will gladly accept the order" [Charlotte] Seeing that he is not needed, he quickly ask Zaidi''s permission to leave, and quickly left the two of us alone "Well, I''m off" [Charlotte] "Wait! Don''t you heard what I just said? Some of us will joi..." [Zaidi] "No big deal. It just some fire crows becoming devil. I could just extinguish them from a far" [Charlotte] "That''s not it! With Mahsuri gone, god know if any one of the ten commanders will come to harm you! Just stay here! I already told the army to get ready!" [Zaidi] "Sigh... Fine" [Charlotte] "You''re hard to deal with sometime" [Zaidi] I feel bad for him, I can see his point, since the country didn''t want to loose such a valuable asset, but at the same time, mobilising an army just for a group of fire crows is absurd. I''m sure there are details he misses out, such as one of the fire crows being severely mutated that it poses massive threat, or their number are overwhelming. Then again, he might accidentally left that out since he is confident that I can take care of it . . . After taking the same carriage with Zaidi, we arrive at the last spotted location of the fire crows. I can see charred corpses of wild monster as well as trees that have been burned to ashes, creating a layer of silver snow. I don''t see any sign of battle between the wild monster and the fire crows, so either the fire crows are absurdly powerful or they''re extremely hot that they burn everything in their path simply by passing through it "Look! Over there!" "So many of them!" "And at the centre of it, that crow is simply huge!" [Zaidi] "That must be their leader. How nice of them to save us the time from tracking them" [Charlotte] The flock number around a hundred, maybe a bit more by ten, but that doesn''t really matter. With black miasma coming out from their burning feather, they remind me of Elise''s hell fire spell. The leader of the flock, a glance and you could tell that it''s simply abnormal. I never met a dark phoenix, but the leader fits the description of a mutated dark phoenix "Everybody! Into your position!" [Zaidi] "That won''t be necessary" [Charlotte] "Are you sure?" [Zaidi] "Positive" [Charlotte] Ever since the incident at the mermaid kingdom, I can feel my power getting stronger after touching supposedly my magic core there. Not only that, I actually received ample aquatic marine magic core, that "Army of fishes! Dispose of them!" [Charlotte] Mermaid princess? Somehow, I slowly become the very image that those mermaids always imagine. I simply commanded army of marine golems at my disposal. Tuna. Sardines. Angelfish. Barracuda. Name it, and you can find one or two of it inside my army of golem fishes. I did get several high grade magic core as well, but I don''t think it will be necessary for me to bring them out, as "Raging water ship! Ram into that dark phoenix" [Charlotte] Not only magic core, Mahsuri also taught me some powerful water spell. With the ship ramming the dark phoenix at high speed, it also launches barrage of water cannon, evaporating the phoenix as well as the surrounding fire crows, and before the dark phoenix unleash it miasma to attack me "Sniper: High impact water bullet!" [Charlotte] Taking my gun out, I compress a water bullet to the max before shooting it out, killing the dark phoenix in an instant. Seeing their leader corpse on the ground, the fire crows begin to move haphazardly, but alas, they couldn''t escape from my army "There, what did I tell you" [Charlotte] "I know I sound like a broken tape, but unbelievable. Simply unbelievable" [Zaidi] "You should trust me more nex..." [Charlotte] "You truly have grown, one of the ten heroes" [?] "!" [All] An S rank monster show herself. Yuki-ona, an ice type lady monster that wear the Japanese kimono, and this time, having a katana on one hand, bluish tinge in colour, and on the other hand she''s holding an umbrella. Isn''t she the one... "Please come with me. The dungeon master would like to have a word with you" [Yuki-ona] "The dungeon master?" [Zaidi] "That''s correct. The dungeon master, the holy beats of water, Reshir the Ice Dragon would like to speak with her" [Yuki-ona] Chapter 295 This Yuki-ona, I''m 100% sure that she''s the very same Yuki-ona back then. The one that brought the now deceased prince of holy palace to Sis Diana. Maybe because she''s a monster, so she doesn''t look any older. She isn''t hostile at all, but that doesn''t warrant any one of us to lower our guards down. In a one on one battle, it''s hard to say who will come on top between the two of us, so I better exercise some cautious "Please, guide me to the holy beast" [Charlotte] "As you wish... Mermaid princess" [Yuki-ona] "Just how did you know that?" [Charlotte] "Just part of our monster instinct" [Yuki-ona] Interesting. Is that why the mermaids can basically tell who I am from a glance? They aren''t monster but maybe the same kind of instinct running through their genes "Wait! Let us meet the holy beast as well!" [Zaidi] "The dungeon master wouldn''t appreciate an army of human visiting him unannounced. Should you anger him, he can wipe all of you out with just a single breath" [Yuki-ona] "Even so! We can''t let Charlotte go alone! At least let me go with her" [Zaidi] I can see that Zaidi is genuinely worried about me. I appreciate it, but I don''t think that level of worries is necessary in this case. I do have the Ice Dragon blessing after all, so I think nothing bad will happen. As for the Yuki-ona, she looks like wanted to say something, but suddenly got disrupted. She then proceeds to talk with Zaidi "Only you are permitted, and as for the rest, don''t even think of following us" [Yuki-ona] A single glance from her brings cold death shiver down to the soldier''s spine. They instinctively know not to disobey the order given by Yuki-ona The two of us then follow Yuki-ona around. She simply went deeper and deeper into the icy forest. The temperature keeps dropping, and Zaidi''s adaptability spell couldn''t keep bearing him any longer, so I sustain his magic as well as mine. I don''t want one of my close friends to suddenly collapse due to freezing... That would make an uproar in Estel should it really happen. I don''t want to even imagine what will it cause The scenery begin to change. The tree inside of the forest, I can tell that they''re more of them now. Some bore fruits that are hard to get even in the middle of the dungeon, so much so that I use my golem to pick it up for me and store it inside my item bag. I could share it with Sis Diana, Saintess Rumia and my siblings. I''m pretty sure they will all be delighted to eat it "A cave?" [Charlotte] "An ancient tunnel to be exact" [Zaidi] Without questioning her, we went inside of the cave and suddenly, a splurge of space magic envelop us both ""Teleportation spell!?"" [Charlotte, Zaidi] We found ourselves standing on a thick icy and just directly below us "That''s the..." [Zaidi] "The Holy Beast of Water, The Ice Dragon, Reshir" [Charlotte] What a magnificent sight! He''s huge. As huge as the Leviathan, if not slightly bigger. With four radiant wings made out of ice crystal, as well as a single protruding horn. I can see that his mana is so powerful and thick it forms its own bluish miasma surrounding it. (This sting on my cheek. So, the blessing he gave to me react to his presence) [Charlotte] (What is this sting?) [Savel] "Sa... Savel!" [Charlotte] (Char... Charlotte!?) [Savel] "Huh? He isn''t here though. What are you talking about?" [Zaidi] Savel did receive the same blessing as I do, so maybe this is one of the function of the blessing? I couldn''t really explain it otherwise "So, the half dragonewt boy and the mermaid princess have both grown up. And you boy over there, the descendant of Estel and Kiara of the original ten heroes, that bring back some memories" [Reshir] """!!!""" [Charlotte, Zaidi, Savel] It suddenly talks to us, or we are the rude one. Plus, something he mentioned pique my interest. Zaidi here is the descendant of the holy heroes? I guess the history that mentions Estel was founded by one of the original ten heroes really are true then, and by the sound of it, they take the hero name to name the country "I can see why you''re all surprised, but do not fear. I am here just to simply inform you of something" [Reshir] "And that would be?" [Charlotte] "That all of us, except the Holy Beast of Fire who we still couldn''t contact, agree to lend you heroes our power" [Reshir] (Really!) [Savel] Savel''s shouting voice ring inside my head. Good grief, it didn''t hurt, but psychologically speaking, it''s like he''s shouting just right beside me "Then, excluding The Holy Beast of Fire, that will leave us with four of them" [Charlotte] So, as of now The Holy Beast of Fire, Hell Tiger Har - Unknown The Holy Beast of Water, Ice Dragon Reshir - Has given his blessing to both Savel and I The Holy Beast of Earth, Steel Ant Drant - one of the four The Holy Beast of Wind, Rampaging Garuda - one of the four The Holy Beast of Mirage, Fairy Queen Titania - one of the four The Holy Beast of Dark, Az the timekeeper - Already given his blessing to Rean, Elise and Zerolith The Holy Beast of Light, Mysterious Angkasa - one of the four "But, to do that, you have to prove your worthiness to them. If we simply give it to you, your body might not be up for the blessing, and it might as well as bringing harm to you" [Reshir] "Holy Beast, please tell us their location" [Zaidi] (Is that Zaidi? But good question nonetheless) [Savel] Agree. Knowing their locations will save us a lot of trouble and hassles, but "That''s for them to search, as part of their trials. As for me, before ending this conversation, I would like to increase the power of my blessing to the two of you" [Reshir] ~Ba dump~ My heart. It suddenly pump even stronger, and faster. I can feel that something is seeping inside of me, so much so that I couldn''t help but to lie down just because of the pressure "CHARLOTTE! CHARLOTTE!" [Zaidi] "For the dragonewt boy, I''ll give an additional power, and as for the mermaid princess, I''m sure you will find this useful. That''s all" [Reshir] "Please, follow me" [Yuki-ona] "Please wait!" [Zaidi] This is no good. It feels like last time... The last thing that I see, is a large, powerful magic core presented to me... Chapter 296 [In the old lion mansion, Beastman Kingdom] [Savel point of view] My skin. I don''t know what kind of sensation I am currently feeling right now. Cold, crawling, something seeping through it. All kinds of sensation all mixed up and stimulate the nerve ending on my skin. It feels weird, but at least there isn''t any pain sensation Let see, where was I... "Wait! Where am I?" [Savel] "Savel! You wake up sooner than I thought. Thank goodness" [Singa] Singa, a 14-year old (one year older than I am), with golden fiery fur and a fierce lion like faces seems completely calm despite his tone just now. Us both being under the apprenticeship under his grandfather to become noble for the Beastman Kingdom really change us. From two always in rush loud boys to... Well, I guess two rush loud teenage boys, with some brain to think through of the situation, and some mannerism at least "Wake up sooner? Just how long am I sleeping?" [Savel] "Around one and a half day maybe" [Singa] "That long... But wait, why did you said I wake up sooner than you thought?" [Savel] How long did he think I will fall asleep? Three day? A week maybe? "To be honest... One full year" [Singa] "What nonsense?!" [Savel] "Just hear me out. Grandfather and I ask some physicians to come and check you up. He said that you''re experiencing mana intoxication at first, but upon closer look, I noticed that wasn''t the case. You''re experiencing the same thing back then six years ago, but even more intense. At one point when you''re sleeping, I could have sworn I heard a dragon like voice coming from you, so I thought you change into a dragon and start hibernating like those ancient dragons in folkfore" [Singa] "Dragon? True ancient dragon already went extinct, so how did you know about ... Wait... RESHIR the Ice Dragon!" [Savel] Take a deep breath and recall what happened. The first thing I remember is hearing Charlotte''s voice... No, before that even happen, I remember a sting like sensation coming from the bluish mark on my cheek, a proof that I was blessed with The Holy Beast of Water blessing. After that, I remember that "Savel? What are you thinking right now?" [Singa] "That''s right! The other holy beast have agreed to lend us their power, so right now we need to search for them" [Savel] "Elise said the same thing. Guess you really do "meet" with the holy beast, albeit meet is a very strong word here" [Singa] I see. That''s good. Now that I think of it, I can faintly recall hearing the youngest prince of Estel, Zaidi''s voice alongside Charlotte back then, so if Charlotte is experiencing the same thing as I do, Zaidi must be the one relaying all the info to Princess Diana and the other. Speaking of Charlotte "How is Charlotte doing? Is she still unconscious like I did?" [Savel] "She wakes up a little bit early than you do" [Singa] "I see. That''s good to hear" [Savel] My body feel a bit sluggish, but otherwise, I can clearly feel something different inside of me. Apart from the goddess blessing, I can sense that the blessing from the holy beast becoming stronger, and that''s not all (The holy beast did mentioned he will be giving me extra portion of power, and yet somehow... I get this feeling it isn''t an increase in my water and by extension ice magic) [Savel] This sensation, this strange sensation and feeling that I get right now. Only one way to find out "Singa. Can you spar with me for a bit? I would like to test something out" [Savel] "Are you sure? I can easily beat you back then, and right now, you''re making my job easier" [Singa] "Ohh! I remember you''re the one always kneeling on the ground after I beat you!" [Savel] "Say that again!" [Singa] The two of us rush straight to the training ground. I can see the maids and butlers trying to stop me from moving, some telling me to get some rest. Even the soldiers under Singa''s grandfather try to say the same thing. I would agree to them, but I really want to test my new power and beat Singa up for good! In the end, I just drink a cup of tea and some breads to convince them I am doing just fine Taking our weapon, me with my usual broadsword and Singa with his trusty claymore. Both of us are a magical swordman, albeit unlike Rean, maybe we rely more on our physical side of the spectrum, taking full advantage of our gifted physiques Nodding to each other, we start the battle. Singa as usual, a used of light magic with specialization on space magic begin by teleporting toward me. This time, he teleported right In front of me. I use ice wall with spikes containing strong mirage magic that can disorient those who touches it, my favourite defensive technique, and both of us can tell one thing ((The ice wall, it''s stronger!!)) [Singa, Savel] I''m pretty sure of it! Even though I just wake up and barely have a proper meal, I can tell the thickness and the defensive capability of the ice wall actually jack up "Impressive! Show me more!" [Singa] With his brute strength, he plow through the ice wall, like it''s made out of butter... Man, he''s strong, that I have to admit, but ~Clang~ The two sword clashes. He is strong, but so am I. (Still, with my condition, I will be the one to be defeated... Have to think fast) [Savel] With each strike, I can feel that my grip is becoming weaker and weaker. Knowing this, Singa relentlessly increase the frequency of his strike. I can tell that he''s actually going easy on me, which actually makes my blood boil, and "Dragonewt racial magic: Dragon roar!" [Savel] "WHAT!" [Singa] A loud roar that shatter the glass, and even leave a crack on the training ground. Wait... "Dragonewt racial magic! Since... Since when? Could, could it be..." [Singa] "WAIT... Is this what Reshir meant when he said he will give me more portion of his power!?" [Savel] The lost art of dragonewt racial magic, dragon transformation. Just like beastman, us dragonewt supposedly can use racial magic to turn to, only to dragon, not anything else, but no one is capable of doing it, making it a lost art... Until now Chapter 297 "A shame, but if you ever change your mind, then do tell me first" [Diana] "Sis... Sincerely speaking, I can kinda understand Brother Ash''s feeling each time you ask him for something valuable" [Charlotte] "The word you''re looking for is feeling empathy" [Qis] "Yes! That is!" [Charlotte] "Both of you are so rude!" [Diana] "Forgive me, but now that''s a line that I haven''t heard since long time. It''s making me feeling nostalgic for some reason" [Qis] "Yes... Me too..." [Diana] What started as a joke turn into something heavy. I can recall how Sis Diana always scolded Brother Ash for being rude in front of a noble and royal, and how she will keep scolding him until he apologized (and purposely do it again later on). She hides it well, but for a brief moment, only for that moment, I can tell that she''s trying her best to hold her tears from streaming down her cheeks. I guess Brother Ash''s death affect her more than any one of us can imagine "Anyway, they agree to tell Mr Filvisar, Karon and Farhah about our upcoming telephone meeting, so be sure to be ready at a moment notice. As for Lara and Nara, unfortunately, we still didn''t receive any information regarding their whereabouts" [Diana] "Saint Louis and Seraph will also be told the same thing, so expect them to join in as well" [Qis] "I will. Thank you for spending your time with me, and telling me all this" [Charlotte] "Don''t worry, this is all for your sake... I don''t want to..." [Diana] She bites her lips a bit, before just hugging me. I can tell what she wanted to say, because I feel the same way. We went out from my room, only to find the younger siblings trying to run away after peaking at us. Mrs Qis scolded them harshly for that, and all they can do is look at their feet while getting scolded by her, glancing at our directions now and then, begging with their eyes to let them escape from the "torture" "You know... I have some time left, maybe I should stay for a while and play with them" [Diana] "Are you sure? Won''t it wear you out afterwards?" [Charlotte] "Don''t worry. Playing with them is like a therapy for me. I always told Qis and him that" [Diana] Him. She unconsciously said that. I never heard she said that before, so maybe this is a line she always said back then to come and play with us, and from the sound of it, she must be getting a lot of similar sounding question and thrown in the same answer repeatedly that it''s implanted in her subconscious mind Taking the youngest one out, she begins playing with her. Taking a princess doll and imitating a princess from a fairy tale. Ironic, since she is literally a princess playing a role of a princess using a princess doll, though she pull it off so well that what started as playing doll with the youngest one turn into playing house into, then suddenly into a storytelling. It all happen so naturally that one wouldn''t realize about it She''s telling a story of a strong traveler. Always angry. Always yelling. Always complaint about work. She keeps telling them never to follow these bad attitudes, instead, tell them to follow a more positive example, such as how reliable the traveler is, or how he actually sees the world differently and provides a unique aid for the country. She also tell something, about the traveler promise "And that''s what the blond hair traveler always yell. Saying he will save them for sure" [Diana] "And did he did that?" "He did. It takes him some time, but I know, eventually, he will do just that!" [Diana] "This traveler sound strong!" "I wonder, will he marry the princess at the end of the story?" "If the blond traveler ask your hand for marriage, what will you do, Princess Diana?" "I wanted to know to! You''re a princess after all!" "Forgive my intrusion, but I will like to hear it as well" [Qis] "Qis...!" [Diana] Interesting! I do realize she keeps getting bombarded with marriage proposal one after another, and even when the noble and royal societies dubbed her as the old unmarried princess because how late she is when it comes to matter like this, she still receive tons of marriage proposal, and some rumour suggest there is at least one noble in every country that send her marriage proposal. That''s actually insane "Charlotte... Why are suddenly leaning on me?" [Diana] "I wanted to know as well... And also..." [Charlotte] "Oh I get it, you will feel lonely should I get married right?" [Diana] "Well..." ~Nod~ [Charlotte] I hate to admit it, but somehow, I don''t want to see her getting stolen from us. "Don''t worry, right now, all of you are my number one priority, so I wouldn''t get stolen by some random man" [Diana] "Right now?" [Qis] "Such a tease. You''re also on the same spot as I am!" [Diana] "Right..." [Qis] Yes... Alongside the old unmarried princess, there''s her old unmarried knight, even though both of them are still 24 years old "But you still didn''t answer us about the traveler!" "True, will you accept it or not" "Oh my, look at the time now. I must go" [Diana] "Eeehhh..." "Princess Diana is trying to dodge the question!" "Get her!" "Oh Qis" [Diana] "!" A single glare from Mrs Qis makes them all behave, even making me looking them at the ground, thinking that I will also get scolded. She is as scary as ever The two of them then say their goodbyes to us, including Housey, Calypso Tree, Bobunny, Behe and Grandpa Claude as well. We did the same thing and wave to her as her carriage started to move. Moment after they left, my younger siblings drag me into the pool, and we start swimming and practicing our magic. My body feel a bit sluggish after meeting Reshir the ice dragon, but somehow, I can still move like it was nothing when playing with them. Strange Chapter 298 "Ummm..." [Charlotte] This is a serious matter. I know for a fact that this thing belongs only to me, and I can do whatever I want with it, but with so many possibilities, it basically becoming impossible for me to decide what I should do with it (Maybe giving Sis Diana this thing isn''t a bad idea at all...) [Charlotte] No. Bad idea. I''m 100% sure Reshir the Ice Dragon will not allow it. Best case scenario, he will only scold me for that, and force me to get back this thing back from Sis Diana. The worst case scenario, he will scold me, and strip back his blessing, and take back this thing without me getting any said in this matter. I don''t know much about the Ice Dragon, other than the fact that he is one of the holy beast, and a powerful one at that, but I''m pretty sure the impression that I got from meeting him is that he is someone that you don''t want to get on the bad side. It''s no exaggeration for me to say he has the very power to destroy Estel all by himself... (Which make this thing even more valuable) [Charlotte] Think Charlotte! Think! Yo can scratch your head thousand upon thousand of time, eat all the sweet and chocolate banana cake in the fridge if you wanted to, but just think of the best. Well, what is the "best" to begin with. Now that I think of it, I don''t even have a clue as to what I wanted to do with it. ~Chuckling~ ~Loud meow~ "That''s ticklish, Behe, Bobunny" [Charlotte] Right now, there''s only me on the mansion. Elise has a drill with the Valkyrie. Grandpa Claude and Rafiah are currently working in the training hall as usual, and the younger siblings are all having an extra class at the school, so the two must be rather lonely ~Chuckling~ "Meow! Meow!" [Behe] "Right right. I guess we could go for a walk" [Charlotte] They look happy when I say that. Well, I haven''t snuggle them for... When was the last time I snuggled with them? Maybe they''re taking this opportunity to get closer to me. If that''s indeed the case, I couldn''t just leave those two behind! Operation: Recapturing their heart start now! After I put back that thing Reshir gave to me inside my item bag. Better bring it along with me. Who knows, I might get an idea when walking with them Taking a stroll at the neighborhood area, the nice flowery smell from the elemental trees couple with the fairies floating around without a care makes my heart and mind feels calm. They occasionally pass just beside me and wave hello at me. "Charlotte, what are. You doing here? Taking a walk. All alone with. Behe and Bobunny" [Kadeus] "Well, you''re stronger than us, but it is still worrying seeing a little girl walking all alone" [Lily] "I''m not a little girl!" [Charlotte] "MEOW!" [Behe] ~Firm chuckling~ "Right, right I''m sorry" [Lily] Just because they''re Rean''s best friends shouldn''t mean they should start treating me like a child! Even Behe and Bobunny agree and back me up! "If you''re alone. How about we. Three go for. A walk together?" [Kadeus] "That''s a great idea!" [Lily] "I guess there is no harm doing that" [Charlotte] Kadeus, a centaur beastman who have turn into an intelligent monster with slurred speech, and Lily, a female succubus. Kadeus is working with other survivors from six years ago who turn into monsters as well. They''re either working with Sis Diana or with Saintess Rumia. That doesn''t change the fact all they did is ensuring the safety of the country. Lily, even when she''s still just a normal demon, decided to stop being an adventure just to support Kadeus. The two make a good pair, as Lily''s mirage magic allowed Kadeus already heightened sense to further elevated, thus they can usually smell trouble faster than anyone, though a devil suddenly appearing out of nowhere is still an issue. So far, the only one that can detect a devil before it appears, and when and where it will apear is Zerolith''s doppelganger, Htilorez With the five of us walking around, patroling the area, we can see the relief face of the citizens who recognize us. Even when Behe is a powerful behemoth that can stomp them (in his real form, not during his cute little form), even when Bobunny''s looks like it couldn''t even hurt a fly, and even trusting Kadeus. I don''t want to say this, but his physique is deformed from that incident six years ago. I remember people use to be scare of him, but look at him now. Just by walking around, the other feels safe and sound. "Another great day. Without any incident. Happen" [Kadeus] "What a big relief" [Lily] "True, if only this could happen everyday" [Charlotte] If only, but I don''t think so. For starter... "If everyday is. Like this, then. There''s no need. For someone like. Us, who serve. Other people first. But, I will. Feel sad if. That really happen" [Kadeus] "True. It''s an ideal world, the world where people didn''t need to rely on us, free from fear. Still, the first step for that to happen is the existence of someone who prioritize other first" [Lily] "That''s complicated..." [Charlotte] "Not really. Think of your brother for instance. I rarely saw him getting selfish. The orphanage, the training hall, the elemental trees that he planted, even saving Behe and creating Bobunny. He actually did all of that, prioritizing other first before himself, and now, a day like this could actually happen despite the threat we are facing" [Lily] "I agree with. You, if possible. I would like. To get bigger. So that I. Could cover more. Area, so I. Could help other. More" [Kadeus] "Haha, maybe Bobunny and her clone can give you some tips regarding that. She can multiply, so maybe you should really just focus on becoming super big" [Lily] Prioritizing other... Getting bigger to cover more area. Bobunny... "That''s it!" [Charlotte] ""??"" [Kadeus, Lily] I think I know exactly what I should do with that thing Chapter 299 I can''t be there for them most of the time, and even when I am here, it doesn''t necessarily mean I can reach them in time, and for that, I need a backup plan Elemental trees, Bobunny, Housey, Calypso tree, Birdie, and all other defensive systems put by Brother Ash and various other measures put by other have proven reliables, but alas, they''re "outdated" and what I meant by outdated is that they simply been long been neglected from getting necessary upgrade. They''re still ahead from other defensive systems of certain countries, but alas, it has been long since they got their necessary upgrade "Housey, Calypso Tree can you help me with something!" [Charlotte] ""Absolutely -.-. .... .- .-. .-.. --- - - ."" [Housey, Calypso Tree] "Great! For starter, can you check the communication stones that are being connected to you? I really need to know about their condition" [Charlotte] ""Sure, -... ..- - / .. - / .-- .. .-.. .-.. / - .- -.- . / .- long time"" [Housey, Calypso Tree] "That''s fine. Take all the time you need. In the meanwhile, I''ll prepare the necessary part" [Charlotte] This is a mega project. I think I should give it a name... How about Upgrade 1.0? Sound bland... Charlotte mega upgrade? Sound childish. Well, I''ll think of it later. For now, what should I do? I''m 100% sure that thing Reshir gave me is still in a top condition, but I have to make confirm it once again. It is the core part of this plan of mine. "Yup, all good. Now, let see" [Charlotte] I need to supplement this with other. How about the "The magic cores that I got from the mermaid kingdom are all in a pristine condition! I could probably use some extra, but I can get it from the spawning block from the training hall whenever I wanted to. For now, this is good enough" [Charlotte] Still, I should upgrade it even further! I can do this all day long if necessary, but should an emergency arrive, I will be in pickle, which mean getting someone to help me will be necessary, and for that "Charlotte? What are you doing here?" [Lisa] "I come here to make a request to the adventure guild" [Charlotte] "That''s rare, may I hear it first" [Lisa] "Sure" [Charlotte] And I tell the receptionist Lisa about it. Her face said it all, she''s simply bewildered just hearing about it. "Shouldn''t you ask the court magician for help? This seems a bit..." [Lisa] "It''s complicated, I don''t have a good relationship with any one of them. Some will even misunderstood me if I ask them for help" [Charlotte] "I see. If that''s the case, I should probably tell Guild Master first, is that ok with you?" [Lisa] "Please, do so" [Charlotte] She went upstairs, and after a short while, I was asked by another receptionist to went to Mother Aries''s office. I did just that and quickly seat in her sofa, where "I can approve of the request, but this need to go through and get the approval from Princess Diana and King Estel, as well as Queen Rinz from Kiserre, Princess Nurhaliza and Mira from Malsia, Saintess Rumia for the new headquarters, King Leogris from Beastman Kingdom and King Druser from Demon kingdom" [Aries] "But why? Majority of the infrastructure are being made by Brother Ash. Even the maintenance comes from the orphanage''s funding" [Charlotte] "True, but they also have significant share, especially the maintenance part. That''s especially true for New Headquarters, Beastman and Demon kingdom. I can''t approve of this request until I got their written consent" [Aries] "I see..." [Charlotte] "For now, discuss this with Princess Diana first. I''ll also advise you to seek corporation from my younger sister Lisa at the R&D and higher education. They''re under Princess Diana after all, so they should be way more helpful than your fellow court magicians" [Aries] "This is complicated... But alright! I''ll do it" [Charlotte] "That''s good. Once Princess Diana give the green light, I''ll try to persuade other countries as well. They should be willing if you come up with a concrete planning" [Aries] "Thank you very much!" [Charlotte] For now, I''ll just speak with Sis Diana first. A quick call to her is all I need, but Mother Aries said it''s better to discuss this with her in person. Calling her, she immediately pick up her phone, and what do you know, she''s with Principal Alice and Saintess Rumia at the church right now. Going there by public transport, I stop in front of Diana hall, and enter the church there. Looks like they''re on the break, and now their number increase, with Linda and Liyana here as well. They ask me to munch some cookies first, for which I gladly take the offer, and then "That''s the plan! What do you think?" [Charlotte] "..." [Other] Their bewildered expression makes me excited! I can''t wait for the plan to get approved by them, but unfortunately "I can''t?" [Charlotte] "For now, you can''t" [Diana] "But why?" [Charlotte] "Your plan is brilliant, but shall you fail, the communication between all of us will get disconnected, and that will be disastrous!" [Diana] "True. Six years ago, I can still imagine using knight to send messages between countries, but now..." [Liyana] "It feels like we''re in the dark ages should the communication stone get broken" [Qis] "Still, the advantage that comes with it is rather tempting" [Alice] "Pro and cons. We need to carefully decide it" [Linda] "That, as well as getting as many help as we can. Saint Louis enormous mana and Seraph light magic proficiency will be a big help. Other than that, I can think of several individuals that are suited for the task" [Rumia] And now, they''re getting work up and start discussing about it. The discussion is loud enough, that Sir Crow and Sir Ceanu Reaves actually leave their offices and come join the discussion. I kinda get the feeling this will get approved, but (This will surely become a massive headache... Oh well) [Charlotte] I am the one that brings this up, so I shouldn''t complain much. Plus, this is also my duty not only as the hero, but also as the elder sister in the orphanage! I can''t be selfish! Chapter 300 Since I need to demonstrate what I will do to Mother Aries''s younger sister, Lisa about my plan, I prepare a large scale model over at the R&D. Thankfully they gave me the permission to use the facilities there, as well as few tools to works with. Thing is, the model is so large (How large? As tall as I am, and the 2/5th of the room width) that I literally took me 24 hours of nonstop working to get it done, and it is nowhere near perfection. (I''m really, really, really grateful for the magic tools that they lend, or else who knew how long will this take. Still...) [Charlotte] The countries model aren''t scale to the exact ratio, as some countries are larger than the other. And then there are few key locations that I have to random a guess since I literally didn''t know where exactly the location is. For example, I never went to Beastman Kingdom, Demon kingdom, and the new headquarters, and thus, I didn''t know the location of their orphanages. Why is the orphanage important? The orphanage houses Housey. Yes, to make things easier for us, all the magic cores of the fortress defense magic that protects the orphanage are call as Housey. Our Housey is the original one, with the subsequently Housey being name Housey 2.0, Housey 3.0 etc. All of the Housey play a role not only to protect the orphanage, but also serve as a sort of center for transmitting wave for our phone calls. (And it is those very same wave that I plan to take advantage of) [Charlotte] In theory, this should work. I have high hope that it does, and for that, this model should be perfect. (Not only the country... I couldn''t replicate the dungeons sizes correctly. The location of the communication stones planted as well as mana concentration of each level of dungeon) [Charlotte] The more I look at this rush model, and the more I think of it, the more I realize how big this mega project is. Somehow, my confidence from before slowly leaving me, and replacing the void left by my confidence are doubts and anxieties "You seems tired" [Kara] "Have you been working nonstop?" [Elise] "When did you two comes!?" [Charlotte] "Just now. I am worried that you didn''t even come back home!" [Elise] "And what''s with this crumb of snacks? You don''t even eat properly!" [Kara] "Well..." [Charlotte] Avert my eye. Just look somewhere else. Anywhere beside their piercing eyes. I know I am to be blame for all of this, but please don''t. I''m just too tired. Plus, I am not entirely guilty! This mega project just require that much work to begin with! "Charlotte, and you two as well... Oh my, you already finish making up this model" [Lisa] "She didn''t even get a wink of sleep last night to finish this model!" [Kara] "True. It''s plain obvious. I''m just glad I brought some nice hot salty egg porridges inside my item box" [Elise] "Really! Please, LET ME HAVE IT!" [Charlotte] "Calm down! And wipe your drool!" [Elise] Salty egg porridges! It smells nice. Oohh... The steam coming from it, and the aroma that basically telling me to eat it quickly. How could one ever refuse such delicious heavenly food. I just dig in straight away before "MORE PLEASE!" [Charlotte] "Sigh... Just as I thought. Good thing Elise and I make plenty of it" [Kara] It''s simply delicious, and with how hungry I am, the porridges quickly find themselves inside my stomach. While I am eating, I can see some scholars coming in as well, looking at the model that I created. It isn''t that great in my opinion, as various improvements can be made, and they agree to it as well, while citing and taking note of improvement that they could help implement later on. They even suggest to ask the opinion of a geologist from Malsia, Qudus for help. If I''m not mistaken, Qudus is Kana and Mira friend. We meet seven years ago at the Malsia''s orphanage, so I don''t think he will mind lending us his expertise "Your highness King Estel! The fourth Queen! Princess Diana, Prince Zaidi, Saintess Rumia, and the two guild masters. Welcome to our labs" [Lisa] What! Why is the king and the queen coming along as well? Are they making a sudden unannounced surprise visit? Is this really a project so huge that it requires his higness to come to the site and overseer everything? I can present just fine to the other four (Sis Diana, Zaidi Saintess Rumia and Mother Aries), also the merchant guild master, Grandma Gizzere''s son since he looks like a nice person, but the king with his beard is a little bit intimidating if I am being honest. Look, even the other scholars are having trouble, surely because of the surprise visit! "Dear father, you should really trim your beard. You''re making Charlotte uncomfortable each time you met with each other" [Diana] "You still haven''t given up on that one didn''t you" [King Estel] "I just couldn''t imagine my dear husband without his beard. It will surely look weird" [Fourth queen] (Dear father without his beard... Now that I think of it, have I ever seen father shaving his beard?) [Zaidi] With the important guests taking the front row seat of the presentation, I can see that Lisa telling me to start the presentation of my plan. I feel like every words and every movements that I make is being judges by all of them, which makes me becoming even more nervous ((You can do it Charlotte!!)) [Elise, Kara] I''m 100% sure Elise and Kara are giving me their full support! I should do my best... Wait a minute? I''m pretty sure today isn''t even the date for the presentation. Sigh... let just get this over with "Dear all, thank you for spending your precious time today. Without further ado, I present to you, The sea serpent project" [Charlotte] I just made up the name of the project on the spot Chapter 301 "The sea serpent project, deriving the name from the legendary enormous water dragon, with body so long that you don''t know where it will end. Some said that the sea serpent is the largest creature to ever exist on Achalasia. Imagine a regular behemoth, and multiply it by ten, you will have a behemoth about the size of the Holy beast of water, Reshir, and imagine multiple Reshir lining up one after another, that''s how large the sea serpent is, and because of that, the magic core of the legendary creature will be nothing short of powerful" [Charlotte] That thing that Reshir gave me the other day, it is the water magic core of the sea serpent. Taking it out from my item bag, and showing it to other, they can''t help but to gaze while their mouth open. This magic core might be the largest magic core I ever see. I''m pretty sure the true size of this thing us several times larger than I am, but it has been compressed to about half of Kara size. That said, it''s still heavy, so I have to use my neutral mana spell to strengthen my body just so that I could lift this heavy magic core "Coming back to the sea serpent, another reason I choose to name this project as sea serpent project, is because I wanted to take advantage of this magic core, and the mana wave of the communication stones scattered throughout multiple countries and dungeon. What I will do, is this" [Charlotte] And now, they''re focusing their attention to the rush model of mine. I just hope this will work out "Now, Imagine me as the serpent''s magic core. The serpent''s magic core will act as a source of great power, surrounded by multiple magic cores at the same time to further augment it, as well as keep on supplying it power. Now, with the magic core in place, we will take advantage of the mana wave from the communication stones scattered throughout the land and do just this!" [Charlotte] Distributing my power to the small magic core inside the model, one by one, the magic core inside started to glow with bright blue colour. From magic core inside of the orphanage (representing our Housey and Calypso Tree), to the one inside the dungeons before entering other countries like Malsia and Kiserre, it take quite some time before all the communication stones inside this model to light up, but once all of them did "Now, as you can see, all the model communication stones have received my mana. This is just a theory, but from this model, we can conclude that mana wave from the communication stones and Housey can transfer not only neutral and light waves for communication purpose, but also other type of mana as well. Of course several adjustment should be made beforehand to increase the proficiency, but even then, I believe that the current state of the communication stones should work just fine" [Charlotte] They keep nodding at my presentation. So far, there is no one throwing me any random question, which is good since I plan to tell them the whole story first before answering any questions they might have "Now. Just like how we can use the mana wave from the communication stones to make a phone call, with the sea serpent magic core in action, we can in theory do this! Please, focus your attention at the model of Beastman Kingdom" [Charlotte] Al of them simultaneously look at the Beastman Kingdom. Well, I did put the label just so that it will be easier for them to find the country. But more importantly, "At the beastman kingdom, there are army of fishes!" [Fourth queen] "They aren''t exactly golem, more like a water spell being cast by a magician. Plus, you can see an ice wall spell being erected one after another as well" [Zaidi] "I see. I can see where this is going" [King Estel] "So in theory, you would like to use the interconnecting mana wave from the communication stones, supply it with water mana from the serpent magic core, and spread it out throughout the land. That way, you can easily provide support whenever necessary" [Lisa] "Exactly, though I suppose the one that will give command to is the sea serpent magic core itself. I thought of using fortress defense magic to this magic core so that it can act by itself" [Charlotte] That''s the whole plan. With this, even when none of us are around, the countries with communication stones can at least have some backup. Not only that, even if a devil appears inside a dungeon, I hope that the fortress defense magic will pickup the devil location and start attacking it, thus saving countries of their resources. Another advantage of it I suppose will be strengthening any golem created by Brother Ash before his "death" as they share similar mana wave "That being said, the magic core to help the sea serpent core, where and how did you plan to get it? I''m sure finding a suitable magic core will be difficult, not to mention the cost of it as well" [Zaidi] "Not to worry. While the Goddess Treasure chest is currently with Sis Diana, it''s a share property between her and the orphanage, and as such, I plan on just replicating multiple good magic cores by using that chest" [Charlotte] "Then why don''t you just replicate the sea serpent magic core?" [Scholar A] "Believe it or not, I think of the same thing, but the mana requirement to duplicate that sea serpent magic core will be insanely high, and not to mention, the time it will take to replicate it. It might even take an eternity to do that, and as such, I deem it impossible to do that. Even Sis Diana agree with me on this matter" [Charlotte] "True. Even duplicating an A rank magic core take crazy amount of mana and quite a bit of time. I can''t imagine how long will it take to duplicate even a single sea serpent magic core should we ever decide to do that" [Diana] "For all we know, it might take eternity like Charlotte rightly said" [Qis] "I see. Thank you for explaining it to us your highness" [Scholar A] That''s the end of the briefing. I believe they will start asking me questions now, but surprisingly, there aren''t as many questions as I thought. Only few simple questions that can be immediately answer "Hmm..." [King Estel] "Dear father?" [Zaidi] "While it is a good idea, I can think of one downside. Several actually, but the one that I am worried most is, what would happen should the sea serpent magic core fall under the devil grasp, or the meddling third party led by the two traitorous princes" [King Estel] "That''s a good question. For now, all I can think of is implementing a self destruct function into the soon to be built fortress defense magic, other than that, I am not entirely sure" [Charlotte] "It''s fine. This is just a presentation after all. We will discuss about this further, with other experts as well. For now, I applaud you for coming up with a wonderful idea" [King Estel] "Thank you, your highness" [Charlotte] "Ho, not imitating your dearest brother aren''t you?" [King Estel] "True, if only she stay cute like this, maybe Zaidi will get more madly in love with her" [Fourth queen] "Mother!""Your highness!" [Zaidi][Charlotte] Chapter 302 [Malsia''s orphanage] [Rean point of view] "Right. I''ll help you out" [Rean] "Thank you so much Rean! I really mean it! And oh, what do you want for your weddi..." [Charlotte] "Charlotte! That''s enough! Good bye Rean, and take care" [Elise] "Haha. Right, good bye" [Rean] Sea serpent project. From what I understand, it will be a massive scale project that involve at least six different countries (Estel, Malsia, Kiserre, New Headquarters, Beastman and Demon Kingdom). So, to make this project run as smoothly as possible, various expertise are to be drawn, even at the early stage of prototype development, and Charlotte just now is asking me to find Qudus, since he is now a geographical scholar, a renown one at Malsia. "Oh Rean, did you pack everything up?" [Mira] "I am. Thank for all you have done, I appreciate it" [Rean] "Nonsense. You help us a lot after all. Before going back, make sure you and Muse visit Princess Nurhaliza and say your thanks to her as well. She''s currently at the royal library along with few scholars" [Mira] "I see. I will do just that" [Rean] "Until we meet again, during your wedding that is. To think you actually find a partner first before I am..." [Mira] "Haha, I am just lucky" [Rean] "Don''t make Muse cry though! Hero or not, if you make her cry, I''ll never forgive you" [Mira] "Right!" [Rean] Packing everything back into my item box magic, I quickly leave the orphanage behind, all the while saying goodbye to my fellow siblings. They''re good kid after all. Of course, Birdie (Pterodactyl) included. (Better meet with Muse fast. If I am not mistaken, they''re at the church with Kanji, Naoto and Seo Ah) [Rean] Taking the public bus golem and stopping in front of the church, the sight of enormous Goddess Achalasia statue made out of diamond never fail to amaze me, and "Darling!" [Muse] "Flirty, even inside the church" [Naoto] "Shame on you Rean!" [Kanji] (He''s jealous because Rean married first, isn''t he...) [Seo Ah] Seo Ah, now a full fledge sister, and Naoto and Kanji, making name for themselves as pair of adventure siblings. Not as popular as the S rank adventure siblings Kucin and Anjin, but popular nonetheless. I speak with them for a bit, and telling them about Charlotte'' request "If that''s the case, we should all accompany you" [Naoto] "True. Big sis here can pretty much enter the castle whenever she feels like it. Plus, the two of us can then search for Qudus as well." [Kanji] "Maybe he is with Kana currently, maybe with the princess, but who knows" [Seo Ah] "Only one way to find out" [Muse] And to the castle we go. Like Kanji said, Naoto, the elemental archer can pretty much gain access to Malsia''s castle just by showing her face. I guess the only reason she isn''t an S rank adventure just yet is because of political tie I suppose. Maybe the country value her so much, that if she were to become an S rank, she will be forced to take mission somewhere else At the royal library, we ask the whereabouts of Princess Nurhaliza from the royal librarian, and she quickly guided us to a meeting room at the back. Looks like they''re having a meeting. I wonder what "Oh, looks like Kana and Qudus really are here" [Kanji] "I suppose we can just wait for a moment" [Naoto] "True. Let just read a book or anything first" [Muse] "There is no need for that" [Haliza] "Your highness!" [Rean] I guess her meeting with the scholars must have come to it conclusion, or maybe not as she ask us all to join her inside. The topics presented varies, from political instability (with Muse requesting the scholar view about the First prince of Estel and Princess Diana clash) to a bit of history, and finally "The location of the holy beast" [Rean] "True. This is in regards to what The Holy Beast of Water, Reshir mentioned the other day, and as such, this has become a daily topic for us" [Kana] "Unfortunately, we still haven''t found a definitive location for the five other holy beasts. Currently, playing wild educated guess based on the evidence is what we have at best" [Haliza] "Still, that will be really helpful! Please, allow me to express my gratitude on behalf of my fellow siblings" [Rean] "Don''t worry about it. This is for the benefits of all" [Haliza] I''m glad that they really take this matter seriously. I jotted down note during their discussion, and when the meeting about to come to an end, I ask Qudus regarding Charlotte''s request. Princess Nurhaliza also pitch in to hear about it, and so does the other scholars "I see. This really sound interesting. I suppose I can contact Lisa from R&D at Estel and make some arrangements for us to come" [Qudus] "Or you could just go straight away with Rean. I can give you the green light right now itself to go" [Haliza] "Valid options, but I suppose I need to garhera bit of my materials first. I guess I will set out around three day from now on" [Qudus] "That will be much appreciated. Thank you" [Rean] The scholars, hearing about the massive sea serpent project, become rather excited to help as well. I guess the best analogy I can give is like a child playing with his new toy ~Ring~ "Hello, this is Princess Nurhaliza of Malsia speaking. Oh, Diana! Guess who''s with me right now" [Haliza] Princess Nurhaliza quickly turn her phone toward Muse and I. Seeing Princess Diana make the two of us feel somehow relieve and happy as well, and I''m glad the feeling is mutual. Seeing as how the conversation between the two princesses will take a serious turn, other scholars move out of the room, leaving us alone "Right. Getting back to business. First, the bad news, we still couldn''t reach out to Lara and Nara. Again, not a single clue is available for us" [Diana] "I see..." [Rean] That''s rather discouraging... I wonder what happen to them. Please, just be safe. That''s all I hope for "Good news. We finally able to make contact with Farhah, Karon, Mr Filvisar and Calypso at their training location. Them, as well as Seraph and Saint Louis. With this, we can make a phone meeting and strategize regarding our next move on the holy beasts related matter, three days from now on. Is that fine with all of you?" [Diana] Chapter 303 Rean is coming ?. Rean is coming back ?. Rean is coming back with Muse ?. "Come help me clean their house" [Elise] "Yes!" "Let''s go!" Ok, I am happy that Rean is coming back, but cleaning the house that he and Muse will stay after marriage? I''m tired after working almost continuosly right now, so "CHARLOTTE! Come back here right this instance!" [Elise] "Now now, let her be. She has been working hard after all" [Rafiah] "Then we should skip as well!" ~Smile glaring~ "Ohh..." [Elise] "On second thought, no..." I feel bad for the other, but I don''t want to clean a dusty place right now. So instead, why don''t I wait for him by the dungeon entrance to stall Rean and Muse out. That way, I will give Elise and the other enough time for clean up, and thus surprising those two lover "Sound like a brilliant plan! Good job me for coming up with it" [Charlotte] And to the dungeon entrance I go. Again, have to leave the bus golem for them. I don''t want those who clean the house to walk back and fro, that''s simply cruel. I think I''ll just walk to kill some time as well. Still, would be better if there is a version of bus golem that for private usage. Maybe something smaller. I''ll think of it later, along with Karon through the phone that is Walking toward the dungeon entrance actually take a bit of time, and with how hard I work last night, I decided to abandon my plan not even 1/10th through, and just hop in into the public bus golem, and once I arrive, some familiar figures can be seen from the distance, albeit, not a pleasant one (Why are they even here... Just avoid them) [Charlotte] Well, the adventure guild is nearby, I guess taking shelter there waiting for Rean and Muse wouldn''t be a bad idea. I can chat with all the nice adventure while avoiding "Fancy meeting you here Charlotte. You are as lovely as ever" [Fancy looking noble] "What a coincidence, I guess you and that other old man are waiting for Rean and Muse I suppose" [Charlotte] "Well, Muse''s father is trying to reconcile his relationship with his daughter, and I am just here to..." [Fancy looking noble] "No need for word. Now, if you''ll excuse me, I wanted to pick a nice chair inside the adventure guild, where I can rest my eye from seeing an eyesore in front of me" [Charlotte] "Harsh as always aren''t you. Do remember you''re talking to a noble" [Fancy looking noble] "So? I did remember you and your family are the one interested to arrange our marriage, even I was just seven! I don''t think I have the patience speaking with the likes of you people" [Charlotte] He always ticks me off every single time. I really wish I can just blast him away without any consequences Without a word of warning, I simply left, but "Let go off me..." [Charlotte] "And what if I said no?" [Fancy looking noble] He forcefully grabs my shoulder, and since I am not in the mood to argue with him, so "Krakeny. Toss him" [Charlotte] "Wait! What!" [Fancy looking noble] Summoning my Kraken golem, it gets the job done rather quickly, just that "Criminal! Don''t you think you can get away just because you''re a hero little girl!" [Muse''s father] "Ohh... And here I am, under the impression that some good for nothing father trying to get on my good side just because I am about to get married to a hero" [Muse] "Charlotte, are you alright?" [Rean] "Muse! When did you..." [Muse''s father] Rean and Muse! They''re here. I wanted to greet them with a smile, but with how grim the situation is, time to pull my card as a little sister, hiding behind those two and let the adults take care of it ~Deadly glare~ Those two, seeing as how I hide behind them, like a "helpless" little girl trying to get out of trouble, become even more protective. Sorry, but... (If it was me, I''m pretty sure I will just blast those two again and again, so here''s hoping Rean and Muse can talk this out) [Charlotte] Though knowing Muse relationship with his father... Muse is after all, a bastard daughter, one that was constantly neglected, but even so, with her own two hand, she grab whatever opportunity she can get to rise up and turn her life around, and now, that old man try to play a good father just to suck Muse up. Shameless. Simply shameless! "Muse. Let us go home. Your mother is worried sick about you" [Muse''s father] "Which mother? The one that you left starving or the one that kick me in the face as a child? I do hope it''s the first one, though I wonder how she will do that when she''s six feet under" [Muse] "Nonsense. You''re just not remembering correctly. Plus, it will break my heart, to let go of my daughter hand" [Muse''s father] "Oh really? Wow, I''m so "glad" to hear that, but alas, I don''t have the time to heal your broken heart" [Muse] "Lady Muse, please reconsider your father feeling, surely you mu..." [Fancy looking noble] "Silence you!" [Muse] Oh wow, I''m sincerely impressed he actually got back up and quickly come to aid that old man after getting tossed by Krakeny "You do realize without the consent of the father, a noble daughter marriage will become invalid!" [Muse''s father] "I do, though there are different way to bypass it" [Muse] "Nonsense! I shall see that you come to me first, and we will have a good discussion before your marriage" [Muse''s father] "Geez, so much so for trying to win me back, only to revert to your old self. Now, if you''ll excuse us, we have important works to do" [Muse] "Charlotte, and Lady Muse, please wai..." [Fancy looking noble] Muse and I just ignore them, but Rean who have been silent all this time suddenly make his move. He wasn''t simply glaring at them, I can sense dark magic being used as well,combining that with giving them a cold bloody stare, it actually send the two of them along with their guards running away in fear "That''s impressive!" [Charlotte] "Just one of few tricks I learn as an adventure" [Rean] "You''re the best darling! Oh, and Charlotte" [Muse] "Yes?" [Charlotte] "You''re quite naughty aren''t you. Trying to hide behind us just to get out of trouble" [Muse] "Uhmm..." [Charlotte] "Don''t worry about it, I actually done that a lot, which is why I can instantly recognize it" [Muse] "And I take it that you hide behind Rean all the time?" [Charlotte] "Guilty" [Muse] "I see" [Rean] "Oh please, don''t act like you just know about it" [Muse] And now they''re having a lover "quarrel". More like flirting... Should I leave? Chapter 304 Tomorrow will be the day when all of us will sit down and have a video meeting with various people across Achalasia. Thankfully, most of the participants will be someone that I actually knew, so I''m sure thing will go rather smoothly. That being said, I shouldn''t stay up late and overworked myself today. It will be disastrous coming into the video meeting, presenting myself like a walking zombie in front of other. "Going home already Charlotte?" [Lisa] "That''s right. Tomorrow is a big day after all" [Charlotte] "Aries and Kara did tell me about it. Don''t worry much about it, they will just discuss about the possible locations of holy beasts and determine the best course of action, that''s all. Nothing to heavy I suppose" [Lisa] "True, but sometimes, unrelated but important things do tend to find their way around when this sort of meeting happen" [Charlotte] "Can''t disagree with you on that one. still, go home and rest early for today" [Lisa] "I will, thank you for your concern" [Charlotte] Taking my item bag, I start walking back home from the R&D. The R&D, higher education center and the school are all in proximity with each other, so I take this leisurely time to go to the school and pick up my younger siblings (Well, more like I am waiting for Sis Rafiah to come and pick them up with the bus golem so I can ride home together) Still, I believe class is still on session, and judging by the time, they''re on their last period. I''m sure Kara is also busy with teaching the students around, so I''ll just wait here and "Waiting for your siblings Dear Charlotte?" [Fourth queen] "Your highness, and!" [Charlotte] What is he doing here? With the fourth queen, Ex guild master Ram and Gizzere nonetheless "You make quite a ruckus yesterday. You''re a hero, but do remember you''re also a commoner, and as such, you have the duty to act more respectable in front of a noble. I guess that little sister of mine fail to teach you that one" [First prince] This really is unpleasant. I know that the fourth queen here is the advisor for the school, so her being here isn''t something strange, but this unpleasant prince? Why is he here with the three of them. "Don''t worry Charlotte, the first prince is here just to see for himself about the school condition" [Gizzere] "Strange. I''m sure you''re opposing it back then, and you actually don''t even have a role in building the school" [Charlotte] "That''s none of your concern. As the future king and leader of Estel, I must see through for myself each and every structure within my kingdom" [First prince] I see. I can guess why the fourth queen and the two ex guild master accompany him. They just wanted to keep him in check from doing anything reckless "Make sure you go and apologize to the noble you hurt yesterday, otherwise, there is no need for commoner to receive education. They will just ended up being rude, like the one who they name this school after" [First prince] "WHAT WAS THAT!" [Charlotte] "!" [Other] The name of the school is Ash school, and even I know for a fact that Brother Ash was kinda rude back then, but to hear it from him, with his annoying and disrespectful tone, it simply... Urghh! "Where are your manner young hero? Surely you..." [First prince] "Manner this! Manner that! And yet you have the nerve to belittle my brother!" [Charlotte] "I''m not. I''m annoyed that they will just ended up becoming rude like him, that''s all" [First prince] God. I don''t know whether he is stupid or serious. No, I don''t even know whether he is seriously stupid or stupidly serious! "Calm down now Charlotte, or else you will just loose" [Fourth queen] "Not that she will stand a chance against me. Her brother, despite manner, was a great person to have a debat and discussion with, but now, all I see in front of me is just a mass of mana imitating that person without truly appreciating what makes him great" [First prince] Again! That does it, he really cross the lin...Wait? Is he actually praising Brother Ash? I''m confused "Your highness, forgive me for butting in, but don''t you have a meeting with the king right afterwards?" [Ram] "Trying to change the subject aren''t you, but very well, I did have a meeting with my father after this. Wasting my time with her is truly uncalled for" [First prince] Grrr! I hate him! I simply hate him! You''re the one wasting my time! I could rest properly just now and yet, some unsightly prince ruin the day for me! "Word of advice. You''re the centre of everyone attention right now. Whatever you do, whether intentionally or not, will have a large consequence. See that you understand this advice of mine" [First prince] "That''s true actually. I won''t force you to apologize to that noble yesterday, but do reflect on your action, as well as what he just said" [Fourth queen] And he left! Oh finally! Thank you Goddess Achalasia for removing him from my sight! Stomping the ground just to release this pent up anger, I sit down to the nearest bench, and take a deep breath just to calm myself down. (Center of everyone attention, and that noble yesterday) [Charlotte] Did I do something wrong yesterday? I am just defending myself, since he had the nerve to... No, remembering it just making me feel even more angrier, so let just forget about it and move on ~Bell ringing~ And thus, the final session ended. Seeing as how my little siblings are all playing around waiting for Sis Rafiah, I decided to tell Kara what happen, and "I see. Well, I do think he is particularly right. You see, tossing a noble, or anyone for that matter really, with your Krakeny will cause a bit of an uproar. You''re lucky that noble didn''t file a complaint, or else" [Kara] "Fine..." [Charlotte] Why is it that when Brother Ash was the one doing it, it''s fine, but not me! I just don''t understand! Chapter 305 Early in the morning, all of us gather around in a "small" unused room (according to Sis Diana) for the video conference. Taking the center will be Sis Diana, follow by other. Turning the phone on, we have From the Estel side, we have: Sis Diana Mrs Qis Saintess Rumia Mother Aries And the four of us (Rean, Elise, Kara and I) From the Kiserre side,we have: Queen Rinz Mrs Khamishah Mr Filvisar Karon Farhah Anjin Kucin Kiserre''s adventure guild master (Karon and Farhah, it''s been long since I last saw them. I''m glad they''re safe) [Charlotte] Karon has become like your typical teenage dwarf in appearance, albeit, I think he is actually taller than your average adult dwarves. His beard might not be fully developed yet, but he actually trim it rather nicely. As for Farhah, her shiny green hair have become long, maybe the longest among us as it reaches even below her waist. She also become even more beautiful. If I am to describe her appearance, she looks exactly like an elven princess from the children fairy tale. (I can tell that all of us are glad after seeing Karon and Farhah, but still... they aren''t here aren''t they? Let take a look at other monitor first and pray for the best) [Charlotte] From Malsia, we have: Princess Nurhaliza Sis Mira Elemental archer Naoto Kana Malsia''s adventure guild master From Beastman Kingdom, we have: Beastman king, Leogris Singa''s grandfather Singa Savel Beastman kingdom guild master From Demon kingdom, we have: Demon king, Druser and her Icy demon queen Paladin of Demon kingdom Zerolith Mara Demon kingdom adventure guild master lastly, from the new headquarters: Acting archbishop Saint Louis Seraph The S rank adventure guild master (Lara and Nara... Where are you. Please, at least leave us a message) [Charlotte] After the formal speech, we quickly get to the main issues without a moment delay, and first thing first "I''m really sorry. It''s just impossible to know just where is the Holy Beast of Light, Angkasa Currently is. Even I myself didn''t know much about that holy beast. All I know is that I am blessed simply because of the Seraph''s blood within me" [Seraph] "If the one having the blood of angel king didn''t know about it, then I am sure other wouldn''t know about it as well" [Druser] Everyone silently agreeing with the Demon King Druser statement. True, out of all the holy beast, Angkasa is the most mysterious one. The only fact we know about it is that it''s one of the two holy beast beside Az the keeper of time to retain the title of the original holy beast. Even the almighty Reshir the ice dragon, only get the title of the holy beast of water after the mermaid king succumbed to illness "Then, unto the next obvious one. The Holy Beast of Fire, The Hell Tiger, Har. It''s still under the possession of the true beastman leader, Simba" [Diana] "The one that wanted my blood..." [Farhah] "To make matter worse, we have evidence suggesting he''s also collaborating with the two traitorous princes, and the serial killer dwarf as well" [Anjin] "This spell trouble" [Mara] "True, but looking at the bright side, that mean that we knew exactly where to find the holy beast" [Demon Queen] "Plus, that also means instead of us searching for the holy beast, the holy beast itself is coming to us" [Paladin] "Dangerous, but a valid option" [Saint Louis] "Fellow guild master, I believe we can continue to track down the third meddling faction. We have more reason to do it now" [Aries] "That''s true. No reason to disagree" [S rank guild master] Other adventure guild master also agree to it With two of the holy beast out, Farhah then presents to us some shocking information "The Fairy Queen Titania said that?" [Haliza] "She does" [Farhah] "We still haven''t discovered the location of the Tree of Life where mother earth and fairy queen resides, but that''s what she whispered into Farhah at that time" [Filvisar] "That''s rather nice of her, but that also mean..." [Diana] "I know. I can finally fulfill my duty as an Avery! When the times come, I will tell all of you about it!" [Farhah] The Fairy Queen, Titania also known as the Holy Beast of Mirage. She said that she will reveal herself once we have gotten another two more blessing. Based on our current options, the viable one will be after tracking down Simba, and the other two "Unfortunately, we are still unable to track down the Holy Beast of Wind, Rampaging Garuda" [Archbishop] "I see... Forgive me for the intrusion, but may I ask you something?" [Kana] "Ask away" [Archbishop] "Is the rumour regarding the rampaging garuda making nest above the cloud hold any basis?" [Kana] "No evidence to deny nor to prove it, but it''s widely believe among the citizen of our country" [Archbishop] "I see. Then, if you would, I might be able to help" [Kana] "You want to bring Birdie there and investigate?" [Mira] "That''s the only way if the rumour hold true" [Kana] "I see. In that case, we will gladly accept your generous offer" [S rank guild master] Up in the sky... Well, mermaid themselves live deep under the sea, so having a creature living above the cloud seem logical as well. I do hope Kana will take extra precaution, but we can all trust him for that "Lastly, the Holy Beast of Earth, Tyrant Steel Ant, Drant. We have evidence suggesting that the holy beast is currently residing inside one of the challenge dungeons here in Beastman Kingdom" [Leogris] "It just that..." [Singa] "We might have not much time" [Savel] "Please, can you elaborate" [Queen Rinz] "The ants, they''re acting strange, and based on our scholars, we believe Drant might be on her last leg as the queen of ant" [Singa''s grandfather] "!" [Other] The Holy Beast, Drant might not be able to live longer? That''s a grave news indeed. I wonder, what happen? Chapter 306 _________________________________________________ [Malsia''s castle] [Kana point of view] Yesterday revelation came as a shock, but one of the participants, the famous paladin responsible for stopping the war of succession, couldn''t agree with the idea of Drant is dying. She actually "argues" with King Leogris and the scholar for good 15 minutes before decided to come along with the other heroes (What the worker ants had been doing were indeed strange, and the scholars explanation were indeed logical, but so does Mrs Aries argument. If anything happened to Drant, she should at least know something since part of Drant was implanted inside of her) [Kana] As for me "Here is the special pass for the three of you" [Haliza] "Thank you your highness" [Kana] "Just be careful. I know You and Birdie makes a terrific pair when fighting against the devil, but never let your guard down. Your mission is downright suicidal if you ask me" [Haliza] "I understand that, but this is the least I can do for them" [Kana] "I know that as well... Make sure you, Birdie, Kanji and Seo Ah comes back safely" [Haliza] "I will" [Kana] She has grown into a splendid princess, rivaling even Princess Diana. Princess Diana focuses more on political turmoil, and as for her, since the prince of Malsia is indeed a decent person to become the next king, she focuses all of her efforts on science, magic and developments Going back to the orphanage, I have a meal with other children for the last time, together with Naoto (who couldn''t leave Malsia since she''s one of the important line of defence), Qudus (who will join us until Estel, where he then will collaborate with R&D from Estel), and Kanji and Seo Ah (both will assist me in search of the Holy Beast of Wind, The Rampaging Garuda) After the meal is over "Take care, and don''t forget to bring some rare souvenirs" [Mira] "Sis..." [Seo Ah] "Rendezvous well with Saint Louis and Seraph, they will surely become a big help" [Naoto] "We will" [Kana] "All of you, take care as well" [Kana] "Right!" With that, we are off, using Birdie as mean of transportation _________________________________________________ Two day off. We will now wait for Grandpa Filvisar, Calypso, Karon and Farhah to come hear from Kiserre before departing together towards the Beastman Kingdom (Making our total count seven, together with Behe) (They will most likely arrive late at night, and we will let them rest tomorrow, before departing next day afterward, so there are still plenty of time) [Charlotte] Resting and lazing around once in a while isn''t that bad of an idea. I can just sleep all day without any care in the world, or I can just go on a sweet shopping spree, though of course I will need to beg Sis Rafiah for my allowance. Speaking of sweet shopping spree (Why did I feel like I am forgetting something?) [Charlotte] It feels like it''s in the back of my mind... I''m sure I am actually forgetting something... "That''s right! Wedding gifts! Not only for Rean and Muse, but also for Mr Samurai Jacks and Principal Alice!" [Charlotte] But wait... Maybe I can wait for Karon and Farhah, so that we can then search together? Or maybe I can wait for a bit and find a suitable gift for them at the Beastman Kingdom? I''m sure the two options are viable as well, rather than me going around all alone while not knowing what to buy for them (And now, I am back to square one, lazing around once more) [Charlotte] I don''t feel like doing anything. Really, I can just go ramble on and on about doing something productive, but I just couldn''t even lift a finger now that the sweet embrace of this soft sofa convincing me to just relax for a day "Charlotte, if you don''t have anything to do, can you please clean the house?" [Rafiah] "Ehh... Housey and Calypso Tree cleaning function can take care of that..." [Charlotte] "You''re right, but seeing you lazing around somehow irk me. Maybe try to do something productive" [Rafiah] "Like?" [Charlotte] "Maybe go around the shop and buy Karon and Farhah''s favourite food? They''re coming after all" [Rafiah] "Grandpa Claude can cook better than most shop..." [Charlotte] "Then how about help with the training hall maintenance? There aren''t many people using it now, so you can spare some time inspecting the spawning blocks" [Rafiah] "I''ll do just that" [Charlotte] Going to the training hall, I quickly inspects our two spawning blocks, the marine spawning block as well as the zombie spawning block. They''re in top notch conditions, so much so that I couldn''t even find a scratch on it, prove of a great maintenance. To double confirm it, I summon a B rank general zombie as well as an illusion tortoises of a similar rank, and the two spawning blocks spawned them in mere second. Good, but disposing the monsters will be a hassle, so with Krakeny and my army of fish golems, I quickly launch a barrage of attack before they even get a chance to move. The monsters I summoned were B rank monsters after all, something that I couldn''t afford to get careless "Cool!" "She really is strong!" "That''s the youngest court magician for you!" "Excuse me" "Can you please train us?" "I am a water mage as well, so it will be a wonderful opportunity for me if you could spare a bit of your time" Looks like they''re all raring to go. They''re young adventures and knights (well, they''re older than I am, or at least as old as I am, but you get the idea). I feel like a lazy bear right now, just wanted to hibernate without a care in the world, but their eyes sparkle with enthusiasm that I couldn''t find myself to refuse their request "Right then, let get started with your training! Are you guys ready?" [Charlotte] "Yes!" And there go one of my free day to lazing around. I guess I have no choice. We continue until dusk, and just when I am about to sit in the sofa "I''M BACK! DO YOU GUYS MISS ME?" [Calypso] "Phew, we sure are tired right now" [Farhah] "Still, the inter-dungeon bus golem really is a marvel. Traveling couldn''t become more comfortable with it" [Filvisar] "Agree, but I can further improve it" [Karon] They''re back! Chapter 307 _________________________________________________ [Inside the Rock and Sea dungeon] [Kana point of view] At first, we are here just to help a group of traveling merchant saving themselves, but now "Shit! They''re everywhere!" [Kanji] ~Screech~ "Heal! Invigorate!" [Seo Ah] A small flock of sea snake getting afflicted by the miasma of the devil surrounded us. With Seo Ah keep on using her neutral mana to heal and invigorate us, the number of snakes didn''t seem to decrease, perhaps the opposite as I can sense more and more of them "Birdie, use gale storm" [Kana] ~Screech~ Using the move gale storm, it once again flock itself, becoming a single-minded giant snake made up of hundreds of smaller snake, and with that, the magic core of the giant snake show itself "Birdie, take Kanji there now!" [Kana] "Kanji! Strike it down!" [Seo Ah] "I will! Take this! Earthly blast!" [Kanji] Swinging his sword with earth mana imbued, he make a single powerful swing, directly into the magic core, but just at the last second "Goddammit! Not again" [Kanji] "Just how many round does this make!" [Seo Ah] Seo Ah frustrating tone is understandable, in fact, I''m sure all of us share similar feeling. The devilish snakes are one frustrating foe to fight with ~Hiss~ "Hmm?" [Qudus] "Something wrong Qudus?" [Kana] "Tingling sensation on my hand diminish... Help will arrive soon" [Qudus] "I see. That''s reassuring" [Kana] ~HISS~ The hissing of the snake becoming stronger. They''re confident with their chances of winning. We should retreat but if we do that, it will simply become that giant snake once more and try to devour us from behind "Hell and heaven fire. Engulf them all!" [Elise] "Javelin of neutral! Pierce my enemies" [Mile] "Dark blade: Eternal darkness" [Bladel] "They are!" [Kana] "The Valkyrie!" [Seo Ah] Just like what Qudus said, The Valkyrie with their elegant pegasi arrive _________________________________________________ A series of devil spawning in all three dungeon causes a hassle. Since Farhah and Karon just arrived last night, we ask the two of them to sit back and rest, while Rean, Elise, Kara and I went our separate way. Rean (alongside his soon to be wife Muse, as well as his best friends Kadeus a Lily), and Kara tackle the army of devil zombies inside the open field dungeon, and as for me "Why didn''t I detect all of you at that time! You''re causing so much trouble, even more so than your typical regular crow!" [Charlotte] The devil fire crows from before re-emerge. The report from the knight and scholars suggest that they''re the same fire crows that I dispose of not too long ago, or at least that''s what they believe (They''re similarities, that I can attest to, but...) [Charlotte] Somehow they''re different? I can''t really make it out what makes them different. Their mana and the miasma oozing out from them feels the same as last time. Even if isn''t the same mana and miasma from last time, for me it''s similar enough to group them as one Their appearances are also the same. I can still see the fire and the black miasma fusing together to form a crow that looks like they''re the native inhabitants of hell itself "Just what makes you different..." [Charlotte] Somehow, I can''t shake this feeling that they''re different. So the best I can do is "Have to search for the leader, capture it alive if possible and send it for the scholars to examine. That''s what I will do" [Charlotte] And maybe spare one or two of the crows. I''m sure I can just freeze their whole bodies and let them enter a suspended animation kind of state. Maybe, I''m not sure. Either way, they will be a valuable stuff for the scholars to experiment with and get as much data as possible regarding the devil With army of fishes golem at my commands, I let them tear down and chomp down all the fire crows at their sight. The one that seems like they might escape meet their demise at the hand of my long range water bullets shot from my pistol. One by one, I wither down their number (Unlike last time, the leader of the flock, the dark phoenix didn''t show itself. Could it be, they''re learning?) [Charlotte] Make sense... Crows are a smart animal. "Tee-hee..." [Charlotte] I can''t help but to picture Sir Crow face on the fire crows when I mentioned that back the... "ABOVE ME!" [Charlotte] The dark phoenix make a suicidal dark explosive dive. Gaining terminal velocity together with the surrounding fire crows. Almost like a meteorite falling down from the sky. Truly, this is one frightening sight, and couple that with their war suicidal "caw" "caw" echoing throughout the dungeon, I can''t help but to feel shiver running down my spine "No choice! I will just freeze all of you at once!" [Charlotte] Putting my pistol and taking out my staff, I disperse my mana into the air above me, trying to reach them as I try to convert all of the mana into gigantic ball of water. Once they''re inside, I will then instantaneously freeze them without a moment of delay ~CAWWWW~ ~CAW~~CAW~~CAW~~CAW~ They dive right into the trap and try to boil the water down. Without the goddess an reshir blessings, that might be possible, but now "Dear ice fairies, by my command, please help her freeze the mass of water" [Farhah] "Farhah!" [Charlotte] And just like what she commanded, group of ice fairies aid me to freeze the mass of water. It''s unnecessary since I can do it all on my on, but nonetheless "Thank you Farhah, and the fairies as well" [Charlotte] "It''s my job to protect my little sister, although I''m 100% sure you actually can freeze it all on your own" [Farhah] "That''s true, but thank you nonetheless" [Charlotte] "Look at you, being all cute like me" [Farhah] (And you never change...) [Charlotte] I explain to Farhah why I thought of freezing the fire crows and the phoenix, and together with her wood warrior golems and my Krakeny, we push the massive ice ball outside, and needless to say, the guards were all shock to see what we brought for them. Coincidentally "What are you guys doing..." [Lily] "Massive ball. Of ice" [Kadeus] "Well, you can say that this is a gift for scholars" [Charlotte] "Oh my, what a view..." [Seo Ah] "It''s you guys! That''s quick! Really quick" [Farhah] Chapter 308 _________________________________________________ [At the Estel''s adventure guild master office] [Kana point of view] Currently, I am with Princess Diana and her bodyguard Qis, Current and previous Estel adventure guild master, and the S rank adventure, The Blade of Wind, Samurai Jacks inside the guild master office discussing about several issues, especially "Thank you for accepting my request Mr Jacks, although I will be honest, I feel bad for interrupting the little time you have to prepare for your wedding by the end of this month" [Kana] "It''s fine. I''m sure my soon to be wife will understand it. Plus, my disciples will also get married on the same day as I am, and yet he decided to go and fulfill his duty as the ten heroes" [Jacks] "Don''t worry, I''m sure Alice and Muse understand about it, plus, they can handle the preparation for marriage by themselves" [Diana] "To be honest, I can imagine that... But that doesn''t mean we wouldn''t help with the preparation" [Qis] "Thank you once again, but one final question, are you sure about it your highness? Mrs Aries will go with the heroes and Mr Jacks will go with us. Wouldn''t that leave Estel a bit in a pinch if something were to happen" [Kana] "It''s true, but everything will be fine. Estel is blessed with multiple talents. We have the Valkyrie, talented adventures and knights." (Let''s not forget about Alaric and co as well as Kadeus and co) [Diana] "Plus, I''m sure Kiserre and Malsia will quickly lend us their hand shall anything happen" [Ram] With that, our discussion come to an end. Samurai Jacks will be accompanying us on a quest to search for The Holy Beast of Wind, The Rampaging Garuda near the New Headquarters. As for Mrs Aries, she will be joining the ten heroes in search of The Holy Beast of Earth, Tyrant Ant Drant. Filling the gap during her absentee will be the former guild master, Mr Ram "Do you mind if we set out tomorrow morning? I will like to talk with Alice a bit before heading out" [Jacks] "It suddenly getting hot in here" [Diana] "Haha, please by all mean" [Kana] That wouldn''t be much of a problem. I can also spend some time with the orphans here and their caretaker. Plus, Seo Ah will be please as well, getting extra time to caught up with her teacher/mentor Saintess Rumia. With nothing else to do, we have a cup of tea with some light sweet before each going their separate way. I should probably ask Saintess Rumia to inform Saint Louis and Seraph that our schedule of arrival might be late since we will be staying here in Estel for a day _________________________________________________ Currently, all of us are here at the R&D department, where we discuss the about the model for the sea serpent project. All of us are join in by scholars from both Estel and Malsia. With maps and books about the structure of the dungeon and countries involve, we meticulously improve on the model, which started to take shape, especially thanks to Karon, Mr Qudus and Mr Erinmorlin doing. "This is harder than I thought. Way way harder than what I initially thought" [Charlotte] "Well, we used to see Brother Ash getting instantaneous results whenever he does something, maybe that''s why" [Farhah] "Not quite. He did run into fair share of trouble during his experimentation time. It just that in our eyes, he''s sort of a genius that can do anything he put his mind into" [Karon] "So what you''re saying is that, our memories are clouded with bias" [Farhah] "Not necessarily" [Karon] "Well, I have been working with him way before any of you, so I can attest that he actually did get his job done fast. The bus golem of him, the communication stone etc. I guess that''s partly thank to his relationship with Goddess Achalasia, making thing easier for him" [Erinmorlin] I see. Maybe that''s true. Maybe I am not remembering correctly when he struggles so much on making any of his inventions. I might be focusing more on his end result rather than what he had gone through, hence the bias. Still, there''s no denying that he did it quickly "And here is the entrance to the ancient tunnel" [Qudus] "Will the ancient tunnel affect the project?" [Kara] "No. I don''t think it will" [Qudus] "Then why do you plan on putting it in?" [Elise] "Various reasons, but the main one will be to achieve perfectness. This model will surely be useful for other things as well, so putting in more time and effort wouldn''t be consider as a waste" [Qudus] "I agree. Not only for the current project, maybe in the future, this model can serve as something even greater. Who knows, it might help you with your duty as the hero" [Erinmorlin] "I can totally see that happening. All of us using the model to plan for our next move" [Rean] "Then let us not waste more time! I''ll help whatever and wherever I can!" [Farhah] And thus, we continue helping to build the model. Instead of haphazardly putting something here and there, Mr Erinmorlin decided that we will first finish the layout of the country, even resize certain countries to make the model better. With his guidance and expertise, all of us agree on letting him becoming the one in charge of making the model. It will be a slow and tedious process, that''s for sure, but it will be worth it! "It''s getting late. You guys will be departing early in the morning, so go home and get some rest" [Erinmorlin] "Are you sure? We still have plenty of time and energy left" [Farhah] "Plus, I feel bad since this is suppose to be my job" [Charlotte] "Don''t worry about it. We will be fine" [Qudus] "I feel bad as well, but thank you for the offer. You guys, let go home" [Rean] "We will need each and every bit of mana after all for this mission" [Elise] "Can''t argue with that one" [Karon] Saying our thank one last time, we head out to the orphanage. Mother Aries and Kara join us for dinner. So does Muse, Kadeus, Lily, and Ray and his family Chapter 309 _________________________________________________ [Beastman kingdom, at Singa''s grandfather mansion] [Singa point of view] Having a light breakfast, Savel and I quickly chomp down the food (in a delicate and manner befitting apprentice under the guidance of an Ex-Duke of the Beastman Kingdom aka, my grandfather). Grandfather seems to rise earlier than usual, maybe because he will be busy for today, something unusual for a retired duke. Well, we will be joining him for a while, specifically this morning daily updates regarding the Tyrant Ant Drant. After saying our thanks to the chef and maids for preparing us the wonderful breakfast, we quickly went ahead to the room, just in a nick of time. I can see that the adventures and scholars working late last night, with an eye like a panda. Sorry... "Is there any peculiar activity regarding the worker ants?" [Singa] "There has been none so far. They''re all still acting strange" [Adventure] "But with only that much clue, we can only surmise something is wrong. While the behaviour they display did match with behaviour of certain ant species, what we are dealing is something else entirely" [Scholar] "Which makes Paladin Aries hypothesis and gut feeling equally important as well" [Singa''s grandfather] "Either way, that doesn''t change the fact that all ten of us will meet with the holy beast, one way or another" [Savel] "That just mean we have to steel ourselves even more" [Singa] With the daily conversation between us, the adventure and the scholars come to an end, they quickly leave the room, back to their field of work. We ask them to rest first as they were coming back from their night inspection, to which they gladly takes the offer to use one of the empty rooms here in the mansion. It''s important for us to keep up-to-date with what''s happening inside the challenge dungeon where The Tyrant Ant Drant reside. We will also make a routine inspection at said place, but nonetheless, an opinion from veteran adventures and scholars will provide invaluable insight After our daily sparing session, and the morning lecture, I guess both Savel and I can explore any part that we missed. We have to get as much information as possible, before we begin conquering the dungeon. But first, maybe w should change to more appropriate attire once again "Sir Singa. Sir Savel. The both of you have some unexpected visitors" [Tiger butler] ""Unexpected visitors??"" [Savel, Singa] The voice of the tiger butler can be heard, as he knocks on the door, not opening it as he simply speaks from the other side of the door Still, an unexpected visitors... I wonder who? As we get ourselves ready, the door to our room suddenly open "Too late!" [Mara] "Sorry for the intrusion!" [Zerolith] ""Mara!! Zerolith!!"" [Singa, Savel] What!? Wait a minute? What!? What are they doing here! They''re supposed to depart tomorrow morning "Hurry up and change your clothes. Don''t you find it shameful to display your abs in front of your delicate older sister" [Mara] "Delicate you say!?" [Savel] "I can accept if Elise or Kara, or even Lara saying that thing! But from you, never!" [Singa] "WHAT WAS THAT!" [Mara] "It literally only been five seconds..." [Zerolith] "Shut it demon priest!" [Mara] _________________________________________________ [At the dungeon entrance, Estel] It''s morning. Saying our teary goodbye to Sis Rafiah, Grandpa Filvisar and Claude, Calypso and our dear siblings, we quickly take the camper van golem, created just after Brother Ash death, heading towards the dungeon. The Cushion inside is soft, soft enough that Behe in his cute form couldn''t resist but to immediately fall asleep once he used it Once we arrive at the dungeon, I step outside only to find "Promise me that you''ll come back home safely" [Alice] "I will" [Jacks] "It''s getting steamy here. Someone turn on the fan" [Diana] "Your highness..." [Linda] "Apparently the two of them aren''t the only one doing that" [Qis] Since I eavesdrop at their conversation, my eyes were drawn to the same place as to where Mrs Qis pointed out, revealing another pair of couple getting steamy in front of the dungeon entrance. When did they do that? "Promise me that you''ll come back home safely" [Muse] "I will" [Rean] "It''s getting steamy here. Someone turn on the fan" [Kanji] "Kanji..." [Seo Ah] "Maybe I should use my succubus magic to make things even more romantic" [Lily] "Lily, please don''t""Please do it" [Rean][Muse] "Something never change" [Ray] "Agree" [Kadeus] Almost the same dialogue play out as the two couples, Rean and Muse as well as Mr Jacks and Principal Alice saying their farewell to significant other Mr Jacks, Kana, Birdie, Kanji and Seo Ah will be heading towards the New Headquarters where they will join with Saint Louis, Seraph and the S rank guild master there in search of the Holy Beast of Wind, The Rampaging Garuda. The path they will take Estel --> Open field dungeon --> Kiserre --> Forest dungeon --> Cursed land beside the new headquarters --> Holy dungeon beta --> New Headquarters The Rampaging Garuda is said to reside somewhere inside the holy dungeon. Not only that, the forest dungeon where they will use is where Karon and Farhah have been training, and also the location of the Holy Beast of Mirage, The Fairy Queen Titania As for us, Mother Aries, Rean, Elise, Kara, Karon, Farhah, Behe and I will be visiting The Beastman Kingdom, where we will be joining with Savel, Singa, Zerolith and Mara once we arrive there. It''s been a while since all ten of us gather around, so I am excited, though the mood is hampered by the fact that all of us still have no idea nor even a single clue regarding the location of Lara and Nara The path we will take will be as follow Estel --> Rock and Sea dungeon --> Malsia --> Beast dungeon --> Beastman Kingdom And as a side note, from Beastman Kingdom, we can take the Dark Dungeon to arrive at the Demon Kingdom, so Mara and Zerolith will be using that route. They will depart tomorrow and will arrive slightly sooner than us at the same day Chapter 310 _________________________________________________ [Open field dungeon] [Kana point of view] An army of devil zombies heading our way, blocking the main road which the inter-dungeon carriage frequent, which understandably causing distress for everyone involve. Inside the carriage are a couple of young adventures accepting request to fend off the carriage should this occasion arrise. From the looks of it, they really didn''t expect things to turn out this way. Both reasonable and unreasonable at the same time It''s true, from the record by the adventure guild, Rean and his friends wipe out the zombies devil few days back, and knowing that in mind, they must have thought the request will be an easy one. BUT, in an era where the fallen god and her minion run rampage, they should give more serious thought that something like this bound to happen Anyway, with us seeing the shenanigans happening right in front of us as the small army of devil zombies toying around with the carriage, none of us can stand by and do nothing. Quickly enhancing our stat, Seo Ah than perform a long range bullet attack to attract the attention of the zombies. It isn''t powerful but it get the job done, and after noticing their assaulter, the zombies attention shifted, to Seo Ah who''s now hiding behind Kanji for protection As for me, I quickly raise Birdie attacking power, and couple that with Samurai Jacks immensely powerful wind sword technique, the two of them form up and unexpectedly good duo. Jacks was in Malsia for quite some time, and we have been working together couple of times, but I believe this is the very first time he and Birdie actually fight alongside each other Their unison blasting the foe and letting other do the finisher is a sight to behold. When Jacks begin to get overwhelmed (not that it matters as the S rank adventure is a powerful ally to begin with), Birdie will start blasting off a powerful air currents that lift the zombies up above the ground, preying and slicing them with it steel wing one by one, while the one that escape from the wings wrath meet it demises by the wind blade. Similarly enough, Jacks can just fling his katana heavily enhance with his own wind magic to create a powerful upstream that toss the zombies upward, leaving them vulnerable to once again, Birdie steel wing attack. This terrifying duo make such a terrific partner that I wonder, why didn''t they pair up sooner. Plus, when fighting a devil, it''s a well known fact that the presence of even a single hero can make the battle against the devil much easier as their powerful blessing affect those fighting alongside them. Looking at our current situation now, it''s as if he didn''t even need one to pummel the devil. Though saying that will be nothing but boastful, and undermine those kids role "That''s the S rank adventure! The wind of blade!" "We are save! Thank goodness for his arrival!" "He looks dashing, I wonder if he has anyone in his mind?" "That strength... He can even rival Mrs Saga!" "I totally agree!" (Rivaling her... That is a terrifying thought. If anything, I feel like I need to increase my training more to catch up to her during her prime time) [Jacks] Seeing as to how everything come to an end quickly, one of the adventures quickly uses his fire magic and incinerate all the corpses of the devil zombies. Almost all of it since... "Are you sure you want us to do that?" "Please, and please notify Estel''s guild master about it as well" [Kana] "I see. You want to test out the theory right?" [Jacks] "Yes. We are still left in the dark about the devil, so even excluding one theory will be plenty helpful in our upcoming day" [Kana] "What theory?" [Kanji] _________________________________________________ Seeing as how the wave outside seems calmer than usual, I was reminded about our adventure back then to the Mermaid kingdom. I wonder what happen to them? Is everything alright, and is Mahsuri doing well? Well, this is Mahsuri we are talking about, so she will be fine. If anything, how about we break the silence by discussing about... "The fire crows feels familiar you say?" [Rean] "True. I have mentioned about it before, and I couldn''t help but scratch my head as to why it is" [Charlotte] "If anything, this open up to ta number of theories regarding how the fallen god able to keep massive amount of minions at her disposal" [Kara] Right now, we are inside the Rock and Sea dungeon. Putting the camper van golem on an autopilot mode, we discuss among ourselves regarding number of theories pertaining to the God of Life army. The question of the day is, just how did the God of Life capable of having a massive army of a devil, spawning all across Achalasia. Not to mention, every single time she is awakened, the ten heroes fought against the devil, driving them back from where they spawned or simply killing them. Which beg the question, over the span of millennial, how did she keep spawning devil after devil "For me, this is the God of Life we are talking about. So she may simply create the devil on her own" [Farhah] "True. That''s one of the prevailing theory among the scholars nowadays. The fact that the fallen god is god of life make that theory the most accepted theory thus far" [Kara] "But that doesn''t mean other theories are invalid" [Aries] "Agree. When talking about the realm of god and what they''re capable of, she could have employed numerous method to do so" [Karon] "Which mean knowing even one method will make all the difference in the near future" [Elise] "Meow" [Behe] That meow indicate that Behe is agreeing with Elise''s statement just now. Let just hope the fire crows and the dark phoenix specimens that I froze the other day prove useful for the scholars to unravel the truth behind the devils. Like they said, knowing is half winning. Chapter 311 _________________________________________________ [At Kiserre''s orphanage] [Kana point of view] An SS rank adventure, couple with three S rank adventures (Samurai Jacks, Kucin and Anjin). This is a sight to behold. It isn''t an exaggeration to say I am sitting with one man army, that can even topple some knight and soldiers of a small country should they really feels like it, and yet here they are, just taking a breather from their everyday chaotic lifes. Since they''re all high ranking adventures, it isn''t long for the light topic like how was your day etc to become work related, which destroy the objective of the initial breather to begin with "And that''s what our investigation on the meddling third party lead by the two traitorous princes" [Anjin] "They really are a nuisance..." [Khamishah] "Agree" [Kucin] "Still, just what is their objective? I can''t fathom what they want at perilous times like this" [Jacks] "The two traitorous princes... I''m not sure, however, for Simba the true beastman leader, I''m sure his objective remain the same" [Anjin] "Even after all these years?" [Seo Ah] "Even after ALL these years!" [Kucin] "Damn. This really is some serious situation. Having to deal with the fallen god, as well as some party that we didn''t even know where to look to begin with" [Kanji] "Hmm..." [Kana] "Is something wrong, Kana?" [Khamishah] "No. I was wondering, we might kill two, no, maybe even three to five birds with a single stone, though..." [Kana] "Though?" [Jacks] It will cause nothing but trouble for those kids. _________________________________________________ [At Malsia''s orphanage] [Rean point of view] "Oh my Rean, how long have it been?" [Mira] "Hahaha..." [Rean] "Last time I saw you, you''re just a..." [Mira] "Mira, that joke was lame" [Haliza] "WHAT? No, it isn''t!" [Mira] "Yes, yes it is" [Naoto] "Please tell me they''re all joking" [Mira] "Well..." [Kara] (Avoid any eye contact. Avoid any eye contact) [Karon] (((Lame...))) [Elise, Farhah, Charlotte] (I can actually emphasize with her joke, somehow...) [Aries] I don''t want to sound rude as Mira have been a great helper, to not just us, but all the orphans under her, whether that orphans are residing here or somewhere else, since she''s the head of director of orphanages. Still, it''s a bit lame if I has to be honest In about a week after I left Malsia, I come back to the very same orphanage after the teary goodbye. Still, even though only a week had passed, I''m glad. I''m glad to see that nothing much change. In this difficult time, there is a silver lining of positivity, as one would appreciate the other more and more, and I guess it''s especially true for the ten of us. I don''t want to think of the worst case scenario where none of us... However, that''s a possibility that we are all aware of, and something that will always be lurking on the back of our mind "By the way Rean, you still left me hanging on what you really, really want for your new house" [Haliza] "Princess, it''s fine. I can''t really..." [Rean] "Nonsense! Why is it that Jacks and you can''t understand how serious I am! You two have been a great help for us, so the least I can do is preparing some gifts for the two soon to be husband" [Haliza] "But really... I don''t think we need it. You being there during our wedding day is more than enough for us" [Rean] "Rean, just think of something. I can''t claim I know how you feel since I am still single...... I am still single...." [Mira] "Way to go Rean, because of you, she''s all depressed!" [Farhah] "I... I..." [Rean] (Not only her though...) [Aries] ((Single...)) [Haliza, Naoto] I guess I should come up with anything fast! Fast before they fall even deeper into their depression. Anything. Just give me any idea! _________________________________________________ [At Alice''s parent inn] [Muse point of view] "Thank you Muse. I can''t believe we can actually see our very own daughter getting married at such grandiose hall!" [Alice''s mother] "Grr..." [Alice''s father] "Is something wrong with him?" [Muse] "Oh, don''t mind him. He''s in dilemma. On one hand, he''s happy that Alice getting married to such a fine gentlemen, but on another hand, he''s reluctant to let her hand go" [Alice''s mother] "!" [Alice''s father] "I see..." [Muse] (She seem gloomy... Change the subject quickly) "Anyway, tell me what you want to eat. We can quickly whip you something for all your troubles" [Alice''s mother] "Really? Well, if that''s the case, how about giving me your best home meal cooking" [Muse] "Right. Just wait here for a minute" [Alice''s mother] Waiting for the meal, I glance at Alice''s father, who is still getting struck by anxiety of letting his only daughter go. I can''t say I fully understand it, since my father is nothing but a dirt on my life. In all honesty, I can''t help but to think Alice''s father a bit too overreacting. Maybe it''s because father never really pay me much attention. (That bastard actually act like a proper father... Just thinking about it makes me nauseated) [Muse] Well. Let just forget about it. I just can''t wait to get married to Rean as soon as possible. Not to mention, I can actually use the grandiose main hall inside the Diana''s hall (the very same hall where Princess Diana used for her debutante party six years ago). Getting the approval wasn''t really that hard, maybe because of my connection, as well as the fact that I am working there under Sir Ceanu and Sir Crow (Not to mention, even high ranking noble can''t make their wedding there! I am truly lucky!) [Muse] I can imagine crystal clearly how some of the noble daughters getting jealous with me, which as childish as it sound, did makes me feel good "Here you go! I make extra. Share it with the other" [Alice''s mother] "Thank you very much. I''ll be sure to savour every last bit of it" [Muse] And that I should, but first, let get back to my workplace Chapter 312 _________________________________________________ [Inside the forest dungeon] [Kana point of view] The forest dungeon. The location where Karon and Farhah have been training together with Mr Filvisar and her fairy companion. This lush green and yet dim dungeon hold both beauty and terror hand by hand. On one side, the lush green tree couple with the small birds flying around, and the aroma of flowers that soothes the heart and mind of a person are something that are hard to find elsewhere, but on the other hand, who knew what terrifying monsters are lurking behind the big thick tree there. We have an S rank adventure with us, a steel bird golem, and I myself as a male witch capable of controlling monster, but I do pray the monsters that I imagine lurking around stay inside my imagination and not shown themselves whatsoever "Damn it''s getting cloudy" [Kanji] "Which makes this road even harder to travel" [Kana] "Is every level inside this forest dungeon similar to this one?" [Seo Ah] "Not necessarily. It sincerely depends on so many factors, but there is no denying that some floors are dimmer or darker than the other. This is one such floor" [Jacks] "Could it be an indicator for the Fairy Queen Titania location?" [Seo Ah] "I doubt that. Plus, the three of them didn''t mention anything suggestive of it" [Jacks] "Then the fairy Calypso? She should know regarding the location of the fairy queen" [Kanji] "Maybe. Maybe not. She''s over a hundred years old after all, so her forgetting her way home is a valid and equally frustrating excuse" [Kana] If anything, I hope we can at least meet the Fairy queen even just once and tell them regarding what we discuss yesterday. If things did go according to our theoritical plan, where the true beastman group and the heroes clashes when they''re trying to get the fairy queen''s blessing, there are plenty of benefits we could get. 1) The kids get their blessing (two in fact, since the Holy Beast of Fire is in their possession) 2) We could uncover the objectives and location of the meddling third party 3) Eliminate significant portion of the meddling third party forces I feel bad suggesting it, but at the same time, I know for a fact that their clash will be inevitable, so instead of delaying it further, controlling where and when the clashes happen will be better. I do hope Mrs Saga discuss this topic further with Queen Rinz and others. "There''s still no sign of the fairy queen" [Seo Ah] "I guess our luck are just that bad" [Kanji] "There''s still hope, so don''t give up" [Jacks] "..." [Birdie(Pterodactyl)] "What is it, Birdie?" [Kana] Birdie sudden sharp gaze startled me for a bit, before it just return back to normal. I guess he just detect some small fry monster and deem it unworthy to take any action. Let just pray our search bore some fruit . . . Somewhere deep inside the forest "That steel bird golem, quite perceptive isn''t it. I''m glad I use my spell to make it ignore me. And, to think I caught a glimpse of such interesting thought on that male witch. That''s indeed a great idea, in fact, I can use it to test the Avery and the other heroes even further during the rite for Mother Earth" [Fairy Queen, Titania] The large adult size fairy make her exit _________________________________________________ [Inside the 5th floor of a Challenge dungeon in Beastman Kingdom territory] [Mara point of view] "Dark magic: Rapid gun firing. Abyssal bullets" [Zerolith] Bullet after bullet after bullet after bullet... My point is, just how many bullet per second do he capable of firing. I guess Brother Ash''s invention, the pistol benefited Zerolith the most out of all of us. He completely disregards his staff and opt for multiple pistols. Some for rapid firing, and some for raw massive firepower which he constantly changes mid battle "Some demon priest he is..." [Savel] "It''s like all his surpassed rash personality comes forth once he is in battle" [Singa] "I know right. Some demon priest you are" [Mara] "Well, sorry about that!" [Zerolith] (((Just which one of your personalities is the real Zerolith?))) [Mara, Singa, Savel] He speaks in rash and loud manner all the while shooting his abyssal bullets into the worker ants pouring down on us. They have been hunting monster lately. From the small weak F rank monster to even S rank monster (There are three successful attempts recorded thus far, although it caused huge casualty from the ants side) "It''s coming from above as well!" [Savel] "Singa! Teleport me there!" [Mara] "You got it!" [Singa] Using teleportation magic, Singa teleported me not far enough, but not close enough to the ants. Just a nice distance for me to bring out my spear and imbued it with my thunder mana, before throwing it together with thunderstorm spell "!" [Mara] "Damn! Ice castle! Cannon of illusion" [Savel] "Space magic: Space block" [Singa] Some of the ants suddenly develop wing like structure, and quickly glide through my storm magic to reach me. Thankfully, Savel and Singa quick thinking save me by a thin of skin. Savel''s powerful mirage cannon not only obliterate the ants, but also cause confusion to surviving ants, causing them to attack each other. As for Singa''s space block, ants that touches it gets teleported elsewhere randomly. Some crash into other ants, while other get send to the firing range of Zerolith''s abyssal bullets. "There sure are a lot of ants" [Mara] And majority of them are retreating underground, carrying all the meat and plants they looted from other dungeon through an unknown tunnel. It isn''t strange for ants to do that, in fact, totally normal, just that... For once, isn''t the amount just too much, and then there are multiple reports of other strange behaviours "Something really happen to their colony..." [Mara] "The question is what?" [Zerolith] Since we are now free as there are no more ants in our sights, the four of us take a breather before deciding to get back to the mansion and call it a day Chapter 313 _________________________________________________ [The curse land] [Kana point of view] The curse land, a land brim with Mirage, Light and Dark mana everywhere. On soil, on air, on the river, even on their inhabitants, as they especially have one of the three elements of magic just to survive. Countless rumour about this place, and yet so little is known or confirm, but for all the rumour, there are few interesting facts regarding this land It shares few striking similarities with the "exchange land", as in 1) Both locations have rich content of mana of the three elements 2) Both, whether coincidence or by the goddess will, is a land neighbouring two super religious countries, with the exchange land neighbouring the Holy Palace of the old follower and the curse land neighbouring the new headquarters 3) Both aren''t govern by anyone at all, although the exchange land is brim with transaction after transaction, both legal and illegal. What sort of transaction? Plenty, from information broker to slave trading 4) Both locations are said to play an important role in the creation of Achalasia, or at least something similar to it "We are supposed to meet Saint Louis and Seraph somewhere around here right?" [Kanji] "That''s the case, so we should start searching, but do exercise caution" [Jacks] "Understood!" [All] "Birdie, can you scout the sky for us" [Kana] ~Soft screech~ Just like that, Birdie is off, flying gracefully in the sky. We theorized that the Holy Beast of Wind, The Rampaging Garuda live somewhere here, or at least near the curse land, so if Birdie can actually find the holy beast quickly, that will be great. As for us, we focus mainly on covering the ground. Going from one ancient ruin to the other. "Just how old is this ruin?" [Kanji] "From Saintess Rumia teaching, it''s said that the civilization here date back to the original ten heroes" [Seo Ah] "That old. Gosh, stuff here must be super valuable" [Kana] "That, if you can find something. Most are already excavated by the former noble of the new headquarters country" [Kana] "That''s right, the noble who shamelessly run away and come back once the country get back on their footing through the effort of Saint Louis himself" [Jacks] It''s a fascinating story, one of which also involved the Rampaging Garuda. As we scour through the endless ruin, Birdie land in a hurried manner, and keep screeching at us. This could only mean "Take us there now!" [Kana] ~Screech~ Something happen, and a bad one. I wonder what. As Birdie take Seo Ah into her back and make Kanji, Jacks and I float in the air using it wind magic, it begins to fly at such frightening speed, to somewhere far from our starting point, and from a far "Giants?" [Kana] "Looks like there is a fight there. One involving a devil... A high ranking devil in fact" [Jacks] "Could it be the ten commanders of the fallen god!?" [Kana] "Most likely! Prepare for battle!" [Jacks] As Jacks said that, he gather around a compress air onto his feet, before launching off by himself into the devils. It''s a surprise attack, one he successfully landed. We are still far, but I can tell that the devil commander actually take a heavy and life threatening injury from his surprise attack, as it retreat back with it army of canine. There''s Cerberus, hell hound, poison dog and more, but all retreat back to safety of their goddess embrace Once we get closer. We can see not only giants, but also vampires and... "That is!" [Kana] "No way!" [Kanji] A pair of twin using scythe as their main weapon. A girl with a black hair, with clothing similar to Ash, but instead opt for white colour, and her white hair twin brother with the exact same clothing as Ash "LARA! NARA! What are you doing here!?" [Seo Ah] ""Seo Ah!!"" [Lara, Nara] _________________________________________________ [Beastman Castle, Beastman Kingdom] "Kara! Mother!" [Mara] ""Mara!!"" [Aries, Kara] Here we thought, being more "girly", Kara will be the one running towards her twin sister, but instead, it was Mara the one that run toward us as soon as she saw us. The three of them hug each other so tightly that I am actually kinda jealous with them, for which "Let me in as well!" [Charlotte] "Just as I expected" [Farhah] "Of course! Come here and let me hug you like some porcelain doll!" [Mara] "True, a cute porcelain doll" [Zerolith] "I''m not a doll, and don''t treat me like one!" [Charlotte] "Actually you look like one" [Singa] "The resemblance is quite striking to be honest" [Savel] "Savel! Singa!" [Charlotte] "And there she goes, running toward her two best friends" [Farhah] "Well, together with Cupid, the four of them are almost inseparable back then" [Elise] "Time fly didn''t it..." [Karon] "And quickly. Maybe too quick for our own comfort" [Rean] We were told by the guard near the dungeon entrance to head immediately towards the castle as soon as we arrive. They treated us nicely, riding their carriage as they clear out the way for us and also ensuring all the procedure went smoothly without a hassle. They really treat us like we are some royal, which really feel nice. I guess this is one perk of being a hero. Not only that though, when I asked them further about the great treatment, part of it was also due to the fact that Mother Aries is with us, and that she''s someone who is highly respected in the Beastman Kingdom. That shouldn''t come to as no surprise considering her status as Paladin Aries "If only Lara and Nara are here with us..." [Kara] "I can''t help but to worried about them" [Zerolith] "They''re having the same power and blessings as Brother Ash does, but..." [Savel] "In any case, let just pray for the best. We out of all people should believe in them more" [Rean] "Right!" [All] "Then, please follow me. I''ll guide you through the castle, and we will have a feast with King Leogris himself" [Singa] "I''m tired, but I''m starving as well. Behe also feels the same" [Farhah] "Meow..." [Behe] And thus, all of us went inside the castle, into their dining hall. The castle is a bit bigger than the Estel''s castle, but grandiose wise, I get the feeling Estel will still win. When we enter the dining hall, King Leogris is there, already waiting for us. He looks delighted to have us here, as we each take our seat randomly, and Mother Aries sitting next to the former queen of beastman herself. Just another display of her good relationship with the Beastman Kingdom "Welcome. We have prepare a room for each one of you here. Please, take this day to rest, before your big journey tomorrow" [King Leogris] As the king said that, all the staff comes in, preparing a warm and fresh feast for us. I do know beastman and demon in particular have a larger appetite compare to a human, but this... Isn''t this a bit too much... (Whatever...) "CHOCOLATE BANANA CAKE!" [Charlotte] "Hehe... We knew you will react like that, so we ask the head of the royal chef himself to cook a special one just for you!" [Singa] "You should thank us you know" [Savel] "Thank you! Now this really is appetising!" [Charlotte] And thus begin our feast. Something I find amazing is the fact that King Leogris actually invited the staff to have a feast together with us as well (although understandably, the staff refuses to do that). Shame. They look like they wanted to talk with us, but I guess they value their work etiquette more. After the feast, instead of going to our own assigned room, we decided to sleep together (only the girls + Behe + Mother Aries of course), and the boys also have their own sleepover. We talk until our eyelids become heavy... Today sure is a fun day Chapter 314 _________________________________________________ [Curse land] [Kana point of view] ""It''s alright... We can heal ourselves"" [Lara, Nara] "Don''t say that! You have been neglecting yourselves! At least let me treat your wound when there aren''t any enemies around" [Seo Ah] ""Right... Thank you"" [Lara, Nara] "It''s fine. You''re part of us all. Siblings of the orphanage. It''s our duty to take care of each other" [Seo Ah] While Seo Ah is currently giving first aid treatment to Lara and Nara, the three of us are helping the injured giants and vampires. Such an odd group... Two homunculi, a group of giants and a group of vampires. Their age varies, ranging from toddlers to aging. I don''t want to ask what happen to them since I don''t think this is the right time. At least, I should give them some time to take a moment to relax a bit, since they really looks like they need it. Even Jacks and Kanji understand it, so we silently treat and help anyone that needed some care (While we are waiting for Birdie to come back, I suppose I should control some of the small monsters here and use it as a guard. At the very least, I hope they can detect any monsters or devils that try to harm us) [Kana] There aren''t many monster around here, even the small one are hard to find. Luckily, I found a group of land isopods. They''re still young and they''re currently sleeping underneath this rocks, so (Witch art: take over) [Kana] And that should do it. They started crawling around the perimeter that I ask them. I feel a little bit bad. They''re monsters, but alas, they''re still young, and as someone who take care of orphans in Malsia, I feel like I am committing a sin here "Birdie still didn''t find them?" [Kanji] "Patient. The curse land rival the exchange land in term of size. The two land are simply enormous. You can pack several countries inside of it and it still have enough space" [Jacks] "I know. Qudus said the same before. Plus, if the Rampaging Garuda wanted a place to make its nest, I can''t think of a better place other than here. A surprisingly calm land far from any harm" [Kanji] "Maybe that''s the case. It can destroy the former country of the new headquarters should it really want to, but I guess the holy beast simply change it mind or couldn''t be bother about it, and thus, opt to stay here far from any civilization" [Kana] That does make sense, but that will also mean we have to search each and every corner of this gigantic land, which isn''t a small task. The holy beast might be big, but the land it inhabited is simply bigger than one can meet the eyes after all ""They are here"" [Lara, Nara] "Who?" [Seo Ah] Looking at the sky where the twin pointed their fingers to, we can see Birdie carrying Saint Louis on its back, together with Seraph flying around by using his wings. Needless to say, the two of them share our reactions upon seeing Lara and Nara here out of all the places, together with a group of giants and vampires nonetheless _________________________________________________ [At the scholars room inside of the Royal Library of the Beastman Kingdom] Before diving in into the Beast Challenge dungeon that recently show sign of new activities inside of the beast dungeon, all of us gather around to hear what the scholars have to said once more. It''s better to prepare ourselves mentally before going into the dungeon right afterwards Based on what the scholars mentioned, I can summarize few important points 1) The first sight of the minion ants was fairly recent. Quoting the scholars, they literally appears out of nowhere, with their leader Drant theorized to reside in the deepest part of the 60th floor dungeon. Popular theory as to their sudden appearance, well, they speculate an existence of a previously undiscovered ancient tunnel 2) Their recent "rampage", as they scour low and high for food, is worrisome. Some species of ants exhibits similar behaviour once their queen is injured or dying. More so when the ants becoming overly protective, as to not allow anyone near the challenge dungeon entrance. "I believe that''s just ant being ant. They''re just being territorial in my opinion. I can still feel the connection between the holy beast and myself just fine. If something major were to happen, I can detect it. Although, I might be wrong if Motra and his/her witch were to suddenly attack Drant once more" [Aries] "So, another possibility that we should add is the interference from the ten commanders of the devils army. There''s no evidence to suggest they''re involve, but at the same time..." [King Leogris] "Motra did appear when the three of us trying to enter the Mermaid kingdom. We aren''t sure about his/her objective, but once we found out that the now deceased mermaid king was the previous Holy Beast of Water, then the possibility that your highness mentioned shouldn''t be ignored" [Elise] "True. I don''t know about Motra''s behaviour, but since he/she managed to control the holy beast in the past, then I''m sure he/she will try to do the same again" [Rean] "Which might explain the overprotective behaviour of the minion ants" [Farhah] 3) The main reason as to why the scholars thought Drant is in trouble "So that''s the exoskeleton of Drant you mentioned the other day. I have to say, it looks similar to Drant, and I can faintly make out it''s residual mana coming out from the exoskeleton" [Aries] "Did ant shed their exoskeleton like some insect?" [Charlotte] "There might be some undiscovered species that does that, but as far as we know, there''s none" [Scholars] After some more discussion regarding ants behaviour from the scholars, we were told that the ants started to occupy back the 3rd floor of the challenge dungeon "Man... and we just finished conquering the fifth floor some days ago..." [Mara] "That just mean we should take it back by force" [Singa] "Right. All of us, with Behe and Mother Aries will conquer the Beast challenge dungeon. Our objective, is to meet with the Holy Beast of Earth, Drant and receive it blessing!" [Rean] "And please ask the holy beast to control its minion. If things goes on, the ecosystem might be damage. I''m counting on you" [King Leogris] "Right!" [All] Chapter 315 _________________________________________________ [The curse land] [Kana point of view] "I see, so for the past few years, you have been running around almost anywhere, just so that you could gather as many information as you could for your fellow siblings, all the while leaving next to no trails. And then you discover this group of giants and vampires being kidnapped left and right by the minion of the fallen god, as well as the meddling third party. You tried to save them by helping them running around by using the ancient tunnel. Am I right?" [Saint Louis] ""That''s the gist of it"" [Lara, Nara] "Then, why don''t you just contact anyone of us? I''m sure at the very least, Princess Nurhaliza and Princess Diana will be more than happy to lend you some help" [Seo Ah] "True. I could see the reason of being stealthy for gathering information, but surely not while you two are being chase around by other" [Kana] ""We aren''t just running around!!"" [Lara, Nara] "Then?" [Seraph] ""The two of us also take initiative to strikes down multiple of both factions hideouts, saving and rescuing other as well"" [Lara, Nara] "That still doesn''t answer the questions as to why you don''t asked for help" [Kanji] ""We can''t... Because..."" [Lara, Nara] "I''m sorry... But some of us were experimented, and..." [Vampire lady] A lady vampire suddenly barge into our conversation. I guess she must have overheard our conversation and decided to stand up for Lara and Nara. From the outside, I suppose it looks like we are putting some blame on them. It isn''t the case, but I guess we might accidentally do that "And they could transform us into a devil anytime they wanted to!" [Vampire lady] "Are you serious!" [Seo Ah] "I see, and you''re afraid of them suddenly transforming you into devils, thus making you run amok inside a country" [Jacks] ~Nod~ That''s serious indeed, but... "Maybe the two of them can help" [Kana] ""Who??"" [Lara, Nara] "Rafiah and Saintess Rumia" [Kana] "True. At least it''s worth the try" [Jacks] There is almost a similarity with the past cases that the two of them help treated. At least we can ask for their opinions on what to do "Then should we let them stay inside your country, Louis" [Seraph] "It''s not my country... But sure, I''ll make the arrangements quickly" [Saint Louis] "But!" [Vampire lady] "It''s fine. I''m sure Saint Louis already figured it out" [Seo Ah] "Not really, but at least I have few prevention and countermeasures ready at the back of my mind" [Saint Louis] "Will it be alright? Plus, can a giant even pass through the gate?" [Vampire lady] "Funny question, but a legitimate one. The door to the new headquarters is always open to everyone" [Saint Louis] I guess all of us will first stop at the new headquarters first. ""New Headquarters!! How exciting!!"" [Lara, Nara] "Me too. Now that I actually think of it, none of us ever went there. I wonder how the country looks like" [Seo Ah] "Haha. You''ll see about it. Now then, onwards, with the marching song of eterna" [Seraph] ~Screech~ _________________________________________________ [The third floor of the beast challenge dungeon] "Roar!" [Behe] "Bad Behe! Bad Behe! Don''t chow it down! Spit it out right now or your stomach will hurt!" [Charlotte] "Roar..." [Behe] "Gross..." [Kara] Spitting the corpses of the ants out, Behe then immediately transformed back into his cute lovely form. The pile of balls made out of corpses of ants covered with the gooey layer of Behe''s saliva. Urghh... Now that I look at my surroundings, my skin... I can''t believe it... Just how many of them are here... My skin crawls just by seeing them. They might be corpses now since we annihilate them a moment ago, but there are still legs going into spasm, probably going into rigor mortis WAY to soon. Can ants even go into rigor mortis though... Well, maybe they''re special. They''re part ants part monsters after all "Not good. I don''t think we can speed run this challenge dungeon" [Karon] Karon, after using his earth sonar magic, clean his hand after touching the ground of the challenge dungeon. The first thing the boys thought when entering this dungeon (except for Rean), is to speed run it, just like how Brother Ash used to do seven years back. Now that I think of it, that''s when Kara and Mara first met their mother. Our plan (or supposed to be our plan, but since Karon give a no), is just to plow through the dungeon floor, skipping majority, if not all the dungeon floors, saving times and effort significantly. Well, we have Karon and Mother Aries who are very much proficient with earth magi, but since Karon give a no... I wonder why "Why? I can feel the ants crawling between the dungeon floors. Just imagine what will happen if they decided to attack us when we dig through the floor" [Karon] "I don''t want to even imagine it..." [Kara] "They will suddenly emerge, out of nowhere. From our side, from below us, and from above. Each one of them with their many many legs, and their pincer, touchy touchy us until we are there no more. Shredded to pieces, literally becoming their foods!" [Farhah] "STOP IT!" [Kara] "That literally makes my skin crawls!" [Elise] "Oh... Did she forgot to mentioned, how their saliva and their blood will be mixed in as we try to fight them in a tight space, then we swallowed it accidentally..." [Singa] "NO! NO! NO! NO! I don''t want to hear it!" [Charlotte] "Don''t forget, they will also..." [Savel] "Alright, that''s enough. The more we waste our time hear, the harder it is for us to enter the lower level floors" [Rean] "Aww man, I didn''t get the chance to scared them" [Savel] "Don''t me immature. It will drain their spirits down. That''s not good" [Zerolith] "Sure sure, Mr Priest" [Mara] "In any case, let''s go. Rean, lead the way" [Aries] "I Will!" [Rean] Chapter 316 [At Estel''s castle] [Muse point of view] A sudden request from our beloved and trusty wondering saint, Saint Louis. He wanted to call us. Maybe it''s because he found something of significant and wanted to relay it by himself. I could only wonder what will he said. For all I know, they might already find the Holy Beast of Wind, The Rampaging Garuda. If that''s the case, that''s indeed a major news. But... (Given how Seo Ah and the other departed only the other day, isn''t that scenario a little bit too good?) [Muse] Not that I am unhappy. If they really find the holy beast, we will all feel happy for them, but I get the feeling that it is something else. "You really take your time, walking slowly" [Liyana] "Just thinking about something" [Muse] "From the look and sound of it, it isn''t something related to your wedding. Maybe regarding what the saint will convey I suppose" [Liyana] "That''s right. Any guess?" [Muse] "Truthfully, not even a single idea came across my mind. But I guess it''s something serious" [Liyana] "And why is that?" [Muse] "Well, I suppose you already know that Saintess Rumia will be call as well. That''s typical and a norm by now. But, Lily just told me that she, Kadeus, Rafiah and Claude will be attending it as well. Well, they will use the phone at the orphanage, so we wouldn''t see them in person" [Liyana] "That adds up more mysteries" [Muse] So, the four of them are called as well. Now I''m curious. Maybe they''re going to represent the orphanage in making a decision since Rean and the other aren''t here. I heard that they already enter the beast challenge dungeon where the Holy Beast of Earth reside. But if that''s the case, why did Kadeus and Lily "Aah..." [Liyana] (And someone of a nuisance come) [Muse] "Don''t bother hiding it. I know for a fact that none of you find it pleasant when I am around" [First prince] Just when we are having some call with Saint Louis. His timing, if his intention is to disturb us, is perfect. Knowing the prince, I''m sure that isn''t the case. At least not the first prince, but for the now in prison second prince, yeah, that will totally be him "By the way, regarding your submission to become a commoner, I rejected it" [First prince] "Your highness! With all due respect, the king already approved it long ago, and..." [Muse] "And I simply rejected it. You''re a noble, and act like one you suppose. More so when you''re marrying one of the ten heroes" [First prince] "Is this your attempt on getting the ten heroes on your side" [Muse] "Look it however you like. The fact stand that you''re now a noble" [First prince] "I suppose I should just discuss this with the king himself. Now if you''ll excuse me" [Muse] "You can. That''s your right after all. But know this, whatever will you do, so long as you''re trying to get married to a hero, I''ll be sure to drag you back into the nobility. The people need to find the trust in the noble back after all" [First prince] The people did trust the noble. No, I should word it more correctly in my mind, the people did trust the noble and royal like Princess Diana. Even the one supporting you show sign of approval that Princess Diana is doing a splendid job. It''s you the one that''s hard to accept the fact. Even if you don''t want to see the example inside the country, there are Princess Nurhaliza from Malsia, King Leogris of the Beastman Kingdom, even the Demon kingdom, King Druser and his new wife. Not to mention, Kiserre, who is currently on political turmoil (because of the rising tension between old and new follower), you''ll find both side still respecting Queen Rinz "And you, Liyana. If you didn''t want to marry me, that''s fine. However, I wanted you to get along well romantically with the male heroes, especially the demon priest or the noble lion. This will improve diplomatic relations between..." [First prince] "Muse. Liyana. Let''s go. They''re waiting for you" [Diana] ((Thank goodness)) ""Yes!!"" [Muse, Liyana] "Trying to run away. That''s fine, but remember what I said just now. You nobles have responsibilities to uphold especially at this perilous times. A small sacrifice or two is expected of yours" [First prince] Sigh... Not only me sighing, even Liyana and her minion of god of death older sister, Linda release a long sigh. The first prince, he''s impossible to reason with. No, I said almost impossible, since he does have a lenient tendency sometimes, so long as it''s benefiting his ideal of nobility "You guys really are having it hard. Sometimes, I''m glad that I am born from a knight family" [Qis] "And sometimes, I find myself jealous of you, but I know how you struggle to achieve this freedom of yours" [Diana] "This might come out as negative, but somehow, I''m glad I''m death. Well... technically speaking" [Linda] With that conversation, all of us went to Princess Diana private room, and Principal Alice come a few moments late. I''m not sure why she''s call, maybe just to give an opinion or two. Nonetheless, I''m glad she missed out the whole shenanigans happening just now with the first prince, otherwise, who knew which nobles/heroes will the first prince forces her to get married with "TESTING. Testing" [Rumia] (Her voice, it''s as loud as ever... I still can''t get over the fact that such petite cute saintess can produce such loud sound) [Lily] "We heard you. O Saintess Rumia." [Kadeus] "Looks like everyone are here" [Rafiah] "And O Saint Louis finally connected with us" [Claude] "Thank you everyone for accepting my sudden request. Before we continue, there is someone that I would like you to see" [Saint Louis] ""It''s been awhile, all of you"" [Lara, Nara] "!" [All] That''s!! And behind them, a silhouette of a vampire girl, which makes Princess Diana hidden vampire guards suddenly emerge from her shadow "Alicia! Is that you?" [Alaric] "Alaric?" [Alicia] Chapter 317 _________________________________________________ [At the new headquarters] [Kana point of view] The princess, try her best to suppress all her emotions, but couldn''t do so. While I never see it before, I do know from other that there are few occasions where she cried bucket. I think the last time she cried like this is back then, when the news of Ash''s death. Princess Nurhaliza, hearing how emotionally devastated Princess Diana was, quickly cancelled all her appointment just so that she could be there for her, helping Princess Diana to slowly get back into her feet I guess, given how Lara and Nara are resembling Ash (not in appearance, but in aspects of mainly blessings and fighting style), the thought of losing the two of them might cause more trauma to her. I''m just glad the worst case scenario didn''t happen ""I see. It''s a shame but after they''ve finish conquering the dungeon and getting the help from Tyrant Ant Drant, we will call them"" [Lara, Nara] "And in the mean time, what will you do?" [Claude] ""We will help this group of vampires and giants, while also helping the search of The Holy Beast of Wind"" [Lara, Nara] "And regarding the giants and vampires that''s been experimented?" [Alaric] "Don''t worry brother, Saint Louis and his companions already put them on deep slumber sleep. Even if they were to transforms into the devils, with the deep slumber spell and various other countermeasure, I''m sure everything will be alright. This is Saint Louis we are talking after all" [Alicia] "You''re really exaggerating my measures" [Saint Louis] "In any case. Those experimented guys. Bear some resemblance. Like I am" [Kadeus] And Kadeus start to speak. It''s true, since the experiment that Saintess Angela and Agnes done regarding the portal stone few years back do cause people to turn into a monster... Maybe their secondary objective back then, other than reviving their god was to create an army of new devils? "We could just go there and take a look at it I suppose" [Rumia] "Indeed. We can do that, but..." [Rafiah] "Given how the current situation is..." [Diana] "What? I''m sorry since I''m not really sure what''s the problem here, but is it about Estel''s safety?" [Kanji] "Not that. We are just worried about Saintess Rumia safety" [Rafiah] "Traveling won''t be an issue, but given how Saintess Angela is one of the devil commander, and she''s trying to make Saintess Rumia looks bad at best, this could be a trap of some sort" [Diana] "I see... I fail to look into that aspect. At best, it''s an attempt to make Rumia looks bad, but at worst, they''re trying to recreate that once again" [Saint Louis] "Could it be..." [Jacks] "That?" [Alicia] "They''re trying to recreate the incident, six years ago. The beginning of devil invasion, to smear the good name of the new headquarters" [Alaric] "!" [All] _________________________________________________ [10th floor of the Beast Challenge Dungeon] To think that one of the minion of Drant here exhibit a miasma trait only found from the devil, but not be consumed by the miasma to become the devil itself is pretty amazing. From the looks of it, this minions keeps evolving days by days. Eating anything that it can get, and turn part of it into their own biological advantages. What next? It will then mates with the queen ants to pass the biological advantages to breed in stronger newer generation? If that''s indeed the case, they''re pretty good, in fact, they''re necessary for our fight against the devils since they can use the devils weapon into their own advantage "ROAR" [Behe] "I''ll help you" [Elise] In his teenage form, Behe begin to accumulate and concentrate a beam of light right in front of it face, before firing it off to the floor boss (which is the minion ant in question), so that it can repel the oozing miasma that''s slowly covering the arena. Not only did the boss ant capable of dissipating the devilish miasma, it can also use it to protect it fellow soldiers from our attack. Shielding them by making and topping layer upon layer of miasma to make a shield "That just mean your defenses are weak elsewhere!" [Charlotte] "Nice observation Charlotte" [Aries] I have plenty of marine golems of my own that can attack at any direction that I wanted to. For now, I let my favourite Krakeny take a break and let the snapping thunder crocodiles do the job. They can easily maw through the defensive layer casted by the ants as compare to other golems of mine, and they synergize well with "Giant jellyfish! Electrocution" [Charlotte] ""Thunder magic: Thunder Redirection"" [Kara, Mara] Not wanting to waste the excessive discharge from my giant jellyfish golems, the two redirect the thunder to further thin down the defensive miasma. All of us alternate to thin out the defense and attack the weak spot without the need to speak with each other. If I see any spots that can be immediately thin out, I will do just that and other will follow up quickly to attack the broken defense. The reverse of it is also applied to me as my jellyfish golems simply extend it one of many tentacles into already weakened area and start discharging electrical currents "The dungeon boss started to retreat!" [Zerolith] "Don''t let it get away! Singa!" [Rean] "Got it! Teleportation!" [Singa] Singa quickly teleport, and with each spell, he comes closer and closer to the boss ant, before hitting the boss ant with it space magic sword, which not only cause physical damage, but also severely disfiguring and disorienting the organ of the boss ant He then proceed to stab the boss ant and infuse space mana into it, before "Karon! Savel!" [Singa] ""Understood!!"" [Karon, Savel] "I''ll support as well! Tree branch! Spread!" [Farhah] Farhah quickly spread out tree branches, and Singa then proceed to teleport the boss ant right in the middle of it, before ""Combination attack: Platoon of steel and mirage! Charge!!"" [Karon, Savel] With their magic combine, an army of steel thingy that shape like a human army begin charging at the boss ant. In a suicidal like attempt, they throw themselves one after another, not only to the boss ant, but also to other ants that tried to protect the floor boss, before they all inevitably succumbs. Apparently, Savel''s mirage mana when infuses into the worker ants create such a strong side affects that it can completely block the signal the ants receive from other ants, thus throwing their formation into utter chaos, and before long "We did it!" [Elise] "Nice job everyone!" [Rean] "I''m tired..." [Kara] "Me too, but resting here is a bit..." [Mara] "Then how about we quickly went to the next floor and scout for resting place" [Zerolith] "Agree" [Charlotte] Chapter 318 _________________________________________________ [Estel] [Muse point of view] "How about this one?" [Clothing shop aunty] "Jacks would appreciate traditional clothing like this one, so I do believe this wedding kimono actually suit him pretty well" [Alice] "As for Rean, he got the hot dashing face, a bit of baby face mix as well, so I think both traditional and modern wedding dress suit him well" [Muse] "But, we also have to consider both of your outfits. The four of you are having wedding at the same hall at the same time, so..." [Clothing shop aunty] "True. Plus, we haven''t even decide for the final theme of the wedding" [Alice] "Such grandiosity. I''m kinda jealous to be honest" [Clothing shop aunty] "Well, Princess Diana and Princess Nurhaliza really push us to make it as grandiose as possible, since it will be done on Diana''s hall after all" [Muse] "True, on one hand, a usual wedding ceremony would be more than sufficient for us, but given how they wanted to sponsor the wedding, as well as the fact that we are actually having a wedding inside that magnificent hall..." [Alice] "Then there''s no way this will be only a wedding done under moderation. It will only cause Princess Diana and Princess Nurhaliza to be viewed as stingy princess" [Clothing shop aunty] "Too much however, and her opponent will use it as a point to bring her down" [Muse] "That''s what we get, for marrying an S rank adventure and a hero. No matter what, it will be inevitable that the noble and royal will make an issue, even using it to stir political issues to their advantage" [Alice] "I''m not sure how that will happen, but I suppose that''s one of the up and down that you will face on your marriage. I''ll wish you luck from here on out" [Clothing shop aunty] It''s been few days seen we get to see Lara and Nara, and there are still no news regarding Rean and the other. Our wedding day are less than a week away, and by looking at it, it will be delayed. Well, all of us are busy, and we actually foreseen this will happen, thus, we just start preparing for the wedding rather slowly (Plus, with the political issue regarding our marriage... I don''t want to think about it...) [Muse] For now, let me and Alice by our wedding dresses with our own hard work money. This is, after all, one of the few freedom we have in this full of political drama marriage _________________________________________________ [R&D department in Estel] [Erinmorlin point of view] This model of Achalasia, our grandiose task become even more grandiose, as we simply decided that this isn''t enough. This size that we actually trying to complete feel rather small and "easy", not satisfying our engineer desire at all. "Still, we should finish this model first before going in to something larger" [Qudus] "Agree. This can be used by Charlotte should our bigger model not prepared by time. Plus, it can also be use like a war map in our fight against the devil" [Erinmorlin] "Which mean that, the sooner we finish this current project of ours, the better it is for all parties involved" [Scholar A] True enough, the sooner we finish this "smaller" model, the better. Charlotte can use it for her sea serpent project, Princess Diana and the other can use it to strategize their armies to fight against the devil and the meddling third party more efficiently, and we as an engineer can actually use this "smaller" model of Achalasia to make a larger and better version (Still, I wonder if Lisa will even allowed it. On one hand, I can see her own scholar enthusiasm approving it, but on the other hand, as the leader of R&D...) [Erinmorlin] Maybe we should think other methods of getting funds _________________________________________________ [30th floor of the Beast Challenge Dungeon] We are halfway through, and obviously we are starting to reach our limit. Waves after waves after waves after waves of almost endless ants, and other creatures swarm us from basically any direction any time and any where. This is one of, if not the most challenging challenge dungeon that I actually ever enter. "..." [Aries] "Is something the matter, mother?" [Kara] "Drant. Somehow, I get this feeling it power fluctuate..." [Aries] "Like last time!" [Rean] "Somehow yes, but also, somehow, this is different" [Aries] "Still, given how many ants with devilish mana, we should all be prepare for a high ranking demon somewhere deeper inside the dungeon" [Rean] "I agree. Their numbers aren''t mere coincidence of getting devils meat from outside" [Zerolith] "True. There''s simply too many of those ants, that the most logical conclusion will be, there are few devils already inside the dungeon" [Karon] "Which begs the question, where are they?" [Savel] Agree. Where is the most important question here. When it enter or how it enter doesn''t really matter at this point. How many of them, is also another important question, but given how many ants we slaughtered to get to this very point, I get the feeling their numbers should be decreasing, or at least stagnating after losing number of their own minions "By the way, is that the boss room for this floor?" [Singa] "It sure looks like one" [Farhah] "I suppose we should take a break first before entering it" [Mara] "Meow" [Behe] "Even Behe agree to it, let just..." [Elise] "That''s strange?" [Charlotte] "What strange?" [Zerolith] "Well, I don''t know whether this is a stealthy boss ant or something, but I can''t feel any mana at all inside of it. Plus, there aren''t even a decible of sound coming from the boss room" [Charlotte] "You''re right... Strange" [Rean] "Rean, the two of us will get close and inspect first, other stay cautious and get ready to act in moment notice" [Aries] ~Nod~ And the two cautiously approach the door, and once they take a peek inside, they immediately call us over, to see "What in the world..." [Mara] "The devilish mana is everywhere, but..." [Elise] "There''s nothing inside of this room at all" [Charlotte] Chapter 319 _________________________________________________ [At the new headquarters] [Seo Ah point of view] "Lara, Nara, Alicia, let''s go!" [Seo Ah] ""Right"" [Lara, Nara] "Sounds fun" [Alicia] Today is our rest day. The initial plan was to corporate with the adventure guild here as soon as we come in contact with Saint Louis, Seraph and the S rank guild master here who happens to be one of Saint Louis most trusted friend. Well, nothing much change, expect that we first have to tend to the vampires and giants group that were being chase by what we presume to be one of the devil commander. Plus, we also have a ticking bomb right now, as some of the giants and vampires were being experimented by whom we presume to be Saintess Angela of the old follower, and that they would likely cause them to go berserk, destroying the new headquarters (If that indeed happens, they will definitely try to blame Saintess Rumia one way or the other) [Seo Ah] They could just say that Saintess Rumia is the one trying to conduct some sort of experiments, or having some sort of connection to the fallen god, and she accidentally summoned them. Or worse, they will use the plan to further increase their influence and to further restrict the new teaching. (Whatever happens will not be good. That''s for sure. I wonder what can I do) [Seo Ah] I don''t know much about Alicia other than the fact that his older brother Alaric serve Princess Diana. I never even heard of Alaric before, but I guess given how his brother can serve a princess, she might be talented as well, since she help bring the group of vampires and giants together. As for Lara and Nara. Do I need to say more. Both of them can use all seven different elements similar to Brother Ash, since the two of them are blessed with the goddess blessing. Not only that, they''re also getting blessed with God of Death blessing. In short, they''re like Brother Ash replacement right now ""Something wrong??"" [Lara, Nara] "You look down. Is something the matter?" [Alicia] "No. I was just thinking about what can I do to help in this current situation" [Seo Ah] "I see. That''s rather hard" [Alicia] ""True. This can cause international uproar"" [Lara, Nara] "Which makes me wanted to think more and more regarding my role" [Seo Ah] Unlike them, I really am just an average person. The most I can do is use my healing magic that I learn from Saintess Rumia and the healer from Estel. That''s all... I can''t fight like them, nor can I collect information like a spy. (This is frustrating...) [Seo Ah] ""It''s fine"" [Lara, Nara] "Hmm?" [Seo Ah] ""Just keep going!! We believe in you!!"" [Lara, Nara] "Haha, thanks. I actually feels a bit better now" [Seo Ah] They''re just trying to be nice, but I really did feel better thanks to their encouragement. For now, why don''t I just observe the situation and react accordingly. That''s the best that I can do _________________________________________________ [40th floor of Beast Challenge Dungeon] "Water ball! Drown my enemy!" [Charlotte] ~Roar~ "It escape!" [Savel] "You won''t get away. Dark magic: Thousand Abyssal bullets" [Zerolith] The devil boss floor. It''s strong alright. There are four of them. Unlike the previous boss floor, this one is a bonafide devilish ants ""Ice age. Freeze my enemy"" [Savel, Charlotte] Savel and I trued to freeze the many legs of the ants as to slow it down, but this version of ant is simply fast. It used wind magic to propel itself, all the while attacking us from multiple direction with it blackish miasma. Not only that, the blackish miasma also affect the worker ants nearby, and those ants that were dead are now being control by the miasma, literally as a living corpse. They might he death, but their exoskeleton are still hard, that a powerful fling from the miasma will most likely crush us should it connect directly (I don''t want to disrespect the body of the worker ants, but...) "Sorry, but I have to do this" [Charlotte] Since this devil ant keep on tossing the corpses of it own friends (I think they''re friend, or at least a superior and it workers), then I should just do the same. They might be monster, but somehow, I still feel guilty of using Krakeny to toss back the corpses one after another, until ~Smash~ "It connect!" [Savel] "Nice job! Dark magic: Bazooka charge!" [Zerolith] Taking a long wide barrel pistol that he called bazooka, the magic core inside of it is an rank dark magic core of a dark pegasus, which further boosted Zerolith already high affinity dark magic, and "Take this as well! Deceleration! Extreme acceleration!" [Zerolith] To further maximize the damage output, Zerolith slow down the devil ant while increasing the momentum of the bullet being fired from his bazooka, and "It simply pierce the ant!" [Charlotte] "Cool! That''s a really powerful type of pistol!" [Savel] "Haha! I created this myself since I really need some extra firepower!" [Zerolith] And the two keep talking about it. As for me, I look around to see what other are doing Rean, Elise and Singa already finish their fight, with Singa space entrapment magic, Rean and Elise simply burn the devil ant until it is there no more. Such a gruesome tactic... Mother Aries, Kara and Mara employ a common bait strategy. With Mother Aries as a bait, she keep provoking the devil ant and shield any incoming attacks with her shield, all the while Kara and Mara keep attacking the devil ant, and once the devil ant had enough with the twin barrage, Mother Aries uses her steel magic, fortify her shield and simply smack the head of the devil ant hard, hard enough that it actually cause the brain of the ant to splatter into Kara''s cloth... Gross! "Sorry" [Aries] "It''s fine. I know you didn''t meant to do it" [Kara] "Still, you stink! Shoo! Shoo!" [Mara] "Mara!" [Kara] Behe, Karon and Farhah simply bested the devil ant with sheer force. Well, I can tell the boss devil ant that they fought are the hardest among us. It can even go toe to toe with adult Behe form in term of strength. "Sorry, we are late" [Karon] "It''s not a race, so don''t worry" [Elise] "True, but I feel bumped" [Farhah] "That aside, this is the first one isn''t it?" [Singa] "Yes. All this time, the ants before this floor simply control the miasma of the devil, most likely as a form of adaptation, but now..." [Rean] "They are devil ant, no doubt about it" [Charlotte] "And I don''t think that they''re Drant''s minion. They''re most likely an invading devilish ants" [Aries] "Great. So we are now stuck in between two group of ants war" [Singa] Chapter 320 _________________________________________________ [At Estel] [Muse point of view] "Please, invite me to your wedding" "..." [Muse] "You''re quite close to other heroes aren''t you, how about you introduce that cute fox girl to me. She''s a Valkyrie to boot, so I''m sure she will make a fine wife for me" (Calm down Muse) [Muse] "That raging water magician, Charlotte is still young, but I have son of similar age, so how about..." (Keep calm Muse, you can do this) [Muse] "That dwarf boy makes a fine weapon. If only he''s a human, I wouldn''t mind letting him married my daughter in order to keep the art of his weapon making as our family heirloom" (Take a deep breath and exhale slowly Muse) [Muse] "That Dark Fire Samurai Rean, isn''t he too good for someone like you, how about you let me..." "Letting a fine gentlemen like him facing a booger face like you 24/7, no thanks" [Muse] "How rude! Don''t you realize you''re just a commoner now!" "And yet you seems desperate enough to snatch a commoner future husband. I guess you aren''t that good of a woman in the face of nobility" [Muse] "Tchh..." That last one simply crosses the line! I can understand if she is just being jealous, but her trying to suggest me such vile and stupid suggestions like that is another thing altogether! Still, today is suppose to be our wedding day, and yet "Feeling under the weather Muse?" [Rumia] "Saintess! I..." [Muse] "It''s fine. I don''t say I understand how you feel, but I can actually understand why you''re a bit upset" [Rumia] "But, I''m just being selfish while Rean is..." [Muse] "Like I said, it''s understandable. It''s part of what makes us mortal, a mortal. Attachment to our dearest one is a complicated thing, so at times like this..." [Rumia] Saintess Rumia hold my hand and... _________________________________________________ [At the new headquarters] [Samurai jacks point of view] Saint Louis then tap my shoulder, and "Pray. Pray and tell the goddess what you feels. I''m sure you''re sad, and I''m sure you wanted to be by her side at this very moment, and I''m sure Alice is thinking the same thing" [Saint Louis] "Is there any specific prayer or chant that I should add?" [Jacks] "There are few, I would teach you afterwards, but for now, just pray to the goddess. About what you feel, about what you miss, and about what you wanted to do with her" [Saint Louis] "At the end of the day... I just wanted the best for her" [Jacks] "And how so? Truly, this separation cause distress to both side. Use this chance to pray to the goddess and converse with her. Let she guides both of you, to not only heal the distress, but to create a resolve so strong that no one could breaks it" [Saint Louis] "Converse with the goddess..." [Jacks] What I wanted, it''s simple. A simple life with her where we live with each other, letting the day pass by as we laugh at each other jokes. Today is the day that we are supposed to step into the that, but... As I keep looking at the statue of Goddess Achalasia, I slowly realize what Saint Louis really meant, when he said to converse with the goddess herself. Clenching my fist even harder, I then begin to offer my prayer, and try conversing with her once more (Dear Goddess, If you hear me...) [Jacks] _________________________________________________ [50th floor of Beast Challenge Dungeon] [Rean point of view] (Dear Goddess, if you hear me, please, bear witness to my resolve) [Rean] Today is suppose to be a wonderful day for Muse and I, and yet, here I am, trying to make the world, a better place especially for her... (She have been through a lot. Abusive households, uncaring family. Friends who wanted nothing but profit from her, and even at this very moment, I believe that she''s still suffering from all of that) [Rean] Goddess, If I must, I will absolutely keep my promise to her. She just wanted a life that''s worth living. Not a life where she will be used as a mere puppet for her house, or even less than a puppet. All she wanted, behind all the flirts that she had been doing, was to get my attention, maybe she''s desperate but she didn''t even realize it herself. It may be excessive, and sometimes, even creepy at a time, but (We are supposed to get married today, but for now, please, listen to my vow and oath. As one of the ten heroes that you chose, I will fulfill my duty with my fellow siblings, and together, I will create... No, us heroes and together with the other, we will forge the road ahead and create a world where all of us can live in harmony and peace. That''s my resolve!) [Rean] It may be a pipe dream, but somehow "Looks like your conversation with the goddess have come to its end. It''s clear as day how your mood have improve by a mile" [Zerolith] "Yes. Thank you Zerolith, for telling me what to do" [Rean] "Still, this really is a surprise. Zerolith doing his job as a demon priest is a sight that I will never get used to" [Mara] "I can''t believe I have to say this, but please read the mood" [Charlotte] And they''re bickering with one another once again. Mara pinch Charlotte''s cheeks so hard that she begin to tear up and run towards Elise, as Elise scolded Mara for doing that, all the while Mother Aries and the other chuckles. "There will always be a gift, in one hard time. It depends on one, whether he chose to ignore it and thus missing it completely, or trying to search for it and grasping it with all their might" [Zerolith] "Thank you for the advice. I still feel a bit sad, but thanks to you, I can now clearly envision what I wanted to do with her, together in the future ever so clearly than before" [Rean] "It''s getting steamy out here. Charlotte, create some ice and let it..." [Farhah] "Huh? Sure" [Charlotte] "Wait! Not literally!" [Farhah] And now, I am burning my calories my shivering inside the dungeon Chapter 321 [59th floor of the Beast Challenge Dungeon] One more floor, one more floor before we finally conquer the whole challenge dungeon, and currently "Both the devil ants and Drant''s minion are engaging one another" [Charlotte] "And it seems neither side are going to give up anytime soon" [Farhah] Even when all I see are an endless wave of ants, the two ants are different that I could easily categories them simply by looking The minion of Drant, is having a more naturally looking mutation. Their wings sprout naturally from the back of their exoskeleton, and thus, their flight look completely normal. Even when there are some unnatural part that one wouldn''t expect seeing from an ant, for example the tusk that blended in with the claw, it still look just like part of the ant itself. This of course, might be due to Drant itself giving birth to its minion. All of us, especially Farhah, theorized that Drant assimilate the gene of the monster coming from the food it consumes, and passing the advantageous trait from particular monster to it child, thus making it looks like that. Plus, it integrates perfectly with the minion that it didn''t hinder with any of their movements On the other hand, you got some beast like ants from the devil minions. More of a beast than an ant, but alas, since the beast parts are basically attached to the exoskeleton of the ants, we decided to call this devilish minions as devilish ants. One look (excluding the obvious black devilish miasma oozing out from them of course), and you could totally tell that something is wrong. Plain wrong. For starter, just how did an ice mammoth head sprout out and act independently over the head of one of the devilish ant. Not to mention, there are wyvern like wings sprouting in each feet of the devilish ants, which is actually good for the defense, but straight up giving disadvantage to the devilish ant as it heavily restrict the ant mobility. It can''t even fly using the wyvern like wings. Alas, these devilish ants are stronger than Drant''s minion. Some by several folds. With how ants being ants, ie their numbers are simply numerous, simply NUMEROUS, they bring nothing but trouble for us. We can''t just power our way through them, as we need to conserve our mans should we encounter any high ranking devil. Given how the situation were in previous floors, the possibility of encountering one is high, and thus, reserving our mana are mandatory, as it seems like a fight will be inevitable "Should we just, pass through and get to the next floor?" [Singa] "Depend. With how violent they''re fighting against one another, we might get drag against our will, so choosing to help with Drant''s minion isn''t that bad of an option" [Rean] "On one hand, helping them will make our passage on this floor easier, but on the other hand, us fighting alongside Drant''s minion will only cause the devilish ants to react violently as they could detect our heroes blessing, redirecting all their attention and bloodlust from Drant''s minion to us" [Kara] "Not to mention, some of the Drant''s minion can''t even recognize your heroes blessing, and they will attack you because we are basically intruding their territories, but that being said, on the long term run, having as many of them as possible will definitely helps all of you in your quest of defeating the fallen god" [Aries] With that said, we have a short discussion where we decided to help Drant''s minion before moving on to the last floor. The opening remark is Behe''s light laser magic, a beam of concentrated light magic being fired continuously at the devilish ants. With the beam of light destroying, even vaporising some of the devilish ants on the spot, their attention shifted toward us, as we not only begin to fire our long range magic, but also flaunting our magic The devilish ants come rushing, marching brazenly against our barrage of magic infuse with our blessings, making it even deadlier against them, but once again, ants being ants, with their advantage in number, it didn''t take long for Mother Aries use wide range shield spell to, well, shield us. The close range fighter (Rean, Mara, Karon, Singa and Savel) also start using their weapon, with us long range fighter supporting them from behind the line. It helps that some of Drant''s minion actually recognise our blessings and opt to help us, giving rise to a pincer attack to the devilish ants as they''re trap in the middle. However, a cornered beast makes a terrifying foe, and true to that, they instinctively, without any instructions from anyone, begin launching a suicidal attacks one after another. Depending on the devilish ants, some simply explode, with their bloods and fluid so corrosive that it literally melts through Drant''s minion, effectively killing them, while other going all out, pouring every last bit of their mana into some powerful spell to obliterate nearby Drant''s minion. Even Mother Aries is having trouble shielding us against such attack. If it weren''t for us continuously healing and invigorating her, who knew what will happen... "That!" [Farhah] "What is it?" [Elise] "That devilish ants with strange plants attached to its head, it secrete some sort of... "thing" together with their devilish mana, it causes nearby devilish ants to become stronger!" [Farhah] "You''re right! Plus, other of similar also start mimicking it!" [Zerolith] "This will definitely spell trouble. We have to take them out fast!" [Kara] "Already on it! Karon, I''m using the bow and arrows you crafted for me!" [Farhah] "It''s still a prototype, but go ahead!" [Karon] Taking out a bow half of her size, Farhah begin infusing her racial magic into the bow, and slowly, the bow begin to take root into the dungeon floor and roof, creating one large bow. A wooden arrow, a big one for that matter, begin sprouting in the middle of the bow. As it grows larger and larger, it basically stretch the string by itself, before "Plant magic: Forests carnival!" [Farhah] Farhah release the arrow, and it hit dead center on the ant she targeted, before, spiky branches protruding out from it, and those spiky branches give rise to more spiky branches, and so on and so on, until "I can''t control it!" [Farhah] "It''s coming this way!" [Mara] ""Ice wall!!"" [Charlotte] "It''s not enough! Kara, Mara, make sure to provide some air circulation!" [Rean] "You don''t meant to!" [Kara] "What other choice do we have! Rean, I''ll support you as well!" [Elise] The spiky branches easily pierce our ice wall. Rean and Elise, through their combination magic, start to burn the spiky branches, at a rate faster than the spiky branches can generate, and before we know it "Cough.... Cough...." [Charlotte] "It''s over" [Savel] "Yeah, but..." [Karon] "Looks like the fire not only consume the devils, but also some of the Drant''s minion" [Rean] It''s inevitable. As I begin to open my eye and start using some ice magic to make ourselves cooler, I can see that some of the surviving Drant''s minion start running away, frantically hiding from us. I guess they wanted to save themselves from the twelve monster in front of them "Sigh... We have done what we can. For now, let us move ahead and went to the next floor" [Aries] "Right!" [All] The final floor. I wonder what awaits us Chapter 322 - 322: Searching for The Holy Beats of Earth, Tyrant Ant Drant part 8 [60th floor of Beast Challenge Dungeon] The final floor of the beast challenge dungeon, and all there is to it is an empty and long corridor leading to the final boss room. There isn''t any monster, there isn''t a single sight of the devilish ants nor does it house any one of Drant''s minion. No, just a plain simple long corridor, which is good since we can actually rest for a bit, drink up one or two mana potions before heading to the boss room. Alas, it actually gives me anxiety, like the calm before the storm From a far, without the door to the boss room, we can actually make out a silhouette of a woman, standing, holding what appears to be "Drant? But how?" [Kara] Since we had saw Drant once in the past, we can actually make out that is indeed Drant''s head, with gooey fluid leaking out from it. It spasm a bit here and there, indicating that the window of time before its death is fairly recent. Above all "Does that mean, we fail?" [Karon] "No" [Aries] "But, the head is right there, so how could..." [Mara] "Drant is dead, yes, but you failing? No. I don''t think so, as I could feel Drant''s mana even below us" [Aries] "What do you mean?" [Elise] "Who knows, but there is still a glimmer of hope, so don''t give up just yet" [Aries] "If Mother Aries said so, all we gotta do is believe in her!" [Singa] And taking a bigger step, the silhouette holding Drant''s head finally becoming clear. It shocks us all as "Knowing that Sadistic Saintess Angela, I shouldn''t even be surprise, and yet, here I am, near speechless" [Aries] It''s Mother Aries, or at least what appears to be Mother Aries. Similar height, and physique, even holding a large lance and a shield. Only difference will be the hair colour, with Mother Aries having blond hair colour while her imitation having black hair. Also, addressing the elephant inside the room, there are jaws protruding from both side of the imitator cheeks, and lastly "A homunculus huh..." [Rean] "Just like Lara and Nara..." [Farhah] "This will be tricky" [Zerolith] "Still, how generous of her, letting her magic core getting sensed by us" [Savel] "Either a fool or she has confidence on her strength, my bet is the later" [Charlotte] "It doesn''t matter! Everyone, get ready to fight! Judging by her miasma strength, our opponent will most likely be one of the ten devil commanders! Our objective is to defeat her!" [Rean] "Let''s go!" [Aries] Charging ahead will be Mother Aries with her lance and shield, deflecting the incoming attack from her imitation. The way they fight are similar. Like how Mother Aries will thrust her lance, so does her imitator do. Even the stance Mother Aries took as she uses her shield is the same, albeit, all of us can tell that Mother Aries is actually weaker. Mother Aries age is one thing, but the blessing from the fallen god really make the imitator strong. Not to mention, I heard about Saintess Angela and her crazy experimentation, so I''m sure that further boost the imitator strength "Steel magic: Land of sword and shield" [Imitator] Thrusting her lance to the ground, countless weapon, ranging from steel sword to a long halberd protrude out from the ground, targeting each one of us. The craftsmanship might not be there, but the weapon protruding out are hard. Hard enough that even Karon having a hard time countering it with his mini earthquake magic "Roar!" [Behe] "Behe! Just make yourself smaller!" [Charlotte] Due to Behe size, she become an easy prey for the magic. Poor Behe. His feet are pierce by the countless steel weapon. Even when it attempts to take flight inside this boss room, the weapon will simply be aim at a higher velocity to reach him, piercing his wings and leaving him wide open. "Cure!" [Charlotte] Not only physical damage, Behe also sustain severe earth status ailments. His claws are now petrified, while part of his wings become turn into a dust. His temperature also spikes up, and I can easily feels his heart beats steadily rising, most likely due to earth poison. For now, I focus my attention on healing Behe while sending off my golems to help the other "Steel magic: Lance of judgement" [Aries] "Steel magic: Lance of judgement" [Imitator] The two lance collide, with Mother Aries getting pushed back quite easily, but "Take this!" [Rean] A fiery slice from Rean Katana, but it quickly get block by the miasma surrounding the imitator, before grabbing Rean left leg, crushing it and smacking Rean into the floor before throwing him into the wall. "Why you! Ice missiles shark! Freeze dry!" [Charlotte] Just when my ice missiles sharks wanted to open their mouths, the imitator throw her shield, hitting each one of them before grabbing that very same shield and smack Savel and Singa back. They attempt to land a blow while the imitator is preoccupied with the ice missiles sharks, but alas they fail "Is this how Mother once fought during the succession war?" [Kara] "Indeed. Saintess Angela modeled it based on that, albeit I can tell this imitator here is simply more aggressive than I am" [Aries] "I don''t know how you fight during the war, but even I can tell that she emphasize more on offense rather than your usual shielding style" [Mara] That might be true. As far I can tell, I usually saw Mother Aries using her shield more often than her lance. She will usually take the role of a protector, trying to shield those under her from sustaining any damages. If anything, this really is a more aggressive version of Mother Aries, so I wonder, how should we beat her? "Impressive, but let me tell you something, dear imitator" [Aries] "..." [Imitator] "Individual strength is important during war. There are some example of a war being won because of an insanely powerful person, but, there are even more countless examples of victory being claim by those who are weaker as well! If you think an imitation like you can overpowered me with your strength alone, than that sadistic saintess really don''t know a damn thing about her ex-paladin!" [Aries] Chapter 323 - 323: Searching for The Holy Beats of Earth, Tyrant Ant Drant part 9 "Light and Steel magic: Holy shield. Protect us all" [Aries] Taking her shield and pouring all her might into it, Mother Aries begin not only to bash her imitator, but also "Neutral magic: Provocation!" [Aries] She also let out a taunting magic, one for which the target is her and her only. Normally, it wouldn''t work much against a smart and intelligent creature, but somehow, the imitator felt for it. Maybe it has something to do with the imitator pride, trying to prove that she is stronger than the original one. Make sense. It''s less effective against smart creature, the provocation magic, but that doesn''t mean it will not work. Plus, as someone that played a pivotal role during the succession war, I guess her provocation magic must be at it max, most probably because she keeps on using it during the war to draw enemies attention towards herself The imitator keeps on thrusting her lance, relentlessly, without any sign of stopping, and even under the constant barrage of lance attack, couple with her devilish miasma trying to pierce the shield and torn it apart, Mother Aries still standing strong. Like an immovable wall. "This is our chance! Everyone! Attack with everything you have got!" [Rean] At Rean''s command, we do just that. While Mother Aries take the blow for us, we attack. "Ice and mirage magic: Mirage mist" [Savel] At Savel command, a thin mirage mist surround the imitator, causing the imitator to slowly but surely "Lance thrust! Lance thrust! Lance thrust!" [Aries] It''s working! The loud metal banging of lance clashing with shield becoming louder and louder. It''s clear that her attack prowess increase, but at the cost of her sanity. She''s slowly going berserk, losing more focus toward us "Whirlpool" [Charlotte] "Fire magic: boil" [Elise] Since she went into a berserk state, this is our best chance to further inflict damages to her. Combining my whirlpool magic with Elise''s fire magic, the whirlpool becoming hotter, causing scald damage to the imitator. The devilish miasma tried to fend it off, however "Try and take this!" [Zerolith] Zerolith spread out his mana. Apart from his usual bullet barrage, he copied out one of the S rank adventure, Kucin''s technique when she undergoes her evolved beastly transformation "Dark mana zone: Devil explosion" [Zerolith] A zone made out of Zerolith own dark mana surround the imitator. While Kucin''s technique produce little kittens made out of her dark mana, this one produce caricature of a devil that one would always find in children drawing. Nonetheless, the two function remain the same and that is ~Explosion~ Countless mini explosion trying to disperse the devilish miasma. The devilish miasma tries to cover the imitator, spreading out nice and evenly, even trying to stomp the ground to disperse the spell, but alas "It''s working!" [Mara] "Keep it up...!" [Kara] We forgot, being a homunculus, that mean that she can simply absorb the mana surrounding her and use it back to her advantage. Mahsuri rarely, if not, never done it since, well, someone as powerful as she is never need to. The only time I remember she done that was to help Brother Ash and Mr Filvisar back then. Lara and Nara however, made it their point to use that power of a homunculus to their advantage, but there is a trick or two to circ.u.mvent around it "Exploding earth needle!" [Karon] As the imitator tried and to absorb the mana, Karon quickly make his spell to immaturely explode "Tchh!" [Imitator] Having fought with the twin multiple of times during our sparring session, we understand that, they might be able to absorb the mana from the spell, but once the spell is activated, there is no way for them to absorb the aftermath of the spell, which in this case, the explosion. Not only that "Plant magic: Poisonous arrows" [Farhah] The same can be said regarding status ailments. Of course, the resulting power will be decrease, but some damage are better than zero damage after all Getting more and more pissed off, the Imitator uses the devilish miasma and make an armour of darkness for her. The armour look imitating, and fair enough ~Crack~ "!" [Aries] A single lance thrust manage to put a crack into Mother Aries favourite shield, and the second one "Ice wall!" [Charlotte] "Thank you" [Aries] The second one penetrate a small area of the shield, almost stabbing Mother Aries right in her head, but "Neutral magic: Provocation!" [Aries] "What are you doing!" [Singa] "Please! No more! We will..." [Kara] Kara suddenly stop. As if she get the feeling what Mother Aries will do, and thus continue to support her by healing her through long range healing spell. Mara also did the same. Taking out her custom made javelin that Karon made for her, she begins charging it with her storm magic and ready to take aim The rest of us just go along, knowing that Mother Aries really is up to something, so we continue our assault, even when "Grrhh... Neutral magic: Provocation" [Aries] Even when her stomach is being pierce, she keeps on going, and just when the imitator lance thrust about to connect, she swiftly evade the attack, and readied her shield to attack her. "I''ll give you a boost! Attack up!" [Elise] "Counteract! Multiplies!" [Aries] All the damage she sustain, she transferred it back to her imitator, and by several folds. As the imitator get caught off guard by it (even though she really suppose to see it coming, given how she''s modelled after Mother Aries), the devilish armor crack, and expose the magic core of the imitator "Take this!" [Mara] Throwing the storm javelin with all her strength, the imitator tried to block it off, but "Dark hell slash" [Rean] "Raging torrent!" [Charlotte] Rean slashing through the imitator shield with all his might, and me shattering the lance with high pressure water Even then, the devilish miasma still try to protect her, as it change the direction of the javelin storm ""Futile"" [Mara, Karon] Since the javelin is a product of Karon''s racial magic, it tracks the target, and thus ~Shatter~ The javelin of storm pierce the magic core of the imitato Chapter 324 - 324: Searching for The Holy Beast of Earth, Tyrant Ant Drant part 10 The corpse of the imitator is now being examined by the curious us (Me myself, Mother Aries, Kara and Zerolith), with Zerolith in particular keep mumbling "hmm..." "Could it be...", so much so that it actually kinda annoying, so we ask him what is it that he is thinking about "Well, I was just thinking, could it be, that this isn''t just a mere experimentation by the so called witch Saintess" [Zerolith] "Care to elaborate" [Aries] "Gladly. I was thinking, could it be, this is your doppelganger" [Zerolith] "!" [All] "You mean like Htilorez?" [Mara] "Exactly" [Zerolith] Htilorez, aka Zerolith doppelganger. She''s quite pretty for someone that take after Zerolith. Now I wonder, what really is a doppelganger "Doppelganger you ask? Well, they are your others devil self, or so they call, but..." [Zerolith] "Since the fallen god is actually the god of life, wouldn''t it be possible for her to create a doppelganger of every single one of us? I mean, Htilorez is proof enough" [Singa] "True. That might be a possibility. So for now, how about we put her corpse together with Drant inside an item box first. We will figure it all out later once we are outside" [Aries] "Agree. Still, when you said that you felt Drant''s mana before the fight..." [Rean] "Yes. I can still feel it. To be exact, it''s underneath us" [Aries] "This is the last floor of the challenge dungeon, but it wouldn''t hurt to do this" [Karon] "Well, while you''re at it, I will put both of the corpses inside my item box" [Elise] "Then I''ll heal Behe and Mother Aries first while we are waiting for Karon" [Charlotte] "Let me help as well" [Kara] "Me three" [Farhah] "Thank you, I really appreciate it" [Aries] "Meow..." [Behe] Farhah take a look at Behe, and since she can patch and heal Behe quickly, she tells us to concentrate more on Mother Aries and let her heal Behe by herself. We agree to it Looking at Mother Aries condition, I can say that she''s quite in a mess if I''m being honest. For once, the wound on her stomach barely closed with our last minute healing spell, so both of us quickly tend to the wound. We aren''t nearly as proficient as the healer that Mr Flinar trained (or himself for that matter), nor are we proficient like Saintess Rumia and Seo Ah, but at the very least, we know the basic. At a time like this, we will really appreciate the help of a professional The wound on her stomach is one thing, the reciprocal effect of her counteract technique is another thing all together. Just touching her left arm make her flinch in silence. I guess there are few broken bones here and there. Maybe a minor one, but a broken bone is painful nonetheless "Don''t worry, I''m more than used to it. Just that, it has been a while since I last uses the technique, and couple with my age, it actually damage me more that I anticipated" [Aries] "I guess even someone as strong as mom have her moment of weakness" [Mara] "Aren''t we all? If anything, maybe after the fight with fallen god, I can finally rest and focus solely on desk work" [Aries] "Somehow, that suit you" [Kara] "Yes. People who never met you might not even realize you''re the infamous paladin once you start working with your desk" [Charlotte] As we continue to heal Mother Aries, Karon finally found it "Bingo" [Karon] "A hidden passage" [Savel] "And judging by the look of it, it leads us down, to the 61st floor perhaps" [Singa] "Is everybody alright? If so, let us explore it and find the source of Drant''s mana" [Rean] "Meow!" [Behe] "A yes from me as well" [Aries] And we continue our adventure at the challenge dungeon, and the secret passage really lead downward. All of us can tell that we are on a whole new floor. Unlike the previous floor, this one really do looks like an ant nest. I mean, I could see the round colonies like thing that are usually depicted as an ant nest here and there. They''re superficial one, and there are deep one. As such, some are meant as a food storage, while other houses big white eggs (Ant eggs I presume, or more specifically, eggs laid by Drant) "So you have come" [?] A little girl like sound can be heard coming from the end of the floor, and coincidentally enough, that''s the direction where Mother Aries said having Drant''s mana, and so we simply rush there, to see a chimera looking little girl just popping out from a huge (around three times bigger than the oval white egg) egg. She looks young. Maybe around Miriam''s age (around six years old). If I have to describe how she looks, she is like the Arachne, a half spider half human, only thing is the lower part is that of an ant instead of a spider. She also have the two cute antenna of the ant, and thankfully, her eyes is like that of a normal human. Still, something about her looks kinda familiar "Thinking about my appearance? The previous queen used this lady gene here when she gave birth to me, as such, I might look like a younger version of her" [?] "No wonder. You actually look more like my daughters here rather than I am" [Aries] ""That is..."" [Kara, Mara] "Is that so? Guess that makes you my godmother in human term I suppose. Anyway, I can tell one of you is holding the previous queen corpse. Can I have it? I''m starving..." [?] "Wait, you''re gonna eat it?" [Elise] "Of course... Why do you ask? Some monster ants do just that... Ohh, I get it, it might be best for me to give you blessings of the holy beast of earth first before my feast" [?] "Wait! So that means..." [Rean] "That''s correct. I am the next holy beast of earth. I still don''t have any names given by Goddess Achalasia or Mother Earth, so just call me holy beast of earth for now" [Holy beast of earth] "In that case, why don''t you take Mother Aries name? Since you''re..." [Charlotte] "Charlotte!" [Other] "Little hero... It isn''t that easy... Huh?" [Holy beast of earth] She looks like she is having a conversation inside her head. Could it be "Well. I guess that''s my name for now. The holy beast of earth, sheilding ant Aries" [Ant Aries] "!" [Other] "Now then, the previous queen did mentioned about all of you, so let get right to business, but first" [Ant Aries] "But first?" [Elise] She looks hungrily at Elise. She drool, so much so that Kara here reflexively wipe out her drool like she always does to our younger siblings at the orphanage "Just give me the food first. I can''t let you run away with the food after giving you my blessing!" [Ant Aries] "I won''t!" [Elise] Chapter 325 - 325: Hardship of marrying a hero _________________________________________________ [At Estel] [Muse point of view] "Thank you once again for helping me out" [Muse] "It''s fine. Plus, they''re the one that did most of the jobs anyway" [Liyana] "That''s not true" "Plus, you''re marrying Brother Rean, so that makes you our sister" "Is that so. Then, I''ll do my best to become the best older sister there is!" [Muse] Thank goodness there is a storm yesterday, so I can use the storm as an excuse to cover up the real reason why the house that Rean and I will stay once we are married is in a mess. I''m pretty sure this is my father doing, or at least by extension through him. I guess without Rean here, he thought that by sending some thugs to make a mess and send some threat (through some badly written letter) will make me sway and come to his aid. I must say, such a lousy plan. Even the pure Charlotte can make a better plan should she turn evil (Well, in her case though, she will just turn this house into one giant ice cube) [Muse] "Something funny?" [Liyana] "It''s nothing" [Muse] "Could it be, you remember your dating time with Brother Rean?" "That must be it!" "Scandalous" "Indeed. Scandalous indeed" "You got me there" [Muse] That''s easier than to explain why I giggle just now, so let just go with it After sending them off (and getting some really nice lunch from Claude), Liyana and I went back to our workplace. Along the way "So, this is your father doing, isn''t it?" [Liyana] "That''s true. It''s rather obvious. Even if it wasn''t him directly, it must be through some nobles that are jealous" [Muse] "They really want to get those guys into their family aren''t they" [Liyana] "True. I can even imagine they breathe a sigh of relief when they heard about the wedding being postponed, but I''m sure that just makes them more desperate at the same time [Muse] "True. Just like my father, they''re desperate. Still, once this is all over, I also think of stripping my status as a noble and live freely just like you" [Liyana] "In your case, it will be even more complicated. Since you''re supposed to get married to the first prince. Plus, your connection with Rean and the other are practically like that of a sibling, which make it even harder" [Muse] "True. Still, I''m just glad I somehow managed to avoid marrying him in the past six years" [Liyana] "Princess Diana, Sir Ceanu Reaves and Sir Crow really helps you, aren''t they" [Muse] "True. Not to mention, my elder sister as well. Even the orphanage. How I still remember Claude, Rafiah and Kronbir together with the orphans lie when I take shelter there for a while. Running away from the trouble" [Liyana] Ohh, that incident where Liyana almost getting punished under the pretext of "house arrest" for defying her family just because she doesn''t want to get married... I still remember her elder sister furious face. If Princess Diana didn''t stop her, I guess the first queen and prince are there no more. Now, she''s taking shelter with Sir Crow. I''m glad Sir Crow and his family really take good care of her, without any string attached Arriving at Diana''s hall, the two of us quickly went to our office, with Sir Ceanu Reaves and Sir Crow waiting for us "There you are Muse" [Ceanu] "Please, take a seat first" [Crow] "You guys really are quick. I didn''t even tell you anything yet" [Muse] "True. It''s frightening, but I''m glad that we can rely on you" [Liyana] I wonder, what will they do? Have they come up with a plan? _________________________________________________ [Adventure guild of the new headquarters] [Kana point of view] All of us sit together inside the guild master office (minus Seraph, as he actually get a hangover from drinking late last night). The guild master, he''s similar like Paladin Aries. Both being an S rank adventure while also holding the title of guild master. I guess the two of them are more comfortable with desk life. Still, that doesn''t make them any weaker "You two sure are close" [Samurai Jacks] "The guild master and I? The two of us go way back in the past" [Saint Louis] "True. Louis and I here are practically buddy. There are also Faris and Faizi where we..." [Guild master] "Gilbert, we better not stray too far from the topic now" [Saint Louis] "Gahgahgah, my bad my bad" [Gilbert] As someone with a big and muscular body, his face is that of a friendly guy, one that actually put us all at ease the moment we met him. If I have to pick something to describe him, he''s like a big teddy bear. Yes, that actually suits him very well even when he''s a human While Saint Louis and Saintess Rumia are consider the two pillars of the new headquarters, he''s not far behind. I get this feeling, that he actually supported them, especially Saint Louis during the hard time of this country. Just like the two pillars, you can tell how the citizen of this country adored him "And you''re The Blade of Wind, Samurai Jacks, am I right?" [Gilbert] "That I am. It''s nice to meet you" [Jacks] "Gahgahgah, such humbleness! I already like you. And this twin here, they''re the one having the same power as the behemoth slayer, am I right?" [Gilbert] ""That''s correct. Nice to meet you"" [Lara, Nara] "Nice to meet you as well. Now then, that means you''re Kana, Kanji, Seo Ah and the vampire girl there, Alicia" [Gilbert] "What the..." [Kanji] "We haven''t introduced ourselves yet" [Seo Ah] "How did you know?" [Alicia] "Gahgahgah, don''t be surprise, I did hear about all of you here and there, and being in my profession for so long, you can kinda guess which is which even when you first meet them" [Gilbert] "Kinda like how King of Malsia does" [Kana] "I guess a king with a good eye will be able to do just that" [Gilbert] He continue to ramble on and on about it, before "Gilbert. Don''t stray too far away" [Saint Louis] "Gahgahgah. My bad. Now then, let us get to business, shall we" [Gilbert] (((At last...))) [Alicia, Kanji, Seo Ah] He then bring out the map, before "Sorry, I''m late" [Seraph] "No. You arrive just in time. Please, have a seat" [Saint Louis] Chapter 326 - 326: What their enemies are doing part 1 _________________________________________________ [At Diana''s hall] [Muse point of view] "Here you go, some of the financial report Mrs Gizzere manage to dig up in the past" [Cupid] "Thank you Cupid for bringing it for us in secrecy" [Ceanu] "No problem, still, would you care if I join the conversation. I might not be able to help much, but just by knowing what happen, I can act better in the future" [Cupid] "So long as you keep in a secret" [Ceanu] "Right" [Cupid] Cupid, giving us the financial report of several nobles house and transaction history made by the first. She wrap it carefully with a kebab, and disguise such important doc.u.ments as a food wrapper. Thank goodness it''s not dirty at all While I did know they will help me, we must first assess the situation in hand. Ultimately "It all boils down to power struggle between the first prince and Princess Diana. That much is obvious, and going down by the line, crudely speaking, those who get ahold of the heroes will be more favoured by King Estel, other nobles houses as well as the citizens to inherit the throne. Not to mention, other countries will likely support the one with the heroes support" [Ceanu] "And obviously speaking, those kids are happily helping Princess Diana, with the bonds between them are practically that of a sibling. Knowing this, the first prince and those nobles supporting him have to search for alternative" [Crow] "Which is us" [Liyana] "Me. You. Rafiah, Principal Alice who have a good relationship with them, and..." [Muse] "Don''t sweat it. I know for a fact that even I am targeted by them. I mean, whenever you see Singa, Savel and Charlotte, you will also see me as well" [Cupid] "I''m sorry, but how so?" [Crow] "Well, it isn''t that obvious to me at first, but the reason why Mrs Gizzere forbid me from working as an accounting apprentice at certain noble houses is precisely because they are trying to get to my good side. Still, so far, their attempts have been mild, at least compare to Madam Duchess back in the past" [Cupid] "I see" [Crow] There are others as well. Kadeus and Lily for their relationship with Rean. The Syah family (Syah, Mimi, Borg, Lin, Ray, Mile, Kat, Blanc), as they''re "offered" with good jobs at the nobles estate. They even went as far as trying to adopt the younger orphans only for the orphans to be neglected in the end. Of course, we manage to save them, and in the end, the whole adoption process becoming even difficult for the sake of the orphans themselves "Still. I am a bit lost here. I know for a fact that those who got ahold of the heroes will likely get the throne, but don''t you think that the first prince is acting rather... nice?" [Cupid] "In all honesty, yes. Even I myself think of the same" [Liyana] "True, which mean two things" [Crow] "Either he totally giving up on the throne which is next to impossible, or..." [Muse] "Correct. He has something in his mind. Here, take a look at this" [Ceanu] Sir Ceanu, while listening to our conversation, keep looking at the financial report that Cupid brought. He them pointed towards some transaction made by the first prince _________________________________________________ [At the guild master office, New Headquarters] [Kana point of view] There are two important matters that we are about to discuss, with the first being "I guess it best if we approach this matter with what you told us Louis. They really are trying to recreate the beginning of devil invasion right here itself" [Gilbert] ""We agree. Now that we look at it, at a certain point, rather than chasing us, that hunter of a devil commander was actually trying to "guide" us here, in hope of meeting with Saint Louis and thus, gaining entries to this country together with the vampires and giants"" [Lara, Nara] "In the public eyes, I am that of a death man, but I''m sure Saintess Angela think otherwise. She must have known that the announcement of my death was nothing more than a bluff" [Saint Louis] "Which mean, the situation can be summarised as follow" [Kana] Saintess Angela capturing vampires and giants and experimented on them with the goals of recreating the incident known as beginning of devil invasion --> Lara and Nara save them --> A devil commander like that of a hunter chase them down to kill Lara and Nara, as well as retrieving back their pawns --> Saintess Angela ordered the hunter to lure them to the curse land in hope for them to meet with Saint Louis "And thus the next question is, when, but judging by the event..." [Jacks] "When Rean and the other come here" [Seo Ah] "And just when we wanted to look for The Holy Beast of Wind itself, they wanted to act!" [Kanji] "Wait... Kanji, can you repeat that!" [Alicia] "Huh?" [Kanji] "I see. The matter of when is easily solve. It''s rather obvious isn''t it" [Seraph] "Agree. The heroes will most likely come here next in order to get their blessing from The Holy Beast of Wind, Rampaging Garuda. I bet they will strike then itself" [Gilbert] "But, just before or after they left is also a good time" [Saint Louis] "What do you mean? Are they afraid their plan will go down the drain with those guys being here" [Seo Ah] "That, as well as..." [Saint Louis] If they strike before the kids arrive, they can cause total destruction, and the kids will definitely rush here, so maybe they can set up an ambush as well If they strike after they leave, the same can be said true, as well as giving the blame towards them. I''m sure they will somehow convince their followers as well as those who are still divided between supporting the new or old religion. "What should we do" [Alicia] "Apart from tightening the measure, what else can we do?" [Seo Ah] "Damn, if only we can find the Rampaging Garuda, and ask for it help, problem can be solved" [Kanji] "..." [Other] "What?" [Kanji] I see. That''s another option that we can use. Chapter 327 - 327: What their enemies are doing part 2 _________________________________________________ [At Diana''s hall] [Muse point of view] Transaction made by the first prince, through different peoples and names. Be it for charities, or for donations to struggling nobles, they can all be traced back to him, and not only that "Ultimately, the money that was spent by the first prince get taken by few common names" [Cupid] "Good observation. No matter the channel, the money and funds will one way or another, went to this few peoples" [Ceanu] Sir Ceanu Reaves begin circling the name with red pen "Which beg the question, what happen?" [Crow] "Why did the first prince fund found themselves in their pockets you mean?" [Muse] "Yes. These peoples are definitely sharing some common interests that aligns with first prince, so much so that the first prince actually spent quite a fortune for them, for what?" [Crow] "Well, if we trace back to our initial point, it can only mean that he''s trying to seize the throne through some other means" [Liyana] "Yes, but why them and for what purpose" [Ceanu] All of us draw a blank, and it didn''t take long before we give up on finding the answer until "Excuse me" [Rumia] "Please, come in" [Ceanu] "Don''t mind if I do" [Rumia] Saintess Rumia with her fellow members of the church coming in to share their snacks with us. This is actually a good time for a break anyway, so let us exchange some snacks. One of the priest tries to give Sir Ceanu some tea before he accidentally peeks a look at the transaction doc.u.ments, and "I''m sorry, but aren''t they the one suspected to have relationship with the meddling third party?" [Priest A] "Huh?" [Crow] Not only Sir Crow, all of us make the same reaction. The priest, reading the mood, continue his explanation, giving credit to the pair S rank sibling, Anjin and Kucin for actually uncovering it. They actually investigate them when dealing with the two traitorous princes of the demon kingdom, and they found out that these individuals do support the traitorous princes one way or the other "Hold on, does that mean!" [Crow] "That seems to be the case. Still, we should explain to Saintess Rumia and her friends regarding our discussion earlier first so that all of us are in the same page" [Ceanu] "Please do so" [Rumia] We make sure to tell Saintess Rumia and her friends about our discussion earlier and even Saintess Rumia come to the same conclusion "The first prince is trying to get help from the meddling third party to seize the throne... While the church supposes to maintain neutrality in regards to a country political conflicts whenever possible, this one is definitely something we can''t turn a blind eye" [Rumia] "That said, how about we actually call Princess Diana and ask for her opinion as well" [Muse] "And Saint Louis as well" [Rumia] "Alright. Please, hold on a second" [Liyana] Liyana make a call. Incidentally... _________________________________________________ [At the guild master office, New Headquarters] [Kana point of view] Getting the help from the holy beast of wind is actually another plausible options. Plus, our original objective for coming here in the first place is to find the said holy beast, so if all goes well, it likes killing two birds with one stone. Problem is "Will the holy beast corporate with us? I can''t imagine the holy beast actually agreeing to it without Rean and the other beside us" [Jacks] "True. Given how this country royalty and nobility tried to capture the holy beast in the past, I reckon we will have a hard time convincing said holy beast" [Saint Louis] "That''s indeed true, but to begin with, we don''t even know the holy beast location" [Seraph] "The curse land is vast enough for creature of varying size to inhabit it, but we should also consider the possibility that the holy beast isn''t there to begin with" [Gilbert] ""If only we have some clues"" [Lara, Nara] All of us draw a blank. Like the guild master said, it''s possible that the holy beast isn''t even here to begin with, but at the same time, there are no records suggesting the holy beast migrating elsewhere, so the curse land is still our best shot on finding said holy beast "Umm..." [Seo Ah] "That''s indeed mysterious" [Alicia] "What is it Seo Ah, Alicia" [Kanji] "Oh sorry, we are actually discussing among ourselves" [Seo Ah] "Regarding the royalty of this country, well, ex-royalty... History said that they''re trying to capture the holy beast right" [Alicia] "That''s correct" [Gilbert] "Then, how did they know in the first place where to find the holy beast?" [Alicia] "Even when their said attempt ended in failure, they did managed to find the holy beast, am I right" [Seo Ah] "That is actually a good question. How did they found out regarding the holy beast location" [Kana] We all turn our eyes towards Saint Louis and Gilbert. It seems like the two of them are also trying to figure out the answer "Well, they must possess some sort of device during that time" [Gilbert] "That''s the only plausible explanation" [Saint Louis] "But aren''t the royalty and nobility of this country flee from the country, how are we supposed to find them?" [Kanji] "I''m sure there are records of them being kept somewhere" [Jacks] "That''s indeed correct, plus, through our efforts, some of the country wealth did find their way back here, so said device might be there somewhere in our national treasury" [Saint Louis] Just when we are about to take a small tea break, the phone belonging to Saint Louis ring. He quickly answer the call. The caller in question is from Estel, with Saintess Rumia on the line as well. Princess Diana of Estel also connected through the same call as well as "What sort of surprise can you actually mean, your highness" [Singa] ""!!"" [Lara, Nara] Singa voice can be heard, that as well as his face. Lara and Nara eyes are wide open "Speak of the surprise, here take a look" [King Leogris] ""You guys!!"" [Lara, Nara] "That voice!" [Kara] "Could it be!?" [Mara] "Lara! Nara! It''s you guys aren''t you!" [Charlotte] "Hey, don''t squeeze in front of the phone!" [Singa] "Gahgahgah! How about all of you heroes there make your own call. We can wait. This two won''t run away anytime soon" [Gilbert] "Gilbert is right. Please, excuse us for a moment" [Aries] They quickly bombard Saint Louis and the other with five additional calls. Seo Ah and I help Saint Louis to redirect the call by using our phones to help decongest the line Chapter 328 - 328: Exiting the Beast Challenge Dungeon "Cute little girl like her..." [Charlotte] "Charlotte, are you by any chance still..." [Karon] "Massive jaw..." [Kara] "Looks like not only her though" [Mara] "Cannibalism? Cute little girl..." [Elise] "So the three of them are basically still traumatize by that event" [Farhah] "It''s understandable, but don''t you think they''re overreacting a bit" [Singa] """No we aren''t!!!""" [Elise, Kara, Charlotte] (That sound like they''re actually overreacting) [Savel] After getting the oath by the new Holy Beast of Earth, Shielding Ant Aries to help us in the aid of defeating the fallen god, she proceeded to give several of us her blessing. The one getting her earth magic blessing are Mother Aries herself (as well as stability in the previous Holy Beast power inside of her), Kara and Mara (understandable. Mother Aries did mention that Kara and Mara holds the previous holy beast of earth power albeit miniscule), and Karon (Which further strengthen his earth magic to higher level). Not only that, she also gives some great earth magic core, and all of us simultaneously agreed to use said core to further upgrade our cute rapidly dividing crystal bunny golem, Bobunny. And then... AND THEN IT HAPPEN! "You might turn your head around before I start feasting upon the previous queen exoskeleton" [Ant Aries] The young looking holy beast said with the most angelic smile. Honestly, even though she comes out as a bit of a cheeky cute little girl, I wouldn''t have guessed that nightmare will happen. Somehow, just somehow, I thought that a spoon and a fork will magically appears itself, and she hesitating to eat the carcass of the one giving birth to her, but no! That nightmare, it all happen because one person, because of that one person decided to said... """Grrr!!!""" [Elise, Kara, Charlotte] "I''m sorry... I was just joking at that time" [Zerolith] And Zerolith jokingly (or was he really joking?) said to the cute holy beast "Don''t mind me, please eat to your heart content. I''m sure you''re starving" [Zerolith] And taking that as a yes, "Alright! Here I go!" [Ant Aries] "WHAT IN THE..." [Rean] That nightmare happen. Her cute face with that fluffy cheeks, morphed fastly into that of an ant. Well, only the lower half of the face was morphed into an ant like features, before the Ant Aries hungrily dismantles the previous holy beast carcass right in front of us all. Elise, Kara and I can''t believe our eyes as that cute cheeky little holy beast suddenly gave us an image worthy of a nightmare, and the nightmare inducing event somehow worsen with Behe keeps meowing at that time, wanting a piece of holy beats of earth Drant as well "There''s the entrance" [Aries] "It takes us quite a while, but finally!" [Savel] "I miss the sunlight! Quick, just photosynthesize me dear sunlight!" [Farhah] Overjoyed after getting out of the dim challenge dungeon, Farhah stretch his body and raise her arms into the sky while taking a deep breath altogether before letting out a powerful exhale fill with satisfaction "I feel like joining in as well" [Savel] "True, but if any of the beastman kingdom citizen saw us, who know what they will say" [Singa] "Who cares! Just join me!" [Farhah] "I reckon the three of us in the past will definitely join you, but now..." [Zerolith] (Guess they''re starting to grow up, though I must say, it''s quite a complicated feeling seeing how they''re becoming more mature as time goes on) [Aries] Since there is no one here, I use the opportunity to stretch my body as well, and after getting my fair share of satisfaction, all of us decide to quickly went back to the Beastman Kingdom. If I have to guess, the time right now is around 630p.m. and it better if all of us make haste and return back to the Beastman Kingdom . . . Arriving at the dungeon entrance, I can see how the guards look happy with our safe return, but it''s also quite obvious for them that all of us are extremely fatigue after conquering all 60th floor of the beast challenge dungeon, so they quickly prepare a special carriage and sent us to the castle itself. The castle guards didn''t bother inspecting or asking us any questions and the maids as well as the butlers, quickly prepare us individuals rooms in a flash on an eye. After a short shower, I jump into my bed and fall asleep the moment my head touches the comfy pillows . . . "Good morning, I hope our guest rooms are comfortable for your night rest" [Queen of Beastman Kingdom] "Of course it is, Your Highness" [Singa] "It is. I have to thanks you for the trouble of preparing us all the rooms" [Aries] "Anything for Mrs Paladin and all of her children, and speaking of children, you might be in for a surprise" [King Leogris] "?" [All] Surprise? Did he wanted to gift us all a present for performing wonderfully? Isn''t that just a waste? I mean, we don''t really do it hoping for some sort of gifts King Leogris personal butler bring him his phone, and King Leogris then made a phone call. He didn''t tell us anything, but I can tell that he''s actually excited to show us something, and that excitement are contagious enough that his wife giggle a bit. I wonder what makes them feels like that... "Speak of the surprise, here take a look" [King Leogris] ""You guys!!"" [Lara, Nara] "That voice!" [Kara] "Could it be!?" [Mara] "Lara! Nara! It''s you guys aren''t you!" [Charlotte] "Hey, don''t squeeze in front of the phone!" [Singa] "Gahgahgah! How about all of you heroes there make your own call. We can wait. This two won''t run away anytime soon" [Gilbert] "Gilbert is right. Please, excuse us for a moment" [Aries] That sure is a surprise, and I love it! Lara and Nara! Lara and Nara! They''re alive! They''re alive! I don''t know how many times I thanked Goddess Achalasia inside of my heart Taking out our own phones, we decided to call Saint Louis and the other. Well, bombarding them all at once will make the line a bit congested, diminishing the qualities of sound and images of the call, so I ask Elise to share her phone with me (and she happily does so), before other started doing the same. Chapter 329 - 329: Where do we go next "And then, and then! Zerolith and his big mouth ruin the cuteness of the cute holy beast!" [Charlotte] ""I see. I see"" [Lara, Nara] "The holy beast mouth turn into some protruding mandible that ant possess, and the holy beast suddenly become a stuff of nightmare!" [Charlotte] ""What happen next??"" [Lara, Nara] "Behe keeps on meowing, wanting some piece of the previous holy beast meat! Luckily Rean quickly take Behe and prevent him from eating the holy beast as well!" [Charlotte] ""Behe!!"" [Lara, Nara] "Meow..." [Behe] (She''s cute when not mimicking Ash, but...) "Charlotte, I''m sorry to disturb you, but mind letting the other speak as well?" [Diana] "Huh?" [Charlotte] Letting the other speak? What did she meant by that? . . . (That''s right! There must be a reason why they called each other!) "I''m sorry, I sincerely didn''t realize it!" [Charlotte] "Gahgahgah, it''s fine little girl, it''s understandable. You haven''t meet them in a while and you''re worried about them" [Gilbert] "I''m not a little girl!" [Charlotte] "Anyway, I can catch most of what happen to all of you inside the dungeon based on Charlotte conversation earlier, but how about one of you add on other important note as well" [Qis] "Right, allow me to explain" [Aries] Mother Aries explain to them regarding what happen inside the challenge dungeon, regarding our battle with one of the devil commander whom we presume to be Mother Aries''s doppelganger and tell them regarding the blessing from the holy beast and those who received the blessing. Mother Aries keep it short and simple, because I tell most of what happen to Lara and Nara out of excitement (can you blame me? It''s been long since I last met or heard anything from them!) "And might I ask you why are you calling each other? I''m basically intruding your call, so forgive me for my blunders" [King Leogris] "No, in fact, one might said that you actually call at the right time Your Highness" [Ceanu] "True, we here also have something to share with all of you. The timing couldn''t be more perfect" [Saint Louis] I see, so this basically become a telephone conference between us, an unplanned one for that matter. "How about we start first. We were going to call Princess Diana, but Saintess Rumia requested us to call Saint Louis as well, and the reason for that being something related to the meddling third party and the first prince of Estel" [Crow] "Huh. Interesting" [Seraph] "From your tone, I can take a guess and said that they''re collaborating something behind my back, isn''t it?" [Diana] "That''s correct" [Muse] "Please, take a look at this" [Ceanu] Sir Ceanu show us some name being circle in red ink, while explaining its significant, thanking the church members for noticing it as well "I can see why the first prince wanted the help from the two traitorous princes, but what benefits would the two princes gain from helping him?" [Linda] "We aren''t sure of that one either" [Liyana] That''s ominous. I''m sure the first prince feels threatens by Sis Diana progress over the psst six years, so he wanted some sort of backing from other to help him, but other than funding, why did they bother helping him? "It''s a shame that Druser is busy today, otherwise we can just call him straight" [King Leogris] "Than, how about I go to the Demon Kingdom afterward and discuss with him. Plus, it''s been a while since I last went there" [Aries] "And we can also ask Htilorez regarding your doppelganger as well" [Zerolith] "Actually..." [Jacks] Mr Samurai Jacks intervenes us, before asking Sir Ceanu and the other whether they have anything left to say. They give him a signal that said no, and he started to talk regarding their progress, and what actually happened, and how Lara and Nara ended up there "That''s indeed ominous" [Rean] "We will try our best to search for The Rampaging Garuda while waiting for your arrival, but I''m afraid we have our hand full as well" [Saint Louis] "Saint Louis, The guild master, Mr Jacks and Lara and Nara, I''m sure they will have their hands full since their presence are needed at the current moment for both helping the country should anything happen as well as helping in the search of the holy beast of wind" [Kana] "Not to mention, you said something about Aries''s doppelganger actually defeating Drant, so won''t the hunter devil commander act the same way and try hunting The Rampaging Garuda" [Seraph] I see. That''s indeed plausible. On one hand, those five that Mr Kana mentioned will be stuck, either protecting the country from experiencing the beginning of devil invasion or trying to prevent the said devil commander from hurting The Holy Beast of Wind. Which mean our priority should be... "I''m sorry Muse, but I will..." [Rean] "Me too Alice, I..." [Jacks] "Please, go there ASAP! I don''t want anything bad happen there just because of my selfishness" [Alice] "True. We can wait for our dear future husband for eternity should require" [Muse] "Muse" [Rean] "Alice" [Jacks] "It''s getting steamy here. Linda, please turn on the air conditioning" [Diana] Sis Diana suddenly interrupt their conversation. Well, they should realise that Saint Louis and The King and Queen of Beastman Kingdom are watching them as well "Still, for now, I suggest all of you to rest first. As for Mrs Aries, I think it''s best for you to continue with your initial plan" [Saint Louis] "I thought of the same thing. We don''t know what the meddling third party is fully capable of, so leaving them uncheck will prove to be disastrous" [Aries] So, that means while all of us will go to the new headquarters, Mother Aries here will be traveling back to her old working place, The Demon Kingdom "I believe that''s about it. Is there anything else that we miss, or is there anyone else that want to convey something?" [Ceanu] Since no one wanted to say anything we ended our call, before once again, bombarding Lara and Nara with our own private call Chapter 330 - 330: Aries, Kara, Mara and Motras little brother [At the Beastman Kingdom] [Aries point of view] Since I am currently free right now, Kara, Mara and I take a stroll inside of the Beastman Kingdom. Unlike Mara and I, this is Kara first time visiting the Beastman Kingdom, so it''s understandable that she''s fairly excited to go sightseeing. She keeps taking note here and there, saying that it is for the benefits of her students. How admirable of her, still thinking about her students at a times like this "Mrs Paladin! It''s been so long since we last met you!" "And the two of them are your daughters am I right? They sure look like you" "With a paladin like you guiding the ten heroes, we have nothing to worry about" "And those despicable True Beastman Group as well! They''re on the rise once more, I hope the ten heroes can put an end to any of their plans" Ohh... So even the everyday people know about the current status of the True Beastman Group. Well, they''re currently active mostly elsewhere, and beastman like them follow the news regarding this terrorist group, almost always getting a head start regarding them since they hate the group so much that they will try everything in their power to destroy the group "Still, have you heard about what happen every time someone tried to approach them?" "What?" "I heard that a fire so strong like that from the hell cinder everything to ashes" "There are also rumour regarding a large tiger, larger than that of a king behemoth, protection them" "Some even say that the tiger manipulates both space and fire itself, creating something that completely out of this world" ""..."" [Kara, Mara] I see. Now that''s new to me. I knew for a fact that the leader of the True Beastman Group, Dark Lion Simba are still possessing the Holy Beast of Fire, Hell Tiger Har with him, but for him to suddenly start using the beast more frequently... Why now? What is he trying to achieve after all this while (The two traitorous princes, the serial killer dwarf and Simba the Dark Lion. Honestly, I find it strange that they''re now working together. It just doesn''t make any sort of sense) [Aries] What did they hope to achieve by forming the meddling third party? Each and every one of their goals is different. So just why... "Ah, Paladin Aries, and her twin daughters. Why with the long face?" [Singa''s grandfather] "Aren''t you Singa''s grandfather? What are you doing here?" [Mara] "I''m just taking a walk with him" [Singa''s grandfather] "Please to meet all of you..." [Motra''s little brother] Ohh, if I''m not mistaken, that male butterfly beastman is Motra''s little brother. It''s been long since I last saw him, that it takes me quite a while to recognise him. He''s still as shy as ever, and again, I can sense his feeling of inferiority complex still lingering inside of his mind (He keeps looking at the three of us...) [Kara] (I wonder what''s wrong with him?) [Mara] (Motra... Motra did unspeakable things to them... I should... I should...) [Motra''s little brother] I can guess what''s happening right now. Even Singa''s grandfather, the former duke of this country think of the same thing "Ahh!" [Kara] "Could it be!?" [Mara] (Oh god! Please, I''m...) [Motra''s little brother] Looks like the two of them finally realized who this person is. Now then, I wonder how they would react "I''m sorry! I''m sorry! I''m sorry because my brother did horrible things to you in the past!" [Motra''s little brother] He begins to apologize profusely, something that wasn''t even his fault to begin with. He always looks up to Motra, trying to be like him/her. After all, Motra is the heir of his/her noble house (a small noble house but their house has a strong relationsh.i.p.s with the royalty of this country), an S rank adventure and someone that inspires both noble and commoner of this country to keep striving to better themselves. Honestly, Motra is another thing. I just couldn''t understand, why is he/she siding with the fallen god? (If he/she didn''t side with the fallen god, the two of us will still be best friend, but...) [Aries] Looking at Kara, Mara and Motra''s little brother now "It''s fine! It''s all in the past!" [Mara] "But, my brother deed something unforgivable! Surely you must..." [Motra''s little brother] "True. Sincerely, he/she still recurs in my nightmare even up to this day, but the one that is responsible for his/her actions is him/herself! Not you" [Kara] "Still, as the next heir of our noble house, I should compensate all of you with something. Not only did my brother do something not befitting of a noble, he actually hurts the infamous Paladin and the ten heroes, so please, let me compensate all of you!" [Motra''s little brother] "And with what?" [Mara] "Anything that you want!" [Motra''s little brother] Singa''s grandfather and I keep watching from the sidelines, letting the three of them sort out things among themselves. It didn''t take long for Kara and Mara to come out with an answer "Then how about the five of us sit down together and enjoy a cup of tea" [Kara] "True. Give us your best cup of tea!" [Mara] (Why are they giving the same answer as Sir Singa and Sir Savel!) "But only a cup of tea will be..." [Motra''s little brother] "Who cares! Kara, what type of tea do you like?" [Mara] "Could it be, you forget about it? I''m sad..." [Kara] "Umm..., then how about..." [Motra''s little brother] That settle it. In the end, Motra is the one that''s responsible for his/her own actions. Not his/her little brother. As the three of them started to talk about what tea will they drink, the old duke approach me "You want to join me tomorrow?" [Aries] "I heard it from Leo himself. I can help you figure out about that meddling third party" [Singa''s grandfather] "I see. The more, the better I guess" [Aries] An old duke like him ought to know a thing or two Chapter 331 - 331: Bond of orphans part 1 _________________________________________________ [At Beastman Kingdom] [Aries point of view] Right now, there are two groups in front of the dungeon entrance 1) The ten heroes with Behe, will be going to the New Headquarters to help Saint Louis and the other. The routes they will take are Beastman Kingdom --> Beast Dungeon --> Malsia --> Rock and Sea dungeon --> Estel --> Open field dungeon --> Kiserre --> Forest dungeon --> Cursed land --> New Headquarters Even with the autonomous camper van golem running 24/7, they will take at least 1 week to go there. 1 week if you consider that they didn''t even stop at any countries to resupply food, drink etc which is basically impossible. I''m sure Princess Diana, Princess Nurhaliza, Queen Rinz and the other would at least like a word with them. Not to mention, they will definitely stop at the orphanages in each countries just to take a look. Plus, their friends from orphanages from several years ago are all grown up now as well, just like them. When they heard Rean will get married, they rush back just to celebrate the joyous moment. Now that the wedding is canceled until further notice, I''m sure the orphans will stay in the orphanage for a while, so they will definitely take some of their times to catch-up. Not that it''s a bad thing, but given how Saintess Angela is involved in this incident, time is gold... No. Time is invaluable And the second group will be "We are off" [Aries] "Singa, Savel, and the other, do take care" [Singa''s grandfather] "Please stay safe! We will try our best to uncover the objectives of the meddling third party" [Motra''s little brother] At first, I thought of traveling solo to the Demon Kingdom, but then, the old duke of the Beastman Kingdom volunteer to join me, and when Motra''s little brother found out about it, he volunteered as well. So now, the three of us will be traveling through the dark dungeon and get to the Demon Kingdom with the personal carriage from the old duke house. Our objectives, as Motra''s little brother rightly mentioned, are to uncover the mystery that is of the meddling third party. Just what are their objectives. They had been playing in the shadow for quite long, so I''m sure they''re preparing for something, even in the middle of apocalyptic event that is the fallen god awakening. Other objectives include meeting Zerolith''s doppelganger, Htilorez and let her examine the corpse of my own (presumably) doppelganger "Bye-bye Mother Aries. Take care" [Charlotte] ""Do your best, mother"" [Kara, Mara] "All of you as well" [Aries] "Grandpa, try not to disturb Mother Aries so much" [Singa] "Have a little faith in me will you" [Singa''s grandfather] "Well, we do, but given how you sometime move here and there on a whim, it can be a little... Frustrating" [Savel] "Well, I will keep that in mind" [Aries] "Everything is ready, and we are off" [Rean] "The same on our side. The autonomous carriage is all ready" [Motra''s little brother] And with that, we went our separate way, each for different purposes, but doing it for the benefits of the whole in our minds _________________________________________________ [At the new headquarters] [Kana point of view] "Thank you as always, Birdie for your invaluable helps" [Kana] ~Soft screech~ Nothing. Again, the results of our investigation yield nothing. Currently, those from the new religion higher up are searching for any devices that can help us track The Holy Beast of Wind, but given as how time is precious, some of us, adventures of the new headquarters included, set up on our own independent search. Given how Saint Louis was announced dead, we can''t have him going in and out of the country too much, so he will most definitely stay inside the country, keeping himself ready just in case the slumbering vampires and giants transform into a devil and wreak havoc inside of the country. As for Samurai Jacks, Guild Master Gilbert, Lara and Nara, they will alternate between searching for the holy beast and keeping the country safe. At least two of them are to be station inside the country at any point of time Seraph on the other hand, together with Kanji, Seo Ah and Alicia, will be helping about miscellaneous task. They will move about according to demand. Right now, they''re helping other vampires and giants to get accustomed to the new headquarters. Thankfully, most of them find the country to be a safe heaven, and the citizen is quick to welcome their new neighbors thanks to Saintess Rumia (using the goddess orb) and Gilbert convincing them. Some of the said vampires and giants even find jobs, like becoming knights or adventures and are now helping us all as well (That said, just how long will this peaceful time will last?) [Kana] It won''t be an exaggeration to said, that the lifeline of this country, is being held by Saintess Angela and the devils _________________________________________________ [At Estel] [Muse point of view] "Such a shame, we thought of celebrating your marriage with Rean, but it can''t be help" [Female cat beastman] "True. On the other hand, do you need any help? We are more than happy to help" [Teenage elf] "No. It''s fine. I don''t think there is anything to do right now" [Muse] "Are you sure? What about the wedding preparations? We must keep them viable, or the cost could easily be double should you neglect it" [Long hair girl] Some of the orphans from Malsia and Kiserre (who didn''t know the wedding got canceled) arrive, and they (understandably) feel down hearing about the news. So right now, they''re helping at the orphanage, helping Claude, Rafiah and the other doing various thing. Some who becomes magic engineer take a look at the communication stones around the neighborhood areas, fixing things should it become obsolete, while others who became a merchant, bring gifts and souvenir from faraway countries. Other, just simply play with the little one inside of the orphanage, reminiscing to their lives back then (That said, maybe they will know something...) [Muse] Well, I should just try my luck and ask them "Actually, can you guys tell me something" [Muse] Chapter 332 - 332: Bond of orphans part 2 _________________________________________________ [At Estel''s orphanage] [Muse point of view] "Anything regarding the meddling third party you ask... Well, I actually got one" [Female cat beastman] "Wait really!" [Muse] "Not a concrete evidence per se, but yes. I do. For starter, I''m pretty sure all of you know the fact that one of the main forces inside this group is the True Beastman Group" [Female cat beastman] All of us nod in unison. "Well, there are rumours that the leader actually recruiting his pawns by hypnotizing. I''m not sure whether it''s the boss himself do that or through one of the lackeys. Plus, the rumour even went as far as stating that some sort of mysterious stones were used, which honestly, sound like the very same portal stones that Brother Ash once investigated" [Female cat beastman] "What do you think of it?" [Muse] "While it is a rumour, I have to actually agree with it, considering how most beastman nowadays hate that group, so recruiting somebody to a terrorist group will definitely become much harder for them right now as compared to the past, and the bonus fact that Singa and Savel shine as our heroic beastman alongside Anjin and Kucin. Even King Leogris have made significant impact as a whole all this while" [Female cat beastman] I see, that actually makes perfect sense. Considering how most beastman really hold negative feeling for this group, even without solid evidence, this do make sense. King Leogris with his open policy just like how Princess Diana does attract more and more beastman who lived as a traveler, and this in turn, causes a short term losses for the country but on a long term, the Beastman Kingdom do flourish "Speaking of rumour..." [Long hair girl] "What is it?" [Muse] "Well, do you remember the prince that wanted to adopt them few years back, right after Princess Diana debutante party?" [Long hair girl] "I do. I can still recall that even like it was yesterday" [Teenage elf] "Can you specify it. I actually saw quite a number of nobles and royalty acting like what she said, that it all become tangling with each other inside my brain" [Muse] Yes. I did saw a number of them, and the same pattern repeated itself for quite some time. Even after Mr Ash was... Well, that role were taken by Mahsuri, but now that neither of them are here, I wonder who will be take their spots? "Well, sure. Right after the incident with the butterfly beastman suddenly summoning Tyrant Ant Drant, and how they were all exposed as the ten heroes, a prince came into the orphanage the very next day, demanding Director Mira to let him adopt all of them, which understandably got rejected. He threw some tantrum and at the end of the day, he got kicked in the face by Brother Ash" [Teenage elf] "Now I remember! That one! He threatens to send an army to arrest Brother Ash, but both Brother Ash and Princess Diana simply challenge him to do so!" [Female cat beastman] "Yeah. That one. How I still remember he cowered out when both of them said "bring it" in unison" [Teenage elf] "And what''s with this prince?" [Muse] "Well, as it turns out, this is the very same prince that tried to prevent Charlotte from leaving his country after she offered her helps. I was there at the time, helping the embassy to protect her, and I still remember how furious Charlotte was during that time. Poor girl" [Long hair girl] If I''m not mistaken, Charlotte almost storm that country castle... Why did she take after Mr Ash on that department... "And, after a while, I came back to the country, doing some business, when I heard a rumor from one of the castle guards" [Long hair girl] "Go on" [Teenage elf] "That prince, was visited by a scythe devil, and the prince, before losing his life, keep shouting... "Behemoth Slayer" "Behemoth Slayer" multiple times" [Long hair girl] "Wait! What?" [Female cat beastman] "How come none of us know about this!?" [Muse] This is a big rumour, so how comes none of us heard about it "Well. For the most part, it''s a rumour, but I actually think this one is true, since, there''s no news regarding the prince ever since then, nor does the prince make any public appearance ever since. None even up till this day, which makes this rumour a believable one. As to why the castle tried to suppress any news, I''m not entirely sure myself" [Long hair girl] That''s shocking indeed. Maybe there is more to it than meet the eye here, something that causes the castle to shut down the rumour. Something significant, but what... Regardless "Actually, Rean also heard a rumor every once in a while regarding this scythe devil, so maybe you''re not too far off" [Muse] """Really!!!???""" [Other] "Yes. I was with him, and even when I''m not with him, he would often share some rumour he heard with me during his time adventuring outside" [Muse] We keep sharing information with one another, while discussing the possibilities of the rumour. Some are believable, with some straight out nonsense. I even got ahold of perspective of the public from another country regarding the heroes, with most of them envying Princess Diana and her allies for "keeping" the heroes to themselves. All of this talk makes us realize one thing "You guys do heard a lot of thing, but sadly..." [Teenage elf] "Us orphans only share it when we are together..." [Long hair girl] "Well, telephone is still expensive, and even when we visited the orphanage, we always forgot to share the rumour" [Female cat beastman] "I wonder, what can we do?" [Muse] "How about using The Goddess Treasure Chest and replicate few phones for all of you" [Filvisar] "!" [All] Mr Filvisar suddenly join our conversation. From the looks of it, all of us are can tell that he heard almost the entirety of our conversation "And, that''s not all that I have to offer" [Filvisar] Chapter 333 - 333: Bond of orphans part 3 _________________________________________________ [At Demon kingdom entrance] [Aries point of view] Right now, I am helping a convoy of patrolling demon guard as they make their way back into the country entrance. There are new guards that I never saw before, so I don''t really know them, but the reverse can''t be said true "That was spectacular Mrs Paladin" "The Gaia Shield was it call? Truly, a worthy shield magic use by an astounding Paladin" "I''m glad we have you as our paladin" "I''m not your paladin any longer" [Aries] "On paper? Yes. But on our heart, you will be our paladin, forever!" "True, but that doesn''t mean your successor is unworthy. She may actually rivaled your popularity especially from those of the younger age group" "Really. That''s good to hear" (I''m glad the demon guard said that. It makes me proud of having her as my successor) [Aries] "Still, do we really need this one devil corpse?" "True. They''re heavy, but luckily my item box magic can fit it, albeit barely" "Yes, we need it, so please, send it to your scholar for analysis" [Singa''s grandfather] "Right!" A devil in the form of elephants army attack one of the demon guards convoy patrolling the dungeon. The elephants, as with any other devil, are bigger, stronger and faster, with tusk made out of literal metal and with trunk so flexible and powerful that a single sweep produces a strong sickle of air capable of cutting through stone Seeing this, it''s actually the perfect time for me to test out my new blessing from The new Holy Beast of Earth, Shielding Ant Aries. Above and beyond my expectations, my earth and steel magic, get boosted to a much greater degree, especially the spell involving defense. That''s why, my usual shield skill and magic becoming much more powerful My shield, as if reacting to the holy beast power, can summon a fortress of shield, capable of shielding large number of people behind it, and my lance, while a bit heavier, produce much greater forces when combine with the blessing, so much so that a single thrust can crush the metal tusk of elephants without much effort. Truly, a wonderful blessing "So that''s the demon kingdom castle. It''s marvelous" [Motra''s little brother] "I take it this your first time. Allow me to welcome you to the kingdom" [Aries] "Coming from the one that the citizen are cheering right now, that must feel really special" [Singa''s grandfather] "It really is, and I''m amazed how the demon are all welcoming you with all their heart. It''s actually a touching sight" [Motra''s little brother] "It is" [Aries] I miss this place. I really do. _________________________________________________ [At Estel''s orphanage] [Muse point of view] I think that every single one of us here can agree, that it takes us all this long to use the diverse talents, jobs and skills of those from the orphanage to help Rean and the other to beat fallen god is actually unthinkable. Well, for starter, all of them do help in varieties of ways, but now "With this, we can better coordinate among our ourselves" [Claude] "Thank you Grandpa Claude and Sis Rafiah for getting the Goddess Treasure Chest for us all" [Teenage elf] "You''re welcome, though I must said, even Princess Diana herself felt bewildered that we just come out with this sort of thing" [Rafiah] "Better late than never" [Filvisar] Few things that were duplicated by using the Goddess Treasure Chest. One, is a low grade telephone. Why a low grade one? Few reasons, one is to shorten the duration the chest needed to duplicate the content. A high grade telephone will take way longer and the cool off will be longer as well. Second, the telephone sale is one of the orphanage fund line. While all of us are sure that none of the orphans will take advantage of selling the phone, there will always be situation where it could happen, like getting stolen by a thief, or misplacing their phones etc. So better be safe than sorry. Only few telephones will be given out first, with more on the way to be given to those orphans old enough and have started working somewhere. Princess Diana wanted to hand the telephone personally to the orphans. That way, she can give some task suitable for them to help Rean and the other. "I better tell the other about it quickly" [Teenage elf] "Princess Diana did mention she will inform Queen Rinz and the other about it, but you''re right, we still have to do our parts" [Long hair girl] And in case some of them (or majority I suppose) can''t come and pick it up, other Director of Orphanage will give them a set of telephone first, and they can claim it later from Princess Diana The second thing we duplicate "This new logo of orphanage look great" [Female cat beastman] "Well, Princess Diana mention that she didn''t like it, but..." [Long hair girl] "I got this feeling that she didn''t actually mind, but for another reason that is" [Teenage elf] "I do agree on that one" [Muse] Previous logo is that of the original residence of Estel''s orphanage (Mr Ash and his siblings, Behe and Mr Claude), and now, it''s being redesign by Principal Alice and to be given to those receiving telephone as a mean of identification. That way, those orphans that never met each other before can recognize they''re sibling of a similar institution, though I hope there isn''t any baddies trying to take advantage of it "Calypso, what are you doing?" [Muse] "Oh this? I was just sprinkling this logo with my own fairy dust and mana, that way the logo will react to a genuine one and not the counterfeit one. Who knows, it might prove useful" [Calypso] "Good. It will become useful" [Filvisar] I guess that''s one issue solve. Better mention it to the Princess regarding it (Still, this logo is a nice logo. I wonder, did the princess secretly wish for it to happen? She and... Naahh...) [Muse] A logo of her with the founder of orphanage, Mr Ash, side by side. Principal Alice must had designed it as a sort of lucky charm I suppose. Maybe we are the one over reading it... Maybe (But still, somehow, I get this feeling she''s happy about it) [Muse] Just my woman intuition Chapter 334 - 334: Update from the scholars part 1 _________________________________________________ [At Malsia''s orphanage] We will be going straight to Estel right after this. It''s a shame that we only have this little time to catch-up with some of the older orphans that we came to know from six years ago. Still, it isn''t necessarily a bad thing. This just steel our resolve once more to defeat the fallen god. That way, we can have all the time in the world to sit back and talk with each other in a nice relaxing environment "I see, so Muse and the other did that" [Rean] "Now that I think, why didn''t we thought of that before" [Elise] "Six years... We have six year to come up with it but it totally slipped from our mind" [Zerolith] "As an engineer, I somehow feel ashamed" [Karon] "Don''t be too harsh on yourself. All of us share equal blame" [Mira] The telephone system that''s specialized just for the orphanage to help each other out. That''s a nice idea. The older orphans get some low grade telephone, that will be connected to our very own communication stones that will act as a center (made by Housey and Calypso Tree). There''s even a storage system created just for this purpose, where they can just talk even without recipient from the other side, and yet their voice and video will be recorded and preserve. That goes beyond any one of us. I guess the intelligence system inside Housey and Calypso Tree fortress defense magic couldn''t be underestimated. To come up with such complex technology with such little time. Terrifying indeed. (I can see how if both Housey and Calypso Tree fall into the wrong hand, destruction ensure...) [Charlotte] As my eye randomly scan the environment, I can see that Kara, Mara and Farhah talking among themselves "This new logo that they will be using..." [Kara] "It''s obvious isn''t it..." [Mara] "Couldn''t be more obvious if you ask me" [Farhah] The new logo created just for this purpose as well. Brother Ash and Princess Diana. I wonder, is it really true that they... "Meow?" [Behe] "Singa! Savel! Do that and all of your noble etiquette training will go down the drain" [Haliza] ""But princess...."" [Singa, Savel] "I know. Even I wanted to do that. Lying around and stretching without a care, but you two have been doing it ever since you come here! Both of your clothes have wrinkles everywhere!" [Haliza] Now that''s a very rare sight. To think that I can see Princess Nurhaliza scolding someone. Maybe you can see it every once in a blue moon. (Better straighten my back up. I don''t want to get scolded from her) [Charlotte] Look! Here she come! Hurry! Hurry Charlotte! Hurry "Charlotte, regarding your Sea Serpent Project. I''m sure you will want to take a look at the latest report" [Haliza] Sea serpent project... Sea serpent project... That''s right! It totally slipped my mind! The mega magic project to upgrade the communication stones set up by Brother Ash years ago! "Charlotte...!" [Haliza] "I''m sorry! Many things happen that I totally forgot about it!" [Charlotte] Such a shame. Now I am the getting scolded by Princess Nurhaliza while Singa and Savel laughing (secretly) at me. I will remember this, BOTH OF YOU! _________________________________________________ [At the Demon kingdom castle] [Aries point of view] The castle is still the same. Every crook and corner, it''s exactly as how I remember it used to be. The beautiful garden. The guard posts. Even the one work here, despite having some new faces, still feels the same. This nostalgic feeling, it''s nice and refreshing. "Welcome Mrs Aries! We are all excited to meet you once again after a long, long time" [Lilith maid] The Lilith maid that always attended my need in the past couldn''t wait any longer to greet me, for which I replied back to her with the same degree of enthusiasm she shown. It didn''t take long for other maids to join in, for which "Get back to your station! Don''t show a shameful side to Paladin Aries!" [Head maid] The head maid scold them all, and they immediately line back up, reprimanding their actions. I''m sure none of them will get punished since the head maid is rather lenient for someone of her position, but that doesn''t mean they will escape harsh scolding afterward. I wanted to safe them, but given how there are two nobles from the Beastman Kingdom with me right now, I suppose it will be impossible "Please, forgive us for the shameful display" [Demon Queen] The Icy duchess in the past, now the demon queen apologize not to me, but to Singa''s grandfather and Motra''s little brother. I guess she knew that I didn''t care much about it, or she still carry her usual cold shoulder attitude towards me from back then (I wouldn''t snatch Druser back then and now itself from you, so please stop it...) [Aries] "Looks like you''re as healthy as ever Aries" [Druser] "No. I can totally sense it. She''s getting stronger thanks to the new holy beast blessing" [Paladin of Demon kingdom] (So this is Mara''s mother, and the previous infamous paladin of the demon kingdom... She''s beautiful) [Htilorez] So that''s Htilorez. I have seen her once in the video call, but looking her up close and in real life, she''s actually a pretty girl. I can see how people said that she actually look a bit like Zerolith, even Mara referred her as long hair Zerolith at one point in the past. Make sense, she''s after all, his doppelganger We are then brought into the castle meeting room, where a group of scholars await us. I thought of dealing with the meddling third party first, but I guess Druser and the new paladin must have something else in their mind. Maybe they wanted to discuss it when no one is here. Make sense, so for that "Please, take a look at this" [Aries] I brought out the doppelganger corpse of me and presented it to the scholars. It actually feels strange that I did so, and even strange when the scholars actually start examining it. Somehow, it feels like I am the one getting examined by them. "What do you think, Htilorez?" [Aries] "Well..." [Htilorez] Chapter 335 - 335: Update from scholars part 2 _________________________________________________ [At the Demon kingdom castle] [Aries point of view] Yesterday, after a brief talk with the scholars from the Demon kingdom, we were told to take a rest after the long journey, as they need time to examine the corpse of my doppelganger. I thought Druser will then talk to me about the two traitorous princes, but instead, he told me to rest and he will tell me later on. For now, I''ll comply, even when he himself know that the two traitorous princes, which is his elder brothers, are plotting something. I can''t imagine he will comply with them, but... (Motra prove me wrong, he/she is one of the last person we would suspect to do something sinister, and yet...) [Aries] I don''t want to suspect a fellow old friend. It''s painful to do that, and it''s unsettling and put a heavy toll on my mind, but I wonder. No. I don''t think so. Unless my successor also complying something behind our back, then the chances are miniscule, I hope so (I''m just tired and overthinking about it, that''s all) [Aries] ~Knock~ "Please, come on in" [Aries] A knocking on the door force my negative train of thought to stop, as I greet the new paladin as well as Htilorez coming to visit me "I just come to accompany her and have a little chat, but you seem tired. Should we leave?" [New paladin] "No. It''s fine. Just overthinking something" [Aries] For now, let just stop thinking about it, and I should listen on Htilorez final thought on one of the devil commander corpses "I do think that the devil you brought yesterday is your doppelganger, but at the same time, something feel amiss about it" [Htilorez] ""And that is??"" [Aries, New Paladin] "It''s like, it''s a completely different entities from the usual devil or doppelganger that I come to know thus far" [Htilorez] Now that''s interesting. I wonder what will she tell us. I should probably call Druser and the other right now _________________________________________________ After leaving Estel for quite some time, we finally got back home, only to be leaving soon once again. It can''t be help, time is of the essence and every second we spent doing something unproductive, the devil will move to bring about the destruction of the world We come back home late last night. While Grandpa Claude and Sis Rafiah greeted us with smile and hug when we enter the orphanage, the other siblings are still asleep during that time, and now, first thing first after breakfast "I''m off!" [Charlotte] "Ehh!" "Come and play with us a little Sister Charlotte!" "Do you want to leave us so badly?" "No it isn''t that, I promise" [Charlotte] I have a very good reason not to play with them, and that is because of the sea serpent project. The model of Achalasia that Qudus, Erinmorlin and other scholars help to make, it finally finished! That means, right now is the best time to actually test out whether the Sea Serpent Project is doable or not "Don''t disturb her, and get ready! It''s time for you to go to the school!" [Rafiah] "BUT!" "NO BUT!" [Rafiah] Sis Rafiah shut all of them down, which causes them to try and gain the favour from Grandpas Claude and Filvisar. Both the grandpas do consult them rather nicely, until they reluctantly give up and start to get ready to go to the school. I''m sorry all of you, but I promise you I''ll play with all of you to your heart content before leaving this afternoon Leaving with the other (except for Rean, Kara and Mara who is sleeping in their respective houses), we quickly went to the R&D department and there, the very first thing that Mrs Lisa reacted to is "Both of your mana! It starting to resemble Aries''s mana!" [Lisa] ""Really!!"" [Kara, Mara] "Believe me, I have been with your mother for long time, so I know my elder sister much more than anyone else" [Lisa] Kara and Mara seems happy. Maybe because they''re starting to resemble Mother Aries more and more. Well, Karon also got the blessing from the cute holy beast, but no one praising him for that. Poor poor Karon, let me praise you "?" [Karon] And Karon started to show his confuse face when I tried to praise him. Guess it''s just unnecessary for him. Weird. Don''t he like it when someone praise him? Getting a sincere praise from someone should make someone happy "So you have came. Well, even though you heard it from Princess Nurhaliza before, I should probably summarize what we had done when you''re conquering the Beast Challenge Dungeon" [Qudus] "That''s for the best" [Karon] "Well..." [Qudus] Qudus start to explain step-by-step regarding the complete model of Achalasia that they all created. I can see that they pour in every ounce of their sweat, tear, passion and love into this project. They meticulously crafted this model, from the commoner house, to the castle, and to the orphanage. There are even model of citizens and monster of varying species as well. The big structure like the floor of the dungeon or the castle, even the doll, all of it, all of it are so detail, so details in fact that I swear to god that they actually look very alive! "I see. Congratulations Mr Erinmorlin" [Karon] "I still have a long way to go before measuring up to you and your father" [Erinmorlin] "Wait! Does that mean, Mr Erinmorlin can use dwarf racial magic now as well?" [Farhah] "Indeed I can, albeit I am still struggling" [Erinmorlin] Now that''s new! Who would have guessed that Mr Erinmorlin manage to use puppet magic! Each one of us congratulate him for achieving so. I think Princess Nurhaliza purposely left this one out to surprise us all "Well, how about you watch this" [Erinmorlin] Demonstrating the function of the model, the model "It started to move!" [Elise] "I guess this is because of your puppet magic?" [Singa] "That''s correct, but, that''s not all" [Erinmorlin] "Knowing you, there will always be more" [Zerolith] "And always more in a positive manner" [Savel] He brought out two magic core filled with his mana, giving one to Mr Flinar and one to Rean. Rean, understandably, confuse by it, but once he see what Mr Flinar do with it "I see. With this, even someone without puppet magic can control the model" [Rean] "Pretty cool right, now then, how about we jump onto the next part" [Qudus] Chapter 336 - 336: Update from scholars part 3 _________________________________________________ [At Estel''s castle] [Alaric point of view] Right now, in front of Princess Diana, her personal guard Qis, and the leader of Valkyrie, Bladel, both Linda and I are making a request to her highness "Are you two sure about it?" [Diana] ""Yes!!"" [Alaric, Linda] Knowing what Saintess Angela and the other devils are planning, Linda and I feel the same, and I''m sure Saint Louis and Seraph share our sentiments even when they''re not currently here with us Last time, six years ago, none of us could save Ash from his demise. True, he survives and Goddess Achalasia herself gave us assurance that we can save him, but now, he is currently with the devil, most probably going to be part of the devil itself. And looking at the current situation (If they wanted to mimic the situation six years ago, then we couldn''t just stand here and send his beloved siblings to certain demise) [Alaric] Linda and I can''t help but to see Ash in each one of them, and both of us are afraid... Afraid that what happen to Ash will happen to them. They''re the hero, but that doesn''t mean any harm wouldn''t befall them. In fact, it''s precisely because they''re the ten heroes that Linda and I wanted to come along and make sure they''re both safe and sound Not only that, my little sister, Alicia, is also there. Even with all the odds, I just somehow knew it was her when I first saw her after a long time through the telephone. I''m glad that I was right "Very well, but I have one condition" [Diana] ""And that would be??"" [Alaric, Linda] She seems happy that the two of us actually make the decision to go with the heroes to the New Headquarters. I''m sure part of it is because she saw the ten heroes akin to his own siblings, but looking at his smile, I''m sure that there''s more to it "You will have to make sure she is safe" [Diana] ""!!"" [Alaric, Linda] _________________________________________________ [At Demon kingdom castle] [Aries point of view] "A clone?" [New Paladin] "That''s the impression I got. Mrs Aries, that doppelganger of yours that you fought the other day, it might just be one of the many clones" [Htilorez] "So, what you''re saying is that, my original doppelganger is currently roaming around?" [Aries] "Sorry, I''m really not sure. This is merely my impression" [Htilorez] This is bad... That Saintess Angela, just how is she capable of such a feat? I wonder how powerful she became after becoming one of the ten devil commanders "Saintess Angela really is a..." [Aries] "Umm... I don''t think it''s her doing" [Htilorez] ""Pardon??"" [Aries, Paladin] Both of us could''nt help but to raise our voices, which understandably causes her to flinch in anxiety. She play with her fingers before braving herself to speak once more. It might seems trivial for me, but she''s facing me and my successor, both prominent figures in this country, so it''s understandable "It just that, as a doppelganger, we were often told regarding the power of the fallen devil king, the king of doppelganger, Iblis" [Htilorez] ""Iblis?"" [Aries, Paladin] And wait, did she said, the fallen devil king? Meaning, that, the devil king, does not serve his master, the fallen god _________________________________________________ Deactivating the Sea Serpent magic core, all of us shouted, brimming with happiness "The simulation thus far show impressive results, which mean!" [Charlotte] "True, we can propose it to other countries, but I suppose convincing them all will take a huge amount of time" [Erinmorlin] "Princess Nurhaliza might give her approval at moment notice since she did keep a close eye on this project, but yes, I can''t see other giving it so easily" [Qudus] "So, we should just run more and more test, and produce consistent results with it, that will at least make it more convincing" [Karon] Well, that seems to be the most logical steps. The simulation that we make even show the autonomous water golem created through this Sea Serpent Project can ward off monsters, but as for the devils, sadly, we couldn''t get the data since we couldn''t replicate the devils inside this model Still, that doesn''t mean it will be for naught. Even just defeating your everyday monsters will put a tremendous relief to the country, so that they could focus more to fight against the devils. Plus, if the model is 100% accurate, this in theory, can produce a large amount of water golem for a significant amount of time. Of course, there are various other factors that we should still count on, but I believe we are in the right step And thus, we experiment few more times, before heading back to the orphanage. We only get few hours to rest, and we spent this time to rest properly. Grandpa Claude is helping us to refill the food and drink inside the camper van golem, only for him to be surprise that it''s already packed with food and drink from both the Beastman Kingdom and Malsia. They all insist to give us as many provision as possible, so much so that Elise happily stores it inside her item box magic "Take care and kick their asses" [Calypso] "Come back safely" [Rafiah] "I''ll take good care of this magic core. I''ll make sure Bobunny get upgraded as well with the magic core you got from the holy beast of earth" [Filvisar] "Make sure to exercise cautious" [Claude] "TAKE CARE!!!" I guess they really wanted to play with us more, but they understand that we our duties as the ten heroes to fulfill Before we start the camper van golem, Sis Diana came to meet us before alongside with "Linda, Alaric and I, all three of us will be joining you, so please to work with all of you" [Rumia] "I''m Alaric. Believe you only saw me before" [Alaric] "Alaric, that introduction is a bit..." [Linda] "What!" [Everyone] The three of them will be joining us as well!? Chapter 337 - 337: Searching for The Holy Beast of Wind, Rampaging Garuda part 1 _________________________________________________ [At the Demon kingdom castle] [Aries point of view] As I laid down on my bed in the guest room, waiting for my own eye to shut itself down to fall asleep, I recap back what Htilorez mentioned about the fallen devil king, the doppelganger Iblis Apparently, doppelganger, just like how demon and all living creature here in Achalasia, were created, by, as you know it, the fallen god, aka The God of Life itself, but what set this doppelganger apart from other creation of God of Life is, they couldn''t reproduce. They simply exist as we exist, and they will die as we die. That doppelganger can be healthy, or can be sick, or they can be impaled for whole of their lives, without dying, but once the one they are take upon die, without a warning, they will disappear forever... regardless of their condition, which created a creepy pasta of doppelganger, trying to search for their lookalike, only to kill them as they want their peace in living, or rather, they were in fear, and would rather ended their life rather than waiting for the uncertainties What makes this possible, without the interference from both God of Life and Death, is most likely the power of the first devil king, Iblis Unlike Seraph, who join the God of Light Theia and thus becoming the king of angel and angelic race, Iblis, bearing some resemblance to the two traitorous princes of Demon Kingdom, once follow the God of Life to become part of the devil itself, but something happen, which caused him to stop following the God of Life, and thus, a curse was placed inside Iblis, to let him suffer for eternity. In act of desperation, he went to the Tree of Life and begged Mother Earth to relief upon the cursed, which understandably, fail, but (Mother Earth and Tree of Life granted a soothing for him, for him not to suffer all alone) [Htilorez] And thus, he was granted the power to duplicate himself, and slowly, the power evolves, and thus, doppelganger were born into this world. Seeing this, the mysterious Holy Beast of Light, Angkasa created a space for them, for them to live in peace, but unfortunately, the very same space, were used to sealed the fallen god and the devil, and thus... (So, could it be, the first fallen devil king and the mysterious holy beast of light were...) [Aries] Such an odd tale... This is definitely the first time I heard of it _________________________________________________ [At the New Headquarters] [Seo Ah point of view] Saintess Rumia and the other are coming! I am happy for her since I know for a fact Saintess Rumia never once visited this country back once he settles down in Estel, so I''m sure she''s excited to meet with all of her old friends here, but at the same time "You look awfully anxious. Are you worried about Saintess Rumia" [Seraph] "Yes. Yes I am" [Seo Ah] "The way I look at it, no matter what happens, she will definitely get blamed by the old follower, so her coming here to help what she could is definitely for the best" [Alicia] "I know, but what if all of the devil armies target her very own life. I can''t help but to feel worry" [Seo Ah] And I can''t stop this feeling. The palpitations that I felt in my chest keep growing stronger and stronger, without showing any signs of relief. In fact, I''m sure it will only be gone once all of this ordeals are done with. Maybe not, even after this, I will worried about Elise and the other, and how they have to fight with the fallen god. I just can''t wrap my head, of the idea that the fallen god trying to unleash her devil armies into this world. Just what is her purpose in doing so? "Just what is this flute?" [Alicia] "Oh my, it''s the same as my weapon, albeit it isn''t one imbued with the dwarf racial magic" [Seraph] "And this pot?" [Seo Ah] "Isn''t that the pot for alchemy? I heard about it in many old tales from both the elves and dwarves" [Seraph] "And this spear?" [Alicia] "Such an odd looking spear. What with the three pointy end?" [Alicia] "The traditional weapon of the mermaid, aka the trident. It''s rusty and I don''t think it serves much purpose for us now" [Seraph] "You sure know a lot of thing Mr Seraph" [Alicia] "True. I guess it makes sense given how you always travel in the past, even tagging with Mr Filvisar" [Seo Ah] "Well, you will learn a lot should you travel, but I suppose with devils running around, it isn''t a wise choice to do so nowadays" [Seraph] We are currently rummaging through the many rooms of the old store of the castle in this new headquarters. There are simply too many of them that Saint Louis and the higher archbishop allow us to search through one of the many storages inside the castle (which is used solely as a bureaucratic center). Our goal is to find an object that can help us find the location of the Holy Beast of Wind, Rampaging Garuda and things doesn''t look promising. If it wasn''t for Seraph''s vast knowledge, thing wouldn''t go half as fast. Despite his usual debauchery personality, he is someone that you could rely upon "I''m tired" [Alicia] "True. And who knows how many rooms are left" [Seo Ah] "At a time like this, how about I play you some music. Let us feel refreshed" [Seraph] And thus, with his flute transforming into a golden harp, and with his white wings of the angel sprouted (in this rather cramp space), he began to perform his usual mini concert. Not that I mind, he''s a talented musicians, and his harp, carry along his soothing holy mana, so much so that we both feel re-energize, ready to rummage the room one more time in hope for "Hmm?" [Seo Ah] "Such large feather" [Alicia] "It rainbow colours, it''s pretty" [Seo Ah] "Sorry, but can I take a look at this for a moment" [Seraph] Giving the large rainbow colours feather to Seraph, the feathers started to react, becoming even more vibrant "Could this be..." [Seraph] The three of us came to the same conclusion! Still, just how did the feathers suddenly show itself? Maybe we were just careless I suppose Chapter 338 - 338: Searching for The Holy Beast of Wind, Rampaging Garuda part 2 _________________________________________________ [At the Demon Kingdom castle] [Aries point of view] I tried to talk to Druser once more, regarding the plausible objective of both of his brothers, the traitorous princes of the Demon Kingdom, but he keeps delaying, so much so that "!" [Other] "No more delaying. I have known you for so long that I know for a fact, that you''re avoiding me" [Aries] I just went straight to Druser, and with a "firm tap" on his shoulder, I directly ask him. If my self control is as "good" as Ash, then his shoulder bone will most likely get crush by me. I wouldn''t go that far, but I''m sure my "tap" will leave a bruise that can take a while to heal "I..." [Druser] His wife, stares dagger at me for doing so. My successor didn''t react as she simply wanted to see how things develop, and the same goes to Singa''s grandfather and Motra''s little brother. I will say my action do seems excessive. I am no longer a paladin of the demon kingdom, and as such, what I did is an assault to a royalty, but "I am not speaking to a king right now. Right now, I am speaking to a friend that fought alongside me during the war of succession, and most importantly, right now, I am speaking as a paladin that support the ten heroes, and as such, I will not leave until I get my answer" [Aries] "Very well... I will tell you..." [Druser] Druser is still hesitate to talk, but he gather his courage and... "The old demon king, your father... Is still alive?" [Aries] "That''s impossible! We know the war of succession is because of..." [Singa''s grandfather] "That''s why I am still hesitant to talk. I can''t be sure whether the one visiting me was truly him or those two brothers of mine playing trick, but regardless, I''m sure I am the one to be blame if it''s true..." [Druser] "Darling... What do you mean?" [Demon Queen] We collectively hold our breaths, waiting for the answer to come from Druser "Apparently... I was the one casting an ancient spell by the Iblis to him, and thus..." [Druser] "Iblis? As in the fallen devil king?" [Motra''s little brother] Iblis come into play once again. Yesterday, it was Htilorez that mentioned this name, and now, it''s Druser "What will happen, my king" [New Paladin] Druser once again, muster all he can, and "I''ll die, and he will take my body to..." [Druser] "Who will take your body?" [Aries] "The fallen devil king, Iblis... And they plan on using Iblis and Seraph to gain power once more" [Druser] "So, instead of getting to the witch, they''re now changing plan" [Singa''s grandfather] "What witch?" [Aries] _________________________________________________ [At the New Headquarters] [Seo Ah point of view] Again, with the harp of his, he began to perform his mini concert, all the while filling this room with his holy mana. Slowly, the holy mana fill the entire room, and "There is it!" [Seo Ah] "The same feather! Thank goodness!" [Alicia] "Making a grand total of three feathers thus far" [Seraph] Seraph theorized that, since the Holy Beast is well, HOLY, it will react to Seraph''s own holy mana as well. Maybe not like that of a magnet, or like that of a proton and electron, but rather, like two long lost friend reaching out to each other, to quote him. I don''t know why he uses that example, but what I do know is that, our current method is working! "Do you need a break Mr Seraph?" [Seo Ah] "Not to worry Seo Ah, for the elegant me and my harp can perform countless of time. Though if you insist, a sister giving a massage is rather..." [Seraph] "Stop flirting around! Plus, she''s a sister!" [Alicia] I guess that''s just part of his personality, but I suppose any women hearing what he just said will find his joke a bit creepy... That is if it was a joke... Yes a joke. I''m sure it''s a joke. After telling Saint Louis and the other about our discovery, those who can use holy mana (Seraph, Saint Louis and two other archbishop) spread out and begin using their holy mana to search for Rampaging Garuda feathers. Well, our plan is to have those four keep using their holy mana so that we could find any scattering feathers of the Holy Beast, and once we have gather enough feathers, we will test any potential tools to see whether the tools react to the feathers or not. If, by chance, one of the tools do react to the feathers, than we can assume that that is the tools once use by the royalty of this country to tracked and hunt down the holy beast (Still, we have been going around for half a day now but...) [Seo Ah] So far, we only got a total of three feathers. I wonder if those three feathers are enough to even evoke a response to the tools, and that''s not taking into account that the tools is still here in the first place, or whether it''s still in good condition or not "Not to worry ????????????! Why worry when you can be relax ????????????! Why worry when the uncertainties can be replaced with hope????????????!" [Seraph] We are still in the corridor, trying to enter the next room, but he already start singing, and the contents of his song is mostly to cheer me up. "Is it that obvious..." [Seo Ah] "What kind of musician will I be when I can''t even read the mood of a cute sister in front of me. My music is meant to bring positivity around the world, especially to a cute lady like you" [Seraph] (He destroy his moment to become cool...) [Alicia] "Hahaha!" [Seo Ah] "!?" [Alicia] "Mr Seraph, you''re funny!" [Seo Ah] I guess I really misjudged him a bit. I might still need a bit more of my training to become a splendid person like Saintess Rumia. Let just keep striving! Chapter 339 - 339: Searching for The Holy Beast of Wind, Rampaging Garuda part 3 _________________________________________________ [At the Demon kingdom castle] [Aries point of view] To think, there''s someone who possesses both the power of Seraph and Iblis, in addition of being a witch. It''s unbelievable, and yet, that person, that person. Because of the greed of the previous demon king, because of that person running away, and couple with the two traitorous princes struggling for the throne and power, the succession war of the demon kingdom happen. It isn''t directly that person fault, but one couldn''t help but to see how that person is indeed, a part of a prelude to the succession war So if I get this sequence correctly, the previous, Druser casting some ancient spell related to Iblis onto his father --> His father now act like a half doppelganger (unable to die, unable to live) --> at death bed, found the person containing the power of a witch, Seraph and Iblis, --> previous demon king death??? --> That person escape --> Succession war happen "So, what actually happened to the previous demon king? Is he really death? If not, why act now, and why act with his two son?" [Motra''s little brother] "There''s also a question of why they wanted the power of that person to begin with. And since we can safely assume they''re unable to track that person, they''re having a backup plan" [Singa''s grandfather] "And that somehow has something to do with Druser casting the spell. If, going by what being told to you by the death demon king hold true, the fallen devil king Iblis will possess you, and..." [Aries] "Together with Seraph, they will use the two power in order to achieve something" [New Paladin] "But what is that something? Not to mention, why bother helping Princess Diana''s eldest brother. Is it just to make monitor and make sure the ten heroes stay away from them?" [Demon Queen] "Somehow, I don''t think that''s the case" [Druser] While we did "figured out" or at least manage to assume one of their objectives, we couldn''t come to any good conclusion. The meddling third party, just why did they have to act now out of all the time. There''s no evidence suggesting they''re working with Agnes and the other, and all the evidences thus far show that they really are working for another goal "I guess the only way we can figure this out is by tracing that person back" [Motra''s little brother] "Agree. For now, how about we call the other and let them know about it" [Aries] _________________________________________________ [At the curse land] [Lara and Nara point of view] The temperature during the night at this barren land is cold. Since we uses our adaptability magic, the cold didn''t really bother us, but we are sure, that if we deactivate the magic, the cold will pierce our heat receptor, causing us to shiver instantly. With the light orb flying around us, and the bright illumination provided by the moons, the two of us, alone start to head back to the New Headquarters, taking the main middle road in order to avoid any unnecessary encounters with a monster Unfortunately for us, it''s no monsters that decide to pay us a visit, but rather ""Lara/Nara, dodge!!"" [Lara, Nara] Sensing a poisonous fire breath from a devilish Cerberus, the two of us dodge and start taking out our scythe simultaneously. With Lara providing long range magic support, Nara started to imbued himself with acceleration and attack up buff, dashing through the three headed canine. The Cerberus keep spitting out fiery poison, left and right, up and down. Hardly any corporation from the three headed dogs. While they did target Lara, the three heads barely work with each other, almost as if the fiery poisonous spit were spitted randomly, making things easier for Nara to dodge "Soul pierce" [Nara] Since attacking a Cerberus head will only cause their head to multiply, Nara decided to use the technique he and Lara acquired through the blessing from The God of Death. Striking not only physically, but also attacking the soul of the Cerberus directly. Lara''s long range light arrow was also imbued with the same power ""There''s more!!"" [Lara, Nara] Just like back then, when the hunter devil with the rank of the ten commanders, pack of canine devils start to attack them. By this point, Lara and Nara grew rather accustomed on dealing with the canines. In fact, even if they''re tired after unfruitful search of the holy beast, they''re not currently protecting anyone, so they''re free to go full offence from the get go When Nara is attacking with his scythe imbued with his own mana, Lara will use support magic to help him such as buffing Nara, and debuff their enemies with various stat down and status ailments. She will also chain their enemies, and since they can use all seven elements of magic with neutral magic like Ash does, Lara will use chain magic appropriate to her enemies. If her enemies has a weakness to mirage magic, she will chain them down with mirage chain, with the added benefits of attacking their mind, causing frenzy and confusion. The same can be said true when it''s Lara turn to take on the offence with her scythe. Nara will naturally start supporting her the way she support him. Buff, debuff, attacking through magic, chaining and restricting their enemies movement. They coordinate so well with each other, thanks to no small part by their time observing, sparing and getting their lesson from the pair S rank siblings, Anjin and Kucin ~Wolfs howling~ ""Pack of mirage wolfs!!"" [Lara, Nara] The pack of mirages devil wolfs, consisting of no less than 70 wolfs at a time, start encircling them. With the high concentration of mirage mana in the air, the devil wolfs have a easy time casting spells after spells onto the two of them. Not only that, mirages spell that were usually difficult to use by them, such as mirage mirror, can be use by more than half of the pack, causing ((They''re multiplying!!)) [Lara, Nara] Not only the wolfs, but other canine devils start walking out from the mirrors. Their numbers easily double than the initial pack of devil canines that attacks them Chapter 340 - 340: Searching for The Holy Beast of Wind, Rampaging Garuda part 4 [At the cursed land] [Lara and Nara point of view] Mirage mirror. A mirage spell capable of reproducing anything that are reflected to it. The spell main advantage is that, it''s capable of overturning the tide of a battle trough advantage in number. Of course, the clone wouldn''t be nearly as powerful as the original, and the clone will disappear should it takes enough damage, or after a certain period of time, or the caster mana dwindle or the caster die Still, given how the curse land is brimming with the mana of mirage, light and dark, the mirage portion amplify the spell further, and since the devil mirage wolves takes advantage of it, the number of devil canines keep on coming nonstop. One after another, the mirage wolves bare it fangs toward us. ""Sickles of wind. Protect us!!"" [Lara, Nara] A wind spell, shaping itself as sharp sickles, surround both of us, cutting through any mirage clones that tried to get near us. We put even greater amount of mana than usual as to make it stay longer, as well as to cut down the enemies numbers ""From below!!"" [Lara, Nara] Or more specifically, from our faint shadows. It''s night, but the full moons are bright enough that our shadows can houses the night stalker. A dog of pure darkness, with only prominent part being the full red eyes without any pupils. A creature of pure darkness that is weak to light magic, and so ""Light chandelier!!"" [Lara, Nara] We gather our mana and form a massive chandelier that illuminate our surrounding, trying to kill every last one of it, but ""Tough"" [Lara, Nara] Not only it''s tough, but it''s intelligent enough to use the mirage mirror to duplicate some clones, and the clones make suicidal attempts on tainting the chandelier with it own body. One by one, although small, it leave a blackish spot that blocks the light from the chandelier magic, and just in under five seconds, the chandelier light is there no more Without mentioning a word, both of us quickly scan our main target, the true bodies of the pack of mirage wolves. If we want to escape from this canine nightmare, we have to first kill the mirage wolves ""Whip of fire and thunder"" [Lara, Nara] Launching a wide range spell, the whip of fire and thunder hit every foes indiscriminately. From the small earthly jackals to the large three headed cerberus. None are spared from it ~Bark~ The hell hound however, quickly eat the fire portion of the whip, and as for the thunder coyotes, it redirect the attack back to us, multiplying it by two folds, but unfortunately for the thunder coyotes, us homunculus can simply absorb the mana ((This is... Are they toying with us??)) [Lara, Nara] They aren''t like wild animals or monsters, hungry for food, but rather, they''re actually toying with us, trying to waste our mana and stamina so that... ((So that the hunter devil can finish us in one go)) [Lara, Nara] That seems to be the likely case here. If that''s the case "Lara!" [Nara] "Hmm!" [Lara] Lara prepare her spell. Gathering massive amount of water and earth mana, Lara first makes a large crater underneath all of them, and a dome of earth surrounding them, creating a huge sphere. Nara on the other hand, prepare both himself and his twin sister adaptability mana, and once it is all set "Raging whirlpool!" [Lara] With she herself in the center of the sphere, Lara fills the sphere with water magic, drowning all of her enemies. Not only that, she make sure the water keep spinning haphazardly, making sure the devil canines keep getting slam into the thick earth wall. Finally, fine ice needles are unleash, hitting and piercing the canines at various places. Eyes, hitting the right ear, piercing and exiting through the left ear, in between the toe, some even swallow it. The hell hounds tries to evaporate the water, but (Not on my watch!) [Nara] Nara slices them all with his scythe. Unlike Mahsuri or Charlotte, his and Lara power decreases when they''re under water, so the strength, speed, accuracy and lethality in each swing of him decreases, even with the adaptability magic help, but since his opponents are in more helpless and dire situation than he is, it net out and thus, each swing of his scythe causes massive damage to the defenceless devil canines Just as he''s about to make one final large swing to finish them all simultaneously, two long tail long paws Ahuizotl, or more commonly known as water dogs, emerge from underground and drag both Lara and Nara with it. The two, late on detecting the monster, were forcefully dragged into the ground, where devil volcanic wolves surround them and tried to melt them down. They try to escape, but the water dog entangled themselves, prepare to die alongside Lara and Nara. Having enough of this, the two chant ""EXPLOSION!!"" [Lara, Nara] Large underground explosion, leaving traces of muscles and organs of the devil canine, while hurling the two of us up in the air, before landed on the ground rather haphazardly. ""Hurt..."" [Lara, Nara] The explosion, and the landing, cause significant injuries, especially their arms and legs. ""No!!"" [Lara, Nara] The hunter devil, suddenly show itself. With multiple weapons at his disposal, the large hunter choose a large axe, and he swing the axe, almost chopping Nara right hand clean. The force is strong, strong enough even without any magical enhancement, it shatter the ground underneath it. Just when they''re about to fight back, two familiar mana can be sense from behind. They distract the hunter for a bit, who also detect the two mana, but ""Oh no you don''t!! Space magic: Entrapment!!" [Lara, Nara] A cube of entrapment chain and trap the hunter inside. It''s made without any thought, so it shatter easily with a single swing, but ""Damn you!!"" [Hunter devil] The long range water and dark spear hits the arms. It also carries two familiar space mana, on which "Get away from Lara and Nara!" [Singa] "Space chain!" [Linda] Linda chain down the hunter, while giving Singa the chance to stab the hunter throat. He hit the trachea of the hunter, only for the hunter, through sheer will, grab Singa''s broadsword out, and toss it aside alongside him. Linda tried to use her scythe and swing it to the hunter''s neck, but again, through sheer will, the hunter grab it and slam Linda into the ground, before having his space dogs open up a portal, retreating along with other surviving devil canines. Chapter 341 - 341: Searching for The Holy Beast of Wind, Rampaging Garuda part 5 Mrs Khamishah, the pair S rank sibling family (their mother, Anjin, Kucin and Miriam), and Queen Rinz, not to mention our siblings from another orphanage, they''re all delighted to see us, but at the same time, they''re the one that stressed out the importance of rushing to the new headquarters as soon as possible. As such, the time we spent inside the country of Kiserre is around 3 hours, even lesser I suppose. All I can remember from our very brief period of visit is just their smiling faces as well as their motivational words to keep us going, giving us all the necessary extra fuels we need to solve the crisis. Plus, what makes us transverse through the dungeon that connects Kiserre and The Cursed Land, the forest dungeon, so quickly is none other than (I''ll see all of you during the rite with the Avery. As such, prepare yourself after getting the blessing from Garuda) [Fairy Queen, Titania] (Wait!!) [Farhah] The Fairy Queen, Titania. That was the first time I saw a large fairy. Calypso and the other fairies that I usually saw was no larger than an a.d.u.l.t palm, but Titania, she''s as large as your typical a.d.u.l.t woman. If it wasn''t for the characteristics wings as well as her overwhelming mirage mana, I would have totally mistaken her for a beautiful human a.d.u.l.t. Plus (She''s powerful. I may not see other holy beasts yet, but she''s without a doubt, just behind Holy Beast of Water, Ice Dragon Reshir) [Charlotte] Anyway, as soon as we enter the second level of forest dungeon, Titania greeted us, exchange the line above, and poof, a thick mirage miasma, most probably from Titania own mana, surround our Camper van golem, and before we know it, we are all at the cursed land site of the forest dungeon entrance. It feels like we are travelling straight, but the camper van golem detected multiple instances of us turning left and right, even plunging down at some point. Maybe we are using the ancient tunnel created by the Traveler King, which got me thinking (Mahsuri did mentioned we will know how to access the ancient tunnel sooner or later, so does that mean, the fairy queen will aid us on that one?) [Charlotte] Maybe yes, maybe not. The Holy Beast of Earth, Shielding Ant Aries does not mentioned anything regarding it, so maybe fairy queen Titania and mother earth will be the one that aid us regarding that matter Anyway, when we enter the cursed land, I can immediately sense high density of mirage, light and dark mana surrounding the land, the air and even the nearby ponds. Other four elements including neutral are there, but compared to the insane amount of the three elements, one would said that this land is filled with those three elements of mana. All of them (except for Karon, Farhah and I) can feel that their elemental affinities resonate with the surrounding mana, and as such "!" [Zerolith] "You can feel it?" [Elise] "Yeah. I can" [Rean] ""Lara and Nara..."" [Kara, Mara] "Really!" [Karon] "Yeah, but they''re in trouble" [Savel] "They''re fighting against group of devils" [Alaric] The three of us try to concentrate hard, and true enough "We have to save them!" [Rumia] "The light magic, and by extension, my space magic might be able to reach them, but..." [Singa] "It''s far away. I once do long range teleportation, but even then, Seraph with his Holy Beast of Light blessing and his holy mana helps me a lot" [Linda] "We might miss the mark, but we have to try!" [Singa] "Right! Listen, I''ll do this, so Rean, Elise, help me" [Zerolith] Zerolith reach out to his long range gun. He said that with Karon and other engineers help, it''s used to snipe faraway enemy with high degree of accuracy, but come at a cost of firing capacity. The puppet magic inside the gun will aid in aiming to further boost the accuracy. He got two of the guns, for which one of it "I''ll use it as well!" [Charlotte] "And I''ll aid Charlotte! I have the Holy Beast of Water blessing as well!" [Savel] "Please do so" [Charlotte] "Then I''ll place my teleportation spell along with it" [Singa] "That means I will place mine on Zerolith" [Linda] "If that''s the case, Mara and I will use tailwind magic. Increasing the speed of the bullet spell should help" [Kara] "Great idea" [Mara] And thus, Karon start controlling the camper van golem (so that the golem wouldn''t hit any bump, that can cause our aim miss the mark). Farhah uses her wood magic, as she gave us a steady footing above the camper van golem, further supported by Behe who uses his gravitational skill as soon to be Empress Behemoth, and thus we start aiming for the devil. Saintess Rumia boost our power and accuracy with her buff spell. Alaric further guide us, helping us pinpoint the exact location of Lara, Nara and the devil "Begin charging up!" [Zerolith] "Same!" [Charlotte] """Here! Take our mana!!!""" [Rean, Elise, Savel] Savel''s water mana started to flow inside of me, as I charge up a water spear spell into the bullet. Singa and Linda, both have their long range teleportation spell ready, and they injected the spell into our water/dark spear bullet spell. As we begin charging up more and more power into the gun, Alaric shout "Now!" [Alaric] ""Roger!!"" [Zerolith, Charlotte] ~Loud Bang~ Good thing Karon and Zerolith warned us all beforehand regarding the loud sound produces by these two guns. Along with Saintess Rumia spell to protect our eardrum and sense of hearing, we also coated our head with protective mana. Don''t want to lose my hearing sense, not now nor during my old age "It hit the mark!" [Alaric] "Now!" [Rean] ""On it!!"" [Singa, Linda] Both of them, having their weapons ready, teleport out into the distance. I could tell that Zerolith''s plan succeeded as the powerful devil mana suddenly vanish. Maybe the devil retreated to safety, though I don''t mind if Linda and Singa manage to defeat it As we get closer to where the four of them are, I can see bodies of devil canines scattering around. The surrounding area are also wet, most likely due to abundance of water magic being use. Just as I step out from the camper van golem, they finish off the last hell hounds. "LARA! NARA!" [All] ""All of you!"" [Lara, Nara] All of us run toward Lara and Nara (I''m glad, I''m glad they''re safe) [Alaric] (If only Ash is here with them, but still, this does put a smile on my face) [Linda] (Thank you goddess, for protecting them) [Rumia] Chapter 342 - 342: Searching for The Holy Beast of Wind, Rampaging Garuda part 6 It''s rather late at night after we reunited with Lara and Nara. Tending to their wounds, Karon keep driving the camper van golem and after traversing the holy dungeon as quickly as we could, the new headquarters gate are in sight "We have arrived" [Karon] Taking a step out, the guards couldn''t help but to fixated their sight on "Saintess Rumia..." "She''s back!" "Everyone! Saintess Rumia is finally back!" "Good to see all of you are in a good shape" [Rumia] "SAINTESS RUMIA!!!" Understandable. Well, that didn''t prevent them from doing their job of checking us and other people that wanted to enter the country Since this is the first time I visit the new headquarters, I can say one thing, and only one thing. This place, it''s simply gorgeous. The white marble of the building, couple with the unique silvery pavement of the smooth street. With the people here always smiling. It''s rustling with activities, and even more so "It''s Saintess Rumia!" "She comes back! After six years, she finally came back!" "It''s been so long after we last saw her, and she looks just as healthy as before" "Thank goodness. O Goddess, please keep on protecting her" "And you too as well" [Rumia] The word that Saintess Rumia finally touch her foot back here spread like wildfire. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say the whole country looking forward to meet her. Of course, with such a large crowd, you would think that thing will go out of control, even more so when Saintess Rumia here is a kind and friendly, but no. The citizen actually organized themselves without any instructions, lining up perfectly as to let our camper van golem pass. We drive rather slowly as to let Saintess Rumia speaks with her citizen. Looking at it, we could tell that they genuinely care about her, and Saintess Rumia reciprocates that feeling as well Apart from her, who would have guess that "So they''re the ten heroes" "They''re rather young, but I could tell they''re stronger than we ever could have imagined" "And isn''t that the Demon Priest of the Demon kingdom, Zerolith? From the look of it, he carries himself rather perfectly" "Saintess Rumia do taught him personally before sending him out, so the fruit fall near from the tree" "And that behemoth, that''s the rumoured Empress Behemoth that the ten heroes have" "It''s a shame that Saint Louis and The Guardian of children are there no more" "They''re watching them from heaven. Let us continue to support them" I''m sorry... The truth is, those two are still alive... Saint Louis specifically requested his "death" to be announced so that he could work behind the scene to help us all. As for Brother Ash, I swear we will save him from the fallen god clutch As we drive to the castle where the administrative offices are located, I just noticed something. First, the number of human and non human are rather equal just like our neighborhood area and Malsia. I heard that there is not a single non human in the Holy Palace where the majority of the avid old follower resides, but here, it''s the opposite. Plus, while I do saw wandering traveler giants during my travel, this might actually be the very first time I ever see them inside a country. I guess they''re the one that Lara and Nara help. Plus, I could also see a group of vampires as well After entering the dungeon, we are greeted by some of a familiar faces (and Birdie of course), just that "ALICIA!" [Alaric] "Brother... You''re hugging me... TOO TIGHTLY!" [Alicia] "Nonsense! Plus, this much is normal. I thought, I thought you''re dead..." [Alaric] "Brother..." [Alicia] "Mind if I join hugging your little sister, Alari..." [Seraph] "STAY AWAY" [Alaric] I would never have guess that the hidden vampire guards of Sis Diana can react rather... Over protectively to her little sister. I always have thought of him as a cooler edgier vampire version of Rean. Guess life never cease to surprise me. Seeing him trying to pin Seraph down to the ground for trying to hit his little sister is again, something that I would never have guess coming from him. Not that I am one to speak of when ~Happy humming~ When I actually hold Lara hands all this while. She didn''t even bother about it, instead keep on humming her favourite song out of pure blissfulness of reuniting with us. I guess I couldn''t blame Mr Vampire guard for his reaction. Seeing Lara and Nara alive, I couldn''t help but to hold her hand, maybe because I don''t want them to gone missing once again. So Mr vampire guard there must feel the same. But... "Seraph, please stop..." [Linda] "You''re putting him in a rather... Difficult situation" [Seo Ah] "But!" [Seraph] "I''LL Assassinate you if you ever thought of dirty thing involving her" [Alaric] "Brother! Seraph is..." [Alicia] "It''s for your own good Alicia" [Alaric] "Damn, that vampire really is overly protective" [Kanji] I can''t help but to compare myself to Mr Vampire Guard right no. Maybe I should stop holding Lara hand "Don''t worry. It isn''t bothering me one bit" [Lara] "Lara..." [Charlotte] I''m sorry for trying to do something unforgivable! I will never let go of your hand! ~Soft screech~ "Meow" [Behe] "Yes we are safe Birdie!" [Singa] "You must be worry about us" [Savel] "Isn''t that obvious" [Kara] "Not only them though" [Mara] "I see that all of you are doing rather fine" [Samurai Jacks] "It''s a relief to see all of you here" [Kana] "Likewise, we are glad to see all of you are doing fine" [Rean] We also were greeted by the higher up of both the administration and the religious organizations here, where they brought us to one of the meeting room, and inside "They finally arrive" [Gilbert] "I''m glad all of you are safe" [Saint Louis] Saint Louis and the S rank adventure guild master already waiting for us, with something on the table Chapter 343 - 343: Searching for The Holy Beast of Wind, Rampaging Garuda part 7 _________________________________________________ [At Estel] [Diana point of view] Thank goodness that all of them safely arrived at the new headquarters without any major issues, though their battles will only begin now. For now, all I can do is put my trust into each one of them, and the citizen of the country to fight against the devil. It will be for the best if nothing happens, though we all know it''s nothing but impossible. Apart from finding and receiving Rampaging Garuda''s blessing, they will need to fight against the one of the ten commanders of the devil army. Saintess Angela will most likely involved in it as well. I don''t want someone like Rumia to fight, but if she has to, I hope she put down Saintess Angela and teach her a lesson (A fight between two saintesses...) [Diana] And there is also the thing that Mrs Aries mentioned. "Excuse me your highness, I''m coming in" [Bladel] "Please, do so" [Diana] The head of Valkyrie, Bladel enter for her daily report. As usual "Good. Please keep it up. Also, please pass these notes to those adventures" [Diana] "Understood!" [Bladel] Looks like there are no suspicious figures trying to get to Rafiah (Although there are multiple reports from Bladel saying that the adventures are all trying to hit on her... Usual stuff for the oblivious Rafiah I guess) The two traitorous princes giving up on Rafiah to pursue other sources of Seraph and Iblis powers? Unlikely. If anything, I feel that they will take Rafiah, Seraph and Demon King Druser (for his soon to get Iblis power) all for themselves. Right now, I don''t want to disclose Rafiah''s identify, but... "We should probably discuss it with her" [Qis] "You took the word straight out of my mouth" [Diana] Not only her though. Ash for once, know about her. So does some of the people around her like Claude and Filvisar. I should discuss with those three first and see how to proceed from there on This after all, involve my citizen as well, not only her. I don''t want to strain our relationship, but if I must, I should not be hesitant to do so _________________________________________________ ""So you finally found it"" [Lara, Nara] "Found what?" [Farhah] ""The tool"" [Lara, Nara] "Hm?" [Elise] "Gahgahgah, you two, how about let them take a seat first before we start our discussion" [Gilbert] "True. Plus, they must be rather tired after the long journey" [Saint Louis] ""Right"" [Lara, Nara] Taking my seat between Lara and Nara, Mr Kana and Mr Jacks quickly recap what happen ever since they arrive here. They met with Lara and Nara, they rescue the vampire and giants, they continue their search of the holy beast, and most recently, through the main effort of Seo Ah, Alicia, Mr Seraph and Saint Louis "So this pot will guide us to the Holy Beast of Wind?" [Elise] "Yes. Please, have a look at this" [Saint Louis] Saint Louis brought out few large size rainbow colours feathers, and as soon as he does that "The pot! It''s reacting to it!" [Farhah] "I see. I suppose we will be using this pot that can react to the holy beast of wind presence, and search the entirety of cursed land by using it" [Rean] "For now. That''s the plan" [Jacks] "It''s rather inefficient, but that''s what we can do for now" [Gilbert] "Hmm..." [Karon] "Is something the matter Karon?" [Farhah] "O Saint Louis, can you please let me have a look at the pot" [Karon] "I don''t see why not" [Saint Louis] Instead of passing it down, Saint Louis get up from the seat himself and give Karon the pot (which make Karon rather distraught... Everyone will feel the same, making a saint do something like that.. Saint Louis and Saintess Rumia however, didn''t even bother about it.) Karon start looking at the pot, and all of us have our eyes on him, hoping the next word that will come out of his mouth will be "Give me a day. I''ll try to replicate and create several of it" [Karon] "That''s our Karon!" [Zerolith] ""Always reliable!!"" [Kara, Mara] As exciting as I am, there''s one thing that I am still thinking. Maybe I should ask Saint Louis, Mr Seraph and Karon while we are at it "Still, I''m curious. Just how did this pot react to the feathers of the holy beast" [Charlotte] "Same here" [Savel] "Do you have any ideas?" [Singa] "Well..." [Saint Louis] Saint Louis mention that the pot has been imbued with search magic that will react to any Holy Mana. As such, even Saint Louis and Mr Seraph''s own mana can activate the pot should they like. He also mentioned that Holy mana will usually react with one another, causing resonance that can do wonders "Well, I am rather curious now, do you have holy mana Karon?" [Kanji] "As a matter of fact, I don''t, but..." [Karon] "But?" [Seo Ah] "I was thinking of using a different approach" [Karon] "You mean by using your puppet magic" [Farhah] "Correct. The pot by itself isn''t that hard too made. The mana conductivity of the pot is rather good, so the material might be a bit hard to get but I could easily recreate any material now thanks to the holy beast of earth blessing. In fact, it doesn''t even have to be a pot as the main start of this tool is the wonderful search magic inside of it" [Karon] "True. I can see the problem of recreating this tool lies in the search magic inside the pot. As a court magician, I must say even I can''t easily recreate it. Someone proficient enough in magic like Brother Ash, Queen Rinz of Kiserre or maybe even Princess Nurhaliza of Malsia can probably recreate it, but as for me, I''m afraid my neutral magic proficiency aren''t up there together with them" [Charlotte] "Which is why I thought of using puppet magic to bypass it" [Karon] "Things will be easier if we have the Goddess Treasure Chest with us now, but yeah..." [Mara] "In any case, if you need any help, don''t be afraid to ask our help" [Rumia] "If you don''t mind, I can start now itself. Is there any workshop that I can use?" [Karon] "Just rest first. Haste make waste" [Saint Louis] "Louis is right, you should probably rest first" [Gilbert] Did he just call Saint Louis as only Louis? Chapter 344 - 344: Searching for The Holy Beast of Wind, Rampaging Garuda part 8 _________________________________________________ [At Estel''s newly constructed Hospital] [Diana point of view] Before, we always rely on the church of the old follower to provide treatment to the masses. While it''s a good system in the past, it isn''t without it share of problem. Name it. Bias treatment. Inappropriate charges. Discrimination. Questionable experimentation and treatment. Plus, I still remember the yearly endemic (which thankfully been resolved by our collective effort with Ash) is the final nail in the coffin for me to finally decided to spent quite a fortune of my own pocket money to train and develop medical center. After six to seven years of long journey, seeing it again and again and again, I will never get tired of it. It isn''t that far away from Diana''s hall (which in turn not far away from the orphanage), so I decided to come here with Qis and Bladel in search of Yefefiah, our very own angel race doctor but "Sorry princess... I don''t think that''s a good idea... She seems awfully reluctant... Plus, I can''t disclose any more of my patient private information, even if it''s you the one asking it as it meant breaking my oath as a healer" [Yefefiah] "That''s fine. Still, I wonder how you manage to get to know this private information as well" [Diana] "Let just said through some rather questionable activity" [Yefefiah] She immediately connected the dot when I was about to ask her regarding best way to approach Rafiah. I don''t even tell her anything about Seraph, Iblis and Witch and what Mrs Aries told me, and yet she understands all of it, which mean "What other information do you have pertaining this situation" [Diana] "Not much. Plus, I think you have a better chance asking Muse. She does communicate with other orphans right now through the private line you provided" [Yefefiah] "That make sense. Still, do you really think it''s a good idea, for Rafiah to just close her heart and not seeking any help?" [Qis] "100% not. If anything, I wanted to help her out more than anything" [Yefefiah] "I did ask Claude the other day. She wanted to find help but upon hearing Ash''s death..." [Bladel] "Yes. Ash''s death was one of the triggering factor of her depression and sense of hopelessness. I did convince her to come seeking our magical mind treatment, but at the end of the day, it''s up to her to open back her heart" [Yefefiah] I see. Now I kinda understand Rafiah more. I only know that she''s a witch who also happens to have the power of Seraph and Iblis, but I don''t fully understand the current state of her mind. The weight of her power. Ash''s death. The responsibility she shoulder after his death. I guess along the way, she just close up more and more of her heart. If I have to add another guess, those kids facing the fallen god also causes her to even shut her own problem more, as she thought that the hardship they gone through are much more important than her _________________________________________________ I thought of going out and see for myself the view of this country, but as a court magician "And you do like this to get the metal that you want" [Karon] "Urghh..." [Kara] "Even with the holy beast blessing, it''s kinda hard" [Mara] "Don''t worry. You''ll get used to it" [Karon] I am now watching Karon, Kara and Mara inside of the workshop provided by Saint Louis. Karon wanted to make several tools that can help us track down the Rampaging Garuda more effectively. Kara and Mara, who alongside Karon help out as well. They will help Karon by making use of the holy beast if earth blessing and make a high quality materials with fantastic mana conductivity. That way, the search magic that Karon will put (or the dwarf racial magic: puppet magic that he will put) can be use to scan the environment faraway Since Kara and Mara wanted to give Karon a proper material, they even draw a magic circle on the ground and chant a long spell just to make increase the quality. They also make sure to do it one at a time, to further increase the quality. I don''t know if this is a common practice or not, maybe it is where Brother Ash magical school of thought haven''t reach yet, but seeing the use of magic circle and long chanting is rare, at least I don''t really see it much outside of classes or during some of the experimentation at the royal court laboratory "You''re progressing astoundingly fast" [Karon] "We do?" [Kara] "Yes. I''m sure of it" [Karon] "Make sense, we do bore some of the previous holy beast of earth power when we were little. Maybe that''s why" [Mara] "Hmm?" [Charlotte] "Oh, you don''t actually remember it. Make sense, you''re still 6 when that happens" [Karon] "Now I feel ashamed of myself for making that scene" [Kara] "What happen? I can''t really remember" [Charlotte] "Well..." [Mara] I do know Mother Aries is an experimental "Chimera" made by Saintess Angela as part of the previous holy beast was put inside of her and then she gave birth to Kara and Mara. That''s when Kara and Mara started to show sign of transforming into ant like chimera when they were younger, but Mother Aries prevented that by sucking away any Tyrant Ant Drant''s mana inside of them "So maybe the new holy beast detected some miniscule amount of it still inside of both of you and decided to just give you her blessing" [Charlotte] "Most likely the case" [Kara] Huh. I didn''t know that. Maybe the older one do remember it and as such, they might actually know that reasoning the moment Kara and Mara received the blessing "And now, time to put the puppet magic into the tools" [Karon] "Guess all we can do is sit back and watch" [Mara] "You should probably rest first Karon" [Kara] "No need to. The sooner I done with it, the sooner I can lie down on my bed" [Karon] "If that''s the case, least I can do now is make you something sweet. Any requests?" [Charlotte] "Really? Can you make me a jug of cold tea please" [Karon] "One jug of sweet creamy milky cold tea coming right up!" [Charlotte] Better make it quick so that I don''t miss any of the process involves Chapter 345 - 345: Searching for The Holy Beast of Wind, Rampaging Garuda part 9 _________________________________________________ [At Estel''s Orphanage] [Diana point of view] Currently, the children of orphanage are studying at the school, leaving Rafiah, Claude and Filvisar alone, managing the Training Hall (together with Cupid adoptive brother, the dwarf worker Kronbir). This is a fine opportunity for me to discuss the issue on hand with all three at once, but "I''m sorry, but please... Concentrate on them first... My problem is small as compared to them" [Rafiah] I don''t even utter a single word, and yet she perfectly grasp what I am about to say. I don''t know whether I should feel impressed, sad or furious about it. "But this does involve those ten" [Qis] "How so...?" [Rafiah] "Even if the two traitorous princes didn''t plan anything with the devil, they will most likely come and hunt you down. We will do our best to protect you, but should everything fail and you''re kidnapped, how do you think they will react" [Qis] "For once, my right hand girl Elise will take Behe and search over the entirety of Achalasia for you. She''s a level headed girl but can sometimes surprise you with her antics when she''s panicking" [Bladel] "Knowing Elise, that will most likely be the case, so can you please stop her from doing that when that happens" [Rafiah] "HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT!" [Diana] "!?" [All] "Wow, it''s rare to see you snapping like that Princess" [Calypso] "Agr.e" [Housey] "Prett. Sc.ry" [Calypso Tree] And those tree ruined the tension. With Calypso resting on my shoulder while the two orbs having some conversation between themselves. I''m sure the two orbs are influenced by a certain someone that created them, or maybe it''s Calypso and the two orbs telling me not to shout inside the orphanage "Anyway. Don''t worry too much. Rafiah isn''t all that stupid. I''m sure she has a plan or two if that indeed happens" [Calypso] "How did you..." [Rafiah] "It''s pretty obvious" [Filvisar] "Knowing you, you most likely have some sort of backup plan. One involving the spawning block monster that you secretly use" [Claude] "That''s..." [Rafiah] "Sigh... Can you please tell us" [Diana] "Well..." [Rafiah] _________________________________________________ "That''s the raging water magician for you" "She''s talented... No wonder Princess Diana of Estel appointed her as the youngest court magician of the country" "You''re becoming more and more like a mermaid princess" [Elise] "Those mermaids must be happy knowing their beloved mermaid princess are doing an excellent job with each passing day" [Kara] "Those flying stingray golem look badass" [Kanji] "And the flying manta rays look cute!" [Seo Ah] "Anyway, all of you should form a group and fly with those golems. As for me, I will just fly into the sky using my wing as usual" [Seraph] "Remember to take these tools first" [Farhah] Right now, the six of us from the girls group (Elise, Kara, Mara, Lara, Farhah and me) and Behe as well as some of the adventures and other helpers will be searching out for the Holy Beast of Wind Of course, right now, with the aid of my extensive army of marine golem, they can cover up more ground, previously inaccessible areas and even the sky (which were covered by Kana riding our steel bird golem Birdie and Seraph previously) While waiting for them to take the pot like tools created by Karon yesterday, Behe also started to enlarge himself, becoming a full sized empress behemoth letting Elise, as usual riding him. Kara and Seo Ah will be joining her. Mara, Lara, Farhah and me will go together and search somewhere else. As for the boys, they will be joining Saint Louis, Saintess Rumia, Samurai Jacks and S rank guild master Gilbert, standing by incase Saintess Angela and the other devils suddenly decided to attack the new headquarters. We will be alternating with each other. One group searching for the holy beast while the other protecting the new headquarters "And if you do this, it should be automatically registering the places you visited" [Mara] "It synchronize with the other as well. That way we can better coordinate among ourselves" [Lara] "This tool really is magical!" "That hero dwarf sure make some unbelievable stuff" He sure does. Sometime I wonder, just where did he get all these crazy ideas. It''s a shame that he isn''t here today seeing the replicated tools that he makes being tested out by so many people at once, but he knew his own limit. As soon as he finished the final tool, he simply ask explain it to us and went to rest, believing in us to take care of the other. I''m sure as an engineer, he wanted to see for himself the good and bad about what he just created so that he can improve it further as soon as possible, but at the same time, as a hero, he not being in his best shape will spell trouble for all of us, which is why he trusting us all is the best decision he can make As every group have taken the tools and get themselves sitting comfortably on my golems "Alright! My armies of manties and stingies! Fly away!" [Charlotte] (Manties...) [Kanji] (Stingies...) [Farhah] (She''s still a child even when she tried to act all grown up. It''s cute actually speaking) [Seo Ah] And with the strong flap, we took off into the sky. It''s simply magnificent, and it''s a view that''s worth remembering forever. The land stretching far and beyond. With the wind brimmed with mana of mirage, light and dark casually blew my face and hair. The exciting moment, seeing the other sharing the same experience as you''re, as we keep looking at each other, all simply sharing these moments, magically, through one another. We can only sit and enjoy, as we hold our breath together "I''m glad I am able to see the sky with my fellow comrades. We should all do this often. It''s a great bonding activity" [Seraph] "Roar!" [Behe] "He''s agreeing with you" [Elise] Not only Behe, I''m sure everyone agree. Chapter 346 - 346: Searching for The Holy Beast of Wind, Rampaging Garuda part 10 [At the New Headquarters] [Kana point of view] It''s been a week since they''re all here, searching for The Holy Beast of Wind. They''re working hard, always be the last one to come back to take a rest, and always be the one waking up the earliest and start searching for the holy beast. Not only that, they''re also working hard day in and out, patrolling the country in order to keep the citizen safe from the devils, and yet, the search of the holy beast yield no results thus far. All of us do theorized that the habitat of The Rampaging Garuda will be somewhere up there in the sky, and true enough, the pot that were created by Karon do react once we have reached a certain altitude, but, somehow, the other pots also react simultaneously. Two tools created to search for the holy beast, react at the same time, when they''re in opposite directions. Not only that, the most puzzling part happen yesterday, when Seraph, Birdie and I as well as the boys group (and some adventures) reach into the cloud yesterday. All of us were in different places and yet, at the same time, all of the tools react. It is simply puzzling as none of us can''t find the holy beast Right now, Karon is looking into any malfunctioning of the tools together with the help of the court magicians of this country (as such, today search has been suspended, and we are all getting a rest day from searching the holy beast). Even Saintess Rumia tag along, asking for the goddess guidance but alas, according to Saintess Rumia, Goddess Achalasia just ask them to continue as usual and to think as to why yesterday result happen (Karon is still looking at the tools he created, just in case a malfunction do happen, but from what Saintess Rumia mentioned just now, I don''t think that''s likely the case) [Kana] Even still, we have to at least make triple sure of it. Not that we don''t believe on the saintess and the goddess, but it''s better if we cover every aspect first. As I aimlessly flying around in the sky with Birdie, patrolling the commercial district of the country, I can see Mr Jacks, Rean, Lara and Nara are making their rounds as well. They''re talking to a group of vampires, and it seems a bit serious, so "What happen?" [Kana] "Mr Kana, Birdie. Well, have a look at what they found" [Rean] One of the vampires show me a large fang. No, the exact description will be a fresh large fang, with fresh saliva and blood still on it. It''s still warm, indicating that it hasn''t been that long since it''s detach from the monster. Judging by the size (around an arm long) and the characteristics fire marks on the fang, it''s most likely belonging to gargantuan hell hound. This is a bad news indeed... "Is that all you can find?" [Kana] "Unfortunately yes" "Goddess... This is a bad news indeed" [Samurai Jacks] "Indeed. Hell hound of all type and species usually live in a pack. Even when gargantuan hell hound us rare, it can still command the usual size hell hound" [Kana] "Plus, the hunter devil. Based on what Lara and Nara said, he usually command canine type of devil" [Rean] ""He''s here. Inside the country"" [Lara, Nara] "True. Plus, we should also assume Saintess Angela and the other already infiltrate the country" [Samurai Jacks] "Can all of you resume your patrol, I will..." [Kana] Just as I am about to finish my sentence, the fire mark on the fang activated. It injures the vampire holding it out, incinerate the hand with spew of lava. Not only that, the lava spew out, almost alive, targeting Rean''s face when he tries to help the vampire "Blade of wind: Gust redirect" [Samurai Jacks] ""Water trap!!"" [Lara, Nara] "Thank you, the three of you. Fire magic: Fire control" [Rean] Mr Samurai Jacks, Lara and Nara quick reaction prevent Rean from receiving a grievous injuries. Samurai Jacks uses his wind magic alongside his katana and send the lava upward into the air, while Lara and Nara quickly follow up with their water magic, trapping the lava inside sphere of water, cooling the lava quickly as the also use ice frost magic and speed up the process. Rean proceed to control the fang with his fire magic, trying to deactivate the magic coming from it "The fang!" "And that miasma!" "Stay back! I''ll take care of this" [Rean] "And I''ll help!" [Kana] ~Screech~ Birdie screech and it put a barrier of wind as to prevent any sort of damage to the surrounding. I can feel Rean activating his blessing as he tries to combat the devilish miasma coming out from the fangs, as it actively spew out more and more lava, almost like a mini volcano before he decided to "Dark void! Consume it all!" [Rean] He decided to straight away destroy the fang. Good thinking. Still, since the fang act rather violently, I''m afraid it will take some time before the fang get totally destroyed, and as such "Witch art: Take over!" [Kana] I tried to use my witch power and calm it down. It violence that''s for sure, but I''m glad it''s working, and in no time, the fang is there no more, but... ""Water heal"" [Lara, Nara] "Thank you. It''s soothing" ""You''re welcome. We will treat you thoroughly"" [Lara, Nara] As the twin heal the vampire, I told them my impression "So, you can feel a witch power present inside the fang" [Jacks] "That''s right, and to elaborate further, I''m sure that very same witch power causes the fang to suddenly reactivated, causing it to spew lava" [Kana] "That mean Saintess Angela really is here..." [Rean] So she really is a witch... I wonder, as a fellow witch, could I help them take her down. I can sense the witch power inside the fang. I feel like, I''m out of the league. Maybe Rafiah can do something, but she''s not here, so it''s up to me to help them ~Screech~ "Yes, I won''t falter just because of slight challenge" [Kana] "Anyway, we should probably report it to other now itself" [Jacks] "Right!" [All] Chapter 347 - 347: Searching for The Holy Beast of Wind, Rampaging Garuda part 11 [At the new headquarters] I was together with Karon, Saintess Rumia and Farhah just now, helping Karon figuring out if by chances, there are any malfunctioning of the tools he created. Of course, Goddess Achalasia told Saintess Rumia to just continue what we are doing, which is her way of indirectly saying there''s nothing wrong with the tools created, but Saintess Rumia herself told us that we should still double check the tools. It''s not like we are doubting the goddess, far from it. We do believe in the words she''s saying, but at the same time, Goddess Achalasia only helps those who helps themselves. So if we are just lazing around, not bothering to check the tools because goddess tell us so, then it''s like we are showing to the goddess that we are not working hard enough. Just as the last court magician that were helping us went out, I heard two familiar footsteps running toward this room "I guess that''s the last of them. I''m 100% sure none of the tools I created malfunctioned" [Karon] "Which mean that..." [Farhah] "Here you guys are!" [Savel] "And Saintess Rumia is here as well. Perfect timing" [Singa] "Oh my, you two looks in a hurried. Something happen?" [Rumia] "Well, Rean and the other found evidence of the devils invading this country!" [Savel] "Say what!?" [Charlotte] "And I suppose you coming here to inform us about it, and that Saint Louis and the other call us out for a meeting" [Rumia] "That''s right O saintess" [Singa] "If that''s the case, I think we should hurry there" [Farhah] "True. This is an emergency after all" [Karon] "But first, let me stores all these tools inside my item box" [Rumia] She pick it up one by one instead and put it inside her item box instead of just open up her item box magic below those tools. Seeing this, all of us help her out as well. She''s a saintess, and we made a saintess do such rudimentary work not befitting of her status. I''m sure she doesn''t mind it a single bit, since she''s after all, just like any one of us, but those around her can''t help but to see her as someone special (even us heroes feels like that), someone that''s beloved by Goddess herself, and as such, we don''t want to trouble her with such thing out of respect for her And thus, the five of us went straight to a meeting room, with Mara and Zerolith the last one to enter (are they dating or what is what I wanted to tease, but the atmosphere prevent me from doing so). As they take a seat just beside Kara, Saint Louis and Mr Gilbert start the discussion, asking Mr Samurai Jacks, Mr Kana, Rean, Lara and Nara what happen. "And that''s why, we firmly believe that Saintess Angela is behind that incident" [Rean] "Tchh, that damn Penanggal. Always a nuisance" [Alaric] "Penanggal? As in, the ghost?" [Elise] "True. We were there back then when we discovered it. Well, to be more exact, when Alaric here successfully decapitate her only for us to discover the fact" [Seraph] "You decapitate a saintess!?" [Alicia] "That woman is no saintess. Even if she''s a saintess, she''s a saintess for the fallen god" [Alaric] "Is that really..." [Alicia] "What are you doubting for. Aren''t they the one performing experiment on you and those giants" [Alaric] "True. All five of us back then discover that they''re working with Agnes to help the fallen god resurrection, so that''s why, we know for a fact that''s the truth" [Linda] "You were there!? Can you please tell me more. I heard an awful lot of variation, so I''m not sure which is which honestly speaking" [Alicia] "Certainly..." [Saint Louis] And Saint Louis told us the tale from six years back. When he mention about Brother Ash, I can see that not only him, but the other three (Seraph, Linda and Alaric) eyes filled with guilt, as they failed to save Brother Ash. Linda in particular, feel it the most "I see. I can see why the giant will be useful should they wanted to recreate the incident, but why us vampires?" [Alicia] "Maybe as a substitute for the minion of God of Death?" [Charlotte] "That might be the case, but I don''t think that''s the case. Only a very handful of people knew that us minion of God of Death were involved back then, and even then, we don''t actually make any public appearance" [Linda] "Then what? Just to wreck havoc?" [Gilbert] "Knowing her, that''s more than sufficient for a cause, but knowing her as well, that seems a bit unjustified" [Saint Louis] "And why is that?" [Rumia] "Well. She''s sadistic to say the least, so before achieving what she wanted, surely she will do everything in her power to make her opponent taste some..." [Alaric] Mr vampire guard looks like he has it figured out, and not in a good way as he make a long sigh and said "of course" loudly "I see. To take revenge on you for exposing her as a Penanggal in front of her follower" [Seraph] "Based on what I heard about Saintess Angela, that seems to be the case here" [Gilbert] "No doubt about it" [Alaric] "And us four here must be part of her calculation as well. To take revenge on us" [Saint Louis] "And to put the final nail in the coffin, she will do something terrible to Saintess Rumia" [Seraph] "That''s terrible!" [Seo Ah] So, just like we were told previously, those giants and vampires that were experimented by Saintess Angela (which were now put under the deep slumber spell by Saint Louis and fellow court magician of the country, with multiple other methods to ensure they will not run rampage should they are turn into devils) "So, our threats right now will be the hunter devil and Saintess Angela, am I right?" [Kanji] "We should probably add Zin the half giant as well. I have this feeling that Angela will most definitely use him here as well" [Saint Louis] "That towering giant" [Savel] "And Motra''s best friend" [Singa] "I wonder when will they strike?" [Kara] "We don''t have a single clue about it" [Jacks] "And we still didn''t have a single clue of the whereabouts of the Rampaging Garuda" [Mara] "For now, I should keep on searching for the holy beast, so other should probably stay inside the country" [Kana] "How about it, Louis?" [Gilbert] All of us look at Saint Louis for answe Chapter 348 - 348: Searching for The Holy Beast of Wind, Rampaging Garuda part 12 [At the cursed land] Searching. With time not on our side (even when three of us received the Blessing of The Holy Beast of Dark, Az the Timekeeper...), we are now soaring up in the sky, while the boys group are on the watch at the New Headquarters preparing for the worst. The citizen are given notices, expecting the worst to come, and here we are, searching, soaring in the sky, looking for The Holy Beast of Wind, Rampaging Garuda. I''m anxious. All of us are. Anxious that those devils will strike the new headquarters at moment notice. Anxious that the boys will find it hard to protect other while they''re getting bombarded by devils left and right. Anxious that Saint Louis, Saintess Rumia, and the other, will fall prey to the devils. (I know that this is nothing but a bad thought, but I can''t get rid of it no matter how hard I try) [Charlotte] Still, the best course of action now will be, to look for The Rampaging Garuda, receive the blessing of the wind, and persuade the holy beast to aid us to defeat the devils. That''s the best course of action that Saint Louis believe. "The tools, they''re detecting the presence once more" [Mara] "But as usual..." [Kara] "Just where are the holy beast?" [Charlotte] We look everywhere for it. Up. Down. Left. Right. Again. Nothing. We just stay there, looking at each other, bewildered by the fact that the same result keep repeating itself over and over again, before the other calls us, telling the exact same thing again. The tools show a positive results, without the presence of the holy beast. Frustrated, we decided to land on the ground first, taking out our lunches and start to have an early lunch. While we are at it "The tools isn''t broken, right...?" [Kara] "No. Of course not. Plus, remember what Saintess Rumia said" [Charlotte] "Then what could possibly happen?" [Mara] "Beats me. We soar as high as we could, but then again, we can''t find even a single feather from the holy beast" [Kara] As we munch the lunch, a random thought crosses my mind (The devil suddenly appearing and start destroying the new headquarters... The Holy Beast of Wind, Rampaging Garuda also did the same to the country back then, but...) [Charlotte] It''s coming together. As if the knots that are there preventing me from making a connection between one point to another slowly being solved, one by one, the knots disappear, before I come up with one interesting hypothesis "What if, we actually did find the holy beast all this while" [Charlotte] ""Pardon??"" [Kara, Mara] The two looks at me, feeling curious as to why I suddenly said it like that. The sandwiches on their hand were put into the plates as they wanted to hear my thoughts regarding it "What if, the holy beast of wind, is simply, well... nothing more than a wind?" [Charlotte] "Charlotte... You did realize that the holy beast did attack the new headquarters in the past" [Kara] "Even Saint Louis and Mr Gilbert themselves saw it with their very two eyes. A giant Garuda with feathers of a rainbow. We even hold the feathers, don''t you remember" [Mara] "I know, but think about it. First, how did the event happen?" [Charlotte] "Going by the history, the royal and noble of the country drafted their citizens and mobilize all their assets to capture the holy beast" [Kara] "Which, as we all know, ended up with failure. A big failure, especially after the holy beast rampage through the land, which got it the title, Rampaging Garuda" [Mara] "And how did it escape and become untraceable ever since, or even a better question, how did it enter the country in the first place?" [Charlotte] ""That..."" [Kara, Mara] This is the very first thing that suddenly crosses my mind as I tried to formulate this hypothesis, as I was wondering about what would happen if the devil suddenly emerge and attack the country. Obviously the devil have the portal stone on their disposal to make it possible, or they could just hop on any portal that were opened by their gods, get out and wreck havoc, but the holy beast? None. Even the Holy Beast of Water, Ice Dragon Reshir uses some sort of space magic mechanism to summon us into his place, but that wasn''t his mana at all "Then can you explain the part where everyone were looking at a garuda during that time?" [Mara] "That''s the thing, I can''t really explain it. Not like the holy beast carry around mirage mana" [Charlotte] "It doesn''t, but you know what carry the mirage mana around here?" [Kara] ""You mean..."" [Mara, Charlotte] Kara just pointed us toward the air that surrounds us, as she keeps making a small spiral of wind using her finger, concentrating all of it. She gather around her wind magic, sucking in the concentrated amount of mirage mana in the air while expelling out other mana as best as she could before ~Poof~ A cute little bird with feathers made out of rainbow comes out, playing around Kara''s finger "It''s an illusion!" [Charlotte] "Your wind mana and mirage mana combined, giving rise to this illusion!" [Mara] Yes, that''s it! Other might not be able to do it! But, for something like the holy beast of wind, this is actually plausible! No, I dare say it''s our trial, to figure this out! "I think all of us got it!" [Mara] "That seems definitely the case here!" [Kara] "I will call Elise, Lara, Farhah and the other now itself!" [Charlotte] "We should probably tell the other about it as well!" [Kara] And that we does. Ignoring our lunch that''s becoming cold, we dial up our phones and one by one, they start answering our phones, and one by one, they''re all nodding, believing our explanation. "Then what are we waiting for!?" [Zerolith] "Hold it demon priest! Don''t you forget something!" [Mara] That''s right... This pose another problem. How do we get them here? Wouldn''t this be a great time for the devils, to strike... Chapter 349 - 349: Battle at the New Headquarters part 1 [At the New Headquarters] [Saint Louis point of view] With Charlotte proposing her theory on the true identity of the Holy Beast of Wind, even went as far as proposing an experiment that wind user can use to validate the theory, and those able to use wind magic performing the same experiment again and again, getting the same consistent results, I ask the boys group of the ten heroes, The S rank adventure, Blade of Wind, Samurai Jacks as well as Kana and Birdie to accompany them, do what they wanted to do as quickly as they could and rush here back as soon as they''re finish As for Saintess Rumia (Dear Goddess Achalasia...) [Rumia] She''s unique. It''s as if, she''s Goddess Achalasia vassal in this world. Whatever she could truly desire, the goddess can grant her exactly that. Should she wanted the world, I can imagine Goddess Achalasia giving her just that, but I''m sure the whole reason as to why she''s chosen, is because "Please. Protect this land..." [Rumia] As she continues her chant to fortify the powerful barrier that covers the whole country, to weaken the devil influence inside, I can sense nothing but sincerest thought and prayer from her. Of course, all she has to do is pray and ask, and it will be granted, but that isn''t who Rumia is Rumia, even when the goddess can give her the whole world for her, strive to do things through her own power. Even when her status is clearly superior than that of the other, she''s humble enough to even bow to an elderly out of respect. Even when she''s clearly the goddess favourite daughter, she wish nothing but for the same love to be given to other. (I''m glad... I''m glad that I am able to support her) [Saint Louis] Me, someone with a tainted past. A monster that kills other just to fills the stomach of my innocent siblings. A monster that work as the master of the dark guild in the past, killing knights, nobles, royalty alikes. Auctioning elves and slaves to rebuild back this country. Taking this persona of mine, "Saint Louis" to lead the masses while massacring those very same dark guild members that tirelessly working to rebuild back this country... "O Saint Louis?" [Archbishop] Stepping into the altar, I channel my mana into the barrier that Rumia will fortify. I''m glad, even someone like me, can be of used to her. I have no doubts, should the ten heroes prevail, they, alongside Ash, Princess Diana and Rumia, will one day bring the a whole foundation to the world. Just like how the first saint and saintess, Vincent and Maria did In an ironic twist of fate, the legacy of the first saint and saintess, will most likely be destroy after the war. No. Not most likely, it has to be destroy, and since I am "officially" death in the eye of the public, I should make sure the old follower teaching will be there no more after the fight with the fallen god. It''s a shame, that the true teaching of the first saint and saintess will then be destroy, but if Saint Vincent and Saintess Maria are here with us, I''m sure they will cry bucket, seeing their teaching turning into tool of corruption, racism and something that separates people instead of uniting people "Ugh... The amount of mana... simply phenomenal ..." [Seraph] Seeing as how Seraph is flying through the sky, using his unique flute weapon that can transform into any musical instruments (thanks to the ancient Dwarf racial magic), I simply signal to him, sorry and do your best as I will keep on increasing my mana. Even Rumia herself will most likely keep ongoing until every last bit of her mana wring dry. Seeing my signal, he let out a laughing sigh, and make a thumb up, telling us to keep going strong, as he will push his limit to distribute the holy mana of Saintess Rumia and I throughout the barrier, making sure that the barrier will be fortify everywhere, and ensuring there will be no unnecessary leakage of mana that can weaken the defence of the barrier "By the name of our merciful Goddess, Goddess Achalasia, with the barrier that will protect those inside of it, I Saintess Rumia, call forth of you, Ultima Iero Fragma!" [Rumia] She, after completing the long prayer and chant, started to channel her mana in a sudden outburst. Her holy mana, it''s different from Seraph and I. Something about it, just feels different, as in, it''s otherworldly. The barrier, which was barely visible just now, shine brightly for few seconds, making the evacuating citizen stop for a moment to appreciate it. It''s gorgeous, and just by looking at it, they feel even safer, as they automatically know the person responsible for it "Saintess Rumia... Warm" "True. Thank goodness for her" "Still... something about this feel, nostalgic?" "I know, like, I can sense a familiar mana as well" I sure hopes they''re referring to the goddess, not mine. Speaking of the evacuating citizen, they''re being guided by knights and adventure alikes, into the evacuation hall that was prepared inside of the castle. The one leading them is none other than "Make sure to get in the line! Don''t worry about leaving anything of valuable behind! Your safety is your number one priority!" [Gilbert] "Please, this way!" [Seo Ah] "If you need any help, please let us know" [Alicia] "All of us can help!" [Kanji] "Giants will pay their gratitude back!" Looks like everything is going rather smoothly. In fact, I have to said, it''s too smoothly. This is suppose to be the perfect timing to launch their attacks, but they didn''t, could it mean... (I see. Either...) [Saint Louis] A) She will wait for the citizen to evacuate, and start launching a concentrated attack into the citizen or B) Saintess Angela will show the citizen despair, by killing us all, before proceeding to wipe them out Knowing Angela, she will most likely go for the later, in which case "Look at the watcher!" "It''s suddenly becoming bigger!" "And isn''t that!" "Mr Filvisar mentioned this before, how hundred years back, they manipulated the watcher to their liking..." [Rumia] So, it begins, right when the last person enter the evacuation hall "Good evening, all of you..." [Angela] Chapter 350 - 350: Battle at the New Headquarters part 2 [At the New Headquarters] [Alaric point of view] "Alaric!" [Linda] "I know! Get ready!" [Alaric] Just as we expected, they will come and attack us when the heroes are away. Of course, we have long prepared for it, but "They''re tough!" "Without the heroes, we are essentially a snack for these canine devils!" "Hurry up and block them! We can''t let any of them harm the civilian!" "For the Goddess! We will prevail!" "RIGHT!" It''s true, even the presence of one of them will dramatically change the battle. For once, their heroic blessing will radiate throughout the battlefield, giving us boost not only in morale, but also in our attack, as their blessing together with our will to ward the devil off, resonate, and thus, making our attack effective against the devil. Not only that, those heroes are strong, even stronger when fighting against the devils, so that''s why, heroes and those who fight against the devils, are forces to be reckoned with. Still, that doesn''t mean one could stay overly-confidenct when they''re with the heroes. When the devils sense the heroes, they will become stronger, as in they''re ingrained to hate the heroes. Their power shoot up dramatically, they become even more violent, and they will almost always, focus on taking down the heroes through any mean necessary. Cannibalism to get stronger, suicidal explosion, throwing fellow devils corpses, name it, which understandably, causes those around the heroes to troubles. Unless a much higher, powerful and more intellectual devils giving them some orders, that''s how they will behave once they set their sights on the heroes "This dogs!" "Help me!" "SMASH!" "Thank you, Mr Giant!" "You''re welcom..." "Watch out!" "Vampire skill: Life drain!" [Alaric] Since one of the hunting devil dogs tried to target the carotid artery of the giant, I leap out and launch a surprise attack on it, slicing the throat with my knife all the while using my vampire skill to drain it life force, making it weaker before "Space magic: Translocation" (There, on the Cerberus mouth) [Linda] Seeing as one of the Cerberus tries to spit out poisonous fire breath from its mouth, Linda stuff the Cerberus mouth with the devil that was weaken by me. The effect, the devil instantly die while the Cerberus tries it best to spit the corpse of the devil out, before deciding to chew it for extra strength. Of course, this give us a chance to kill it off. Since we need to be strong and precise, both of us simultaneously targeted the neck, Linda with her golden scythe striking from above, and me with my mythril knife striking from below. It strong, the muscle that''s keeping the neck is tough, but we managed to slice through it after putting in more effort, but some of the structure keeps the head dangling (and alive), so "Space magic: PUSH!" [Linda] A cube like structure arise from her palm, before becoming longer and longer in under a mere second. With that much forces, the Cerberus head finally detached from the body, killing the Cerberus. Parts of the dogs that it tried to chew also spewed out ~Bark~Bark~Bark~ ~Bark~Bark~Bark~ ~Bark~Bark~Bark~ ~Bark~Bark~Bark~ ~Bark~Bark~Bark~ The canine devils, they keep on coming, plus those dogs, they''re night stalker. A creature of pure darkness with red eyes without any pupil. Since they''re weak with light magic, Linda handle it, but ~Howling~ "Mirage wolves!" [Linda] "I''m on it, just take care of the night stalker" [Alaric] While Linda trap the night stalker in a large space cube before bombarding them light bomb magic nonstop one after another, amidst the explosive sound of her magic, I perform my regressed beastly transformation. Unlike most species, us vampires are actually half beastman and half demon. We know our beast racial magic allow us to undergo beastly transformation, while our demon part (unlike most demon who racial magic remain mystery) allow us to perform vampiric skill to steal other life forces. Well, to answer Ash''s question from long back, I can undergo regressed beastly transformation, transforming into a large human sized bat before ~High pitch echolocation~ The wolves now become confused and in dire pain as their eardrum burst. I specifically targeted them thanks to my rigorous training to become the best bodyguard for Princess Diana. Not only the sound make the two mentioned effect, I also added life stealing magic from it, and when they''re becoming weaker and weaker, just as they''re about to lay down on the ground due to exhaustion, I strike, transforming back into my original form, throwing multiple knives at their vital, as well as shooting them with my pistol. Once it''s done, I make a quick glance at the surrounding, even went as far as using search magic with 250 meters in radius just to make sure none of the mirage wolves escape from my grasp. Should they escape, they might perform mirage mirror spell like they (against Lara and Nara), and that will definitely spell trouble "Onto the next one" [Alaric] "True. I get a feeling we will fight nonstop throughout the night" [Linda] What she said is nothing but the truth. All I see in front of me as I reloaded my pistol with some of magical bullets are sea of canine devils of various species glaring at us both. There are others adventures, knights, vampires and giants behind us, but those dogs, like a well-trained hunting dogs, quickly discrete Linda and I as a threat above the others. Some of the canine devils start to whimp, other start to bark, trying to scare us off, some glaring at us. Whatever it is, they''re aren''t retreating, that''s for sure, and neither do us Just as I am about to release a shot, a tremble happen, and a sight that from six years back, a sight that I could never forget no matter what, reappear. I could only gasp as I see "That is..." [Linda] "Zin..." (Saint Louis prediction hit the mark) [Alaric] "Is that really a giant!?" "A giant towering other giant... Isn''t that what appeared back then during the beginning of devil invasion at the Holy Palace?" "As a giant, this is the first time I feel like a dwarf, feeling threaten" "Coming from a giant, that sound ominous!" Indeed. Plus, just how many arms did Zin have this time around. I''m sure there are multiple other experimentation done on him. For once, his hair become that, like a demon, gray in colour, while his hands... "Saintess Rumia!" [Alaric] "WHAT!?" [All] He is holding Saintess Rumia! Chapter 351 - 351: Battle at the New Headquarters part 3 [Rewinding back the time a little] [At New Headquarters] [Saintess Rumia point of view] Ultima Iero Fragma, the spell has been completed, but at the cost of me experiencing severe mana insufficiency. Even the mana potion that I drank did nothing but to leave me depraved of it more, as my breathing becoming ragged with each passing second. Saint Louis and the other stares at me, worrying about me, but "It''s fine. I''ll recover, so..." [Rumia] Usually, I will say it with my loud voice, but, even I can''t hear what I am saying. Maybe it''s another one of the rarer symptoms of mana insufficiency, or maybe I really am too tired to even talk. As my eyes becoming heavier and heavier, I try my best not to fall asleep. I''m sure should I gave in to this sweet temptation of falling asleep, It will take me day just to wakes up "Please, go an...!" [Rumia] "Rumia, what happe...!" [Saint Louis] Saint Louis reaction is a little bit late, maybe because majority of the mana imbued in the Ultima Iero Fragma was from my own, thus, I was able to sense it first right before anyone else This sensation. It''s the same sensation back then during Princess Diana debutante party. The same sensation brought upon the now ex-S rank adventure, Motra, but this time around, it''s on much larger scale This thick nauseating miasma. The void sensation, the chill sensation like seeing into an abyss that will stare back at you and drag your fear stricken paralyze body. Couple with the symptoms of mana insufficiency, I can''t help but to gag a bit, almost throwing up on Saint Louis clothes. Seeing this, he quickly use a minor healing magic to relieve my symptoms. A warm healing magic that comfort my symptoms Getting back at the miasma, there''s no doubt about it, it''s the devilish miasma, and since this is the very same feeling from back then, it could only mean one thing. The devil already putting up their own barrier from the fallen god. Judging by the flow of miasma, I can tell that it''s a much larger barrier than that of the Ultima Iero Fragma, and I can pinpoint several points throughout the country where the miasma feels thicker than other. That must be the source, and judging by what usually been done by them, I am sure there are portal stones scattered at that area, just to keep the barrier activated "Saint... Please, listen..." [Rumia] Mustering up every ounce of energy left on my body, I tell him regarding the portal stones and where he can likely find it. He simply nodded before telling me that he will take care of it "How do you think you will take care of it when you''re fighting him?" [Saintess Angela] "Angela! How did you..." [Saint Louis] Saint Louis, his gone... There''s something big, no... I have seen it before, a large devil resembling that of a hunter. It''s the very same devil commander that''s been giving trouble to Lara and Nara. That devil commander, he rams hard into Saint Louis, slamming him into the wall, keep pushing the wall with Saint Louis in the middle of it before cracking it open, grabbing Saint Louis by his right leg and toss him outside before sending his very own weapon flying towards Saint Louis "Protect!" [Rumia] This is the only spell that I can do now. Please, O Goddess Achalasia, please protect Saint Louis "Sigh... Didn''t I reminded him not to scar Saint Louis handsome face so much? I wanted to preserve his face for my own" [Angela] Saintess Angela started walking towards me. The other tried to stop her but unfortunately "Don''t..." [Rumia] "Stay. Away. From. Angela" [Zin] The half giant Zin smack anyone that dare to approach Saintess Angela hard, leaving them unconscious, or even worse... "Heal..." [Rumia] "Healing other when you''re in far worse shape than a worn out clothes? You really are an admirable saintess, and what this on your beautiful face? A scar?" [Angela] That''s the scar that I got back then, back then when The Prince of Holy Palace and Princess Diana was... "Gaah!" [Rumia] "Fufu. How cute. That agonizing screaming of you" [Angela] She open it back up. Using her power as a witch, she reopen the scar, like it was just inflicted, and to make it even worse, she uses pain exaggeration spell to make it even painful "Zin, can you spit on her scar? Make it more painful" [Angela] "But. She. Is. A. Saintess. A. Good. Person? Like. Angela." [Zin] "So am I a bad person?" [Angela] "No. Angela. Good. Promising. Peace." [Zin] What this? Peace? I look at the half giant. When he talks about peace, something about his expression, it was like, he was looking forward to an era of peace. It''s a pure feeling, he really wanted peace just like everyone else. No, somehow, I get this feeling, he wanted it more so than anyone else, even me. This pure child like feeling of him, amidst of his body being surrounded by devilish miasma. Such an odd combination. Just what makes this gentle half giant taking down a path of experimentation on the hand of Saintess Angela? "Dear Zin..." [Rumia] "Yes?" [Zin] "Trying to talk with him? How futile" [Angela] "Angela." [Zin] "What is it, Zin?" [Angela] "Zin. Talk. First. With. Saintess. Rumia." [Zin] "I see. Do what you want" (Strange, Zin somehow reacting rather calm to her even when the blessing from the God of Life ran amok, telling him to kill Saintess Rumia) [Angela] Zin grab me using his two hand. The miasma of his tried to attack me, something that''s out of his control, but "DON''T! ZIN. WANT. TO. TALK!" [Zin] "..." (This is...) [Angela] Did something happen to Zin? Why is Saintess Angela look anxious "Saintess. Rumia" [Zin] "Yes..." [Rumia] "Saintess. Rumia. Want. Peace?" [Zin] His questions. It''s oddly calm me down. I don''t know why, given my situation, I should feel scared, and yet, I am calm, like I am facing a kindergarten children asking me a serious question "Peace!" [Rumia] That''s the only word that came out from my mouth. Before I know, my vision started to fade, but I heard Saintess Angela chanting something, and the last thing I saw, was the view of this entire country... Chapter 352 - 352: Battle at the New Headquarters part 4 [At the New Headquarters] [S rank guild master, Gilbert point of view] So, that''s the result of multiple inhumane experimentation done on Zin by Saintess Angela. It''s saddening, to see that such a gentle half giant like him, who was always almost together with Motra, suffering like this. He gained absolute destructive power, but at what cost. Most probably, before he can see his dream of peace throughout the world, he will lose his mind, and might walk the path opposite of what he always wanted to He have multiple arms, 5 pairs of arms on each side, though the other eight seems deformed, with some missing muscles or the skin around it spews out hot sticky pus mixed with blood, as for the movement of the eight deformed arms, it is only allowing gross motor movement around the shoulder joint, and by extension some movement of the elbow joint. Still, even when all he does is flailing around those arms, it still create so much destructive power behind it, that the barrier surrounding the remaining of the castle/administration center structure of this country will start to crack, before fully destroying it, and this is him unintentionally moving his arms around His hair is like that of a demon clan, gray with two horns protruding from the temporal bone, with a deformed face, eyes like that of a human and spiders, though I doubt he could see from the extra eyes, if can, maybe just a gross movement from his enemies. Ears of an elf and nose of an orc, luckily his mouth still normal. His stomach area, the poor skin and muscle there. Should some powerful hit it, I''m sure the inner organs of him will burst out, only to be regenerated, causing more twisted structure which, I can guess what happen next (Saintess Angela will fix him up again and again and again, until Zin is there no more or until Zin can finally fulfill his dream) [Gilbert] DAMN YOU MOTRA! THIS IS NOT FUNNY IN THE SLIGHTEST! "Just what makes you and Zin join them! What makes both of you join the devil!" [Gilbert] "Guild master, what''s wrong?" [Kanji] "Are you, alright..." [Seo Ah] "As a matter of fact, I don''t! I''M FURIOUS! Sorry to shout at you but I can''t help but feel pity at the sorry state of Zin right now" [Gilbert] "I can emphasize... He looks likes he is suffering..." [Alicia] "You three, can you manage without me? I will try to stop Zin" [Gilbert] "Got it! Be careful!" [Kanji] "Alicia, let''s go and see what the sleeping Vampire and Giants are doing" [Seo Ah] "Right. Should the deep slumber spell put by Saint Louis start to wade off, we can at least delay the process" [Alicia] "Kanji!" [Gilbert] "Yes, I''ll go with them. Come along" [Kanji] As I jump from rooftop to rooftop, I can see the sight of Louis and Seraph fighting against a devil behemoth king, that''s tough! Behemoth King by itself is an S rank monster, and it''s something that gave the behemoth slayer trouble (as well as his title) seven years ago, and that''s without any devil involvement, and now, the Behemoth King getting stronger, with what seems to be a hunter devil riding and giving it command. For now, I should entrust the fight to both of you, as I wanted to take care of Zin As I approach Zin, I noticed two things. One, he is holding Saintess Rumia in his hand! Still, I thought he would crush Saintess Rumia, but somehow, somehow, I get this feeling, he is actually protecting the unconscious Saintess Rumia from his own devilish miasma... Strange? Just what happen? This is something that I couldn''t comprehend. Second, Zin, why didn''t he move? There''s nothing wrong with his leg, in fact, that''s the least deformed part of his entire body? So why didn''t he move? Why didn''t he do anything at all? Beside the swinging of his arms (like that of an epileptic person), he actually did nothing but standing there. "Still, that doesn''t mean you''re not dangerous. Sorry Zin. You''re a gentle person, but I have to do this" [Gilbert] Taking my specially made lasso rope which is made from the hair of the S rank monster, Monstrous Medusa, I channel both my earth and mirage mana into it, and start throwing at it into his gargantuas nail, and once I succeed, I pull myself and start climbing his fingers. The rope causes anything that it touches to be petrified, before slowly crumbling away as the wind blow the dust of it victim, just like what''s happening to Zin''s nail. Still, just as I expected, it regenerate back. Let it be then, I know that will happen, so I make extra sure to put plenty of my mana into it, so that the petrification and regeneration process always happen. Hopefully, this will eat up as much as Zin regenerative capability as possible before he start acting up "God of Life blessing: Darkness of the tunnel, Light at the end of the tunnel" [Angela] "OH NO!" [Gilbert] Quick, counter it with my lasso rope! Make sure that beam of light and dark go through my lasso''s circle, so that it would get petrified "You think Motra didn''t tell me about it? What makes you think I added the blessing from God of Life into it?" [Angela] "OH MY GOD!" [Gilbert] "You''re as noisy as both Motra and Zin said you would when you''re fighting" [Angela] Still, I wouldn''t become an S rank adventure if I couldn''t even evade her attack. I might not be as strong as my fellow S rank guild master, Paladin Aries, and far away from the SS rank Saga, Mrs Khamishah, but I am still worth it of my S rank title (Let the rowdy cowby Gilbert get wild!) [Gilbert] Just as I am about to start fighting her, I can faintly make our and sense them! (So they''re here! Looks like they manage to get the blessing from the Holy Beast of Wind, Rampaging Garuda) [Gilbert] But that''s not all... I can sense a stream of wind mana approaching! Could it be!? Chapter 353 - 353: Searching for The Holy Beast of Wind, Rampaging Garuda part 13 [Rewinding time, before the devils attacking the New Headquarters] [At the Cursed Land] Right now, all of us are waiting for some helping hand from the headquarters to come and help us in regards to searching for the Holy Beast of Wind, Rampaging Garuda "Sorry, we are a bit late" [Samurai Jacks] "With Birdie and the other powerful wind user here, I believe we can start testing out what Charlotte had in mind" [Kana] True enough, I can sense the adventures, knights and some of the people of the church have good mana affinity, plus, their weapons are also imbued with magic stone of the wind as well, so I''m sure they primarily fight alongside wind, making them more than suitable for what''s to come "Before that, why don''t we have Charlotte explain it to all of us here once more, for those who didn''t get to hear the full explanation" [Samurai Jacks] "Sure, plus, we make some new discoveries while waiting for you to come here, so I''ll be happy to explain it once more" [Charlotte] With Kara connecting the telephone to other as well, I give them a final rundown of what we will do, and the results that we will most likely get First, we need to go all the way back, back to when the former royal of the new headquarters tried to capture the Holy Beast in the first place. After tinkering with the tools that they found in the treasury of the new headquarters, Karon incidentally found another hidden function of the tool. Whether he''s completely unaware of it before (which is highly unlikely in my opinion), or because he was constantly tinkering with the tool using his dwarf racial magic that the hidden function resurface back (which is more likely the case here), anyway, the function in question is to "To trap air mana?" [Kana] "That''s right, meaning, those royal and noble, they know for a fact, that the Holy Beast of Wind, was in fact, a formless beast that can manifest itself however it so desire" [Charlotte] "I see. If that''s really true, then I can see what happen back then even more clearly. If I have to guess, they actually done so in secrecy in the first place, but after they failed, the Holy Beast go on a rampage using the form of a garuda, and that''s when they make a draft to call the citizen of the country, in order to weaken the "materialize" form of the holy beast" [Jacks] "We also thought of the same thing just now" [Mara] "Right, so after further discussion and another important discovery, we came out with a plan" [Kara] "Another discovery?" [Kana] "Right, how about you take a look at this" [Mara] Kara gather the air mana surrounding her and make a large pigeon out of it "Now then, can you please draw the direction the beak of this pigeon is facing on this map" [Charlotte] "Sure" One of the adventures draw a straight line on the map that was provided beforehand. The beauty of this map, is, just like what Karon did to his creation, he makes it possible for the other with similar maps to know of each other location, and when one of the mark or draw something on the map, they will be displayed on the other as well. Simply beautiful, and yet, my praise do injustice to this wonderful creation "How about other start to draw as well" [Elise] "Right, but first, let the one with us make similar pigeon" [Rean] Rean and Elise, on two separate location, speak through the phone. One by one, the groups make their own version of birds, before drawing a straight line on the map with different colours. White. Pink. Black. Brown etc, and as more and more line begin to intersect with each other, they all couldn''t help but to have their eyes widen, as they all look at one similar point "All of them, intersect right here!" "Than does that mean?" "It wasn''t the case right?" [Nara] "If that''s the case, then surely only us you will call" [Karon] "That''s right, unfortunately, that wasn''t the case" [Farhah] "We couldn''t find any sign of holy beast there" [Lara] "What!?" "Then what next?" "Easy, I''m sure they come up with a plan already" [Zerolith] "That''s right Zerolith, we do, and we also think that this is part of the trial provided by the holy beast itself" [Charlotte] "So what should we do?" [Savel] "Simple, but an extremely difficult task. All the wind user, please gather all the wind mana from this land and concentrate it at that point" [Charlotte] "Yikes! That really is simple to say!" [Singa] "True, especially for the wind user. For other, please help however you can. You can help by separating the wind mana from the three higher elements here, or even can use our own neutral mana to help and push the air through sheer force together with them" [Charlotte] "This sound really tough" "Still, we couldn''t sit here idly, those devils can strike anytime soon" [Jacks] "Right. We have lots to do. Birdie, I will pour my power onto you, get ready" [Kana] ~Screech~ And thus, all of us start the work on gathering all the wind mana into the point of intersection. Slowly but surely, we can feel that the concentration of wind mana there getting higher and higher, until one point "The wind mana, it started to gather all by itself!" "A tornado is forming!" "WATCH OUT!" "Take cover" The wind, it''s violent! If there''s any settlement here, then those settlement can say goodbye to themselves as they will more than likely to be ripped apart. I wonder, is the holy beast purposely choose this location because of that sole reason "Look!" [Zerolith] "At the centre of the tornado!" [Elise] "That is!" [Singa] "So that''s the holy beast of wind..." [Kara] "A big Garuda" [Charlotte] "You have done well ten heroes, and their helpers. Allow me to introduce myself, as I am the Holy Beast of Wind, Eternal Wind, though most of you seems to call me as Rampaging Garuda nowadays due to this form that I always use" [Holy beast of Wind, Eternal Wind] He then change his form into a wind dragon, almost similar looking like the Holy Beast of Water, Ice Dragon Reshir, and change once more into a tall tan looking guy with long brown hair with a spear. Since that form is small, he simply make a gigantic version of it so everyone can see him clearly. Point is, he can change form, and he seem displeased with the fact that most of us call him as Rampaging Garuda "Hmm?" "My magic stone" "And this magic core of mine!" "It''s becoming even more powerful!" "It''s like an A rank magic core! Maybe even higher!" "That''s my gifts for those who couldn''t bear my blessing, as your body will simply be shredded from within should my blessing enter your bodies" [Eternal Wind] They all got the gifts from the Eternal Wind and couldn''t be more happier. Of course, they wanted some blessing as well, but given how Eternal Wind explained to them as to why he couldn''t give it to them, they gave up "And now, to you" [Eternal Wind] Mr Samurai Jacks, Birdie, Rean, Kara, Mara, Lara, Nara, Singa and Behe as well. They all got the blessing from Eternal Wind! Quite a number of them, so I believe now Samurai Jacks got his wind affinity getting boosted up Rean receive new elemental affinity, so now he can wield fire, wind (new one) and dark elements Kara, Mara, Lara and Nara also got their wind elements boosted up. So Kara and Mara can use wind, earth (from Holy Beast of Earth, Shielding Ant Aries), and Light, while Lara and Nara can use all Singa got new elemental affinity, so his space magic (a subspecialty of light magic), together with his new wind magic should make a terrific pair. Plus, I seem to recall when we used Chrono Mellontik¨®s back then, he can also use fire, which actually makes sense given who he is Behe also got new affinity alongside his light magic affinity, and lastly, Birdie. Brother Ash do pump up more of wind and steel mana into him in the past, so it make sense why The Eternal Wind give a blessing to Birdie "That''s all, and now, I shall accompany you to that country" [Eternal Wind] "Why!?" [Rean] "Don''t tell me!?" [Zerolith] "That''s right, the devils, they''re there, and Goddess Achalasia told me to help her beloved saint and saintess there" [Eternal Wind] Chapter 354 - 354: Battle at the New Headquarters part 5 [At the New Headquarters] That''s the New Headquarters, and I can sense two things. Well, even without sensing it, anyone that isn''t blind could literally see two giant barriers struggling to assert their dominance by collapsing the other. The outer bigger layer, with the blackish devilish miasma, that is without a single doubt, made by the devil. It''s strong, and we are awfully repulsive towards it, feeling extra nauseated compare to other. Maybe because of the psychological reason that we were all trapped inside it once, six years ago during Sis Diana debutante party. The inner shiny bright layer is made up by Saintess Rumia and the other, well, mostly her, but I can sense other people mana as well. "We should charge through it, that''s the fastest option..." [Savel] As Savel said that, he underwent his dragonewt transformation. His face become scalier with the tough scale of a mirage dragon, he become buffier, as the roar of the dragon unconsciously leak out from his vocal cord. His tail becomes longer, scalier, and look stronger, with his sword gathering torrential amount of mirage and water mana combines, he ready to strike for an opening but "Allow me. Save your energy for the actual fight, young dragonewt hero" [Eternal Wind] As Eternal Wind said that, he gracefully put us into the ground (as to save time, he carries us all in his true form, traversing the dungeon in record time), before taking the form of the big garuda. He gather around the air surrounding the outer layer of the barrier, before making it infiltrate the barrier and "Wind is around us. Those who received my gifts and blessings should remember, the strongest point of wind is the very fact that one could control the wind, one that surrounds us, and one that''s far away" [Eternal Wind] ~Crack~ We can see that black barrier having crack all over it, while the barrier set up by Saintess Rumia still standing strong, however "It''s tougher than it looks. But with this crack, we can now enter the country" [Eternal Wind] As he said that, he transform into his human form (the tall brown skin long brown hair guy with a spear), and ask us to enter it first as he tries to maintain the crack. All of us rush in just to be greeted by ~Bark~Bark~Bark~ ~Bark~Bark~Bark~~Bark~Bark~Bark~ ~Bark~Bark~Bark~~Bark~Bark~Bark~ ~Bark~Bark~Bark~~Bark~Bark~Bark~ ~Bark~Bark~Bark~ So many canine devils, they''re like flies swarming the trash, and in response to that "Roar!" [Behe] "SCREECH!!!" [Birdie] With the flaps of their wings, couple with their wind magic, the two clear out the path for us by using thunderstorm spell. The canines were blasted, some only a feet away due to their heavy weight, while other get thrown and blasted several miles away The first thing that caught everyone attention once those canine devils were blasted away "What the heck is that!?" "Huge! Simply huge!" "That giant, it''s huge!!!" [Farhah] "A giant towering over other giant..." [Elise] "Could that be the half giant Zin!?" [Charlotte] "No doubt about it!" [Singa] "That''s not all. Look over there" [Rean] "Yeah, where the Saint and Seraph are fighting" [Samurai Jacks] "King Behemoth!" [Kara] ""Devilish King Behemoth"" [Lara, Nara] "That''s just plain scary!" "Wait, should Saint Louis really showing himself right now!?" "Cat out of the bag. With the watcher acting strange, I have no doubt the watcher at other countries are showing this moment just like what''s been reported by Princess Nurhaliza and the other" [Kana] "They really wanted to make the New Headquarters look bad" [Zerolith] True enough. When we rush over here, the watcher actually spawn over inside of the dungeon, showing the footage of this total destruction. With building collapsing here and there, and the knights getting eaten by some of the bigger canine devils, it''s a brutal sight. Sis Diana, Princess Nurhaliza, Queen Rinz, King Leogris and King Druser bombarded us with phone calls as the watcher inside their respective countries also show the same footage. It shows how devils keep exiting from this country, as if trying to tell them all a massage, the devils are with the New Headquarters! Plus, they also show the supposedly death Saint Louis fighting against the devil, trying to narrate that the Saint was lying about his death so that he could summon countless devil, only for it to gone horribly wrong "!?" [Karon] "You detected something Karon?" [Elise] "Yes, listen..." [Karon] Karon was trying his best to destroy the barrier once Eternal Wind enter, only for him to discover multiple location with highly concentrated miasma, believing it to be the source of the barrier. Thing is, "Portal stone... That''s something that I haven''t heard in a while" [Farhah] "But there are multiple of them, I can sense it as well" [Eternal Wind] "Alright, then listen up everyone, we will spread into four groups! Make sure to enter the group that you think best suited you!" [Rean] "Roger!" [All] (Good job hero, leading them all) [Eternal Wind] 1st group: Help Saint Louis and Seraph. Rean, Elise, Lara, Nara, Behe and Samurai Jacks will be here alongside other few adventures "We are counting on you, Behe!" [Elise] "ROAR!" [Behe] "Lara, Nara, what''s wrong?" [Rean] ""Hunter Devil commander, he''s there"" [Lara, Nara] "That makes even tougher" [Samurai Jacks] 2nd group: Help defeat the half giant Zin. Kara, Mara, Farhah, Singa, Savel, Kana and Birdie will be here "Still, why is Zin standing still?" [Kara] "You''re right, I wonder why" [Mara] "But this may very well be our chance" [Farhah] "True. I feel bad attacking when he basically do nothing but standing there, but it has to be done" [Savel] "I''ll teleport us all, that way we can get there faster" [Singa] "Please do that" [Kana] 3rd group: Help defeat other canine devils scattered throughout the country. Zerolith, Eternal wind and majority of knights and adventures will be here "I hope the citizen are alright" "They should already place them somewhere safe, but I feel the same. Plus, I wonder what will happen to the giants and vampires that were experimented" [Zerolith] "Then some of us should see it that there are nothing wrong with them" "I will go" [Zerolith] "Some of us will follow you!" "Then the other help me subdue those devils" [Eternal Wind] "Roger!" 4th group: Help destroy the portal stone. Karon and I will the one solely responsible for it "Are you sure!?" "We don''t mind lending you our hand" "Of course, please do so. If you find any portal stone before our armies find it, then do the honour of destroying it" [Karon] "Armies?" "Well, take a look at this!" [Charlotte] I summon forth my armies of marine golems "As expected of the mermaid princess. The Homunculus Mahsuri really train hard you isn''t she" [Eternal Wind] "As for me!" [Karon] Karon spread out his dwarf racial magic into the ground, creating puppet of clay armies at his disposal "Practice and you will be as good as the Traveler King" [Eternal Wind] "That will be a long road, but something that I aspire to achieve" [Karon] With everyone ready "Alright! Move out everyone!" [Rean] "May Goddess Achalasia be with us!" [Zerolith] "YES!" [All] Chapter 355 - 355: Battle at the New Headquarters part 6 _________________________________________________ [At Estel''s Orphanage] [Claude point of view] The Watcher of this country are currently enlarge, showing the fight of my beloved ten grandchildren fighting against the force of the devil. Master, Calypso and I couldn''t help but to remember "This is just like a hundred years ago, when those devils manipulate the watcher to their own liking" [Filvisar] "True. Do you think Agnes is the one responsible for it?" [Calypso] "Highly plausible" [Claude] And not only us, the other are also watching, holding their hands together and keep praying to the goddess, the least that they can do to ensure the safety of their fellow siblings "Go Sis Elise! Behe tooo!" "Sis Charlotte too! Don''t lose! Support Brother Karon!" "Brother Rean! Brother Nara! Keep pushing the King Behemoth!" "Save Saintess Rumia!" "Brother Zerolith, go go go!" "Isn''t that Mr Kana and Birdie? Since when did Birdie get this powerful?" "Maybe Birdie got the blessing from holy beast of wind?" "Can a golem even get a blessing though..." And with how the neighbors started to come to our home, trying to figure out what happened, they also started showing support to them "If only I. Am there with them. I can fight. With them." [Kadeus] "True. Seeing them fight when we do nothing is frustrating" [Lily] "We can only cheer them and pray for them" [Rafiah] "And that''s what we will do" [Ray] _________________________________________________ [At the New Headquarters] With the army of marine golems and Karon''s puppet clay army, the two of us set out to find and destroy the portal stone as fast as we can. Of course, the devilish canine didn''t make the task any easier as they constantly tried to destroy our army, as such "Krakeny! Whip them all out!" [Charlotte] "Steel magic: Spikes Armour" [Karon] Karon proceed to put metallic spikes armour onto Krakeny many tentacles, causing extra damage. I can feel that Krakeny actually find the armour rather useful, and that Krakeny wanted to keep the armour for himself. He keep flaunting his new armor, like a girl getting her brand new clothes and is showing off to her friends, that''s sincerely the impression I am getting at my cute Kraken golem right now "Sure. Why not, plus, I can make a specialised lighter version of it if he wanted to" [Karon] "You really are the best!" [Charlotte] While navigating a narrow street, we can sense one of the portal stone heavily guarded by bunch of Cerberus. Krakeny won''t be able to fight properly under this circ.u.mstance, so I summon my crocodile golem to take care of them, even joining the golem to fight against the Cerberus The crocodile golem of mine bite and never let go of the Cerberus foot, and proceed to spin and tear them apart, but the many heads of Cerberus constantly spit out fiery poison that can actually penetrate the crocodile golem thick skin "Hah!" [Karon] Still, our golem and puppet aren''t the only one fighting. Like I said, we join them as well, with Karon joining at the front as an attacker while me at the back supporting them with long range magic as well as healing magic With his hammer imbued with his earth mana, strengthen by the holy beast of earth blessing, he manipulate the density and hardness of his hammer, and with one powerful strike, it crushes the skull of the Cerberus, and the strong force of the hammer not only splatter the brain matter outside, it actually penetrate deep enough that it drag along skull, eyes, tongue and teeth of the poor dog as Karon tries to pull his hammer back "Clean. Purify" [Charlotte] "Appreciate it" [Karon] I don''t want Karon to pat me when he''s holding a hammer that''s been going into a Cerberus bodily fluid. The thought gross me out so much, that it actually was my primary motivation to do so, with strong second that I''m afraid the poison from the Cerberus fluid getting the better out of Karon "Do it!" [Karon] "Do what?" [Charlotte] "Oh, I was giving command to my clay puppets, telling them to align the Cerberus in one plane" [Karon] "I can guess what you wanted to do, so I''ll help you out" [Charlotte] With my water magic, I raise two tall columns of water at either side of the street, and the column in response keep shooting magical bullets one after another. Unlike the one from my pistol or from my raging ship spell, the bullet here doesn''t carry as much power as the two, but it get the job done, as the bruise Cerberus gather around at the centre, just before they were greeted by ~Splash~ Karon throw out his hammer with full force, even using earth magic to get a better footing so that he wouldn''t trip. The hammer travel in straight line, penetrating each one of the Cerberus, before shattering their magic cores to pieces, and when the last Cerberus has been pierced, he uses his magnet magic to pull the hammer back in, and activate the petrification magic stores inside the hammer so that they don''t get the chance of cannibalising one another as a way out (if they do, they will get far stronger, giving us extra trouble) "Right... Extra clean. Extra purify. And most importantly..." [Charlotte] I take out the sanitizer from my item bag "Umm... Charlotte" [Karon] "It''s gross..." [Charlotte] "Right..." (Just let her do what she want Karon) [Karon] Should I add my perfume as well? Maybe not. The smell of perfume and viscera mixing together will only make it worse. Just thinking about it makes my hair straighten And to close this fight "High pressure water!" [Charlotte] ~Crack~ The portal stone that was guarded by those Cerberus is destroy. Well, it''s one of the many portal stones scattered throughout the country, so we have more and more to destroy. Not to mention, after destroying it all, we must join and support the other. For now, let''s pick up the pace and destroy them all as fast as we could! Chapter 356 - 356: Battle at the New Headquarters part 7 [At the New Headquarters] [Rean point of view] Right now, Saint Louis, Mr Seraph, Master Jacks, Elise, Lara, Nara, Behe and I are fighting against the devilish Behemoth King, an S rank monster made far stronger with the power from the fallen god. If there''s one word to describe the monstrosity there is in front of us, it''s "superior". It''s superior in term of size, power, magic, intelligence, in every possible way from your standard King Behemoth, and King Behemoth is a monster that no one want to cross blade with. The only time when I saw one was 7 years ago, when Brother Ash was fighting against it with the help of other four behemoths. He can win due to the fact that the King Behemoth was injured after the fight with an Empress Behemoth, and speaking off an Empress Behemoth "Roar!" [Behe] "Roar!" [King Behemoth] Behe (as the Empress Behemoth) and the King Behemoth are exchanging blow after blow. The one riding on top of Behe is Elise, while the one riding on top of the King Behemoth is the hunter devil. No doubt, Behe will loose should it tackle in alone, so that''s why, we will support Behe to defeat the devilish King Behemoth first before taking down the hunter ~Charging the darkness beam~ "The King Behemoth charging up for a powerful darkness beam!" [Jacks] "Behe! Cover me up!" [Elise] "Roar!" [Behe] ""We will help!"" [Lara, Nara] "Song of Light: Holy Sound barrier" [Seraph] "Light magic: Shield army" [Saint Louis] Elise, Lara, Nara and Behe prepare their own light beam to counteract the darkness beam, while Saint Louis and Mr Seraph are preparing a barrier surrounding the areas, as to prevent the Knights and adventures from getting hit by the explosion that''s to come. As for Master Jacks and I "Wind, gather around my blade" [Jacks] "Fire, Darkness, gather around my blade. Wind, amplify them" [Rean] This is a good chance for me to test out my new blessing. I never really wield wind magic, so this sensation is entirely new for me. As for Master Jacks, Lara and Nara, their already superb wind magic got boosted with the blessing as evidence of multiple healing wound of the King Behemoth due to their ferocious attack with their wind magic ~Axes flying around~ "I don''t think so!" [Rean] The devil commander tried to stop the other, but like I will let him injured those whom I care dearest. With him floating around due to his fallen god blessing, I tried to do the same with my wind magic, and start clashing sword with him. His array of weapon couple with his brute strength that''s equivalent to that of a giant is tough to deal with, but the blade that I learned from Master Jacks do take account when fighting against an enemy with an overwhelming strength, and as such ~Deflect~ ~Deflect~ ~Deflect~ "Now! Sword of turbulence hell fire" [Rean] "!" [Hunter] Striking his abdomen area with the hell fire sword, he can feel the neverending burning pain in his abdomen, but that doesn''t stop him from taking one of his many knives and stab me in my armpit. I manage to dodge but the speed of his attack still manages to injure my shoulder area, albeit a shallow one compared to being torn apart should I take a direct hit """Fire!!!""" [Elise, Lara, Nara] ""Roar!!"" [Behe, King Behemoth] And the beam of light and darkness collide, with the spark of their fierce collision find itself attacking nearby street as well. Good thing that Saint Louis and Mr Seraph put up their shield. As for the hunter devil, it tries to stop Master Jacks from harming his ride, so he quickly try to stop him "Not on my watch!" [Rean] Slash him! Slash him with everything you have got, and don''t stop even for a second! "Sword of turbulence hell fire!" [Rean] ~Bark~~Bark~Bark~ Countless canine devils shielded him, so I have no other option to take them down first before striking back their master. Just as Master Jacks about to land a blow on the devilish King Behemoth, the hunter devil is already behind him "I have been expecting you" [Jacks] With a quick 180 degree turn, all the forces on his sword landed beautifully on the chest of the devil hunter, and with a even stronger wind then before, Master Jacks launches a devastating blow to the hunter, ripping apart small area of his large chest. Master Jacks can do more, but he need to retreat as not only the hunter bring out his gigantic bow and arrow to hit him in close range, the King Behemoth also start pounding the area that he was there. The hunter once again ride the King Behemoth, and Elise look both please and dreadful at the same time "As expected of an S rank adventure, The Blade of Wind" [Saint Louis] "Nicely done Jacks" [Seraph] "Coming from both of you, it really feel special" [Jacks] But that''s the only breather they can catch before the hunter and his heavy bow and arrow strike us down relentlessly. Lara and Nara responded with their own wind arrows. They have to combine their forces just to counteract one single arrow from the hunter, but they are doing it splendidly. (I see. The Devil hunter might have the advantage of getting stronger inside this barrier, but Lara and Nara with their newly got blessing have been exchanging blow with him, so they''re holding off pretty well) [Rean] "Now! Lara! Nara!" [Elise] ""Got it!!"" [Elise] (Good job Elise!) [Rean] Elise been sneaking around her dark magic onto the King Behemoth just now. It''s not much as the devilish miasma oozing from the King Behemoth prevent any latches of her magic, but that small amount of dark magic is more than enough for her to make a small darkness arm, and trip the hunter devil, and this small period of window is more than enough for Lara and Nara to "" God of Death blessing: Death bow"" [Lara, Nara] Imbued with their powerful wind arrow is the God of Death technique to damage the soul directly, and as such "GAAAH!" [Hunter] A direct hit! COMMENT 0 comment VOTE Load failed, please RETRY ¡ª New chapter is coming soon ¡ªWrite a review Privileged More Privileged Chapters Download the app and become a privileged reader today! Come take a sneak peek at our author''s stockpiled chapters! Download Weekly Power Status See Who Voted -- Power Ranking -- Power Stone Vote Table of Contents Display Options Background default yellow dark Font Nunito Sans Merriweather Size Paragraph comments Chapter comments Write thought login liked newest Author: ? 0){ %>Chapter : Author: Machine Translation Editor: Chapter 357 - 357: Battle at the New Headquarters part 8 [At the New Headquarters] [Kara point of view] "WHAT''S WRONG WITH THAT SAINTESS!?" [Farhah] "She''s not as strong as the other devil commander, but her witch ability is terrifying" [Mara] "True, my witch power pale in comparison to her" (But maybe Rafiah could go up against her should she gain more of her confidence ...) [Kana] "Still, if we can get to her, then the battle will be easier" [Savel] "Not just this battle, but the entire situation will be tilt in our favour" [Gilbert] "Then we have to do it fast, especially before she gain control of Zin" [Singa] "That, as well as the sleeping vampires and giants" [Kara] Which got me thinking, just why didn''t she use the vampires and giants that she experimented on yet? If I am to be in her position, I would unleash those sleeping Vampires and Giants as soon as I started the assault here. Is there a factor that prevent her from doing so? (Was it Ultima Iero Fragma? The barrier spell that was erected by Saintess Rumia?) [Kara] If that''s the case, that will partially explain why she didn''t activate and uses them? But why didn''t they use it even before our arrival? It just doesn''t make any sense? I couldn''t see any advantage of not using them here ~Bark~~Bark~~Bark~ ~Bark~~Bark~~Bark~ ~Bark~~Bark~~Bark~ As the flying devilish canine tries to bite and chew my head off, I simply avoid it and blast and shredded it away with my wind sickle magic. It power is getting boosted thanks to the blessing that I received from the Holy Beast of Wind, The Eternal Wind. Thing is... "Witch art: Dismantles. Combine" [Saintess Angela] Her witch ability, it''s nothing but terrifying. Seeing as how the corpses of the devil getting quickly dismantles and getting attach to the canine in a quick but rather haphazard way makes my stomach grumble, as to see the horrid state of the devil. I''m not keen with dog, but even I can tell that they''re in pain. For starter, I''m almost positive that she didn''t even use any pain nullification, or at least pain relief spell before using that witch art of her, and that''s not to say anything about the poorly attached body parts on top of each other. Sure, the main body can utilize it, and the power was made somehow even stronger, as the attacks power and speed getting higher and higher, but it also become easily predictable, with nothing but a simple observations can let us avoid any attack Still... "Witch art: Ball of canine" [Angela] "Just what in the world is she trying to make?" [Farhah] "I don''t know, but I don''t like the sound of it" [Mara] "Tch, they might be a devil, but seeing those dogs getting poorly treated ticks me off" [Singa] "As do I... Dragonewt technique: Mirage Dragon roar" [Savel] Savel, using his mirage and dragonewt technique, try to disturb the process. Those canine devils, they''re getting attracted to a body of gravitational pull, and they''re getting dismantles and combined one after another at terrifying speed. I can tell what the Saintess trying to do "Wind golem magic: Rampaging Garuda!!!" [Kara] Focus! Remember what the Holy Beast of Wind, the Eternal Wind mentioned about the advantage of using wind magic. Air, they''re everywhere, if I didn''t have enough of it here, simply pull it out from somewhere else. Just take it from somewhere else, gather it around and "That''s..." [Farhah] "Smaller, but that''s without a doubt..." [Mara] ~Screech~ "I see. Kara, can you let Birdie inside of it and control it?" [Kana] "Great idea! I will" [Kara] Now, let Birdie inside and let him take care of the core of my "mini" Rampaging Garuda, and let Mr Kana who had been with Birdie for a long time in as well, and together "The wing started to take a metallic shape!" [Savel] "And look, thunder... Thunder is everywhere" [Farhah] "Kara, I''ll ride Birdie new body, so can you..." [Mara] "Yes! I''ll support this spell!" [Kara] "Then I''ll start throwing wind spell as well! With this much power, even I can pull a spell or two off!" [Singa] It didn''t take Singa long to get used to his newly found blessing, so he start throwing wind magic one after another, but not as a mean to kill his opponent, but rather as a fatal distraction for his enemies. It''s strong enough that one shouldn''t completely ignore it, but one shouldn''t also forget that his sword clad with space magic will cleave through everything that it touches. Couple that with his new flight ability, and combine with his usual short range teleportation, it''s actually put Saintess Angela in a tough spot. Even the devil that are trying to shield Saintess Trying having a hard time, as Singa did manage to grace Saintess Angela quite a number of time ""NOW RAMPAGING STEEL! DESTROY THE CORE!"" [Mara, Kana] ~SCREEEEECH~ With the three of them combine (and me maintaining the spell), we charge through the ever growing mass of thousand headed canine devils. They''re all sharing a single round body with heads of various shape and sizes protruding our from every possible empty spaces of that pile of meat ball. Saintess Angela, seeing that Rampaging Steel trying to destroy it with brute force, make adjustments such as wind resistance, wind absorption, wind nullification on her creation, but "Angela! Take this!" [Gilbert] As Singa and Savel are launching attack left and right, she got careless and Mr Gilbert take advantage of it. His lasso manage to grab and tie Saintess Angela left foot, before getting forcefully dragged by Mr Gilbert, and what awaits her is "Take this! Plant Magic: Forest Carnival!" [Farhah] The spell that she uses inside the beast challenge dungeon. A huge bow and arrow made out of wood, just misses the mark as those canine devils protect her, but the thorny spikes and branches that keeps sprouting out one after another, keeps impaling those devils until "Damn... She''s not even an Avery yet..." (Still...) [Angela] We got her COMMENT 0 comment VOTE Load failed, please RETRY Privileged More Privileged Chapters Download the app and become a privileged reader today! Come take a sneak peek at our author''s stockpiled chapters! Download Table of Contents Display Options Background default yellow dark Font Nunito Sans Merriweather Size Paragraph comments Chapter comments Write thought login liked newest Author: ? 0){ %>Chapter : Author: Machine Translation Editor: Chapter 358 - 358: Battle at the New Headquarters part 9 [At the New Headquarters] [Zerolith point of view] "Mr Alaric and Mrs Linda, are you going to the slumbering vampires and giants as well?" [Zerolith] "We are" [Linda] "Then let us go together" [Zerolith] "Then let us make haste. I got information saying Alicia, Kanji and Seo Ah are heading there as well. They will surely appreciate extra hand on their side" [Alaric] Leaving the Holy Beast of Wind, The Eternal Wind to take care of the canine devils running and causing havoc around the country, the three of us make haste and went to the castle of the country, before moving to their underground chamber that leads to the slumbering vampires and giants that were experimented by Saintess Angela Along the way, we exterminate any and all canine devils that tries to get in our way, even helping Charlotte''s water golem and Karon''s clay puppet on destroying the portal stone While I am beyond grateful that the citizen of the country were already evacuated prior to this event, I can''t fathom why Saintess Angela would wait this long? Is there something that all of us miss? (Think... If I am an evil person, the best course of action would definitely be releasing those vampires and giants even before the heroes arrive, but that definitely wasn''t the case here. They generously gave us ample of time to act before launching this "surprise" attack, so is there any specific reason?) [Zerolith] "Thinking about their reasoning?" [Alaric] "I am. It just doesn''t make any sense" [Zerolith] "If only Princess Diana is with us, she can definitely tell us her impression" [Linda] "Unfortunately, she isn''t here. We have to use our own brain and not embarrassing her" [Alaric] Agree. We can''t depend on her. We have to show her what we are made up of "There''s another portal stone here" [Linda] "Allow me" [Zerolith] Strange. This portal stone that''s near the castle seems well hidden as compared to other, plus, the mana source it emitted... No, there are two devilish miasma getting emitted out from it. One for the barrier that is fighting to gain supremacy against the Ultima Iero Fragma, and another one going underground... Don''t tell me... "Say, how many portal stones did we discovered thus far?" [Zerolith] "What''s this all of the sudden?" [Alaric] "To answer you, we generally found three. One as it name suggest, to open up the portal to somewhere like the devil dimensions, one to set up a barrier like this one, and another to boost their power like what happen to the True Beastman Group back then" [Linda] "Right, but the portal stone that we destroy just now, it feels like it didn''t serve any of the function..., at least not it main function" [Zerolith] ""..."" [Alaric, Linda] "And isn''t it awfully nice of them to wait until all of us are here, more so with one of the holy beast around, like they''re expecting it to happen" [Zerolith] "I see..." [Alaric] "Alaric, Zerolith, please tell me. What are you thinking!?" [Linda] "Those slumbering vampires and giants... They aren''t to wreck havoc like other, but rather, in a different manner" [Zerolith] "As in!?" [Linda] "As in a ticking giant destruction spell that can obliterate an entire country. Like a ticking bomb powerful enough to destroy all in a blink of an eye. To make matter worse, the evacuation center of the citizen and those slumbering vampires and giants are close." [Alaric] "What! Then that mean, they really wanted to destroy this country once and for all!" [Linda] "Exactly what we are thinking" [Zerolith] "Goddess!" [Linda] I feel like the scattering dots on my friend are all finally connected forming a single track. Sure, the original intention of Saintess Angela here is to experiment on those vampires and giants as an army for the devils, but once she realised that they could also be used as a powerful remote bomb, then they purposely let the hunter devil "chased" after them (while Lara and Nara also involved), only to be placed inside the country. Once everything are in their place, the barrier that they erected serve as the start of the countdown, activating the ticking time bomb spell inside of them before... "Alicia, Kanji, Seo Ah, what''s wrong?" [Linda] "We can''t enter this room!" [Seo Ah] "Kanji already try different approaches but it simply won''t budge" [Alicia] "Allow me. Dark Magic: Darkness Consume" [Zerolith] No time to break it with brute force. Just engulf and swallow everything, even the devilish miasma that tries to ward this spell. Consume and return to nothingness Inside the room. The vampires and giants that were in deep slumber are still sleeping rather peacefully, but the devilish miasma emitted from their bodies tell us all that we need. "Goddess. So what you mentioned was true" [Linda] "..." [Alaric] Mr Alaric, without any slight hesitation, bring out his knives "Hold it!" [Zerolith] "Don''t stop me! Who knows how much time we have!" [Alaric] "Still, let us think of something!" [Zerolith] "Brother! Don''t tell me!?" [Alicia] "You gotta be kidding me!?" [Kanji] "I won''t let you!" [Seo Ah] Seo Ah uses her body and block Mr Alaric path. It''s 4 to 1, and neither side wanted to bulge, and "Alaric. Calm down!" [Linda] "We are running out of time Linda!" [Alaric] "This isn''t like you! Are you so consume in grief of not saving Ash that you wanted to just kill your brethren!" [Linda] "Then what! Zerolith here tried to put them inside his item box magic, but that didn''t work out" [Alaric] He''s sharp. That''s actually my very first action after entering this room. I thought no one realize it, but I was proven wrong "And we can''t be sure by killing them, it will not detonate!" [Linda] "Then what are we supposed to do!" [Alaric] Something wrong. I always thought that Mr Alaric is a calm composed guy? Was it really all grieving that causes him to act rashly, or is there something more (Mirage mana... Abundance of foreign mirage mana on his clothes... Did he just fought against a group of mirage wolves before?) [Zerolith] If that was the case, then "Dark magic: Darkness Consume" [Zerolith] "!" [All] Just consume all the mirage mana on his cloth. Judging from his reaction, I could tell he perfectly understand why I do that "Listen. We are running out of time... The only way out for now is undoubtedly Saintess Rumia" [Zerolith] Before I talk any further "Ultimate Time Magic: Chrono stasis" [Zerolith] COMMENT 0 comment VOTE Load failed, please RETRY Privileged More Privileged Chapters Download the app and become a privileged reader today! Come take a sneak peek at our author''s stockpiled chapters! Download Table of Contents Display Options Background default yellow dark Font Nunito Sans Merriweather Size Paragraph comments Chapter comments Write thought login liked newest Author: ? 0){ %>Chapter : Author: Machine Translation Editor: Chapter 359 - 359: Battle at the New Headquarters part 10 [At New Headquarters] Most of the portal stone that were responsible for maintaining the barrier made by the devil have been destroyed. Most as even after destroying them all, the barrier is still standing strong, albeit Ultima Iero Fragma starting to the upper hand, but what disturbing is that "Another one?" [Charlotte] "Another one" [Karon] "I see. Since Zerolith is currently there, I take it he must have realised their true intention" [Charlotte] "He''s no longer the rash Zerolith we used to know back in the day, so I believe he does" [Karon] Good. We should destroy all the remaining portal stone and ""!!"" [Karon, Charlotte] This Dark magic. It''s powerful... No doubt about it, someone with the blessing from The Holy Beast of Dark is currently using a high level dark magic spell, and judging by the distance "Zerolith..." [Charlotte] "I wonder what''s going on" [Karon] "Should we head there?" [Charlotte] "Yes. Let us head there and see what happens" [Karon] "Just when we wanted to deal with that mass of ball made up of the canine devils up there in the sky" [Charlotte] "True, but we can sense Mara, Birdie and Mr Kana there, so let us trust them to take care of that strange thing" [Karon] "Right!" [Charlotte] Not wasting anymore time, Karon and I took one of the Sea Hippo golem that''s nearby and make haste to the source of the dark magic. "ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!" [King Behemoth] "The King Behemoth, it''s absorbing the barrier!" [Charlotte] "And not only that! Zin. His eyes! He started to blink rather strangely!" [Karon] "That Canine Ball in the sky also seems to absorb the barrier" [Charlotte] "Just why... Did Saintess Angela suddenly change her plan..." [Karon] "I can only think of her doing something dirty to gain the upper hand" [Charlotte] Just as we are discussing about it, the Canine Ball up in the sky begin firing random miasma. Thick intoxicating cloud of miasma that erodes all that it touches "My armor!" "My eyes! Somebody help me!" "It painful! It painful!" "Look! The Canine Ball! It start to concentrate fire in the middle!" "It charging up something big!" "And the Mini Garuda! It disappear..." ((NO!!)) [Karon, Charlotte] Are they alright? Please tell me they''re alright "Hoi! Hoi! Hoi! Hoi! The Devilish King Behemoth! It started to move towards the castle!" "Is it me or does the King Behemoth look even bigger!?" "Yes! You''re right! It sure look bigger!" "It act more aggressively as well! The Empress Behemoth of the Heroes is basically getting drag by it" "No. More like toward where the giants and vampires are sleeping!" "Even that enormous giant. It acting rather strangely!" "It''s like, he is disobeying a command?" And more trouble come "The canine devils! They aren''t focusing on us anymore?" "But rather, they are trying to bring down the Holy Beast of Wind!" "Everyone! Help the Holy Beast!" "We can''t let the Holy Beast of Wind being eaten by those devils!!!!" """"CHARGEEEEE!!!!!"""" """"""YEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!"""""""" I see. Saintess Angela must have ordered them to concentrate their power on two things. The Holy Beast itself and the mainly the slumbering vampires and giants. She wanted to gain back the advantages that she held, and thus decided to use whatever remaining energy from the barrier, channel them to other fellow devils and let them rampage. Since we are all here anyway, and none of us are likely to run away from this country, the barrier didn''t serve much function, and rather than wasting it away, she would rather use it for something else (In which case, forming a barricade around the castle and holding it off should be my top priority now!) "All Marine Golem! Hear my command! Protect the castle and the slumbering place of the vampires and giants!" [Charlotte] "Clay Puppets! Unite and help the Holy Beast of Wind!" [Karon] And now, the haphazard situation throughout the entire country are finding themselves gathering toward the centre of the country, more specifically the castle. "Even if they fail to get ahold of those vampires and giants, there are still citizen in the evacuation center, if they could get control over that place, they will have large number of hostage, but seeing as they''re acting extremely aggressive, it isn''t far fetched to say they plan to kill them all, with or without those experimented vampires and giants" [Karon] "The Ball Canine up in the sky charging up an extremely powerful miasma laser, the Devilish King Behemoth trying to get into the castle, the canine devils preventing The Holy Beast of Wind from acting, and lastly, Zin. He''s a strange one" [Charlotte] "It will all be over once he decide to act" [Karon] "That''s right" [Charlotte] It really is. Should Zin decided to act according to Saintess Angela plan right from the start, I have no doubt her plan will go smoothly, and they must be celebrating our death by now, but somehow, something happen that causes Zin to act strangely. I don''t know what but I can only be grateful for it "Kanji! You''re here!" [Karon] "With the other as well" [Charlotte] "What''s the situation? You two seems to be in rush" [Alaric] "We can say the same about all of you as well" [Karon] ""Well..."" [Linda, Charlotte] We exchange information in hand "I see. If Saintess Rumia is here, then she can definitely do that!" [Charlotte] "True. She''s out only hope in this dark hour" [Seo Ah] "But we also should defend this place" [Kanji] "Please leave it to us!" [Charlotte] "True! Do whatever you can to get Saintess Rumia back!" [Karon] "Agree. This seems to be the best way to deal with our current situation" [Alaric] "Then Alaric and I will go! All of you, please, take care" [Linda] "The two of you as well" [Charlotte] As they both leave, Karon and I combine our Ice and Steel magic, forming our own barricade around the castle ""Ice and Steel magic: Ice Steel Fortress!!"" [Karon, Charlotte] Protecting those inside, while holding off countless attack from outside. Oh Goddess Achalasia, please, let this fortress prevail! COMMENT 0 comment VOTE Load failed, please RETRY Privileged More Privileged Chapters Download the app and become a privileged reader today! Come take a sneak peek at our author''s stockpiled chapters! Download Table of Contents Display Options Background default yellow dark Font Nunito Sans Merriweather Size Paragraph comments Chapter comments Write thought login liked newest Author: ? 0){ %>Chapter : Author: Machine Translation Editor: Chapter 360 - 360: Battle at the New Headquarters part 11 [At New Headquarters] [Rean point of view] "ROAR!!!" [Behe] "Hang in there! Behe! Hand of light and darkness!" [Elise] Behe try his best to stop the King Behemoth from running towards the castle ground (which are now surrounded by fortress of Steel Ice made by Karon and Charlotte). Sadly, Behe is akin to a rag of potato sack, getting forcefully dragged by the King Behemoth against her will, as even with all her might and effort, it doesn''t show any sign of slowing down, not even in the slightest. "Roaar..." [Behe] (This is bad!) [Elise] Behe''s skin show sign of abrasion. With rubbles, iron, glasses, and multiple debris all finding themselves stuck in between his wound, or worse directly causing the very same damage as he kept getting drag! If we don''t help Behe now, he might find himself unable to fight for the rest of the battle, which will undoubtedly be a massive disadvantage to us all! Not to mention, Behe is part our family, so there''s no way either one of us wanted to see him in such pitiful condition! "Wind Magic: Tornado!" [Jacks] "Giant Light Golem Knight! Apprehend the King Behemoth!" [Saint Louis] "Earth magic: Pitfall!" [Nara] "Space magic: Cube of entrapment!" [Lara] "Dark, Fire, Wind Magic: Hand of fiery hell" [Rean] "Holy mana: Support them all!" [Seraph] "Destroy it/ROAR!" [Devil Hunter/King Behemoth] All of us help Behe slow down the massive behemoth, but the hunter didn''t make it any easier for us. With the hunter giving the command directly into the enhanced behemoth, it single claw strike couple with it powerful dark magic as well as devilish miasma forcefully push us away, and thus giving it more freedom to run toward the castle The Hunter Devil, after getting shot by Lara and Nara soul pierce technique, become limbs, as if his very arms and legs are there no more. Lara and Nara explain that the soul that enables the movement of his limbs were destroyed, and can only be be heal by those of similar or opposite power, meaning... The one with the power of God of Life or Death. Since there are no way Mrs Linda, Lara or Nara will heal it for him, his only option will be to get those with the power of God of Life, ie Saintess Angela to heal it for him. To make it easier for him to reach Saintess Angela, he actually combined himself with the King Behemoth, almost like his nervous system override the King Behemoth nervous system, and thing is (That... That exactly what Singa''s Mother, Sachmis find herself with the Holy Beast of Fire, Hell Tiger Har) [Rean] No doubt about it, it''s the very same thing. "ROAR!" [Behe] Behe, gathering his light and wind magic, make a powerful attack onto the hind legs of the King Behemoth, which understandably causes the King Behemoth to be piss. It''s distracted for a moment, and thus, start to pound Behe one after another, relentlessly. Elise and Saint Louis put up multiple shield just to dampen the impact, as their shield magic unable to withstand the massive force that is The King Behemoth "Slash of thunderstorms" [Jacks] "Stay away! [Hunter Devil] Amidst the chaos, Master Jacks find himself confronting the head, and unable to fend himself with any of his weapon, the hunter simply shoot devilish miasma straight out if his eyes and mouth while Master Jacks blocks and deflect it. With the uneven footing and the King Behemoth violently moving left and right, Master Jacks find it hard to press forward to finish the hunter devil (Think Rean! Think. I don''t have any experience fighting against a King Behemoth prior, but there must be some sort of example that I can use!) [Rean] Remember back the tell of any S rank adventure or those of similar strength. What they do when they fought against King Behemoth. Think. Think. There must be someone! (THERE IS!) [Rean] And I can use his tactic as well! "Lara, Nara, Mr Seraph, can you help me!" [Rean] ""Got a plan??"" [Lara, Nara] "Please enlighten us" [Seraph] "Simple. Mr Seraph, I want you to boost my attack and defence up as much as you can, and please surround me with holy mana as much as you can. Lara, Nara, even if it''s just for a moment, I want you to make the King Behemoth open it mouth wide. Can you three do that?" [Rean] ""What are you planning??"" [Lara, Nara] "I seem to perfectly recall this tale. Very well. The younger one following the footsteps of his elder" [Seraph] It''s a pretty famous tale after all. With Mr Seraph boosting my parameters up as much as he can, and make a holy armour surrounding my body, Lara and Nara find the best spot to launch their surprise attack. Amidst the chaos that is unfolding, they patiently wait, until "Holy Fire: Burn!" [Elise] "Roar!" [King Behemoth] "I don''t think so!" [Saint Louis] Elise try to burn the inner ear of the King Behemoth, and while the King Behemoth try to dodge, Saint Louis make two massive light spear and impale it front legs, and that''s when "Water Magic: Waterfall" [Lara] "Great Thunder magic: Electrocution!" [Nara] "All of you! DODGE IT!" [Rean] """"!!!!"""" [Behe, Elise, Jacks, Saint Louis] Torrent of water to improve the conductivity of thunder magic made even greater by the blessing of the Holy Beast of Wind. With that, The King Behemoth is electrocuted for a moment, letting out a massive roar with it mouth wide open "Now! Wind Magic: Tailwind magic! Neutral magic: Acceleration!" [Rean] Also (Neutral magic: Search) [Rean] With me leaping into the King Behemoth mouth (and getting a glimpse of pale Elise), I am certain I can made it inside, but "Don''t you dare!" [Hunter devil] The hunter shoot a concentrated miasma straight at me. Unable to properly fend myself, I just braces it and push myself, luckily "Space magic: Teleportation" [Linda] Mrs Linda is here, and seems to have an idea of what I am about to do, as she teleport me right into the king behemoth mouth. With my scan magic pick up the King Behemoth signal. It''s inside of the heart. That will make it easy, thing is (Just like I thought... Just how did Brother Ash manage to torn it apart that time?) [Rean] I tried swinging my katana in this tight space, and the viscera of the behemoth, it''s like trying to cut through layer of bricks, and that''s putting it lightly. Still "Great Wind Magic: Oxygen rich air. Great Fire magic: Ignition! Combine, and with all the boost from Mr Seraph! Go forth with the goddess blessing on your side! GREAT EXPLOSION!" [Rean] This is the only thing that I can come up with, by mimicking Brother Ash back then. Funnily enough, the King Behemoth that Brother Ash killed back then is the one that killed Behe''s parents, and now, I am using the very same tactic to save Behe once again, from a King Behemoth. Coincidence, or god working in her own way. Still... BOOM!!! With the explosion magic directed towards the heart (more specifically the magic core of the King Behemoth), the shattering magic core of the King Behemoth blown away into thousands of pieces, leaving only the hunter devil "No!!!" [Hunter Devil] "Before you act any further! Light Magic: Million light needles!" [Saint Louis] The hunter devil, unable to run away, find himself facing the wrath of Saint Louis, as countless light needles showering him, tearing him apart pieces by pieces. Hairs getting cut from its roots, skin getting pierce before being torn and destroy into microscopic level, in an event lasting for one minute, what first appear to be a devil slowly getting deranged. Clothes no more, leaving him n.a.k.e.d, then the skin, then the fat and muscle, then the bone, then the internal organ, all of them, getting torn apart by Saint Louis wrath, until all that''s left, is nothing but a puddle of blood with tiny pieces of organs. A terrifying spell from a gentle Saint "Thank you everyone. Thank you as well, Mrs Linda" [Rean] "DON''T DO THAT AGAIN!" [Elise] "MEOW!" [Behe] "True. I can instinctively tell that you''re copying your brother, but that still gave me a mini heart attack..." [Linda] ""Poor Behe... Please rest first"" [Lara, Nara] "Still, Linda, I thought you''re with Alaric" [Seraph] "He''s helping the other confronting Angela. For now, please listen as to what Zerolith has to say" [Linda] Mrs Linda tell us what happen... "I see. That seems to be the only way" [Saint Louis] "Then let us make haste and rescue Saintess Rumia" [Master Jacks] "YES!" [All] COMMENT 0 comment VOTE Load failed, please RETRY Privileged More Privileged Chapters Download the app and become a privileged reader today! Come take a sneak peek at our author''s stockpiled chapters! Download Table of Contents Display Options Background default yellow dark Font Nunito Sans Merriweather Size Paragraph comments Chapter comments Write thought login liked newest Author: ? 0){ %>Chapter : Author: Machine Translation Editor: Chapter 361 - 361: Battle at the New Headquarters part 12 [At the New Headquarters] [Kara point of view] "Mara! MARA!" [Kara] "Damn it! Mr Kana and Birdie as well!" [Singa] "Kara, take those three somewhere safe first!" [Gilbert] "Right!" [Kara] "Come! I''ll heal them!" [Farhah] "Then the three of us should work extra hard to cover them up" [Savel] "Damn! And those piling Ball Canine... It likes it''s a single form of life... It started to regenerate even after the lethal attack" [Gilbert] Leaving them behind, I quickly went to Farhah side and started to heal those three with her help. Everything is fine, but as soon as Saintess Angela started to chant something weird, something that none of us could understand, the barrier suddenly broke, and with that, all those devils, as in getting feed by drugs, started to gain tremendous strength, and thus, turning the tide of the battle Our combination attack should had been lethal no matter how you cut it, but I guess that''s all but for the naught as those Ball Canine simply regenerate back. It''s impossible, but given how Saintess Angela is affiliated with the God of Life, I guess everything is possible. Plus, just when they were starting to regenerate, I saw a glimpse. The largest magic core I ever saw. It''s bigger than the one inside of the Mermaid kingdom, the one that Mahsuri proclaimed belonging to Charlotte. It''s pulsating and it has its own heart beat. It''s scary. It''s like, it''s like it is alive, different from the one given life by fortress defense magic like Housey and Calypso Tree are. The magic core simply has its own soul is the very first impression that I got just by looking at it ~Violence cough~ "Kara..." [Mara] "Don''t talk! Just rest!" [Kara] (She got it the worst. Bet she uses all her might just to protect Mr Kana and Birdie from that weird ball) [Farhah] Mara injury is almost fatal. She keeps coughing clotted blood, mixed with miasma of the devil. We should treat her with holy mana or else... or else... "Let me heal her" [Seraph] "Mr Seraph!" [Farhah] "Can you!?" [Kara] "Just leave it to me" [Seraph] Thank God. Thank God for that. Mr Seraph holy mana get the job done as he slowly but precisely scoop out all the devilish miasma all the while healing Mara at the same time. I can only watch at first, but I have to help Farhah healing the unconscious but stable Mr Kana and Birdie''s magic core as well. Not only Mr Seraph is here, "Tchh!" [Saintess Angela] "Don''t run just because you''re in disadvantage!" [Gilbert] "Who''s running away you old fart!" [Saintess Angela] "NOW!" [Gilbert] Mr Gilbert uses this opening to latch his lasso onto Saintess Angela. Saintess Angela simply cut it back as the lasso regenerate, "GOT YOU!" [Alaric] "Damn you vampire! Not again!" [Saintess Angela] "No. This time, I will make sure to send you to hell properly" [Alaric] Mr Alaric decapitate her, but since she''s a Penanggal, decapitating her means nothing, so Mr Alaric quickly take out his pistol, and shoot all of the bullet inside of the pistol through the airway and digestive tract that''s connected to the body. To properly finish the body off, Mr Gilbert lasso turn the whole body petrified, before swinging it in full circle at high speed before smashing the petrified body into the ground! "DAMN YOU!" [Saintess Angela] "I won''t let you get away! Space magic: Cube of entrapment!" [Singa] "Water and mirage magic: Sea of confusion" [Savel] Seeing as how the Saintess flee, they''re all trying to chase after her, and surprisingly, even in that state, she somehow manage to escape from our grasp. As the other arr focusing on taking down the runaway head of the Penanggal, I should do this "How should I destroy you..." [Kara] "Kara... Still, don''t you think it''s impossible... It should take all of us just to bring that thing down" [Farhah] "But this is our chance, as Saintess Angela didn''t give that thing any order, it suddenly stop charging his attack" [Seraph] "True. It simply wait there, breathing heavily as it tries to maintain the miasma missile that it will unleash" [Farhah] (Breathing... Than can I...) [Kara] No. My power aren''t nearly as great and as powerful as Charlotte. Even Charlotte will have difficulty piercing that massive thing down to its core, but... Taking my phone out, I call Charlotte and ask her to prepare a single powerful spell "Can you do it? I''ll make sure to make a hole on the flesh so that you can shoot at the magic core directly" [Kara] "I''ll do my best" [Charlotte] "Right, then I will..." [Kara] ... Without letting me finish my sentence, she hung me up, and I can sense her raging water ship spell, charging up a powerful water cannon to be fired at the massive ball canine (I have to take into account of her trajectory, but first...) [Kara] Concentrate. Feel the flow of the air going in and out of the canine ball up there in the sky. Since it''s a static target, and it has a poorly develop respiratory system, I can easily make out the flow of air, thanks to no small part to my blessing. The devilish miasma that is oozing out from it greatly interfere with my process, but since its remain there, inactive, then I could simply push it aside once I start channeling my mana Just as I keep searching for the best route to make a dent on that massive thing, a thought occur to me (I can use this to destroy Zin from the inside as well!) [Kara] These two are basically an easy target for me now! But let me focus on that Canine Ball as it''s currently a bigger threat than Zin is (Found it!) "Now!" [Kara] I channel my mana into the wind, and let the wind enter the Canine Ball. I push the miasma of the devil aside, and once I pour out every last bit of my mana once more (and experiencing a severe mana insufficiency), "Wind Magic: Internal crush!" [Kara] The wind magic, and the air inside the Canine Ball, it''s reacting to my spell as it twisting, crushing, hurling, exploding and generally causing harm to the Canine Ball so much so that pieces by pieces, the flesh and the blood started to fall apart, creating a tunnel like structure in a section on the flesh that directly expose part of the magic core (Now Charlotte!) [Kara] As in responding to my internal monologue, Charlotte''s raging water ship fire off a series of powerful water cannon magic, with each loud boom, a massive water cannon ball being unleash, and one by one, it clean hit the target until ~Crack~ A loud crack can be heard coming from the magic core, and to truly finish it off, she launch the water ship directly into the magic core, smashing it all the while firing off multitude of spells, before ~Loud explosion~ "Gross!" [Kara] "It literally rain flesh and blood!" [Farhah] "Stinks..." [Kara] "Holy shield... A little too late, but better than nothing I guess" [Seraph] ""Thank you"" [Kara, Farhah] "You''re welcome, but Kara, drink this mana potion first before trying it on Zin there" [Seraph] "I will. Thank you" [Kara] I gulp down ten of the mana potion, and just as I wanted to start using the same spell on Zin, I notice that majority of the flesh containing miasma of the devil fall into Zin, and his weirdly blinking eye suddenly just staring into the sky, before "NO WAY!" [Kara] It can''t be "G.A.A.A.A.A.A.A.A.A.A.H.H.H.H" [Zin] Zin, he wakes up COMMENT 0 comment VOTE Load failed, please RETRY Privileged More Privileged Chapters Download the app and become a privileged reader today! Come take a sneak peek at our author''s stockpiled chapters! Download Table of Contents Display Options Background default yellow dark Font Nunito Sans Merriweather Size Paragraph comments Chapter comments Write thought login liked newest Author: ? 0){ %>Chapter : Author: Machine Translation Editor: Chapter 362 - 362: Battle at the New Headquarters part 13 [At the New Headquarters] I''m simply exhausted. Maintaining the ice steel magic fortress couple with maintaining the marine golems, and not to mention, the raging water ship spell just now that I put most of my mana into (in the end, it''s worth it, seeing as how the weird canine ball up there in the sky getting destroyed), but the battle seems to be coming to its end With most of them chasing after the now bodiless Saintess Angela (which surprisingly somehow manage to get past them all), and with most of the canine devil already taken care of by The Holy Beast of Wind, Eternal Wind, the battle really seems to be coming to its very end "Finally! It''s over!" [Charlotte] "Now, now, don''t jinx it" [Karon] "Come on now, I''m just tired. Plus, with this raining flesh and blood, me letting a sigh is just to vent out my tiredness" [Charlotte] "Haha. The battle is not over yet, but you can rest a bit and let me handle the rest" [Karon] "Really! You''re the best brother!" [Charlotte] "I seem to recall you said that to Brother Ash and Rean as well, so which ranking am I on this best brother list?" [Karon] "You guys are all the best! Don''t put me in a difficult spot with that trick question!" [Charlotte] "Haha" [Karon] With Karon maintaining the transparent glass shield, and us having a little chat, I really really thought it''s all over, but as Karon said, don''t jinx it, and suddenly, out of nowhere "G.A.A.A.A.A.A.A.A.A.A.H.H.H.H" [Zin] "What! What was that!?" [Charlotte] "Zin..." [Karon] "I know, but I mean, why suddenly he decided to move? Could it be, because of the flesh hitting him constantly?" [Charlotte] "That seems to be the case here, or maybe Saintess Angela doing something" [Karon] Please! Why now!? Most of us are already on our last leg. I can''t even move from my spot, and Kara mention that she herself, Mara, Birdie and Mr Kana already exhausted their last bit of mana, currently resting. Behe is on his child form, after sustaining multiple injuries when he fought against the Devilish King Behemoth. Zerolith on the other hand is still maintaining his Chrono stasis spell. Most adventures and knights also experiencing similar conditions "This is bad... Just how many of us can still fight?" [Karon] "Everyone are simply exhausted. This is too much... This is too much..." [Charlotte] "Charlotte, you rest here and replenish your stamina and mana. I''ll go there and help the other" [Karon] "Right... Please, be careful" [Charlotte] That''s the only response that I can tell him. I wanted to fight with the other as well, but with my condition, it''s impossible. The only thing that I can do now is to maintain my spells, protecting this area and taking care of the remaining canine devils As Zin start walking, I thought he will walk here, but that doesn''t seem to be the case. The direction he''s hiding is, one of the dungeon entrance. I don''t know whether it''s just his instinct to escape the assault of barrage that the now Holy Beast of Wind taking his Rampaging Garuda form, or he''s simply wondering around. Even if he''s trying to escape, I can''t think how he will fit into that "tiny" entrance? He''s basically the size of a hill, maybe even that of a small mountain. Unless he shrink his body, he couldn''t possibly fit through that entrance ~Screech~ "A.N.N.O.Y.I.N.G" [Zin] He said that after getting assaulted by the holy beast, and his speech, it''s simply worse than before. Can I even call that a speech? From his look, his already (I''m sorry to say this), "dumb" look before looks even "dumber", that''s the best way I can describe it. Speaking of his size, like I said, he''s enormous, so much so that anything that is unfortunate enough in his path get utterly destroy. Houses, hall, even the streets, nothing spared, and that''s only him walking around one single step at a time, not doing anything else. I don''t know what will happen should Zin decide to do something else? Fortunately enough, he''s walking very very slowly despite the assault that he receives. Maybe, maybe, the powerful attack from The Holy Beast of Wind, didn''t even flinch him, what''s more, the other. I can sense Karon and the other that can fight are already there, trying their best to stop him, but even their attacks amounts to nothing ~SCREECH~ The holy beast spread his mighty and elegance wings, and with that, multiple spells, each spawning from each of his feathers, attack Zin, and again, it''s all amount to nothing. I ain''t Farhah that can instinctively tell most animals feeling (unless it''s aquatic related), but I could tell from the slight twitching of the holy beast facial muscle that it actually feel rather impressed that his attack was getting blocked by Zin when he all he does is... nothing. If this continues, everything will be destroy! Plus, this is Zin basically walking and doing nothing, what if he decides to go on a rampage. I can''t imagine, no, I don''t want to imagine it!!! Even when I said I don''t want to imagine it, my mind keep scanning the destruction that Zin causes with the "multiplier of times 3" keeps bombarding my mind, as I think should Zin act, the minimum amount of damage that one could expect is at least three times than what he''s currently doing "I need to chug down as many mana potion as I can... Now... Now!" [Charlotte] That''s the best that I could do right now! Simply standing around watching Zin destroying everything will amount to nothing (Should I just deactivate these spells? But, the adventures and knights will most likely get hurts, plus, there are civilians inside. what will happen should I deactivate these spells and Saintess Angela or other devils sneak in, causing more damage) [Charlotte] Goddess, this is frustrating... COMMENT 0 comment VOTE Load failed, please RETRY ¡ª New chapter is coming soon ¡ªWrite a review Privileged More Privileged Chapters Download the app and become a privileged reader today! Come take a sneak peek at our author''s stockpiled chapters! Download Weekly Power Status See Who Voted -- Power Ranking -- Power Stone Vote Table of Contents Display Options Background default yellow dark Font Nunito Sans Merriweather Size Paragraph comments Chapter comments Write thought login liked newest Author: ? 0){ %>Chapter : Author: Machine Translation Editor: Chapter 363 - 363: Battle at the New Headquarters part 14 _________________________________________________ [Deep underground] [Seo Ah point of view] "Please, hang in there, everyone... Zerolith, are you alright?" [Seo Ah] "I''m fine...." [Zerolith] He''s not fine. He''s having difficulty in breathing normally right now. Maintaining Chrono stasis just to prevent the progression of the vampires and giants that will explode moment notice, he''s holding the life line of this country on his very hand right now. One slip and it will all be over. Is there anything that I can do... "Zerolith! I brought everyone that can use time magic for you!" [Kanji] "Thanks Kanji, everyone..." [Zerolith] "Don''t worry, Kanji here already told us everything!" "Support the Demon Priest will all our might!" "YES!" "Thank you, I appreciate it" [Zerolith] And they all supported Zerolith. It seems Zerolith can finally catch a breather, but he doesn''t. Who can, when the situation is this grim (Is there... Is there anything that I can do...) [Seo Ah] I know that all I can do is praying, but isn''t there anything else that I can do! As a fellow sister, as siblings of Orphanage that sworn to support them all. As Saintess Rumia... (Seo Ah... Seo Ah!) [Saintess Rumia?] "Saintess!?" [Seo Ah] "!?" [Other] (Listen, O pupil of my favourite daughter) [?] (God... Goddess Achalasia!) [Seo Ah] No doubt! I could never forget her voice even after all these years! (Seo Ah, listen...) [Saintess Rumia?] What''s going on? How can I suddenly hear her voices? Is it because of Ultima Iero Fragma? Whatever is it... "Kanji, can you help me? And Zerolith, just hang in there a bit more!" [Seo Ah] "Huh? I mean yes!" [Kanji] "Did something happen?" [Zerolith] _________________________________________________ [At the New Headquarters] [Saint Louis point of view] A rally of people from different species, all band together under the leadership of both young hero Rean and I, all with the sole intention of saving Rumia. No matter how exhausted we are, no matter how cripples we are, no matter how bleak the chance look likes "For Saintess Rumia" Said the Young Adventure "I still need to repay all the kindness that she had done for me and my family!" Said the old snake beastman "I can''t face Princess Diana if I couldn''t save her best friend, and my brethren are all there, waiting for Saintess Rumia to save her! I won''t give up!" [Alaric] "True. Us vampires will support Saint Louis and Saintess Rumia!" [Alicia] "You can add us giant as well!" And speaking of my name "Saint Louis and Saintess Rumia, both are the pillar that alongside the ten heroes, will bring a new dawn to Achalasia! It''s simply an honour fighting alongside Saint Louis with the holy purpose of saving the Goddess favourite daughter" "You dwarf make some good speech!" "Coming from some lousy elf, that''s quite a high praise" "HEY!" ""You guys are funny"" [Karon, Farhah] And as for the young heroes that can fight "Everyone! Our top priority is to safe Saintess Rumia!" [Rean] "RIGHT!!!!" "Stopping Zin will come second, but seeing the situation..." [Elise] "To save Saintess Rumia, one way or another, we have to stop Zin first" [Savel] "Dammit! If only that powerful thick devilish miasma didn''t interfere with our space magic, Mrs Linda and I would have been able to save Saintess Rumia!" [Singa] Together with The Holy Beast of Wind, all of us try our best to save Rumia, but alas "Nothing work..." [Linda] "And I could only support all of you for so much..." [Seraph] "If only a demon like me can be some help like you..." "Don''t worry. Just continue what you have done, together we will prevail" [Seraph] "True. Keep pushing and we will find way soon enough" (Tchh, if only I didn''t let that damn witch saintess escape, I could just force her to stop Zin) [Gilbert] Zin simply enormous enough, and any and all attack seems insignificant for him. Even the holy beast itself couldn''t make a dent on his thick skin "GAAH!" "The miasma! It''s suffocating..." "Fall back! Those who couldn''t be any nearer to Zin fall back!" [Saint Louis] "Help the other that couldn''t stand! Bring them somewhere safe!" [Samurai Jacks] ""Come here and we will treat you up!!"" [Lara, Nara] The toll of having to breath on this devilish miasma, it started to affect us all one after another. Thankfully, the twin homunculus help them in removing the devilish miasma. I wonder, how Rumia is doing... "!?" [Saint Louis] "Is something the matter, Louis?" [Gilbert] "I just realize, Saintess Rumia, she wasn''t affected by it at all..." [Saint Louis] "True. We noticed that as well, and we are still wondering why" [Farhah] "Tell me, are there anything else that any of you notice?" [Saint Louis] Albeit all of us are fighting with our very own lives on the line right now, everyone naturally pitch in and listen to what other have to say. One by one, when fighting against Zin, it''s like all of us naturally come to one single conclusion "That giant is trying to protect her?" [Alicia] "If that''s indeed the case, we can use it to our advantage. We just need to wake Saintess Rumia up and let her convince Zin to stop" [Alaric] "Trying to wake her up. I''ll try something with my mirage magic. Singa!" [Savel] "I know!" [Singa] Those two synchronize perfectly, with Savel preparing his spell all the while Singa choosing the best spot to teleport him, and once they''re ready "Hold it!" [Kanji] "Please wait!" [Seo Ah] ""Kanji!? Seo Ah!?"" [Singa, Savel] "Please take her with you!" [Kanji] "Listen! The goddess and Saintess Rumia herself. They gave me their own blessing to help both Zin and Saintess Rumia!" [Seo Ah] "How so?" [Saint Louis] "Saint Louis! Mr Seraph! Both of you need to help me as well!" [Seo Ah] Trying to convince us, she raise her hand, and chant the same spell as Rumia does, and the Ultima Iero Fragma, all of it rush into her hand, together with another blessing arising from inside of her. I fully understand why she needs both Seraph and my help "I see. Without us, you might get blown away because of the mana..." [Seraph] "That''s right. I''m sorry, but Saintess Rumia mentioned that both of you will be simply exhausted, so she left the task to me, but..." [Seo Ah] "Don''t worry. You make the right choice asking for our help!" [Saint Louis] "So, what will you do with it?" [Alaric] "I will shoot Saintess Rumia and invigorate her back, hopefully with the Goddess power inside of me and with this blessing, we can save Saintess Rumia and remove the Fallen God influence from Zin" [Seo Ah] "If that''s the case, Singa. Change of plan." [Savel] "We will create an opening for you to save Saintess Rumia directly! Please, believe in us" [Singa] "Then I will be the one taking the three of you as near as possible" [Linda] "Please do so!" [Seo Ah] "Then the other, we need to stop Zin from walking even if it''s for one second! That way this young lady Seo Ah will not miss her shot!" [Gilbert] "Right!" "I can really feel the Goddess blessing coming from you. Then I should simply block this giant with my own body!" [Eternal wind] "Focus on the upper part! Farhah and I will immobilize his lower limb!" [Karon] "Yeah we will!" [Farhah] "Everyone! Support the two of them!" [Rean] "RIGHT!" Both Karon and Farhah quickly pull one one massive last spell from their part, trying to hold both the lower limbs of Zin from moving. Karon enclosing the legs with layer upon layer of earth while Farhah using trees and vines to further strengthen it. The other pull out various spells to support them. As for the Holy Beast, with all it might, it handle the many hands and the abdomen of Zin all alone "Are you ready, Seo Ah?" [Linda] "I am!" [Seo Ah] ""Then here we go!"" [Singa, Savel] "Same here!" [Linda] Using teleportation magic, we are now up there in the sky, with both space magic from Singa and Linda to keep us afloat, with the addition of Singa''s newly acquired wind magic Savel use dragonewt transformation and start charging laser of water and mirage from his mouth, all the while getting transported by Singa to what seems to be the perfect angle. "Space magic: Cube of teleportation!" [Singa] With his spell, Singa make a large cube and teleport part of the miasma and fingers of Zin. As expected, it didn''t work at all, but that moment create a moment where part of the area are not covered with the devilish miasma "Sea of mirage!" [Savel] "I''ll add! Wind barrier! Don''t let the miasma interfere!" [Singa] Savel simply fill that spaces with his own mana, and that sea of mirage, once it comes into contact with Rumia, Savel give us a signal. To further increase our chance of success, Singa uses his wind magic and ward off any devilish miasma that try to get closer "Here I go! Please! Let it wake Saintess Rumia up!" [Seo Ah] With his second finger, Seo Ah fire off a beam that travel through the Sea of Mirage before finally hitting Rumia. We aren''t sure what happen, but "S.A.I.N.T.E.S.S.R.U.M.I.A?" [Zin] "Hello there... Zin..." [Rumia] A bright light engulf Zin entirely Chapter 364 - 364: Aftermath of the Battle at the New Headquarters part 1 [At Malsia''s castle] [Director of Orphanages, Mira point of view] Seeing the end of what can be say as one of the biggest tragedy that happens in a century (with the previous and upcoming fallen god awakening will be far worst), I breath a collective sigh of relief with Naoto, seeing that Kana, Birdie, Seo Ah and Kanji come out alive at the end of the battle. The total predicted number of casualties are lower than what any of us could expected, standing at low 2500 casualties mainly from the Knight, priest and adventures, who were considered martyr. The main factors would definitely be the early evacuation of the citizen, their cooperativeness, and the presence of high ranking adventures, those ten kids as well as the Holy Beast of Wind. The total count could be lower or higher, but that''s up for them to count and tell us later What strange is that, the watcher that display the entirety of event. Mr Filvisar mentioned it before, that those watcher from all over Achalasia were manipulated a hundred years back, and this time, it''s no different. It''s a shame that those devils cut it out right when Saintess Rumia tried to heal the gargantuan Zin, but a call that we make to Kanji confirm it all, Saintess Rumia save the day at the end of the day, even went as far as saving the experimented vampires and giants, through the Goddess Grace. Incidentally, Seo Ah also awaken a similar power like her teacher, albeit one of the less powerful one (and by less, she herself couldn''t express how inferior her blessing as compared to Saintess Rumia), and this brought me to all the letters that I received by numerous party regarding her "First, they try to get your hand on marriage, even went as far as sending their most "dashing" men to woo you, and now, they''re trying to get Seo Ah hands..." [Princess Nurhaliza] "Well, Seo Ah is already an a.d.u.l.t. She stay in the orphanage just to help us out. If anything, I would like her to decide it for herself, but given how these letters are nothing but garbage attempts to seize her, or more specifically her blessing, I would start preparing rejection letters on her behalf" [Mira] "Please write several for me as well. Somehow, they remember Seo Ah used to be here with Rumia and I, so they''re trying to get their hand on her as well. Undoubtedly, the first prince will also try the same" [Diana] Princess Diana from Estel voice and face full of worries can be seen from the phone, together with his father at the side. She looks extremely fatigue as well, almost having a heavy panda eyes like mine, and I can guess that she also have trouble sleeping at night before our conference this early in the morning, even before the chicken can wake us all up. It''s a sudden conference, one that crossed everyone mind suddenly and synchronizingly, which is logical given how we all saw what happen. Speaking of panda eyes, not only Princess Diana, even Mrs Saga, The Paladin Aries, King Leogris and King Druser share the same eyes. Each one of us here has someone that are involved in yesterday incident, so getting a good sleep in nothing but impossible. Even after getting the confirmation that everything is fine, I bet none of us can stop worrying about them. (Even when they told us there is none of the other powerful devil nearby, or worse, the ten commanders of the devil army, there is still issue of canine devils roaming around the New Headquarters) [Mira] One of them is a major headache, and three of them decided to appear and attack the headquarters, and Naoto mentioned that there could actually be more in hiding, someone that controls the watcher from a far at a safe distance. He or she could take the advantage of attacking them when they''re at their weakest. That''s a possibility that one couldn''t ignore Plus... "They''re still waiting to confirm whether the Hunter Devil is a genuine one or a clone aren''t they" [King Druser] We were previously told by The Demon kingdom, more specifically by King Druser and her two paladin (one is the current Paladin and another one is Mrs Aries), that the doppelganger Htilorez mentioned that the devil commander that they fought inside the challenge dungeon was in fact, a mere clone of the ten commanders. Meaning, the real ten commanders of the devil they fought the other day (one that takes the form similar to that of Mrs Aries), can still be roaming around, and who said that the devil hunter that they just fought couldn''t be any different. That''s why, the autopsy meeting is at utmost important now. Sadly, with both Saint Louis and Saintess Rumia on recovering, and the other official are having a hard time right now, the results might get delayed a bit "While we are waiting, how about we discuss something that''s important as well" [Princess Nurhaliza] "And that is?" [King Leogris] "Regarding the proposal made by Raging Water Magician, Charlotte and her Sea Serpent Project. Don''t you think that we should consider giving it a go?" [Princess Nurhaliza] The Sea Serpent Project, proposed by Charlotte to make a major upgrade on the communication stones that are connecting various countries and made communication using phones possible. It''s an extremely valuable assets, more so now than ever, and when Charlotte proposed to upgrade it as to convert it into a channel that she can utilize at any given point of time, to summon her marine golems army and aid the process of defeating devil whenever they appear. It''s a great idea and proposal, one that we can all jump into and agree at moment notice, should the risk of not breaking down the communication stones throughout the dungeons aren''t they. That''s why "Can you update us about it? Mrs Lisa and Mr Qudus?" [King Malsia] "Please, take the stage" [King Malsia] "If we must" [Lisa] Chapter 365 - 365: Aftermath of the Battle at the New Headquarters part 2 _________________________________________________ [At Estel''s castle] [Diana point of view] The long conference was finally over, and it''s time for me to finally hit the bed, or so I thought, as the clock show the time of 10:32a.m., and with how noisy it''s outside, with the workers inside the castle still couldn''t stop talking about the event that is yesterday, it''s just plain impossible for me to get a wink of sleep, which is why "No. If you can''t sleep, just rest first" [Qis] "True. I''m here not because of any businesses, but I know you will straight away go to work without taking a short break" [Alice] "Mr Alaric and Mrs Linda aren''t here, but if they''re here, there will be 5 voices voting out for to rest" [Bladel] "Fine... All three of you are having the same panda eye as I am, let just take a rest together inside my room" [Diana] "Certainly" [Qis] "I''m a bit hesitant to sleep inside the princess room, but if that makes you rest, so be it" [Bladel] "Somehow, I get the feeling you''re actually happy" [Alice] Just when I was about to enter the room, I can hear one of the minister who supported my brother gossiping in the corner with one of his underlings "Princess Diana, not only she''s friendly with Saintess Rumia, but also with the disciples of the Saintess as well. I''m sure the black hair priestess that awaken the same blessing as Saintess Rumia will support her" "If that''s the case, we should take her hand for marriage fast! She''s no longer under the orphanage, so we can just put some pressure to The Guardian of Children in Malsia should she refuse" And they already started. The four of us just ignore them for now as we enter my room "If Ash is here, he will definitely slam their head against the wall" [Qis] "And I will wholeheartedly agree with his decision" [Alice] "True. His boldness can prove useful at times like this" [Bladel] "Speaking of Seo Ah and Ash..." [Diana] They suddenly turn from chatty mood into a serious one, as they can sense my intuition is in action "Just like how Linda gave me this blessing on her death, and like how Seo Ah projected some of her blessing to help Rumia out, I get this feeling, I will do the same to Ash... To save him from the fallen god clutch" [Diana] """!!!""" [Qis, Alice, Bladel] _________________________________________________ [Somewhere unknown] [True beastman leader, Simba the Dark Lion point of view] Looks like the heroes are becoming even stronger with each passing day, and I could tell that Singa, the son of Sachmis, has improve tremendously, most likely under the guidance of his grandfather "You''re next! Show those heroes what you''re made up of" [Second traitorous prince of demon kingdom] "My prediction will be you losing the battle to acclaim the Avery, but never mind. Apart from Iblis, Seraph and the Witch call Rafiah, should we acquire the blood of the Avery, it will prove to be highly precious" [First traitorous prince of demon kingdom] "True. I''m sure you''re aware of it yourself. The mischievous Fairy Queen, Holy Beast of Mirage Titania only set you up" [Serial killer dwarf] The group already gotten their hand on the power of Iblis, or a portion of it to be exact through some unknown method, and I will bet on it to acquire Avery And to answer the serial killer dwarf remarks, I''m well aware those "loose mouthed" fairies that "chat" with each other at the Forest Dungeon, telling my crew regarding the upcoming ritual of the Avery, is nothing more than a set-up from the Fairy Queen side, so that she can save her fellow Holy Beast, but this is a risk I''m more than happy to take (Should all go according to our way, the fallen god will not be an issue. So sacrificing one of the Ten heroes shouldn''t be a problem) [Simba] _________________________________________________ [At the Holy Palace] [Agnes point of view] "Happy aren''t you! Happy that Zin is no longer here with us!!!" [Motra] "..." [Mysterious teenager] "Tch, if only you''re as irritating as you''re before, then I would be more than happy to fight with you!" [Motra] "..." [Mysterious teenager] "How frustrating..." [Motra] The ten of us suppose to be gather today, but only a handful of us are currently presence, make sense considering there are still 2 and a half hour before the appointed time Motra, he/she is currently is venting his/her anger out when Zin was no longer with us. I can tell that the God of Life blessing, is there no more inside of him. To think the current Saintess possess the same power as Maria back then, it''s truly frightening. I can tell that, this will be the last battle between Goddess Achalasia and God of Life, once and for all "And you! Just what is with your experimentation on Zin! That poor guy literally covered with nothing but capsules of pus all over his body!!!" [Motra] "Good grief, I just got myself a new young body and the first thing it receive is a nag..." [Angela] Angela, having acquire the body of a beautiful elf that she acquire as a slave, enter the conversation, with her justifying all her experimentation on Zin. True, she is almost on par with the original witch on term of her witch power, and I have no doubt that once God of Life is awakened, her power will be on the same level as the first witch, Bridget "..." [Mysterious teenager] "And you''re just as muted as ever. Honestly, for a punk like you, it''s somewhat unsettling..." [Angela] "True! If only I can vent my anger out on him!" [Motra] And Motra did. He/she try to playfully hit him, but taking out his scythe full with bloodl.u.s.t "..." [Mysterious Teenager] "Stop fighting!" [Agnes] He stop. Not that Motra couldn''t counter it, but both side might sustain accidental injuries "If you''re so keen on killing something, how about you go and kill your siblings at their homeland, Ash" [Agnes] "..." [Ash?] Muted, just like the God of Death Chapter 366 - 366: Aftermath of the Battle at the New Headquarters part 3 [At the New Headquarters] On my right hand side we have "Yes. I''ll be coming home soon, right after helping Farhah with her ritual as the Avery" [Rean] "Please, don''t rush yourself. I don''t want any of you get hurt" [Muse] "I will, thank... Darling" [Rean] "Goddess! This is the first! Please say it again Darling Rean!" [Muse] "Sorry to interrupt, but is he blushing?" [Liyana] "Liyana!" [Rean] And on my left hand side we have "Yes. I''ll be coming home soon, right after helping Saint Louis and Saintess Rumia here" [Jacks] "Take your time. Please, help them as much as you can" [Alice] "I will. Thank you sweetheart" [Jacks] "!" [Alice] "Alice is blushing! I repeat! Alice is blushing when her future husband call him sweetheart!" [Diana] "Princess!" [Alice] Seeing as how the figurative figure pf cupid of love flying around them as they flirt with each other, somehow it feels both sweet and annoying. Sweet that they have finally decided on their wedding date after several postpone, but annoying because they still have the time to flirt when ~Pursposively coughing~ "Sorry Charlotte..." [Rean] "Don''t worry Charlotte, your time will come. Maybe with Prince Zaidi, or maybe with Blanc" [Muse] "But if we save Ash and he married the princess, wouldn''t Charlotte be unable to get married to Prince Zaidi?" [Jacks] "It''s a question of morality and legality. True that royal tend to have inces..." [Diana] "IT''S NOT FUNNY!" [Charlotte] These two! I came with them in order to see anything that we can help around the country, all the while helping them picking up any wedding gift as they wanted to pick for their soon to be wives. This is also my chance to finally pick some wedding gifts from my side to give it to them on their wedding day, but now... "I will find the other so the four of you can flirt with each other" [Charlotte] "Looks like someone sulking. Charlotte, just leave the two men behind" [Diana] "No. Muse, I will call you back later" [Rean] "Make sure to pamper Charlotte" [Muse] "I''ll cut the call now. My afternoon session with my students will start soon" [Alice] "Take care" [Jacks] And they put their phone on their item bag before stopping at a quite a badly damage wedding store. Fortunately, most of the items were actually unscathed, so we look around for it Since it''s been 4 days after we save the country, many things happen. For once, after Seo Ah save Saintess Rumia, Saintess Rumia proceed to remove all the fallen god blessing from Zin the half giant and now, he''s actually doing better. His speech is still on the worse side, even worse that Kadeus, but he looks happier, and if I''m being honest, seeing the half giant smile makes it all worth it. He''s now, alongside The Holy Beast of Wind, Eternal Wind (who takes the form of the spearman), guarded Saintess Rumia. After saving Zin, Saintess Rumia, despite her condition, drag herself and start praying, and with the mana which I can only describe as coming directly from Goddess Achalasia, the experimented vampires and giants that were about to explode to destroy the whole country was saved by her. You can see the looks of relief especially from Mr Vampire Guard and his little sister. Speaking of Mr Vampire Guard, he will train a group of vampires on his art of becoming a royal guard, for the sake of the country. Some of them become overly ambitious, trying their best to be the personal bodyguard of Saint Louis and Saintess Rumia As for Saint Louis, his cover got totally blown up, so everyone knows that he''s basically alive right now. According to Grandpa Claude, most people of Estel were actually happy to hear that news, but according to Mrs Khamishah, things don''t look to good on Kiserre. Mrs Saga workload basically increases over the past four days as tension rises between the old follower and the new follower as the old follower have been throwing insult and accusations one after another, seeing as how the devil seems to be nesting around this country and how the old follower link Saint Louis "resurrection" was the main cause of all the thing happen "Oh my, doesn''t this ring look gorgeous?" [Charlotte] Muse having a blonde hair and this fiery red ring actually suits each other, and I can tell that Rean is basically thinking the same thing, and looking at the price, it''s actually something that this soon to be S rank adventure (given his achievements) can afford to buy. He''s inspecting it left and right and asking my comment whether it will actually suit Muse''s wedding dress. That''s something that I didn''t think at first "Charlotte, how about this black ring?" [Jacks] "Principal Alice will definitely love it!" [Charlotte] As I keep giving my comments to the two soon to be husband, something crosses my mind (Why am I the one that they chose? Seo Ah, Elise, Kara and Lara would be a better choice) [Charlotte] Maybe because they''re simply busy? I can only guess? No matter, I''m just glad they bring me together with them. As a bonus, Sis Rafiah actually pull out the restrictions of my bank account just for this very moment! I will definitely buy them a splendid wedding gifts that will literally make them cry bucket of tear as they thanks me for it! Maybe I will go on a sweet shopping streak as well with this much amount of money! Yup, that sounds good, plus, I can help the affected bakery by doing so! Genius! ((Looks like she''s recovering well. Glad we ask her to shop around)) [Rean, Jacks] As we continue our shopping spree, my plan to buy mountain of sweet and chocolates unfortunately never made it as both of them forbid me out of fear of my bank account running dry. They did buy me a cone of sweet honey chocolate banana ice cream, and with how the orange grass as it plate, it''s actually one of the best desert I have in my life! Chapter 367 - 367: Aftermath of the Battle at the New Headquarters part 4 _________________________________________________ [At Kiserre] [SS rank adventure, The Saga Khamishah point of view] "Curse you and your accursed saint and saintess! Look at the devil spawning site that they created!" "And how about your Saintess? Isn''t she a Penanggal!" "What was that you heretic!" "You slave loving religion!" "ENOUGH!" [Khamishah] Another day, another pointless quarrel about whose religion is better? Sincerely, from what Mr Filvisar told me, the new religion is just what was previously mentioned in the old teaching that was lost in time either due to negligence, or some sort of hand purposely left it out, change it out etc. At the end of the day, both of the religion teach about the Goddess and how to be kind, not unlike these two religious fanatic. ""Heretics..."" And they left, and I could hear under their breath how they''re not in the slightest grateful for what I did. I can use an even stern action granted by Queen Rinz, but that was as previously mentioned by your highness, a sort of last measure. Unlike her that can solve this sort of quarrel through word and persuasion, I couldn''t, so flexing my brute force and my aura of intimidation is the only way that I could achieve a temporary result. Temporary as I''m pretty sure that "You witch loving religion!" "You devil!" For Goddess Achalasia Sake! They didn''t know the word give up that''s for sure . . . "Welcome home!" "Mother Khamishah! Tell us what you did today" "Don''t rush! And don''t surround her, you''re putting her in a difficult spot!" [Long hair girl] "It''s fine" [Khamishah] The merchant long hair girl whom I remember raising is currently visiting me after a fruitful business at the exchange land, bringing mountain of souvenir for the children of orphanage, all the while helping us all taking care of her fellow siblings "Oh my, this is for me?" [Black cat lady] "For Miriam! For Miriam!?" [Miriam] "Here" [Kucin] "She very very thoroughly pick one for all of you, so you should thank you big sister" [Anjin] "Thank you!" [Miriam] "Hmm!" [Kucin] And the long hair girl was accompanied by Kucin and Anjin as the two of them were gathering bits of information here and there After thing settle down, the merchant long hair girl, Kucin, Anjin and I sit for a discussion and "What do you get?" [Khamishah] "Well..." [Long hair girl] _________________________________________________ [At the new headquarters] [Rumia point of view] All set and done! Or so I hope "Please, give us 5 more minute!" [Seo Ah] "No, make it 10!" [Zerolith] "Naah... Sometimes, less preparation is better than overly prepare, so I''m sorry but please go out and don''t disappoint them" [Rumia] "I feel like there''s butterfly dancing inside my stomach" [Seo Ah] "Stomach? Okay?" [Zin] "It''s fine. It''s just metaphorical" [Seo Ah] "Do your best!" [Alicia] "We will be waiting for you at the audience seat" [Kanji] "Oh boy, both Zerolith and Seo Ah dream of leading a prayer in this country are coming true, maybe a little too fast for their own comfortness" [Mara] "But this is the only chance that I might get, so wish me luck" [Zerolith] "Good luck!" [Kara] "Break your leg!" [Charlotte] "Leg? Okay?" [Zin] "Haha, I''m fine Zin" [Zerolith] "Again, it''s just metaphorical" [Eternal Wind] After regaining my strength, I was asked by the follower to perform and lead a prayer of gratefulness meant for Goddess Achalasia for helping us survive one of the many crisis of the country. It''s no small task as I have to convey each and every single one of their feeling toward Goddess Achalasia As someone that can communicate with the goddess directly, no, even without this power, I''m sure the goddess already know, but showing her appreciation for what she bestowed upon us is a way for us mortal to show our gratitude Thing is, I think all of them actually did more than I am this time around, and as such, I think giving Seo Ah and Zerolith the chance to lead the prayer will be a wiser choice. Plus, as their teacher, I''m more than happy to guide them in this event. Simply watching from afar and hoping for it wouldn''t really be nice, which is why, this sudden surprise decision of mine (approved by Saint Louis) greatly shake those two up. If possible, I wanted to give them more time to prepare, but sometimes, like Alice said, a surprise test to your student is a must (Plus, even if they couldn''t correctly perform all the step and pronunciation, it''s fine) [Rumia] I''m sure, this is the type of situation where one would be under a lot of pressure and most will melt or freeze away, but for the two of them, they will overcome it, and with how much they have grown, their prayer will be more sincere and they can convey the feeling of the follower better, even if it mean slightly adjusting the prayer chant and action. "They''re starting" [Rean] "They look perfect" [Elise] ""Agree"" [Lara, Nara] "Though it''s pretty obvious how nervous they are" [Karon] "Their knees won''t stop shaking aren''t they" [Singa] "I wanted to tease them a little, but it will definitely be a bad call here" [Savel] "True. Let just appreciate this moment. It''s an important moments for them" [Seraph] "Coming from you, it''s strange, but then again, you''re a bard, so you of all people know not to steal or destroy someone spotlight" [Alaric] "Shh! Quiet" [Jacks] "Gahgahgah! He''s right you know" [Gilbert] "The same applies to you guild master" [Kana] "My bad. My bad" [Gilbert] As the masses continue, one by one, their hand reach out to their chest, and reach it out to the goddess statue in front of them, all the while Zerolith and Seo Ah keep performing their prayers. It''s a good thing they calm down a little, but given how significant the event is for them, they are still shaking up (But I''m proud of you two. No, not just the two of you, to all of you) [Rumia] I''m glad that I am able to fight alongside the hero and their companions, not just as the saintess of the goddess, but also as their mentor, friend and family. Truly, I''m glad (Dear Goddess, please, help us all) [Rumia] (...) [Farhah] . . . When the prayer event is over, Farhah approach me. I can feel her gaze all this while, in fact, among all of them, she''s the one that constantly gazing her sight at me from the moment we met, and the reason being "O Saintess Rumia, my rite as an Avery will soon take place. Please! Guide me as the favourite daughter of the goddess!" [Farhah] She desperately bow and ask me for a favou Chapter 368 - 368: Rite of the Avery part 1 _________________________________________________ [At Challenge Dungeon] [New Holy Beast of Earth, Shielding Ant Aries point of view] Eating all the time while not moving, it''s dull. Maybe because the one that I take after, both appearance wise and name wise is someone that hated to sit idle, so it''s affecting me. Still, this is a must as I have to gather all my power, to help the ten heroes on their against the Fallen God "What was that? An earth fairy you said?" [Ant Aries] I see. I see. Basically, one of the worker ant told me that a peculiar earth fairy wanted to meet me, and true enough, it''s kinda peculiar. When one think of earth fairy, the typical fairy appearance brimming with earth mana come into picture, but this "I have a message, from The Fairy Queen, Titania for you O Holy Beast of Earth" [Earth fairy] "Please, tell me" [Ant Aries] The earth fairy, which basically a clump of earth mana in the form of red brown sand, tell me the message from The Holy Beast of Mirage, Fairy Queen Titania _________________________________________________ [At Kiserre''s castle] [SS rank adventure, The Saga Khamishah point of view] With evidence of the newly resurrected True Beastman Group on their move, last spotted on The Exchange Land, taking an ancient tunnel that bypass this country and went straight to the Forest Dungeon. Their numbers more than double than what any one of us can anticipated. Strange, but make sense, there are multiple reports of them using some strange sort of hypnotism etc just to recruit their new members, but with that many numbers, something else in on the play. Something that''s mysterious and is sure to bring a headache in the future should we not uncover the truth. "That''s why, I ask your permission to investigate it myself" [Khamishah] "And us two as well your highness" [Anjin] "I understand the situation, but given how the tension between the two religious faction are rising more so now than ever..." [Queen Rinz] She''s thinking something. I understand the situation. Maybe one of us should just stay behind and help control the situation, preferably me. Should that decision come, I won''t mind it one bit as "Ah, it finally arrive" [Queen Rinz] "What has arrive?" [Kucin] "Bobunny main body" [Queen Rinz] "Bobunny? As in, the rabbit golem Ash created back then?" [Khamishah] What is she thinking? Why did Bobunny suddenly come here? "It''s been a while since I last enter my private lab. How about you give me some time before I decide something" [Queen Rinz] """Yes!!!""" [Khamishah, Anjin, Kucin] She''s an astounding magic scholars in the past, I wonder what she will do with Bobunny? Last time, she single-handedly created the entire fortress defence magic on this castle, and my gut feeling as someone close to her tell me that... _________________________________________________ [At New Headquarters] Holy Beast of Fire, Hell Tiger Har Holy Beast of Water, Ice Dragon Reshir ? Holy Beast of Earth, Shielding Ant Aries ? Holy Beast of Wind, Eternal Wind ? Holy Beast of Mirage, Fairy Queen Titania Holy Beast of Dark, Time Keeper Az ? Holy Beast of Light, Mysterious Angkasa "And Titania tell us that she''s next, and she will give us her blessing right after the rite of Avery" [Charlotte] "Which mean..." [Rean] All eyes on Farhah, as she''s after all, the elusive Avery that''s targeted by The True Beastman Group for her white blood "I understand. I will tell you a little bit of my past first before telling you what an Avery actually is" [Farhah] And Farhah, after gulping for a bit, started to speak "There''s this clan of elves, that''s special and unique as compared to other, since within this mysterious elf tribe, an Avery will always be born from them. The timing seems random, sometimes, after one Avery died, the next Avery is immediately born, and the way to know about it is by..." [Farhah] Using her wood magic, she make a small splinter that prick her finger just a bit. I''m sure that isn''t the most hurtful thing that any one of us ever experienced, we experience much worse pain, but the sight of the splinter grazing Farhah''s little finger make me close my eye for a bit "This white blood. Somehow, what once red suddenly becoming white, and incidentally enough, during that time..." [Farhah] "During that time?" [Singa] Farhah look at Singa, rather immensely "During that time, a female lion and her companion. A boy and a dark lion came visiting us, and accidentally discover this white blood of mine" [Farhah] "You mean..." [Singa] "It seems plausible, though not like I remember ever meeting you, but I do remember a group of beastman attack out tribe, killing my parents and sold my tribe to the slave market as the Avery Tribe" [Farhah] (I remember saving some of them... I see. The timing do fit rather nicely) [Saint Louis] "I''m sorry..." [Singa] "It''s fine. It could be other as well. Just that, in order to understand why Avery almost always appear from this tribe, us Elf have our own childhood lullaby telling the tell of it, but unfortunately..." [Farhah] "You don''t remember it, don''t you" [Karon] "Worse. I never take initiative to memorize it, as I wanted to keep my secret as Avery save. I thought maybe if I averse myself from anything Avery related, they wouldn''t find me, but I was wrong" [Farhah] "Well, if it''s a song, you could always rely on me. Plus, I do seem to recall asking Mr Filvisar about it during our travel. Just give a minute" [Seraph] And it take her only ten seconds to remember it, and from the lullaby, I can tell that "So basically, a group of warrior elves help the ten heroes on the past, as their tribe leader was in fact, an orphan under the care of The Traveler King who in turn, become the ten heroes, am I right?" [Elise] "That seems to be the case from the lullaby that I remember" [Seraph] "So, if we take into account that this tribe is rather, close with mother earth, then it isn''t far fetched to say that mother earth favour this "Avery" tribe, thus, an Avery will almost always be born from them" [Kara] "Which is why, as of now, I am the Avery from that tribe, and as an Avery, I am, in a nutshell, is what Charlotte is to the mermaid" [Farhah] "You mean!" [Charlotte] "That''s right. An Avery, after his or her rite, will be the leader of all elves tribes. So, I am right now, an elves princess" [Farhah] Chapter 369 - 369: Rite of the Avery part 2 _________________________________________________ [Inside Beast Dungeon] [Aries point of view] After taking a long vacation inside the Demon kingdom, I set back into Estel, all alone after leaving Singa''s grandfather and Motra''s little brother behind (in their residency at Beastman Kingdom that is) I''m sure there are multitude of paperwork waiting for me once I get back, but for now, I can just use what little time I have to unwind myself from the... "Hmm?" [Aries] A trail leave by The Holy Beast of Earth? I can also detect some of her minion moving around here and there. Is she moving to somewhere else? _________________________________________________ [At Forest Dungeon] [True Beastman Group, Dark Lion Simba point of view] Taking an ancient tunnel into the Forest Dungeon, our journey was a smooth one, so smooth in fact that it''s affirming our prediction that this is all part of the Fairy Queen Plan. She''s a mysterious one, the Fairy Queen, and I''m sure someone like her, who''s the dungeon master for the whole Forest Dungeon, should know about our arrival more so than anyone else, even when we enter through some other "unconventional" route, which is why (No doubt about it, she''s trying to release the Holy Beast of Fire within me) [Simba] So then, it''s a race against time. To see whether I can prevail over the heroes and kidnap the Avery for her blood, or The Fairy Queen getting her desire fulfill, and the stack doesn''t look good one bit, that is unless (Now then, I wonder how "this" thing will serve us on this mission) [Simba] _________________________________________________ [At Kiserre] [SS rank adventure, The Saga Khamishah point of view] If there''s a person that''s capable of utilizing her time for research 100% effectively, it will be Queen Rinz herself Taking into account of the fortress defense magic concept, with Charlotte''s Sea Serpent Project, as well as Bobunny''s cloning ability, as expected "So many flying magic core" "Wait! This isn''t just a normal flying orb!?" "It''s akin to the Orphanage magic core!" "You mean their Housey?" "That''s right! I can put my bet as a magician it''s a similar thing" Queen Rinz test run, no, this isn''t a test run by any means, this is like getting the final product straight after taking out the very first initial blueprint. I''m not by any mean, a smart studious type of person, but as someone close to her, her way as a researcher rub into me, so much so that when a researcher, for example like Charlotte and The Estel Higher Education in charge Mrs Lisa talk about their research, I can follow it far better than a normal person would, which is why, if a normal person seem this as nothing sort as impressive, I see it as an engineer wonder, and that''s only the first impression "How do you like my newest invention?" [Queen Rinz] "Please, at least tell me that the Prime Minister know what you''re doing, though knowing him, he will definitely knew you''re the one behind this" [Khamishah] "What can I say beside my drive as a researcher get the better out of me" [Queen Rinz] She looks both completely satisfied and unsatisfied at the same time, and I can understand why. She wanted to further improve this Fortress Defense Magic that''s patrolling the entirety of the country, but at the same time, unable to do so because of her position as the Queen. "If only Princess Nurhaliza can come here, I will definitely use her young energy to further help me out, but as of now, this should suffice" [Queen Rinz] "So, this mean that I can go and help them?" [Khamishah] "Yes, but do it fast. Even this is nothing as compared to having the strongest adventure in the country" [Queen Rinz] "If that''s the case, I will..." [Khamishah] "I already pack everything, including yours" [Kucin] "Hey Kucin! That''s rude!" [Anjin] The two S rank siblings are ready to go, and with nothing much left to do, we are off to the Forest Dungeon, and after traversing halfway through the first floor "A Thick Mirage miasma..." [Kucin] "And this mana!" [Anjin] "No doubt about it, let just walk!" [Khamishah] ""Right!!"" [Anjin, Kucin] _________________________________________________ [At the opposite side of the Forest Dungeon] ~Screech~ [Birdie] "Don''t worry Birdie, we will see them again" [Kana] "Please, take care" [Saintess Rumia] "We will not be able to come with you as there are things still left to do here" [Saint Louis] "However, we wish you nothing but the best of luck" [Seraph] "Good. Luck" [Zin] "Leave guarding the country to me. Looks like this is one of the goddess will" [Eternal Wind] "Linda and I will come as fast as I can to help the two of you out, until then..." [Alaric] "Be careful!" [Alicia] "As Alaric mentioned, we will depart as soon as possible" [Linda] "Unfortunately for me, I have to go straight to Kiserre. Queen Rinz and the Guild Master there ask for my help" [Samurai Jacks] "And I should help him as well" [Kanji] "And be careful. Her Highness Queen Rinz and The Saga did mentioned about the suspicious move from the True Beastman Group" [Gilbert] "Until then, bye-bye. Next time we meet, I wonder if I can see both Rean and Mr Jacks wedding" [Seo Ah] "If only I can be there and give them my blessing" [Saintess Rumia] "Don''t worry, I can be there in your stead" [Saint Louis] ""Really!!"" [Rean, Jacks] "That, I promise" [Saint Louis] "I''ll follow as well. I''ll make sure the occasion will be one that''s hard to forgot with my spectacular performance" [Seraph] "I''m sure you will..." [Alaric] "True..." [Linda] After a long teary goodbye, we are off to the Cursed Land inside our Camper van golem, and once we enter the Forest Dungeon, our first objective is to find where exactly the trial side of the Avery will be, but against all expectations "This is?" [Karon] "Just like last time" [Farhah] ""Fairy Queen!!"" [Lara, Nara] ""But she isn''t here this time around!!"" [Kara, Mara] "What should we do?" [Savel] "Just continue straight" [Elise] "True, that''s the best course of action now" [Rean] And that we do, until we see a figure of three that we come to know very well "Mrs Saga!" [Singa] "Kucin and Anjin as well!" [Zerolith] """You!!!""" [Khamishah, Anjin, Kucin] "What are you doing here?" [Charlotte] Chapter 370 - 370: Rite of the Avery part 3 _________________________________________________ [At Estel''s Orphanage] [Calypso point of view] Without the fluffiness of Behe''s fur nor bunches of Bobunny''s cute fluffiness combined to make a bed, I find myself sleeping on one of the empty sofa. It''s quite, maybe because most of the kids are taking their afternoon naps, and the one that doesn''t either finishing up their homework, training inside the training hall, or simply keep quite as they didn''t want to disturb those who are sleeping, which in turn, makes me drowsier just by thinking of it "I wonder if the Fairy Queen will make the trial and the rite for the Avery hard" "True. She might be the queen, but I heard that she''s just as, if not, even more mischievous than us" "Poor Avery Farhah, but if she couldn''t complete any trial that''s thrown by the queen, then she couldn''t possibly complete the rite of the Avery" The rite of the Avery. Right. Right. I remember the rite one hundred years back... What was it again? I can''t remember well... Maybe because of the curse that prevents any information related to Fallen God being passed down from generation to generation affecting me. Maybe, but I get the feeling that (What a minute...) "OH CRAP!" [Calypso] I''m supposed to be there helping them all out! I should get going now itself! "Heading out?" [Filvisar] "Filvisar! Claude! Rafiah! Listen!" [Calypso] "Calm down. Calm down. We are listening" [Rafiah] "Plus, we got exactly what you need" [Claude] "That''s... The stick from the Tree of Life that''s been sleeping on your lab!" [Calypso] How could I forget that. I mean, I used it as a bed for almost a hundred year when I was gravely injured after the fight with Agnes a hundred years back "Item box magic! I''ll store it inside my item box magic and go straight away!" [Calypso] "Please do so. I do hope of helping them out, but you know what''s happening right now" [Claude] "I know. You two wanted to protect Rafiah from those Meddling third party. I get it. I''ll go alone!" [Calypso] "Not just me, but the other kids as well" [Rafiah] "You know how to use it don''t you" [Filvisar] "It will come back Knocking, so I''m sure I know how to use the stick to help them" [Calypso] "I''m worried now..." [Rafiah] "Please, don''t act too hastily" [Filvisar] "I won''t! Trust your reliable partner a bit more!" [Calypso] Taking the stick and saying goodbye to them (as well as the kids that are still awake), before telling the other fairies to cover for my absence. I wanted to go there straight, but that wouldn''t be possible, so to the dungeon I go... "Huh?" [Calypso] This mana? Holy Beast of Earth? _________________________________________________ [Somewhere inside the Forest Dungeon] "Thank you for letting us in" [Kucin] "This Camper Van Golem is maintain quite well" [Anjin] "There''s new model of it on the market, but I suppose this is the very first one made by Ash, isn''t it?" [Khamishah] "That''s right. All of us took responsibility on maintaining it" [Karon] "You said that, but you''re the one that been maintaining it the most" [Elise] Since we encountered the three of them, we promptly invited them inside the camper van golem. Giving them some fresh cold juice and little bit of snacks, Rean brief them what happen back at the New Headquarters, and when our part of the story done "That''s what we find" [Kucin] "Mostly thank to your fellow siblings of the orphanage. They really are raring to help you. We only ask them one thing and look at the amount of information that we got from them" [Anjin] "Some of them are outdated, while some are false, but most of the other tell us the same thing, consistent with the information brokers" [Khamishah] "If that''s the case, hearing it now while we are searching for the Tree of Life will be the best" [Kara] "True. I''m getting tired of not getting any results whatsoever" [Farhah] True. Farhah has been the one that throughly searching every nook and cranny, and yet there''s no sign of Tree of Life. The gigantic Tree of Life shouldn''t be that hard to miss. I mean, the description might vary from person to person, and from tales to tales, but one common point is that it''s big and stick out as compared to the rest of the trees "That much..." [Mara] "I''m sorry, but is that really true?" [Savel] "Both of us were positive that most beastman nowadays, whether from or outside of Beastman Kingdom branded that group as nothing but a terrorist group" [Singa] "I feel the same. Not that I distrust our fellow siblings reports nor do we distrust the three of you, but, that many..." [Elise] "Outrageous, is the word that comes to our mind" [Nara] "Simply outrageous" [Lara] "But it''s the truth" [Khamishah] "We find it hard to believe as well, but with so many reports saying the same thing, at least we should assume the minimum numbers of members of that group is like that of the report" [Anjin] "That''s scary... It''s like we will face off against the same number of enemies like during the headquarters" [Zerolith] "True, but with less support this time around" [Rean] "So, our strength will be the twelve of us together with Behe, Mrs Khamishah, Anjin and Kucin, and the Fairy Queen Titania with her army of fairies, but can most fairies fight? I''m having a hard time imagining little fairies face off against brute force like those beastmen" [Charlotte] "Meow..." [Behe] "What he''s meowing?" [Anjin] "She said Calypso can fight" [Elise] "Calypso is a special case, but even then, I find it hard to imagine Calypso fighting against group of True Beastman Group..." [Charlotte] Calypso is strong (and old as well...), she''s been helping us a lot in the past six years, most notably helping Farhah and Karon training inside this dungeon, but I still find it difficult to imagine her fighting. Even a fairy as strong as her can be brought down by brute force, so if other fairies who''s weaker than her... "Anyway, we need to start searching for the Tree of Life, or maybe searching for Fairy Queen Titania first" [Khamishah] "That would be the best" [Rean] "True. Night will soon fall upon us, so let us make haste" [Farhah] "Monsters lurking in the night inside the forest dungeon shouldn''t be underestimated" [Karon] "Why did I feel like you''re speaking based on your past experience" [Charlotte] Chapter 371 - 371: Rite of the Avery part 4 [Inside the Forest Dungeon] "Looking for the Tree of Life ????????????, inside the Forest Dungeon ????????????, Left and Right ????????????, Right and Left ????????????, there''s no sign of it!!! Left and Right ????????????, Right and Left ????????????, just where are you O Tree of Life!!!" [Charlotte] "That''s some way to vent out your frustration" [Anjin] (A really cute way) [Kucin] "Now, now. I had it worse before, so let just keep searching" [Khamishah] "Ouch ouch ouch ouch, ok! Ok! Stop pinching my cheeks" [Charlotte] "She can''t... You''re cute" [Kucin] "Don''t just naturally join in!" [Charlotte] As I beg the two of of them to stop pinching my poor poor cheek, the other also take a breather, sip a cup of tea and munch some snacks after another unfruitful attempt on searching for the Tree of Life. Well, inside this vast dark forest dungeon, surrounded by nothing but the greeneries of trees, all the while all sort of monster from flying leeches to monstrous boa lurking around searching for their next set of meals, our eyes and mind begin to get tired. Apart from that, this thick miasma of mirage mana with the Fairy Queen mana mix with it makes it worse. Interestingly enough, the initial part of the miasma of mirage when we first encountered it was pure mana from the Fairy Queen, but now, part of it is from a naturally forming mist mix and blended together perfectly with the miasma of mirage. I can tell that this isn''t just something that she does out of whim, this need a constant mana release for god know how long. Given how thick it is, and the size of area it affected, not to mention other factors that one should consider such as conditions of weathers throughout the year, the monster sucking the mana out etc, she must had constantly release her mana, maybe around a year minimum, but honestly, since the Fairy Queen is a long living creature, I''m not surprised should she had been constantly releasing and blending her mana into the surrounding for hundred years altogether, and even without her presence, this type of mist can self sustain maybe for another hundred years, even forever should a mechanism is created just to recycle the mist and mana (Honestly, I think out of all the Holy Beast I had met, she must be the second strongest just behind Reshir the Ice Dragon) [Charlotte] This speak volume to how immensely powerful she is, but, this also speak volume of how powerful the threat of the fallen god is. Even with seven powerful holy beast, together with the ten heroes of the past and those banded to survive, the fallen god, albeit getting sealed again and again, keep coming again and again. Almost like, that''s the only way for them to sealed her before finding a permanent solution "Hmm?" [Farhah] "Something wrong Farhah?" [Charlotte] "Not really, just, are you the one singing this tune just now?" [Farhah] "I did sang a song just..." [Charlotte] """""SHHHH!!!!!""""" [Elise, Khamishah, Anjin, Kucin, Singa] ~Nod~ The beastman alongside Mrs Khamishah do their best to focus. All of them synchronizingly closes their eyes just to make their sense of hearing better, before all of us join in together to help them. Thing is, the sound of frogs, cricket, mosquitoes, snake hissing and beast howling etc make it hard for me to focus "Meow!" [Behe] "Over there?" [Rean] "Meow!" [Behe] With Behe keep pointing his claw into a direction, all of us try our best to focus and luckily, our ear catches a familiar voice singing to her content, alongside with another familiar mana "No way..." [Kara] "But why?" [Mara] "We should probably head out to the mana location now" [Karon] "Right! Let''s move now!" [Zerolith] ""Hmm!!"" [Lara, Nara] Taking the wheel, we head out to the source of sound, and as we keep getting closer "Where are they ????????????, where are they ????????????? Where are the little kids that I love ????????????" [Calypso] "And O why... O why... Just what is with this thick miasma ????????????" [Ant Aries] "Calypso! Holy Beast of Earth!?" [Savel] "So it''s them!" [Kara] "Oh! It''s you guys!" [Calypso] "We met again, although there are some unfamiliar faces with you. Where''s the Paladin favour by the God of War?" [Ant Aries] That''s some pair that I wouldn''t imagine happening, but somehow, the two of them get along pretty well from the looks of it "Anyway, what are you two doing here?" [Rean] "What do you mean, we are here to help you out!" [Calypso] "Really! Thank you so much!" [Charlotte] "True, plus, the Fairy Queen herself sent out her invitation to me, saying I should help in the Rite of the Avery. Make sense considering I am the Holy Beast of Earth and the Avery is trying to communicate with the God of Earth" [Ant Aries] "It''s mother earth" [Farhah] "Yeah. I know" [Ant Aries] "?" [Farhah] "You look confused. Don''t tell me, that you didn''t even know that mother earth is the form the God of Earth takes after losing most of her power when fighting against the God of Life. That shouldn''t be possible considering you''re an Avery" [Ant Aries] "!" [All] "Impossible right! I mean, every Avery should know that" [Calypso] "Farhah..." [Karon] Everyone is staring at Farhah "What''s with that look. Of course I always knew about it! I''m an Avery who always done her homework!" [Farhah] "You''re sweating rather profusely right now..." [Singa] "It''s hot! Don''t you know people will sweat when it''s hot!" [Farhah] "It''s cloudy. If a half reptilian like me have to guess, the temperature should be around 20 degree Celsius..." [Savel] "So! People can still sweat under this hot condition!" [Farhah] "I remember you sneezing and shivering yesterday..." [Charlotte] "That because it''s just too cold!" [Farhah] """Right....""" [Singa, Savel, Charlotte] "Hey! Have some respects!" [Farhah] "Anyway, take a look at this" [Calypso] Calypso quickly bring out a long branch of stick from her item box magic "That is!" [Farhah] "What is that thing?" [Lara] "Can''t be an ordinary stick" [Nara] "Of course it isn''t! That''s the branch from the tree of Life itself!" [Farhah] "CORRECT! And with this, we are gonna use it to find the tree of life location!" [Calypso] Chapter 372 - 372: Rite of the Avery part 5 [Inside Forest Dungeon] With the branch from the Tree of Life on our hand, Farhah begin to channel her wood mana into the branch. It''s suppose to be revitalise, with green leaves suppose to sprout but "This is hard... This will take a while..." [Farhah] "Take your time. This is a branch from Tree of Life after all. Normal wood and plant magic won''t do much" [Calypso] "I see. Make sense considering how sacred the Tree of Life is" [Khamishah] Farhah keep channeling her mana, but alas, there''s no doubt, there''s no progress. Second pass, as it becomes minute, and before long, it becomes hour, and Farhah begin to chug down bottle of mana potion to replenish her mana before "It''s tiring... I''m sorry, but I wanted to take a rest for a bit" [Farhah] "Considering this is the only way to guide us to the Tree of Life, we should probably just rest now" [Rean] "Right. Let us take a rest here" [Elise] "I''ll start cooking something. Anything you want?" [Zerolith] "Can you please make something refreshing..." [Farhah] "Something refreshing... A fresh fish sandwiches should do the trick" [Zerolith] "That sound nice" [Farhah] "Couple of fresh fish sandwiches coming right up" [Zerolith] "I''ll help" [Charlotte] And thus, we begin to prepare for the night. There''s nothing much to do, as we can all just sleep inside the camper van golem. We are all well accustomed to it by now. It''s simply luxurious as compared to sleeping inside a tent out there in the middle of a forest surrounded by nothing but bugs, snakes, mosquitoes that will generously offered you with blood borne disease should it suck your blood. There''s no way I wanted to take such "generous" offer As for The Holy Beast of Earth, Shielding Ant Aries, she simply burrow herself with the ground underneath her, before we offer her some of our sandwiches, and that is when I remember something that I don''t want to remember... "Wait! Don''t eat first!" [Charlotte] "?" [Ant Aries] ~Turn around~ "Ok, you can eat now" [Charlotte] She may looks like a five year old version of Mother Aries, or Kara and Mara, but now I remember how horrifying it was when I saw her eating the corpse of the old Holy Beast of Earth, Tyrant Ant Drant. Seeing as to how I quickly turn, the other two who were equally traumatize as I am (Elise and Kara), does the same, while the other simply let out a small chuckles, except Farhah as she let out a sigh, most likely out of frustration of not able to revitalise the branch from Tree of Life According to Calypso, Farhah should revitalise the branch before it will guide us to the Tree of Life. According to Calypso, any powerful elf can actually do that, as it''s only part of the Tree of Life, and as such, Mr Filvisar, an old elf who was one of the surviving ten heroes a hundred years ago, can do the same. Seeing as to how Farhah fail to do what Mr Filvisar can do, I''m sure she''s frustrated at her own weakness And night passes, and when the first morning dew drop, Farhah quickly wakes up and start channeling her mana into the branch once more. She keeps on going until the sun hit its peak before "IT''S WORKING!" [Farhah] "Where? Where?" [Mara] "Here! Take a look at it!" [Farhah] "Some green leaves do sprout" [Karon] "And the branch, it looks fresher as compared to it dry appearance before" [Savel] "So, what did you do?" [Rean] "Well... Apart from my racial mana, plant magic, I also imbued my other two proficient magic, water and earth, and boom!" [Farhah] "Oh yeah... I forgot that you''re actually proficient with water and earth" [Singa] ""True. Forgotten as well"" [Lara, Nara] "Considering how she always use her wood magic, it''s no surprise" [Elise] "So, what you want to say is, you simply give the branch the necessary things for it to grow?" [Anjin] "Right O!" [Farhah] "I see. Wood magic as general to revitalise it, earth magic to give nutrition, and water for... water" [Kucin] "Did you any help with watering the branch?" [Charlotte] "Honestly yes. My mana began to dry up" [Farhah] "Savel!" [Charlotte] "Leave it to us!" [Savel] "Then we will channel our earth mana as well" [Karon] "Much appreciated!" [Farhah] "Alright, let''s start" [Kara] "Just tell us what to do. We are all counting on you Farhah" [Mara] "I will" [Farhah] Savel and I start by channeling our water mana into Farhah, while Kara, Mara and Karon start channeling their earth mana. Farhah in respond, channel her as well as our mana into the branch vein, and slowly but surely, it started to take a better shape. Not only that, Farhah ask for some wind magic to be blown as according to her, stress from constant wind is needed for tree to grow properly. Since our hand are full, Rean, Lara, Nara and Singa keep using their wind magic gently from all directions so that the branch will grow properly. I even add my own tune and song, since I remember Brother Ash, Mr Filvisar and Farhah mentioned before that plant actually responded to our voice, and it will grow better shall we sing something to it. Since there is no one that stopped me from doing so (if you exclude Kucin who keeps pinching my cheeks that is), I continue to hum and sing something until "It''s lush green enough! Give it to me!" [Calypso] "Right! Please help us" [Farhah] "Well, here I go" [Calypso] As Calypso start to use her magic to make the branch float, she begin to channel her mana into a drawn magic circle, and start chanting a long spell, before "A door! A door suddenly appear!" [Charlotte] "And the branch... I see, the branch will act as a medium to summon the door, as well as the key to the door" [Khamishah] Mrs Saga said that as all of us see the branch unlocking the door, and what awaits us behind the door is "Congratulations on your first step, Avery, heroes and their companions" [Fairy Queen, Titania] Chapter 373 - 373: Rite of the Avery part 6 There''s something strange about this space... Of course, the first prominent thing (after gazing my eye onto the huge Fairy Queen, Titania), is the tall thick tree with a Raflesia at the top of it. It''s almost impossible to not stop and appreciate the beauty that is the Tree of Life. It lush green leaves with flowers of multiple colours, and it big thick root that plow down maybe even a kilometre deep into the ground. Plus, the Tree of Life, it radiate miasma of the elves racial magic, as well as earth magic. It''s powerful, and yet oddly calming. Like, the miasma is actually hugging us instead of repelling us away, unlike that from the devil "You must be tired" "Have this sweet sour strawberry" "No. Have this black banana" "No. My fruit salad is famous out there! Have it" "Fruit and vegetables are simply the best!" "Just give them everything. Let them decide what they wanted to eat" [Titania] """"Yes Queen Titania"""" The fairies that were greetings us begin to pile us down with food after food, which is actually highly appreciated, though a table will be nice as well. Not that it''s much of a problem, those with wind magic simply make it float before storing it inside of item bag and item box magic "It''s been a hundred year! I miss my home!" [Calypso] "Your home is there no more" [Titania] "What! That''s outrageous!" [Calypso] "That what you get for not coming back after helping Filvisar" [Titania] "But I''m gravely injured after fighting against Agnes! Plus, I take care of these kids after waking up" [Calypso] "For that, thank you, but too bad, your house had been renovated as food storage" [Titania] "Tyranny! Tyranny!" [Calypso] "Haha... I feel sorry for you Calypso" [Charlotte] "Oh. Don''t worry. Plus, she''s just joking" [Calypso] "Maybe" [Titania] The Fairy Queen, with her long silver hair and her radiant fairy wings, pale like the moon, as beautiful as the moon as well. Somehow, she reminded me of Sis Diana. I''m sure should the two of them meet, they will get along pretty well. Plus, somehow, I can see both of them asking Brother Ash left and right to do something for them. The resemblance... It''s uncanny "Umm..." [Farhah] "Regarding your rite? It hadalready started the moment you enter this realm" [Titania] "And how do I..." [Farhah] "If I am not mistaken, one of the fairies that resides in New Headquarters tells me that you had asked this question to the favourite daughter of Goddess Achalasia as well. Why don''t you try figure it out yourself. After all, how goddesses''s favourite daughter communicate with the goddesses is different from how us holy beast communicate with the god and goddess" [Titania] It''s like what Fairy Queen Titania mentioned. For the rite of the Avery to be completed, Farhah, as the Avery need to communicate with mother earth aka God of Earth through the Tree of Life. Should she succeeded, she will be granted with power from mother earth and the right to control elves and fairies alike. Of course, there will be trial for her to undergo as well, but the trial will be different from Avery to Avery, and as such, neither of us have any sort of ideas what her trial will be like. All we know is that, we are allowed to help her, which is a good thing, as we will definitely help her (And regarding how Saintess Rumia can effortlessly communicate and converse with Goddess Achalasia so easily...) [Charlotte] Truthfully speaking, even she herself didn''t know how it''s possible for her to do that. She couldn''t give any sort of tips for Farhah, but she did gave her an advice. When communicating with the god or goddess, always be sincere, as they already knew beforehand what you will ask. She couldn''t stress the sincere part enough, as she said being 100% sincere is a hard task. It''s not only about not lying etc, but also about how you conduct yourself in everyday life. Are you sincerely grateful that you get to live another day? Do you sincerely believe that you can change the world should the god and goddess decided to help you? Basically, the impression that I got is every minute of your life is conducted for the god and goddess, as if you''re representing them and their teaching (That is indeed hard, but I guess, an an Avery, that is part of her trial) [Charlotte] "True. That''s part of her trial, too bad the mermaid princess in front of me didn''t have such trial. I''ll be delighted to take Reshir the Ice Dragon place to conduct one should God of Water decided to make one" [Titania] "Did you just read my mind... And wait, God of Water?" [Charlotte] "God of Water is there no more, but... Nevermind, you should just ask Mahsuri herself" [Titania] I guess if God of Earth exist, then God of Water should exist as well. Plus, Mother Aries title is the Paladin favour by The God of War, so of course other god and goddess exist as well. Still, I wonder what happen to the other god and goddess, they''re all like... Not there I guess as I rarely heard about them "Yes! My home! My home! OOOOHHH! It so good to be back!!!" [Calypso] "It''s just a hole inside a tree" [Farhah] "What are you saying about! This tree is the Tree of Life!" [Calypso] "Huh?" [All] "Don''t mislead them. Basically, every trees that you see here is a branch from the Tree of Life. They sprouted due to the heavenly power contain inside the main body of the Tree of Life" [Titania] I see, but... This whole place is like an entire forest, so you''re telling me all these trees are in fact, part of the Tree of Life. That''s actually amazing "Oh, one more thing before all of you get started" [Titania] "?" [All] "Khamishah, Anjin, Kucin, Elise, Zerolith, and Savel. I''ll bestow upon you, my blessing. Blessing of the mirage. Make good use of it" [Titania] Chapter 374 - 374: Rite of the Avery part 7 "Take this!" [Khamishah] ""Dodge!!"" [Anjin, Kucin] "Evolved beastly transformation: Mythical nine tail fox" [Elise] "Arrow of dark and silver" [Zerolith] "Dragonewt transformation: Mirage scales" [Savel] Right now, all of them who just received the blessing from The Holy Beast of Mirage, Fairy Queen Titania are training, and surprisingly, Mrs Saga can still take 5 on 1 head on during this training. She''s simply strong, though of course "Tchh!" [Khamishah] "Evolved beastly transformation: Splinter cat" [Kucin] "Kucin" [Elise] "Right" [Kucin] The two evolved beastly transformation make a synchronize fire mirage, and with that, the training come to its conclusion "You have gotten stronger. All of you. I guess my age is finally catching up to me" [Khamishah] "Nonsense... You''re still able to keep up with two S rank adventure, and three of the ten heroes. How is that not overpowered" [Anjin] "True. You might "lose", but in all honesty, that''s still pretty amazing" [Zerolith] "I feel like Rean''s journey to become the next saga keep getting harder and harder" [Savel] Still, apart from Elise who acquire her evolved beastly transformation after meeting the requirements, I don''t think their battle style changes that much. I mean, Mrs Saga here still uses her favourite knuckles, albeit this time, it''s imbued with both neutral and mirage mana, and the mirage mana will affect her opponents sensory nerve, causing disorientation, and thus, becoming even lethal with each successful punches connected As for our beloved Avery "..." [Farhah] She ran out of ideas. She still couldn''t find a way to communicate with mother earth through Tree of Life. At first, we went to the top of the Tree of Life to search for clue, but we couldn''t find any clues. The giant raflesia on top of it simply bloom like usual, so we couldn''t think much of anything else "You look tired. How about a rest" [Karon] "Huh? Thanks, but I''m fine" [Farhah] "You know... Despite we are close to each other, we rarely discuss our problems so openly" [Karon] "True... Kinda ironic that we used to told that we will always lend our ear, and yet, our mouth won''t just open" [Farhah] "Well. I am the quite type, but not you, so what''s your excuse?" [Karon] "Well... I''m shy" [Farhah] "Pfftt" [Karon] "Hey!" [Farhah] "Flirting... Even when we are practically siblings..." [Charlotte] ""Charlotte!!"" [Karon, Farhah] "I''m bored, so let me join in. I''m fine being the third wheel" [Charlotte] "Where did you learn that word" [Karon] Not that I mind they''re flirting. I mean, some of our siblings from different Orphanages do married each other, so, yeah... It''s a weird feeling for me but it does happen. "Hey Charlotte" [Farhah] "Yes?" [Charlotte] "You will one day, become the Mermaid Queen, and as for me, I will one day, become the Elf Queen, so tell me, when you visit the Mermaid kingdom, did anything else happens? Maybe I can find clue from there" [Farhah] "I see. The Fairy Queen did mentioned yesterday, if there''s a trial for her, she wanted to make one. I wonder if that''s her way to show consideration and to give you some sort if hint" [Karon] "I see. Worth the try. Ill try to recall as much as I can" [Charlotte] But there really isn''t much left to tell, as they already heard of the story before, but it''s worth mentioning again the fact that I am a unique homunculus in that, my magic core is ever growing and still reside within the Mermaid kingdom. I still remember the feeling of using it. It feels like part of me that has been missing the whole time find itself back "Hmm... Part of you that''s missing that suddenly comes back" [Farhah] "Pardon?" [Charlotte] "No. I was just thinking, since Avery should communicate with mother earth through The Tree of Life, then, doesn''t that mean, the Tree of Life and your magic core is somewhat similar?" [Farhah] "I can see where you''re going. Not really similar for me, but what you wanted to convey, is that, Charlotte "fuse" with her magic core back then to tap back her power, so as an Avery..." [Karon] "Should she tap into the Tree of Life directly, she can speak with Mother Earth? Is that what you wanted to imply?" [Charlotte] "True. It just a random thought though" [Farhah] "But it still worth the try" [Karon] Farhah then tap into the Tree of Life, as she put her palm into it, but nothing happens. Still, she didn''t give up, and thus "What are you doing..." [Karon] "To understand the tree, you should first become a tree" [Farhah] "By hugging the tree?" [Charlotte] "Yes. Feel every inch of tree and..." [Farhah] "Alright, you can stop with that nonsense" [Karon] "Fine..." [Farhah] "You know, if you wanted to know The Tree of Life so much, why don''t you actually sit inside the giant raflesia and transform yourself into a tree with a magic." [Charlotte] I said that, 100% with the intention of joking with her. Unlike your usual raflesia, the raflesia on top of Tree of Life smells like a natural perfume that''s easy and nice to smell for everyone, and it didn''t contain any rotting animal corpses inside, which is nice. Farhah however "Thank you for the idea" [Farhah] She quickly climb the tree ""Are you kidding us!!??"" [Karon, Charlotte] I am joking! So please, don''t do that, is what I wanted to say, but seeing as to how she ran out of ideas, any idea is a good idea unless proven otherwise. We tried to catch and stop her, but I guess elf and tree are truly meant for each other, as her record-breaking climbing speed get her to the top without breaking a sweat "Just what are you trying to prove!" [Karon] "Just get out of there! Farhah!" [Charlotte] "..." [Farhah] ""Farhah??"" [Karon, Charlotte] She... She isn''t responding a bit "Messenger Tuna! Tell Rean and the other what happen!" [Charlotte] I quickly summon a golem and tell them all about what just happened Chapter 375 - 375: Rite of the Avery part 8 [???] [Farhah point of view] "The land... It''s filled with nothing but the devils" [Saint Vincent] "I hope the other are safe" [Saintess Maria] "I''m sure they are" [Mahsuri] Where am I? "Vincent! Mahsuri! Don''t be a fool! You can''t just charge straight toward her!" [Estel] Who are they? Those guy "How are we going to save other... When we ourselves are stuck in this place?" [Saintess Maria] Stuck? ~ROAR~ ~GAAAAAHHHHH!!!!~ "Iblis is nothing but our false devil king, all hail..." Devil! Their number... It''s endless "What are you doing?" [Kiara] "Helping you out. They might surround us, but they didn''t yet to..." [Traveler King] Are they, by any chance? "Life! Don''t! Please you have to stop!" [God of Earth] That is... "Earth..." [God of Life] "..." [God of Death] A tree suddenly sprung. A fairy born from it "What a beautiful tree..." [Young Titania] Someone coming "It''s painful... Please, do something... I beg of you. Tree of Life. Mother Earth" [Iblis] "O Mother Earth..." [Avery] "Let there be space..." [Holy Beast of Light] Just what is this... All the memories... "With this, the Angel Kingdom fall. Enjoy taking the same trip like your favourite Goddess of Light, Theia" [Agnes] "AGNES!" [Seraph] Angel Kingdom? All of these memories... No matter how haphazardly it''s presented to me, I can tell that "Welcome. My dear Avery" [Mother Earth] "You are..." (So, those memories just now, it''s her memory. No doubt about it) [Farhah] I never meet her before, but the Avery''s blood within me makes me recognize her instantly... This nostalgic feeling "As an Avery, it is my duty to..." "I am an Avery! As your prideful king, I will..." "Our blood as an Avery, and your blood as the ten heroes..." "No matter what... Avery, Seraph, Iblis, Traveler King, Human King, Mermaid Queen, and King of Beast, they will come... and end you!" "God of Life!!!" The memories of previous Averies, they come rushing all at once. Not only that... This is, I can even see their trial. It''s completely different from me. Each one of them have different sort of trial. Some require them to integrate their body into the root of the Tree of Life and assimilate themselves, becoming a creature known as druid, while other have to plant and grew a million seeds inside each floor of this Forest Dungeon, and grew it all by himself... "Mother Earth... No! God of Earth, tell me... What is my trial as the Avery!" [Farhah] I beg the woman cladded in plant in front of me. "Your trial... is this..." [Mother Earth] She places her hand in my forehead, and I can sense that astronomical amount of data suddenly entering me "GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" [Farhah] "Just where is those heroes?" "Keep searching... They must be here somewhere!" "Singa... Avery... With this, everything will come to its conclusion" [Simba] It hurts!!! "Help me!" "The devil! It eating that fairies alive!" It hurts! It hurts! "Why are enslaving us!" "Please! Release us!" "Shut the F..." "Gaaah!" "..." [Ash?] "That blond teen kill him!" "Mommy! Isn''t he..." "Behemoth slayer!?" "..." [Ash?] "No doubt about it, you''re..." It hurts... It hurts... It hurts... "Rean! She''s sweating profusely!" [Elise] "And this mana... God of Earth!" [Ant Aries] "Take her to..." [Titania] "Farhah! Farhah!" [Karon]] """"Heal!!!!!""""" [Kara, Mara, Lara, Nara, Charlotte] It hurts... It hurts... It hurts... It hurts... "I wonder what Rean and the other are doing" [Muse] "According to Jacks, they''re currently helping Farhah undergoing Rite of the Avery" [Alice] "Don''t worry, Rean won''t lay his eyes on another woman" [Diana] "That''s not what I..." [Muse] "Honestly, if an outsider were to see the two of you, they will actually think you''re the one likely to cheat other" [Liyana] "Hey! I only flirt with Rean and only Rean!" [Muse] It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! "The final phase of the Sea Serpent Project! It''s working!" [Erinmorlin] "We should really thank Queen Rinz for her feedback!" [Qudus] "And Charlotte last minute input before she disconnected!" [Lisa] Make it stop! Just make it stop! "O Saint, you should rest first" [Saintess Rumia] "Say the Saintess who keeps helping nonstop" [Saint Louis] "Both of you truly work har..." (This sensation... God of Earth and the Avery?) [Eternal Wind] "Holy. Beast? Fine?" [Zin] "I''m fine Zin. Don''t worry" [Eternal Wind] "I brought some lunch" [Seo Ah] "Just rest first, all of you" [Alicia] It hurts! Make it stop! "Looks like you''re currently undergoing your Rite as the Avery, Farhah. I can''t help you much considering where I am, but I wish you the best of luck. I know you''re currently hearing and seeing this, Farhah. Hang in there, and you will be rewarded with such extraordinary power, more powerful than the blessing from the holy beast" [Mahsuri] Make this overflow of information stop. "Please... Stop..." [Farhah] Please stop it... I don''t want to watch what other are doing no more... It hurts "Rafiah, the witch with the power of Iblis and Seraph. I wonder if our prediction is correct" [Younger Traitorous prince] "It is, isn''t that right... Father" [Elder Traitorous Prince] "..." [Old demon king] Please make it stop. I can''t... "Mother... Earth..." [Farhah] "I''m sorry dear Avery... but this is your trial. This might be the last chance... Should you and The Ten Heroes fail, I need you to replace me as Mother Earth, and for that..." [Mother Earth] Somebody... Please... Make... It... Stop... "Hang in there... Farhah..." [Goddess Achalasia] Goddess... Achalasia "..." [Ash?] Brother Ash... "..." [Ash?] (Ignore her) [???] "..." [Ash] (IGNORE HER!!!) [???] "..." [Ash?] This is...? Did he just... (She... It''s less than a second, but... She manages to connect with Ash''s soul itself) [Goddess Achalasia] Tired... Hurt... Pain... Confuse... Feeling heavy... Sleepy... Pain subsiding... Thank you... Brother Ash "I''m sorry... Dear Avery Farhah... Forgive me, Goddess Achalasia" [Mother Earth] "You should tell her, when she wakes up. I''m sure she won''t remember 99% of the information presented to her, and the situation happening throughout the world, but if there''s one thing that she will remember, it will be..." [Goddess Achalasia] "The Original Ten heroes had Traveler King, and they have Ash. Truly, a beauty cycle of life, if only God of Life didn''t..." [Mother Earth] Chapter 376 - 376: Rite of the Avery part 9 _________________________________________________ [Inside Forest Dungeon] [True Beastman Group, Dark Lion Simba point of view] "There''s nothing on the 25th floor from the Kiserre''s side of the dungeon" "Likewise, there''s none of the Avery and the other heroes traces from the cursed land side" "Keep on searching" [Simba] "Yes sir!" I know that the dungeon is a vast place, more so with how the jungle is like that of a deadly labyrinth, it east to hide something, but, to leave behind to traces whatsoever, that''s only plausible should they went to a different dimensions, but... (Considering none so far know the exact location of The Tree of Life, and based on our finding, or better yet, we can''t find anything, that could only mean...) [Simba] It''s possible, that the infamous tell from the Doppelganger, that the Holy Beast of Light, Angkasa actually make a... "Boss! We found a trader" "Idiot! Don''t you know, we should just leave them behind like boss always said and..." "No. Stay here" [Simba] Taking my sword out, and imbued it with fire magic, I stop the carriage. If possible, I don''t want to involve any civilian "Please help us!" "This is..." "The True Beastman Group!" "Shit... We are just some low ranking adventure" "Holy Beast of Mirage, Titania! Hear me out!" [Simba] "Wait! What are you doing!" "Let go of her!" "~STAB~ """GYAAAAH!!!""" "I''ll keep massacring people should you not show me where the Avery is, and" [Simba] Using the power of the Holy Beast of Fire within "Burn to ashes" [Simba] The forest, from the lush green forest now become nothing but a ground made up of ashes "Find as many people as possible. Hold them hostages, and kill them with each passing time" [Simba] "Right!" "Finally!" "It''s killing time" "Perhaps we could take their women and..." "You monster!" "Perhaps..." (With this, there''s no turning back for me... But) [Simba] Those two princes, they better keep their promises for our goals _________________________________________________ Farhah, she''s in terrible pain, and her temperature suddenly spikes up, nearing 40 degree celcius. Anymore than this, and it will prove fatal. Even of she survives, I''m afraid there will be some sort of permanent disability left behind She''s experiencing a severe mana intoxication. Her body keep receiving mana of plant, way beyond her limit, and to compensate for it, her body is trying it best to adapt, trying to become stronger but "What did God of Earth do? This is way beyond any Avery can take" [Ant Aries] "I don''t know, but if I have to take a guess, that will be..." [Titania] We are all waiting for The Fairy Queen, Titania to continue her sentence "She is planning to make Farhah, the next Mother Earth..." [Titania] "Hold on! You mean, Farhah will become the next God of Earth!!!" [Calypso] "Ascension to God, it''s something that is forbidden, so no, she wouldn''t be the next God of Earth, but she will fill the role of Mother Earth, and as such, that''s why her body is..." [Titania] "I''m sorry, but can you explain from the beginning!" [Khamishah] "Right. First off, regarding this rite. There''s different sort of trial one must undergo before taking part in the rite. Some will have to just plant million of trees as he or she stray too far off from the lifestyle of the Avery, while other, like in Farhah case, need to assimilate with The Tree of Life so that they could enhance their Avery senses, those are for Avery that''s beyond straying. It all depends on each individual, and as such, no one trial is the same" [Titania] I see. Farhah, she did realize that she''s an Avery, but she had been avoiding about this Avery stuff almost for her entire life, only taking it seriously in the few years from her training with, so that''s why, she need to assimilate into the Tree of Life. Her entering the Raflesia at the top of Tree of Life completed her trial, which bring us to "The trial might be different, but the rite afterward will remain the same. As an Avery, they will meet with God of Earth and start their rite. The rite involve the Avery receiving part of the Mother Earth''s power, that''s, to control the very earth itself. As such, they could theoretically, move an entire country all by themselves just like the power of the first King of dwarf, the Traveler King. The forest will be their main domain as the Avery could control each branches from every single trees like they''re part of their limbs. She could use the power to see faraway land. That''s what an Avery could theoretically do" [Titania] "So powerful!" [Rean] "Indeed, and that''s why, Avery is feared for it power. They''re after all, on par with Mermaid Queen, Traveler King, Seraph, Iblis and the other" [Titania] "So, what you wanted to say when Farhah will fill in the role of Mother Earth next is...?" [Kara] "Thing is, the rite shouldn''t be this painful. Sure, the amount of mana that will enter the Avery''s body will be astronomical, but this, this goes beyond your usual Avery rite, which is why I believe..." [Titania] "She will become the next mother earth. I''m guessing this is just God of Earth backup plan should you all fail to bring down God of Life this time around" [Ant Aries] I see, but "It hurts... Make it stop..." [Farhah] "Farhah... Hang in there..." [Charlotte] "Damn it... It isn''t hard maintaining this ice magic to cool her off, but seeing her grunting like this..." [Savel] "It''s painful" [Singa] It is, and she''s in more dire pain than us... "Brother... Ash..." [Farhah] "Yes. He''s here, he''s here so..." [Karon] Karon said that just to make Farhah heart at ease. I don''t know whether she heard it or not, but fact remain, Brother Ash isn''t here with us, so... ""THIS IS!!"" [Lara, Nara] "?" [All] Lara and Nara suddenly shouted, and their eyes widen, like they couldn''t believe what''s happening. Thing is "Why are the two of you shouting so loudly?" [Anjin] "Brother Ash..." [Lara] "It''s only for a very brief moment of time... But, he''s definitely there..." [Nara] "Huh?" [Mara] "I''m sorry, but what?" [Kara] "More specifically, his soul technique..." [Lara] "You could see the effect though, take a look at Farhah now" [Nara] "!" [All] "Pain subsiding... Thank you... Brother Ash..." [Farhah] "Farhah! Farhah!" [Karon] "Don''t worry Karon! He''s just sleeping, no, she''s simply passing out" [Zerolith] "Maybe because Brother Ash uses soul relief technique, that''s why..." [Lara] "But how?" [Kucin] "Don''t know. No idea how as well" [Nara] "Think you can replicate it, Lara, Nara?" [Elise] ""We could try"" [Lara, Nara] And thus, instead of using healing technique, they switches out and use their God of Death power for a bit, and thus, we continue our treatment. Time passes by really quickly but there''s no sight to it end "This is..." [Titania] Fairy Queen, Titania suddenly make a displeased grunt of ange Chapter 377 - 377: Battle inside the forest dungeon part 1 [Forest Dungeon] [True Beastman Group, Dark Lion Simba point of view] The Avery, the heroes, and the Fairy Queen, Titania, they''re late, and they aren''t signs of them showing up any sooner The people of Kiserre shouldn''t be here any time soon, and even if they were, mobilising an army and group of adventures to fight against us, when they themselves are having an internal religious conflict will be suicidal. On one hand, they wanted to help this people captured by us as soon as possible (that''s if they even notice something amiss), but on another hand, should they leave the country, a single spark of religious conflict (which is almost always there, every single day), can turn into a catastrophic devastation. "Please release us" "Please, at least let my pregnant wife go there. She''s about to deliver a baby soon" "SHUT UP! Ice magic: Ice spear!" "DON''T!" "KYAAAH!" "DEAR! DEAR!" "HAHAHAHA, such wonderful husband, shielding his wonderful and lovely wife. I wonder should I..." "THAT''S ENOUGH!" [Simba] "But boss!" "Then we will run out of valuable hostages" [Simba] "Right... I''m sorry" This new group, getting hypnotize by us from the meddling third party through a special stone, almost akin to the portal stone used by Agnes and the other. Unlike the portal stone that leave one senseless and devoid of any thinking in term of pure raw strength and magic, this one heightened almost every aspect of one parameter (though the strength and magical power aren''t increase as much as the one Agnes used), however, it also leave them almost in a state of hyperexcitability and constant state of euphoria, as well as craving more for the stone. "30 minutes passed" "Time for another round of guess who''s gonna die!" One of my man, with voice brimming with ecstatic, scream, and of course the response will be as usual "No!" "Please don''t! "Then beg for the Avery to help you!" "And scream at the top of your lung, for the ten heroes to come!" "Fairy Queen Titania as well! We wanted to meet them and stole all their power!" "But they aren''t here!" "SHUT UP! DO YOU THINK WE ARE WRONG" And that young teenage boy get beaten one by one, until he''s in a limping state, and to finish him off, a poisonous arrow is fired onto him, but ~Clang~ An arrow from somewhere save him "Now! Light magic: Flash bang" [Elf teenager] "Neutral magic: Explosion arrow" [Cat beastman adventure] "Earth magic: Ground shift" [Dwarf trader] "Can you run!? Even if you can''t, do so!" [Black hair human girl] They are... Who? It looks like they aren''t the one we were looking for, however, for a group of civilian, they have a good sense of battle, as well as quite a good judgement. They coordinate with the fairies inside this forest dungeon effortlessly, almost like the fairies knew who they were. Plus, while they''re obviously weaker, their magical knowledge is superior than the one we recruited through hypnotism "Chase them!" "RIGHT!" "Don''t be careless..." [Simba] "No problems! Kyaaaa...." And he fell into a pit hall, covered with sharp pointy bamboo brim with magical power of elf magic, most likely the deed of the elf teenager There are multiple of them, and judging by it, they carefully planned all of this, showing a fine judgement befitting of a knight and a noble education "Princess Diana, please listen" [Black hair human girl] Hmm? Am I the one that misheard it, or is she really calling the Princess of Estel, Princess Diana? Plus, that logo in the telephone, isn''t that, the logo of the orphanage... "I see..." [Simba] They are the one from the Orphanages all across Achalasia. Orphanages that have ties with the original orphanage in Estel. That make sense. Their fine magical knowledge, their judgement and their attitude, it''s a result of a fine upbringing and education, unlike most peasant you can find anywhere. Even though the peasants inside the Beastman and Demon kingdoms are in better condition than most other countries, those who received their education through the school developed by Princess Diana, especially the orphans she''s taking care of is way ahead of other "What?! Didn''t I tell you to stay stood first?" [Diana] "we know... But we couldn''t just stand there and watch... We are sorry..." [Black hair human girl] "For now, just focus on surviving! According to Queen Rinz, helps already in their ways!" [Diana] That will put us in a bit of a difficult situations, but that doesn''t make any much differences for me. Still "Should we end it, our cat and mouse chase, dear orphans?" [Simba] With a powerful leap and a trail of dark fire, I block their path, all the while the circle of fire surround them, as hopes looks bleak, the hostages look pale and seems ready to meet their inevitable fate of death, but the orphans "We might not be as strong as Brother Ash and the heroes..." [Elf teenager] "But if we can buy them more time, and save even one of these hostages, we can ease their burden" Cat beastman adventure] "Don''t worry! We will protect you! Everything will be fine!" [Dwarf trader] "Fairies, you should safe yourself!" [Black hair human girl] """NEVER!!!""" "Then our only option is to charge through..." [Elf teenager] "A weakling like you, who have no chance to escape want to charge at me? Look at your surrounding, even if you miraculously escape me and the ring of fire, my henchmen already got you surrounded?" [Simba] "And there will still be chance!" [Black hair human girl] "And if there isn''t?" [Simba] "Even if are to fall, we will definitely make sure they escape, and ease Rean, Elise, Kara, Mara, Lara, Nara, Zerolith, Karon, Farhah, Singa, Savel and Charlotte burdens! We won''t fall to the likes of you, who''s the exact opposite of Brother Ash!" [Black hair human girl] "Then perish!" [Simba] The four orphans prepare to receive my attack, but "Water magic: Torrent rain" [Charlotte] "Neutral and mirage magic: Cannon punch!" [Khamishah] The heavy rain make extinguished my fire magic, and the punch from voice whom I recognize obliterate my henchmen. As for my sword attack "Simba!" [Singa] "Singa..." [Simba] He teleported and parry my attack, before using wind magic to shield his fellow siblings and the hostages before "Aries!" [Titania] "Leave it to me!" [Ant Aries] Before a pit appears just underneath them, saving them all "You have a lot of nerve doing this in my territory" [Titania] "You wanted to trap me for the heroes and Avery in the first place, so you don''t have the right to complaint. I merely outsmart you, Fairy Queen" [Simba] Still... (Where''s the Avery?) [Simba] Chapter 378 - 378: Battle inside the Forest Dungeon part 2 _________________________________________________ [At Estel''s castle] [Diana point of view] I keep checking my phone, hoping the usual light and sound of incoming calls or messages greet me. Of course, there are multiple calls, but, it''s not the one that I am hoping for. There are some for important works that needed to be done, but I know for a fact, that I wouldn''t be able to focus when they''re all in danger, and I must make certain of their safety above all else "Come on... Pick up the phone... Pick up your phone... Please, just be safe!" [Diana] "This is serious... Please, don''t do anything reckless anymore" [Zaidi] "We did heard her saying Rean and the other was there before the line suddenly disconnected, so let just hope for the best. That''s all we can do for now" [Qis] "I know, but given their numbers, they might get in serious trouble, considering all the intel we received thus far" [Diana] "Princess Diana, a word from the Captain of Kiserre. He mentioned that help already on their way" [Bladel] "I see! Good to hear!" [Diana] "Which also mean, the Fortress Defense Magic surrounding the whole country of Kiserre should work... Right?" [Zaidi] "Let just hope that''s the case" [Qis] "I don''t know much about Queen Rinz, but I do heard that she''s a bright and talented researcher when she was young" [Bladel] "That''s correct" [Diana] Yes, and I hope her exceptional talent on magical research field will help her out this time around. On one hand, I wanted those brave kids, as well as Rean and the other be safe and sound and get all the necessary help that they could get, but on other hand, I understand very well the perilous situation Queen Rinz is currently facing. Should the army of Kiserre aren''t there to maintain the situation, any spark between religious debate can turn nasty real quick, which is why, we are all hoping for Queen Rinz magical research talent with her Fortress Defense Magic surrounding the entire country to work "Not only that, Queen Rinz also send Bobunny''s original body to go and help them" [Bladel] "Really!?" [Qis] "With it cloning abilities, Bobunny can absolutely provide the advantage in term of number Charlotte and the other so needed" [Zaidi] "Still, to deploy Bobunny when she''s in that state, not that I am unhappy but..." [Qis] "She must have absolute confidence in her Fortress Defense Magic then" [Diana] Here hoping that nothing happen, that''s for the best after all _________________________________________________ [At Kiserre''s castle] [Queen Rinz point of view] Seeing as my soldiers are all getting ready to be deployed, to help Khamishah, Anjin, Kucin and the heroes against their fight with the True Beastman Group, I can only pray for all of their safety "Your highness" "Where are you going" "Don''t tell us..." "It''s at times like this, that I should be there with my citizen" [Queen Rinz] "But it''s dangerous!" "One word, no, even just a nasty glance, and they will start their usual fight!" "Nasty glance? They will fight against each other even when they''re mile away" "You must not involve yourself with them!" "Please, reconsider!" "We don''t want anything bad to happen at you!" "Do not worry. I still have my usual royal guards" [Queen Rinz] "No! Even they themselves are showing a concern faces!" "Please! Say something all of you!" "..." They are contemplating, but "We are the sword and shield of her highness, and it''s our duty to protect her no matter what situation we found ourselves in" "As expected of my royal guards, then let us make haste" [Queen Rinz] A leader, at times of difficulty, should always be there with their subjects after all. That''s one way for the subject to grow even more trust on their ruler _________________________________________________ [Inside Forest Dungeon] "Rean... Aren''t those guy..." [Elise] "I know, they''re brave siblings of us, I''m proud of them, and now..." [Rean] ~Gulp~ Seeing how Rean react make me unconsciously make a big loud gulp, as it''s not everyday you can see Rean getting mad. Someone gentle like him getting mad will send shiver down the spine of anyone seeing it "I''m royally pissed off!" [Rean] "And so do all of us" [Khamishah] "True Beastman Group, in a way, this is our chance to finish them once and for all" [Anjin] "Still, stay sharp. One look and you can make out something is obviously wrong with them" [Kucin] "Guess hearing and seeing it really is two different things" [Zerolith] "The line between beastman and beast, they''re walking on a rather thin line right now" [Savel] True. All I see right now, as they voluntarily take those strange portal stone is a group of beastmen slowly becoming a wild ferocious beast, albeit, they can still think for themselves unlike that of a devil getting affected by the miasma of the fallen god. In a way, their transformation is superior from that of the devil, which makes this situation more so dangerous "Be careful, we might have two holy beast with us, but..." [Kara] "They have one as well" [Mara] "Should he decided to consume the portal stone, who knew how much stronger he will become" [Karon] "Someone like him? Highly unlikely, but it''s a possibility nonetheless. Even I don''t want to fight my fellow holy beast if they''re under extreme circ.u.mstances like that" [Titania] "Anyway, some of us should go and help Singa immediately" [Lara] "I''ll go. I have experience fighting against The Holy Beast of Fire six years ago" [Khamishah] ""We will follow suit"" [Anjin, Kucin] ""Let us in!!"" [Elise, Savel] "Then the other will be with me, suppressing those beastmen first. Coordinate well with the fairies" [Titania] "ROGER!" [Other] (And Aries, once you make sure the hostages are all safe, you aid them to fight against Hell Tiger Har) [Titania] (Such a big role, but will do) [Ant Aries] And thus, our battle against the True Beastman Group begin. Last time, we prevail, and here''s hoping the same result repeat itself once more Chapter 379 - 379: Battle inside the Forest Dungeon part 3 [Forest Dungeon] While the other are fighting against Simba (who''s now taking form of the same beast six years back), we are fighting against the Beastman that were recruited by the group Thing is, with the forest being burn into ashes, my lung couldn''t really bare all the smoke and ashes, as I tried to try my best not to cough by keeping up the water magic: rain torrent a bit longer. Seeing this, """""Wind magic: Smoke asphyxiation!""""" [Rean, Kara, Mara, Lara, Nara] "The smoke" ~Fit of violent cough~ "My lung..." "It''s burning..." "Can''t... Breath..." "Everything... Going... dar..." "Thank you very much! Now I can breath easier!" [Charlotte] "Little sister like you need our protection 24/7 after all" [Mara] "Hey!" [Charlotte] "Focus. They aren''t like your typical brainless devil" [Rean] "Rean is right, but in a way, this fight against group of beastmen will be a practice for you before the real deal" [Titania] "I don''t like the sound of it..." [Zerolith] "Well, most brainless devil you saw were monster and some from the intelligence species, and they behaved like that due to their connection to the God of Life aren''t as strong as the ten commanders, but once God of Life resurrected..." [Titania] "I see. Then this really is a practice before the fallen god resurrection" [Karon] "Meaning if we can''t beat them now..." [Lara] "We won''t stand a chance against The Fallen God and her army of devils" [Nara] True. The True Beastman Group in front of us is stronger than your everyday beastman guard, knight, mage, adventures etc, and they still retain some form of intelligence and critical thinking that will prove to be deadly soon enough. That''s why "Water Golem: Acidic Hydra!" [Charlotte] Which is why, bringing down their number while they''re trying to regroup is essential. The 3-headed acidic hydra golem, by my command, start shooting mass of corrosive acidic ball one after another, all the while making 200% sure not to hit any fairies that are helping us. The armours worn out with each successive hit and splash, but I guess my acid aren''t strong enough for certain beastman with strong exoskeleton or shell. Not only that, certain beastman like the elephant and rhino beastman, even when they doesn''t have any sort of shell like turtle or exoskeleton like the beetle, their thick skin couple with their naturally strong defense make it an extra tough nut to crack "Mirage magic: Illusion of Fairy Queen" [Titania] And once again, Titania spread her wing and the entire battlefield is fill with her mirage mana, and "Take this you sc.u.mbag hero!" "My arm! My arm turn into a medusa" "Where did that attack comes from!?" "I can''t see! Why is it suddenly getting darker and darker!?" "The bug! Don''t! Don''t crawl into my ear and nose! GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT" "Giants! The giants are helping the ten heroes!" Beastman with low resistance against mirage magic, and those who have low mental resistance are easily affected by the illusion shown by The Fairy Queen. Interestingly enough, I don''t think they''re all experiencing the same illusion. It''s pretty impressive, that''s without a single doubt. Usually, to save your mana as well as your own mental energy, magician that specialises in mirage mana will make an illusion spell that causes the same illusion/hallucination/delusion to group of people. That come with the added benefit of knowing which of your target aren''t affected or weakly affected by the spell as you could easily make out the odd one. Of course, if all are experiencing the same, then it''s easy to dispel the spell, so that''s why variation is often needed, but to gave each and every single one of them a different type of illusion is beyond amazing, although "You fairy there! Maintain the illusion as long as you can" [Calypso] "YES!" The fairies under Titania''s command play no small part in it. I''m sure Titania is perfectly capable of above feet all by her own, but with the strength borrowed by other fairies, the power and effect strengthen tremendously "Earth magic: Pitfall" [Karon] "Fire, dark, wind magic: Hell Tornado! Fill the pitfall" [Rean] "Neutral magic: Strength up! Defense up! Speed up! Ally protection" [Lara] "Thank you!" [Nara] Karon begin to make them fall one after another into a pitfall, and Rean fill it with his Hell tornado magic, burning everyone inside, all the while Nara with his scythe get up close and personal to slaughter them with his scythe one by one. Thanks to Lara Ally Protection spell, Rean''s Hell Tornado spell does not, if not, minimally affect Lara even when it comes into contact with it. If course, it won''t last long enough, but for someone as strong as Nara, a short period of time is all he needed "Take the stone! Just increase the special stone consumption!" "The devil prince and the old demon king can make more after all!" "Don''t forget to take the drug to counter Fairy Queen mirage magic" And they begin to reorganize themselves. Maybe because their leader are busy fighting against Mrs Khamishah and the other that their response are slower than one would expect, but that turn out the best for us after all "Oh no you don''t! Tailwind magic" [Kara] "Earth magic: Glass shattering spell" [Mara] Kara and Mara tries their best not to let those beastman consume anything that will turn the tide of the battle onto the beastman favour, with shattered glass traveling at high velocity piercing the Beastman "KYAAAH!" "My tongue! Help me remove the glass!" "Why you! You''re so dead!" Still, they''re too many of them, and some of them actually shield the other and let their friend take those mysterious thing first before taking it for themselves, which is actually pretty admirable and a smart decision from their side "They''re coming!" [Charlotte] "Brace yourself!" [Rean] "RIGHT!" [Other] And their counterattack start, but not before "Why are they so many damn glass!" "Wait, this is... A crystal?" "Damn it''s a tough crystal! It can crush one skull!" I see "Thank you for arriving so soon, Bobunny" [Charlotte] ~Happy chuckling~ Looks like our counterattack started as soon as they wanted to counteract us Chapter 380 - 380: Battle inside the Forest Dungeon part 4 [Inside Forest Dungeon] [Khamishah point of view] The Holy Beast of Fire, Hell Tiger Har makes it appearance, together with a body of a lifeless woman from a lion group of beastman, and we believe it to be the body of Sachmis, the daughter of a duke from a Beastman Kingdom, and more importantly, the biological mother of Singa Right now, together with Savel, Singa is clashing sword left and right with the leader of True Beastman Group, Simba the Dark Lion. He skillfully teleport back and fro, alongside Savel who knew when and where will his lion sibling teleport him, and as such, the duo make such a powerful pair, alongside the two S rank adventure, Anjin and Kucin. Those four are relentlessly pressuring Simba, who physical prowess increase as time pass, not due to any sort of interference from portal stone etc, but most likely due to his body and the Holy Beast of Fire are starting to adapt with one another As for Behe, Elise and I, we are trying to beat the Hell Tiger Har itself. Behe, taking the form of the Empress Behemoth, still didn''t come close to beating the Hell Tiger. Back during the incident at the New Headquarters, Behe can at least put up a decent fight against the Devilish King Behemoth, but against the Holy Beast, it''s an entirely different story. To summarize, the holy beast is superior than an Empress Behemoth which is considered to be an S rank monster in every stat possible. "Evolved beastly transformation: Mythical nine tail fox" [Elise] To further support Behe, Elise, who just acquired the blessing of mirage from Fairy Queen Titania, can finally achieve her beastly transformation, becoming a mythical nine tail fox. I''m glad I was able to see the form during our training, as the beauty of this form is simply marvelous "Flame of the higher three elements" [Elise] Elise, knowing that a normal flame will be nothing to a holy beast, start using a higher variant of flames, but alas, it is called as The Holy Beast of Fire for a reason, and as such, it''s nothing more but a distraction to the Holy Beast, but a distraction is all that''s needed to "Giga punch!" [Khamishah] A powerful blow from my punch clad with mirage and neutral mana to the rib of the holy beast ~Crack~ "Tchh!" [Simba] "I see..." [Kucin] "Guess it make sense that he felt the attack as well" [Anjin] "I guess everything has it drawback" [Savel] "Still, we need to keep on pressuring him!" [Singa] "Of course" [Savel] The current plan make by us all without even looking at each other is too keep pressuring both Simba and the holy beast he is connected to. According to Kucin, his appearance, that''s Simba body merging at the top of the Holy Beast head together with the body of lifeless Sachmis remain unchanged even after all these years, however, their connection seems to be getting stronger. That''s why, the powerful blow from my fist is able to make even Simba flinch out of pain, but "Fire armour" [Simba] "HOT!" [Khamishah] It hot! And the fire, it won''t stop! Quickly! Need to get rid of the fire "Mrs Saga! Watch out!" [Elise] "Damn it!" [Khamishah] "BEHE!" [Elise] "Roar!" [Behe] Behe try to shield me from the holy beast fiery claws, only to get herself injured in the process. That still didn''t help me as, along with Behe, I got flung over to a nearby boulder, while almost getting crush by Behe''s back. To make matter worse "Damn it! Don''t you dare hurt the two of them!" [Khamishah] The True Beastman Group try to take this chance and stab both Elise and Behe while they''re trying to get themselves up (Quickly! Make a lasso like Gilbert!) [Khamishah] Screw my hand, I need to save them fast! Make the lasso of mirage, and strangle them all! "Can''t breath..." "Damn Saga!" "Take thi..." "Tail of abyss! Swallow them" [Elise] Elise quickly imbued half of her tails with dark magic, which grew in size. Almost like having a mouth on it own, the tails swallow the beastman whole, before hurting them through various darkness spikes penetrating their skins onto their internal organ, leaving them dead while they''re entrapped inside of the spell "Mrs Saga! Let me help you! Water magic: Bubble sphere!" (use the blessing from Reshir as well!) [Charlotte] "Thank you Charlotte" [Khamishah] "Hand of darkness! Lift Behe up" [Zerolith] "Roar!" [Behe] "You''re welcome Behe" [Zerolith] Zerolith and Charlotte, who are currently fighting against numerous beastman help us when they see our condition (Still...) [Khamishah] This is hard. Not only because of my age, but six years ago, I fought against The Former Holy Beast of Earth, Tyrant Ant Drant, and that''s with the help of both Mahsuri and Ash, and together, we manage to prevail. Same goes for their fight with Simba six years ago at Estel. Princess Diana, her royal bodyguard Qis, Kucin, Anjin, The Valkyrie, Samurai Jacks all fought alongside Mahsuri as well in order to bring Simba and the Holy Beast of Fire down "Sigh..." [Khamishah] "Are you alright Mrs Khamishah?" [Elise] "Don''t worry, I''m just lamenting... Some Saga I am" [Khamishah] "Huh? You don''t need to feel so bad..." [Elise] "No. I''m simply furious of myself" [Khamishah] There are multiple tree trunks lying around. They''re thick and big. Not to mention the amount of boulder as well "Mrs Saga!" (So strong) [Elise] "Mirage magic: Armour of giant!" [Khamishah] Using the mirage magic gifted by The Fairy Queen, I clad both my arms with a mirage armour. It take the appearance of a giant arms which wear the knight armour before "TAKE THIS!" [Khamishah] Taking those tree trunks and boulder, I begin launching it one by one. "Tchh! How futile! My armour of fire can just incinerate it all!" [Simba] And it does, one by one, the trunks and boulder that I threw reduces into ashes even before it can hit him, but "!" [Simba] "Do you forget? I am also here!" [Ant Aries] A giant Exploding earth needle stab the abdomen of the holy beast, before ~Boom~ A clean and direct hit Chapter 381 - 381: Battle inside the Forest Dungeon part 5 [Inside the Forest Dungeon] "Coordinate our fire attack and attack the Raging Water Magician!" "Yoshhh!" "No matter how powerful her water magic is, she can''t beat us all!" "If all fail, we can just consume the stone more and more until we overpower her" "Maybe we can then capture her and take her blessing away" "Sell her as well to the..." "WHAT WAS THAT!" [Rean] Hearing the last line, Rean and the other snap, with Rean straight away using the fire magic cast by those beastman, making a 360 degree turn with his katana, and use his own fire magic to further boost the fire power, before "Wind magic: Blow them away!" [Rean] Before he uses the same fire to burn those beastman into crisp, however "Earth wall""Earth wall""Earth wall" "Earth wall" "Earth wall""Earth wall" "Earth wall""Earth wall""Earth wall" They''re coordinating well among themselves. For someone under the influence of hypnotism, they sure are capable of thinking straight and thoroughly, alas "Earth magic: Pitfall" [Kara] "Earth magic: sandpit" [Mara] "Earth magic: Cover those wall with spear!" [Karon] The three earth caster of our group outsmart them, using the very same earth walls that the beastman try do hard to cast. Pitfall to make them lost their footing, sandpit is to crumble those wall and let those beastman swallow the sand to further damage their respiratory system that had been burned by previous fire magic, and the spear that come out from the wall, it start to pierce the beastman one by one. Forehead. In between the eyes. Nose. From entering right ear and exiting through the left ear. Impaling through the mouth. Nose. Throat. Axilla. Abdomen. Heart of the beastman going out from their chest. The femur and hip bone shattering. Such gruesome magic and yet "Heal them" "Let them consume the stone!" "No you won''t! Dark magic: Abyssal bullets" [Zerolith] ~Angry chuckling~ Zerolith rapid abyssal bullet firing enhanced with Bobunny''s earth magic strengthening each bullets, by converting it from a powerful magical bullets to a powerful compact magical crystal bullets, that carry extra power through sheer force alone, along with Zerolith''s powerful dark magic, start raining down the beastman. To add matter worse (for the Beastman that is) "Mirage magic: Sea of mirages" [Titania] Now, the bullets from Zerolith gun carry along mirage magic of the Fairy Queen, and when the bullet and the magic enter the body of the beastman "Mirage control" [Titania] And before the beastman even know it "What!?" "My body" "GAAAAAHHH!" "Hoi!? What are you doing!?" "Why are you gouging your own eyes!?" "Stop stabbing your eardrums! Scary man!" "It isn''t me!" "I can''t! I can''t control my own body!" "That damn Fairy Queen" "I can only think of her!" "Those with high mirage mana resistance! Come and heal them!" "Of course!" ""Not so fast!!"" [Lara, Nara] And using the very same sea of mirages, Lara and Nara added their own spell, one where they saw multiple times when they''re helping the Vampires and Giants escaping the grasp of the Hunter Devil ""Mirage magic: Mirage mirror"" [Lara, Nara] "A spell from the mirage wolves. Pretty impressive" [Titania] "That''s my twin homunculi for you!" [Calypso] Clone of Lara and Nara start striking down the beastman one by one, decapitating them by using their scythes. One clone by itself is deadly, and with how many clones there are, it''s easy to see how they''re a one man army "Elephant stomp!" "Hyena sandstorm" "Thunder hawk!" The Beastman start consuming more of their stones, with some becoming more and more like a monster. A monster with intellect that is. Again, the line between beastman and beast is becoming thinner, or they''re already gone, mixing once they consume the stone. Still "Their speeches. It isn''t like Kadeus" [Charlotte] "Now that you mentioned it" [Kara] "True enough. They manage to get the power of the portal stone from before and reduce the side effect significantly" [Rean] Unlike Kadeus, or even the half giant Zin for that matter, where they have to stop their sentences after every 1-3 words, the one consuming these stone does not show any sign of it. Even worse for us, I can''t seem to catch any sign of a deterioration of the brain function, be it from speeches to other neurological manifestation "Elephant charge!" "Fire armour!" "Use my magic as well! Thunder run" "DODGE!" [Zerolith] The big elephant beastman (almost as big as your typical elephant, if not larger), charge at us at such frightening speed. Getting hit by it must feel like getting hit by our camper van golem charging at full speed. "We are not done yet!" "Crocodile spin!" "Mantis scythe" "Spider web of stun!" Their overwhelming advantages in number start to prevail. We can keep going strong maybe for another 30 minutes to an hour, but if we didn''t finish it any time sooner, they will take this opportunity to heal their injured friend and will overwhelm us more and more "Raging water ship! Army of marine golem!" [Charlotte] "Clay army!" [Karon] Karon and I think of the same thing. This strategy prove effective when we fought against the devil at the New Headquarters, so here''s hoping to get another fruitful results "Charge!" "Destroy those pesky golems!" "We can just launch a suicidal attack one by one!" "That will teach those heroes some valuable lesson of not disrespecting us from the True Beastman Group" "Do you really think it is that easy!" [Titania] Titania sea of mirages slowly start forming mirages warrior, and start helping our golem and puppet as well. Plus "Heroes!" "By the order of Queen Rinz! We have arrive!" The army of Kiserre come to aid us all With the help from the army as well as some volunteering adventures, their advantages in number start to diminish, however, their morale didn''t wither away. I''m impressed. Maybe because some of them already determine to launch a suicidal attack that will gain them the upper hand that they will charge through no matter what happens. Pretty heroic, should they didn''t target my elder sister lives that is "This is!" [Karon] "What''s the matter, Karon?" [Charlotte] And my question is answer by detecting a spike of magic "Farhah!" [Charlotte] Chapter 382 - 382: Battle inside the Forest Dungeon part 6 [Inside Forest Dungeon] [Singa point of view] So, that''s mother lifeless body... Seeing it after six years do bring back memories. Somehow, a wave of nostalgic feeling come hitting me nonstop the more I see it sway left and right as the violent clash between Simba and us take place Simba, the True Beastman Group, as well as mother''s old friend alongside King Leo of the Beastman Kingdom, seems crueler. Maybe it''s because I am now much older as compared to the past that I see him in new shed of light, or maybe because he''s becoming crueler and crueler, desperate for power, or more specifically, desperate to get her power on Farhah as the Avery. It can be both as well, as I grew older, so does his hatred and cruelty grew, which is most likely the case ~Clash~ His swordman ship, there''s an air of nobility in it. It''s one of the form practice by nobles and royals of the Beastman Kingdom, which further convinces me that mother, King Leogris and he was once a friend, but "Just what happen to you?" [Singa] "As the hero, I''m sure you have saw countless cruelty as well" [Simba] "And I also saw countless beauty as well" [Singa] "That, I wouldn''t deny" [Simba] A short exchange of words before exchange of sword once again take place. I could only make a few swing before being force to retreat by the burning threat of armour surrounding him and the Holy Beast of Fire. (We should probably ask Charlotte for help, but...) [Singa] "No. I thought of the same thing, but I realized something just now" [Savel] "And that is?" [Singa] "Charlotte will pose the biggest threat to him apart from Holy Beast of Earth and Mirage, so Simba would do absolutely anything to crush her" [Savel] "Good that you notice" [Kucin] "His glare towards Charlotte is one fill with nothing but bloodl.u.s.t. Unlike us who see Charlotte as a little girl, he see her as a threat that should be eliminated at all cost" [Anjin] "Which is why, we have to rely on Holy Beast of Earth, Shielding Ant Aries for now and keep Charlotte as far away as possible" [Kucin] "Still, the holy beast take the appearance of young Kara and Mara..." [Singa] "I know. We all feel the same, believe in her and try supporting her as much as we could possibly do" [Anjin] Still, we need to do something regarding the fire armour. There''s nothing much we can do beside relying on Shielding Ant constant sand magic that extinguish the fire, only for it to be reignite. Behe''s newly acquired wind magic aid as well. Savel try to do something with his water magic but it quickly get extinguished the moment he cast his water magic (since his blessing from Ice Dragon Reshir mainly enhance his dragonewt racial bloodline). So that''s why, we can clash sword with Simba the moment the fire armour was there no more. Still, his exceptional swordsmanship prevent us from landing a fatal blow, and we only get a short period of time to do so before being burnt to death from the fire magic of the holy beast "Take this!" [Simba] Using the Holy Beast exceptional strength, he toss multiple boulders upward before igniting it with his fire magic, creating a meteor magic "Space magic: Cube of Entrapment" [Singa] "Water magic: Pillar of ice" [Savel] "Mirage, Dark and light magic: Three magic laser" [Elise] We combine our power and destroy the meteor, but there''s two giant boulder left "Aries!" [Khamishah] "I''ll take the left one!" [Ant Aries] "Singa! Teleport me to the other one!" [Khamishah] "I will! Be careful!" [Singa] "Mythical nine tail technique: Armour of nine tail beast" [Elise] "Thank you! I''ll add this as well, Mirage magic: armour of giant" [Khamishah] "You''re a tough one, Mrs Saga" [Simba] Simba try his best to prevent Mrs Khamishah from destroying one of his meteor, and start pouncing toward her. Mrs Khamishah try her best to dodge, only to get a direct clean hit, but "Thank goodness for the armour..." [Khamishah] The armour of the nine tail beast, which drain Elise of her Evolved beastly transformation time, is an armour of light, dark and silver with nine tail sprouting from it, and when one fatal injury is taken, one of the tail disappear to cure and heal the wearer. But "What are you doing! Mrs Saga!" [Savel] "Behe! Help her!" [Elise] "ROAR!" [Behe] "No need! Just watch!" [Khamishah] Mrs Saga, instead of trying to destroy the meteor, charge straight at Simba, and taking a deep breath, she grab the paws of Hell Tiger Har that would prove fatal should she didn''t have the armour "Aries! Lift me up with Simba!" [Khamishah] "I will!" [Ant Aries] And a pillar of earth quickly arise, bringing them closer and closer to the meteor, before "Damn you Saga!" [Simba] Simba is force to destroy the meteor he made, and the impact of it make some of the fire armour covering him get destroy. THIS IS MY CHANCE! ""GOT YOU!!"" [Khamishah, Singa] With me swinging my sword, and Mrs Khamishah preparing his right fist for a crushing punch, to we strike Simba simultaneously, only for him to "Fire magic: Hand of hell" [Simba] A hand protrude out from Mother''s body, grabbing the two of us and toss us at full force toward the ground below "This is bad!" [Singa] Wind magic or space magic! Just cast something to "Fire magic: Fire avalanche!" [Simba] This is bad! This is ultra bad! An avalanche of fire will hit us all "Wood magic: Forest Carnival" [Farhah] The battlefield start giving life to countless trees of varying species and sizes. We landed on a rather big and soft bushes that''s resistance to fire, resistance not immune as it get burn moment later. As for the avalanche of fire, the forest help us by shielding us with trees after trees "So, this is the power of Avery" (No... Feel like this is beyond what Avery should be capable of) [Simba] "Simba..." [Farhah] Still, Farhah... Did her Rite as the Avery completed? If so, why did she looks like she''s still in pain? Chapter 383 - 383: Battle inside the Forest Dungeon part 7 _________________________________________________ [At the Malsia''s orphanage] [Mira point of view] "We will depart tomorrow morning from the New Headquarters. We will see you at Estel''s Orphanage for Rean''s wedding" [Kanji] "I see. Take care and make sure the gift for their wedding stay intact" [Naoto] "And for Seo Ah, you better learn how to reject a marriage proposal from those hyenas once you arrive. You''re after all, being dubbed as the second favourite daughter of Goddess Achalasia by them. Men left and right will send you proposal after proposal for marriage" [Mira] "My peaceful life as a faithful servant of Goddess Achalasia..." [Seo Ah] "In any case, we heard what happen to Rean and the other as well. We will try our best to help them as well, but given the distance..." [Kana] "Haste make waste, but we will try our best. It''s night currently here, so departing now will prove suicidal to us as well" [Saint Louis] "True. Plus, they''re with Mrs Khamishah, I couldn''t find anyone more reliable than her" [Alaric] "Maybe by the time we arrive, they already take care of the True Beastman Group" [Seraph] "I hope they will do just that while keeping themselves safe" [Linda] "Heroes. Hope. Safe" [Zin] "All of us feel the same as you Zin" [Samurai Jacks] "I''m sure they will, they''re after all..." (What is this sensation? Farhah?) [Rumia] (What''s this faint feeling?) [Seo Ah] "Saintess Rumia?" [Mira] She''s acting a bit strange, as if she''s seeing something unbelievable. As I am about to ask her what happen "Mrs Mira! Mrs Mira!" [Dog beastman orphan] "He''s acting strange! He''s acting strange" [Human orphan] And they quickly grab me and Naoto without us able to turn off the big telephone, as they drag us to our elves orphans boy and girl. It likes they''re staring at each other, in awe, but not toward each other, but toward something else. When those elves orphans see us "Sis Farhah!" [Elves Girl] "She finally! Finally become the Avery that she promised!" [Elves Boy] ""AVERY!!''" [Mira, Naoto] Those elves orphans act high and might, feeling proud because Farhah finally able to complete her task, as an Avery Strange, I couldn''t tell and feel anything, but somehow, this elves orphans can. Just what''s going on? _________________________________________________ [At Estel''s adventure guild] [Female elf adventure point of view] Mr Filvisar, come to take some of the younger orphans that lost their way after playing around in the park. We thought of sending them back by ourselves, since it will be easier that way, plus, we don''t want the old ten heroes, Mr Filvisar take a walk, but then again, he insisted on it, saying that he wouldn''t want to cause us any further trouble. Plus, I get this feeling that he would like to take a walk as well. Not that it matters, as in the end of the day, the kids will safely went back home "There isn''t any job today" [Axeman adventure] "Maybe we should hit the Training Hall at the orphanage?" [Dwarf adventure] "You know what, let just do that!" [Spearman adventure] "I can see Rafiah as well!" [Hunter adventure] "You and your pipe dream" [Swordman adventure] "Well, how about you guys wait for Mr Filvisar. Going to the orphanage with him and those kids together with all of you will make them feel better" [Elsa] Elsa, the receptionist make her suggestions, for which we all agree to it. There''s nothing much else to do, and even Syah, Mimi, Lin and Borg are getting ready to pack up "I''m here" [Filvisar] """"GRANDPA!!!!!""""" [Orphans] The young orphans run toward their grandfather like figure. We elves, are considered as a long living mortal, but for Mr Filvisar, who manage to live for more than a hundred years, that''s record breaking! "Now now, don''t just rush there!" [Mimi] "Well, if they stumble and fall, that will be a lesson for them, don''t you agre..." (THIS SENSATION!)[Female elf adventure] "FARHAH..." [Filvisar] Not only me and Mr Filvisar, some of the other Elves also react the same way, so much so that it makes the other confused. Even the acting guild master, Guild Master Ram came down from his office sensing something off "AVERY! FARHAH FINALLY DID IT!!!" [Female elf adventure] "Truly... But this is no mere Avery..." [Filvisar] "Wait? What? Avery!?" [Ram] "The one that we were told as something really important wasn''t it!?" [Borg] "So she finally did it... Still..." [Mimi] "Maybe you should finally tell us what is an Avery after all these years" [Syah] "We will, but Mr Filvisar, what do you mean as no mere Avery just now?" [Female elf adventure] What could he possibly mean by that? _________________________________________________ [Near the entrance of the Kiserre''s side of the Forest Dungeon] The four orphans and the hostages that they rescued finally saw the dungeon exit, which will take them all toward Kiserre. It''s small, but they could make out, some of the guards station there notice their group, and start sending out help, as well as deploying the country carriages toward their direction. Seeing it, they could finally breath a sigh of relief, and their tense facial muscle, can finally get the chance to rest from all those teeth clenching, done involuntarily as they''re all under an extreme pressure, barely surviving the assault made by the True Beastman Group "Finally..." [Black hair human girl] "We are lucky that we take Brother Ash lesson seriously in the past" [Cat beastman adventure] "True, if not we will be a dead meat just now" [Dwarf trader] "Agree. But I''m still worry about them..." [Elf teenager] "Who wouldn''t? For now, all we can do is pray for their success" [Black hair human girl] "I''m gonna do it now, and once inside the country, I''ll go straight away to the church and pray extra hard" [Cat beastman adventure] "With all that''s going around lately, I wouldn''t consider what you said as something excessive" [Dwarf trader] "True...!" [Elf teenager] "What''s wrong?" [Black hair human girl] They all look at their elf friend "So I am right..." [Elf teenager] The plant inside the forest dungeon lushes even more brightly, and the plant, like a mage, send their mana towards the newly birth, Avery "Do your best, Avery Farhah!" [Elf teenager] Chapter 384 - 384: Battle inside the Forest Dungeon part 8 _________________________________________________ [Inside the country of Kiserre] [Serial killer dwarf point of view] "Please. Do not fight. Cast aside your difference and..." [Queen Rinz] A wonderful speech from Queen of Kiserre, but as usual, those fanatics wouldn''t listen to it. It will he fun to make a scene and cause a total chaos. Even with Queen Rinz exceptional Fortress Defense Magic covering the entirety of country, there will always be a weak point, and that weak point is something that I already found and exploited "Now then... How about we go and escape this country, ex prince of Kiserre" [Serial killer dwarf] "So long... Mother" [Fawan] _________________________________________________ [Forest Dungeon] [Farhah point of view] My hair, my long hair suddenly become even longer, brimming with the colour of bright green. My skin, it''s like that of the elves who had to be turned into a druid. It''s sincerely ugly in my opinion, as the skin that I care about so much be turned into like that of a tree trunk. A smooth tree trunk pattern, but nonetheless, I dislike it. Maybe it''s because of the layer of wood mana that stick to my skin like a newborn baby to it mother. It gives me a warm feeling, and also a raw power needed to control the entirety of this Forest Dungeon... (Only for a short period of time though...) [Farhah] While I can feel power from all sort of lives coursing through my vein, I can also feel the very same force leaving from my body, nourishing and giving back to the nature. I''m sure Mother Earth actually talk about it, but with how much pain I am, and how I prematurely ended the ritual myself as I saw Simba''s blood-l.u.s.ting gaze toward Charlotte, it reminded me of the time my parents were taken away from me, and thus... "Wood magic: Arrow of Druid" [Farhah] (Also Wood shield. Shield my allies) [Farhah] Most of it, with my wood magic and power as both Avery and vassal of the Mother Earth, I change the arrow properties to that becoming immune to fire. The arrow of druid is a spell that launch itself from any trees trunks and branches, and with my power, I can basically create an endless barrage of arrows, raining through the battlefield. Need to be extra careful not to hit the one that I am supposed to protect "Take cover! Take cover!" "Turtle beastman unique regressed beastly transformation: Giant adamantoise" "Hurry! Go to the giant turtle" A fine tactic indeed. The shell of the unique regressed beastly transformation is way harder than what I could ever imagine, but it leave the user almost completely immobile, which is why "Wood magic: Flower of delusion" [Farhah] "I''ll add as well! Mirage magic: Delusion of persecution" [Titania] And thus, my magic combined with the Fairy Queen magic cause a sudden strong persecutory complex to be developed in such a short amount of time, that "Stay away from me!" "This giant turtle! It will try to kill me!" "Idiot! Don''t go outside! You will get caught by the Avery''s technique!" "You won''t stop me!" "Wait, do you perhaps... You try to kill me as well aren''t you!" "Tchh! Hold them down while keeping them in check!" "Release me! I''ll kill you! I''ll kill you before you can touch me!" "Shit! He just slice that man''s throat!" "Kill him! We can''t let them injured all of us!" "But that will cause the other to become even more paranoia!" "JUST DO IT!" They''re in shambles, but they will survive, that''s for sure. They aren''t like that of a mindless devils we fought thus far, and sincerely speaking, if this is how the devils will be, we will all be in trouble, which makes this power all the more valuable. Thing is... (While I do feel like this power is far stronger than any blessing from the holy beast, it''s limited. To fully utilize this power, I have to take the role of Mother Earth... Which isn''t something I want right now... Sure, we have a better chance of defeating the fallen god should I fully tap into it, but that''s just a child thinking. If it''s that easy, the threat of the fallen god should long be gone) [Farhah] Looks like they''re still going strong, and Simba seems to be adapting as well. This might be an unnecessary action, but (Earth tunnel! Tell me! Show me Brother Ash''s current location!) [Farhah] I forgot many things while undergoing my rite as the Avery, but, the warmth feeling from Brother Ash isn''t one of them, but... (Nothing...) [Farhah] Either my power and proficiency is still lacking, or Brother Ash is smart enough to avoid any sort of detection. Both seems highly plausible "The Beastman are slowly dwindling in number!" "This is our chance!" "Support the heroes! Support the heroes!" "Capture their leader as well!" "YES!" "FOOL! STOP!" [Khamishah] "But Mrs Saga!" "Leave Simba to us! You help cleaning up the minion!" [Khamishah] "Simba is having difficulty as well! This is the best time!" "He''s having difficulty adjusting to the Avery''s attack, not toward you! For him, you guys are nothing more than a moth flying straight into the fire! You will only get in the way!" [Khamishah] "Urghh..." "This is frustrating..." "Still, like what Mrs Saga said!" "We will take care of the other, so that they can focus on taking down the True Beastman Group Leader!" """""RIGHT!!!!!""""" I''m glad Mrs Khamishah quick thinking prevent them from making any sort of reckless action. Even with this power, I doubt I can protect them all againts what we will all face. Even now, he''s slowly powering up, turning the fire immune arrow from my Arrow of Druid spells into ashes... He''s strong, that''s something obvious, but he''s also resilient, and to further make the situation worse for us As all of us get ourselves ready to fight him "He consume it!" [Charlotte] "A corner foe is indeed a frightening one" [Kucin] He just consume those strange stone... This spells nothing but trouble for all of us Chapter 385 - 385: Battle inside the Forest Dungeon part 9 [Forest Dungeon] [Simba, the dark lion point of view] Six years ago, I managed yo caught the current Avery, who''s around 9-10 years old at that time. The same little girl who''s trying her best to suppress her vomit out of fear at that time is currently standing strong and still, leading the fairies in this battle. Six years ago, it was Princess Diana of Estel, her bodyguards, The Valkyrie and the adventures together with the monstrous Mahsuri that were standing in my way. Now, it''s Singa as well as his adoptive brother and sister of the orphanage that comes to help the Avery. Only things remain the same is that both the S rank siblings adventure Anjin and Kucin was there then and are currently facing me off once more. The two of them have been the one that fought us, to further continue Leogris ambitious of making peace with human alikes. An admirable goals, but "I am the same, only our paths are different" [Simba] """???""" [Kucin, Anjin, Singa] Still, this special stones that were made by the two traitorous princes of demon kingdom, I can see when the other say that''s it''s highly addictive. This is no mere stones, there must be a drug combine with it. I don''t know the full details of it, but I''m 100% sure while the monsterification of our beasthood is minimized, the chance of not getting dependent on it is even slimmer, unless what those two and the old demon king plan bore fruitful, and to further increase it, having an Avery by my side is more vital than ever. "Har... He grew larger..." [Titania] "I just hope he doesn''t get any larger than Reshir" [Ant Aries] "You two never saw Zin the giant aren''t you..." (Zin is way larger than Reshir if I''m being honest)[Charlotte] And thus, my counterattack start "Hell volcano! Multiple eruption!" [Simba] ""Earth! Cover us all!"" [Ant Aries, Karon] Volcanic eruption with projectiles of fires rain above them, with the Holy Beast of Earth and the Serial killer dwarf''s son covering them all, but, I won''t make it easy for them "Fire mana zone: Suicidal Tiger" [Simba] "Beastly transformation: Splinter cat: Dark mana zone: Suicidal bomber" [Kucin] "Dark mana zone: Dark abyssal bullet" [Zerolith] Explosion upon Explosion, and by the looks of it ""Wind!!! Blew the fire away!!!"" [Kara, Mara] ""Fire redirection!!"" [Rean, Elise] I still have the overwhelming advantages, and the Avery and Singa attack is getting desperate. I can tell that the Avery is on a time counter, which mean I should just waste her precious time and let her run out of her power. Only thing is (They''re the ten heroes... That''s a mountainous task to do) [Simba] In a way, I am also having the same timer. Once the Avery is all out of power, I need to take her and run away fast, before they go beyond their normal limitations to try and rescue the Avery "Fire swipe!" [Simba] "Tchh!" [Khamishah] ""GAAAHH!!"" [Lara, Nara] "The three of you! Are you guys fine!?" [Savel] "Just focus on Simba!" [Khamishah] I can''t let them take even a breather. Keep pressuring them until they can''t even stand properly But... Before I even know it ""Dark mana zone: Suicidal bomber bullets"" [Kucin, Zerolith] They also start their counterattack. Those two join their spells together, creating a special spell of suicidal cat bullet, that have self aiming property, with each bullets targeting my vital as well as the Holy Beast of Fire vitals "Useless!" [Simba] The fire armour of mine grew even powerful. It can consume even mana itself and thus, no attack can even harm me at this point "Water magic: Raging water ship!" [Charlotte] "I have been expecting you" [Simba] The youngest of them with phenomenal water affinity start barraging me with a water spell. With the cannons on board firing multiple water spells independent of it caster, and there is something in the center of each spell (A rabbit golem?) [Simba] And now that I take a closer inspection, not only on her spell, but also on the suicidal bomber bullets. "What... What is this?" [Simba] There is... There is countless of the rabbit shape golem. I can confidently said that all of these rabbit shape golems are clones of a single rabbit golem currently riding on top of the Avery. Not only that, they''re creating something unique... The Avery, the serial killer dwarf''s son, and the Holy Beast of Earth, they''re putting their mana onto the main body of the rabbit golems, and the rate at which the rabbit golem multiplies goes crazy, and what even crazier, each clones are capable of independent thinking. They purposely let themselves get destroy, before any remaining mana get send back into the main body, for which the rabbit analyze it. It purpose is... "Water magic: Extreme cannon ball! Go Bobunny!!!" [Charlotte] ~Confident chuckling~ A large water cannon spell traveling at high velocity hit me. Instead of getting evaporated like before, this time around "A direct hit!" [Charlotte] "This but a mere splash..." [Simba] "And it won''t be long before the mere splash kill you!" [Farhah] If that''s indeed the case "!" [Farhah] "Space magic: Teleportation!" [Singa] I simply need to grab the Avery now itself! I couldn''t afford to risk it any longer or else "Krakeny! Hold him!" [Charlotte] "Earth giant puppet! Block him" [Karon] A mere kraken golem and puppet of earth is nothing more than a mere obstacles for me ""Behe!! Are you ready!!"" [Lara, Nara] "Roar!" [Behe] "Mrs Saga!" [Savel] "I know! Mirage magic: Armour of giant" [Khamishah] Those twin, they''re doing something with the Empress Behemoth... The giant adamantoise turtle, they''re putting some strange spell on it. "SHIT!" (I NEED TO STOP THEM!" [Simba] They''re putting gravity manipulation spell together with the Empress Behemoth so that "Too late!" [Khamishah] That damn saga with her Monstrous strength. She simply toss that giant adamantoise into me! Even when I knew what will hit me, the damn hard shell of the turtle still hit hard. Plus, all of my men, they''re still inside... "Burn to hell!" [Simba] "BOSS!" "We are still inside!" "Please! It suffocating" Forgive me... I''m sure those scream will haunts me till hell itself "What a cruel leader you are. Someone like you whose goals justify the mean could never be a great person" [Titania] "That I know, but someone need to..." [Simba] "An exact opposite of the beast king..." [Titania] As the Fairy Queen mention that, the youngest hero pull out multiple of her large cannon spell, "All water fairies! Support Charlotte now!" [Calypso] "Hey! I was about to make that call!" [Farhah] "Too late!" [Calypso] The youngest blue hair hero as well as water fairies combined, and they manage to extinguish my fire armour after countless number of spell hitting me. This moment is what those heroes are waiting for, and as soon as it presented itself "Wood magic: Wood entrapment!" [Farhah] """"""Earth magic: Earth pitfall!!!!!!"""""" [Ant Aries, Kara, Mara, Lara, Nara, Karon] "Singa! Now!" [Rean] "Savel! Go and support him!" [Elise] "YES""I WILL" [Singa] [Savel] The two of them get themselves ready to slice me up with their sword. I can still make it if I just "Fire magic: Fire..." [Simba] "I DON''T THINK SO" [Zerolith] A loud bang, and the bullet from the demon hero hit my palm, loosen the grasp of my sword. I''m glad this body is strong or else my palm will be there no more. Still, it doesn''t matter, I can simply fire off a random fire spell ""Keep going!!"" [Anjin, Kucin] The two S rank adventure block the spell with their own bodies. Damn it! Damn it! "DAMN IT! Useless nephew!" [Simba] "Who?" [Singa] In a last ditch effort to avoid the two incoming sword attack, I let my nephew slice off his mother lifeless body, detaching it from the head of the Holy Beast of Fire, Hell Tiger Ha Chapter 386 - 386: Ash? Vs Estel part 1 _________________________________________________ [At Kiserre''s Orphanage] It''s been 4 days since we defeated Simba and his True Beastman group, and letting Saint Louis and Mr Seraph examine the lifeless body of Singa''s mother (inside an empty room far away from other orphans that is), but, even they themselves aren''t sure what''s happening "So, anything you would like to share?" [Singa] "There have been instances that a corpse somehow getting preserve even after hundred of years have passed, but I don''t think this is the case here" [Saint Louis] "True. If anything, shouldn''t Linda, Lara and Nara be an expert in this matter? Linda is literally a minion of God of Death and as for the both of you, just like Ash, you received God of Death blessing as well" [Seraph] "I''m sorry. I might be a minion, but even I know so little about God of Death, much less this type of thing" [Linda] ""Same..."" [Lara, Nara] That''s on one side (or should I say one room), and on another side "So let me get this straight... You used Karon''s puppet magic on Bobunny. Bobunny in turn replicate the puppet magic and use it in each of it clone, granting them collective thought on how to best approach the situation to defeat Simba and the Holy Beast of Fire?" [Kanji] "True. That''s what I have been telling you for god knows how many times!" [Mara] "And how did he get away again?" [Kanji] "For god sake... Let just said he launch a suicidal attack before leaping into a portal stone" [Mara] "Still, that''s actually a genius strategy you guys had. I can tell that this sort of magic can tremendously improve the field of science and magic" [Kana] "Which is why Karon and I start studying the mechanism of it. Karon is an engineer, and as a school teacher, I would like to teach my students this sort of thing to further improve their education" [Kara] And in other different side "To think that they could push two S rank adventure and Mrs Saga herself like this... Truly, a terrifying opponent" [Samurai Jacks] "Plus, the first prince of Kiserre is gone... I imagine they are expecting most of the army and adventure helping the heroes, thus leaving the country on it own" [Alaric] "Do you have any idea on who might do that?" [Seo Ah] "We are not sure, but we strongly suspect the meddling third party involve. Who knows, it could be the serial killer dwarf itself" [Khamishah] (Queen Rinz did mentioned she used my Sea Serpent Project as a guide... This means that there are still some technical aspects left for me to look into before finally realizing this project...) [Charlotte] "I am thinking of the same thing as well. First prince of Estel also has some connection with the meddling third party, so if we drew a parallel, it wouldn''t be a stretch to get the prince of Kiserre support as well" [Rean] "It will bring nothing but disaster should he suddenly decided to take the throne for himself..." [Kucin] "All Queen Rinz hard work will be nothing but a naught should that really happen" [Anjin] And finally "You''re so cool!" "Avery Farhah! Avery Farhah!" "Hehehehe, feast your eyes upon this majestic Avery" [Farhah] "And her cute side kick" [Calypso] "Meow!" [Behe] "I thought you are reluctant to become Avery before this..." [Zerolith] "And now look at her, boasting her status" [Savel] "What was that? I couldn''t hear you over all of these praises!" [Farhah] ""..."" [Zerolith, Savel] "Still, where are the Fairy Queen and Shielding Ant Aries?" "Yeah! We wanted to meet them as well!" "They''re currently helping to restore back the Forest dungeon. There''s nothing much left for us to do, so they tell us just to go ahead first for Rean''s and Mr Samurai Jacks weddings" [Karon] Which bring us to "Hey! Don''t touch the wedding gifts!" [Elise] "Kids, those things are expensive. If you broke it, you will have to pay Sis Elise back for it" [Black cat lady] "When we grow up, we will pay it back!" "That wasn''t my point..." [Black cat lady] "Sis Charlotte, your gifts?" [Miriam] "Well, it''s this one" [Charlotte] Since I am all out of ideas on what to give Rean and Muse, Mr Jacks and Principal Alice their wedding gifts, I just bought them some daily stuff that they will most likely use for their new houses. I really couldn''t think of anything, so really, it''s like I am just paying the stuffs that were suggested to me. I just hope this is good enough for them. I really don''t have a single clue as to what I should buy actually "So Rean is getting married, when is your turn Elise?" [Black cat lady] "I... I... I... I..." [Elise] "You too Seo Ah. Heck, even the entrance guards try to flirt with you after they recognise you" [Kanji] "DON''T SAY THAT!" [Seo Ah] "Scandalous..." [Charlotte] And thus, we start teasing Elise and Seo Ah as the next in line to get married _________________________________________________ [Inside the Ice Dungeon] [Mahsuri point of view] "All that''s left is Hell Tiger Har and Angkasa blessing, and those ten kids will be ready" [Mahsuri] "Do you really think they are ready to face againts the fallen god?" [Reshir] "That''s a tough question. Given how even Mother Earth itself is getting desperate. Just look at what she had done to her Avery" [Mahsuri] And that surprises both of us, and that''s why, leaving the Mermaid kingdom, I come face to face with Reshir to talk about the future of Achalasia. I can''t help but to worry about them "Master Reshir. Master Mahsuri. You have a guest" [Yuki-ona] "So, instead of trying your best to block him, you simply bring him to us..." [Reshir] "A wise decision indeed" [Mahsuri] She, after all can''t win against him in this current state. I''m sure this smart Yuki-ona hope that we can do something "I must said, I feel nostalgic seeing you once again... Ash" [Mahsuri] "..." [Ash?] His condition... Is it even possible for me to help him, or should I bet on what they said regarding Ash''s conditions six years ago... Chapter 387 - 387: Ash? Vs Estel part 2 _________________________________________________ [At Estel''s Orphanage] [Diana point of view] Since I am rather free right now, and with me trying to find a relaxing activity to steer my mind away from any works related stuff. I try to bring along Zaidi with me, but he actually have something to do. That, and the fact that the orphanage is currently lacking of Charlotte. Oh puppy love, how cute "Princess! About Rean''s wedding! About Rean''s wedding!" "Please help us write a card for him!" "Pretty please" "Pretty pretty please" "Pretty please please" "Sure. Let us brainstorm something" [Diana] "YEAH!" And just when I am about to take a pen "So you''re here with them, your highness" [Aries] "That takes you a while, Mrs Aries" [Qis] "Forgive me, but the roads were filled with devils, and I take upon those chances to further polish the Holy Beast of Earth blessing granted upon me" [Aries] I see. I don''t think any of us will be mad. She simply make herself stronger through all the training and she keeps the roads safe by defeating those devils. Any sane person wouldn''t be mad about that "Hmm? What are you drawing?" [Rafiah] "This? Principal Alice once mentioned Princess Diana and Mr Ash fall in love with each other, so..." "AM NOT!" [Diana] "My my..." [Claude] "But Sis Kara write a novel about it... Oh... That should be a secret..." "Sigh... She still love those sort of romantic novels isn''t she." [Aries] "At least she didn''t buy any extreme one" [Filvisar] "If she buy that, then I will..." [Aries] """""Extreme?""""" """"""Nothing"""""" [Diana, Qis, Aries, Rafiah, Filvisar, Claude] They''re still young to know the meaning of our extreme just now, so let just continue making some wedding cards with them. Still... (Farhah mentioned she actually saw Ash. Just where are you... Ash) [Diana] Somehow, my heart feels strange. Just why? _________________________________________________ [Inside Ice Dungeon] [Mahsuri point of view] "Do you need any help, Mahsuri?" [Reshir] "Please. I might suddenly aged after the incident at Mermaid kingdom, but I don''t need your help on this one. In fact, I''m sure you''re the one needing my help" [Mahsuri] "Time doesn''t change your boastfulness one bit I suppose" [Reshir] Without a moment warning, Ash suddenly throw a thunderstorm magic right off the bat, specifically aiming for me. He skillfully manipulate the thunderstorm as to corner me in every direction, but alas ~Slash~ "I suppose getting control by God of Life makes you forgotten how bad I used to beat you up. Don''t be c.o.c.ky just because God of Life strengthen your magic" (though his creativity in magic and spell is tad decreasing) [Mahsuri] If if was the usual Ash, he will most definitely follow-up with at least two different kind of spell in each attacks, or at least he will throw himself and the scythe to further pressure his opponent. I guess it''s either because he''s becoming moronic due to being controlled by God of Life minion or he''s actually conscious of whom he''s fighting and didn''t want to hurt me. The later seem absolutely impossible as I''m sure if he does in fact retaining part of his consciousness and knew he is fighting against me, then he will definitely provoke me more and more, so that I will beat him up, hoping for a miracle that by getting beaten up by me, he will magically be freed, or better still, not becoming a nuisance to Charlotte and the other ~Throwing scythe~ He threw his scythe, and with it, is a fire and thunder spell raging at high velocity. If it was six years ago, I could simply catch it but this time around, I should use chant less ice wall spell in order to block it or else "Sev.n Sp.ll: Arrow o. Ele..nts" [Ash?] "I see. It seems you learn a bit of devilish language during you hellish vacation with them" [Ash?] Not that it matters. It just increase the power of miasma of the fallen god along with the spell. As the Homunculus, I can simply absorb it and ~Crack~ "Shit!" [Mahsuri] "Expl.si.n" [Ash?] "Water armour" [Reshir] "And I don''t remember asking for your help" [Mahsuri] "That should put a dent on your huge ego" [Reshir] "Hmph, I can simply absorb the Explosion and remove the miasma on my own" [Mahsuri] "You might, or you might not. That doesn''t change the fact you''re careless just now" [Reshir] "Something that I wouldn''t repeat" [Mahsuri] Should I retract my statement just now? Is he actually retain his creativity...? No. I''m absolutely sure it''s decreasing, maybe because his ego is sky high and he believes that he can defeat me. That attempt just now prove it. If it was Ash six years back, he will stuff out every bit of spell instead of just arrow of seven elements, and let me absorb it all before making my magic core exploded all the while making a 100% sure that the spell he threw beforehand will prevent me from shielding my magic core, but his attempts just now, is a bit lousy "GAH!" [Ash?] "I should put you back on your place" [Mahsuri] Dashing and stabbing his right forearm, I unleash upon raging water spell, thus, tearing apart his muscle and flesh, and as expected, the power of fallen god causes it to be regenerated, but I''m no fool "I. Won''t r":e.nera.e?" [Ash?] "Oh it will, but after I beat you that is" [Mahsuri] "NOOOOO!" [Mahsuri] As I am about to land my finishing blow, he uses his space magic to run away from the fight. Well, I''m certain about his next destination, so... "I will follow him..." [Mahsuri] "How about his arm?" [Reshir] "He should be at least smart enough to undo the spell himself so that it will regenerate back" [Mahsuri] "Hmpph. I wonder, do you actually really care about Vincent and Maria son or not" [Reshir] "Love take on many different forms, don''t you agree" [Mahsuri] If what Az, the time keeper showed to Rean, Elise and Zerolith was true, than his next stop will be Estel. Chapter 388 - 388: 11 days until Reans wedding _________________________________________________ [At Ice Dungeon] A group of peoples hail from the same Orphanages traverse the dungeon together after having successfully completed their transaction at the exchange land. Finest of wine, various delegacy and sweetest of sweet, all bargain at a good price that''s well worth the effort as they couldn''t bare contain their excitement any longer for the "eldest brother" figures, the respected figure of Rean''s wedding, which is less than 2 week "Well, if Brother Ash is here, he wouldn''t want us to bought this wine" [Green hair boy] "True. I do remember him saying he was actually killed my his drunk uncle before being reincarnated, maybe that''s why he was so againts it" [Rabbit beastman] "Should be fine. For him, moderation is the key" [Long hair black girl] "True. That''s his favourite words, plus, we are all a.d.u.l.ts already" [Lizard Beastman] As they keep chatting among themselves, they still pay extra careful to their environment, not wanting to met with bandits, monsters or worse the devil, when "Huh...?" [Rabbit beastman] "What''s wrong?" [Lizard Beastman] "Am I hallucinating, or is that really..." [Rabbit beastman] The rabbit beastman point his finger and the other quickly shift their attention towards the direction, only to confirm that "No... You''re not hallucinating..." [Green hair boy] "That''s without a doubt..." [Long hair black girl] _________________________________________________ [At Estel''s Orphanage] [Rean point of view] "Hmm... Isn''t this a bit too..." [Rean] "I agree with Rean... Isn''t this too excessive. We appreciate the sentiment but really..." [Samurai Jacks] "Nonsense. To the one that save our country back then, this is just the tip of the iceberg if you ask me" [Princess Nurhaliza] "Truthfully, even I think it''s excessive, but don''t feel bad for yourself, you deserve it. Plus, this is all straight out of her own pocket money" [Mira] "True. I''m sure the two of you thought that these gifts were bought by using Malsia''s treasury fund, but it is not" [Naoto] I guess that does put some relieve onto us. While Muse and Alice seems less affected by the mountain of gifts, they still excitedly scan through the gifts before "Strange... Why did you buy this Princess Nurhaliza? Could it be... I think we can give this to the orphanage" [Muse] "Oh, you sure catch to her intention fast" [Mira] "True, we can, that is if Princess Nurhaliza didn''t mind about it" [Alice] "Not really. I''m sure one way or the other, the four of you would give them to the orphans and to those in need, which is why I make extra sure to buy more and more things" [Haliza] I see, so she take into account that we will definitely give something to the orphanage or to people in need. I guess she make that as to ensure at the end of the day, we will still end up with something from her. I guess if that''s how I look at it, it kinda make sense. Still... (There are just too many things... Even when half of the gifts belong to Master Jacks, it''s still too many, and that''s only for the unwrapped gifts that she show us... I''m 100% sure there are still gifts that she will only bring out during the wedding day itself... I''m 100% sure of it) [Rean] Well, instead of making a positive sigh, a gratitude will be better. I''m sure Princess Nurhaliza will be more than delighted if I show her gratitude, everyone will "What will you do afterward?" [Mira] "Well, Rean and I have a lot of thing to catch up to our wedding preparations to start with" [Jacks] "It''s true. We have been leaving it to Muse and Alice, and if I''m being honest, I don''t even know the flow of the event correctly" [Rean] "That shouldn''t pose much of a problem" [Muse] "Claude will be the main coordinator for the whole program, so you can absolutely leave it to him" [Alice] "That''s right. I will make sure both of yours will have a delightful and unforgettable wedding" [Claude] It seems like Grandpa Claude is overly excited about it. If it is really him, then both of us have nothing to worried about, as I''m sure he will be more than capable of doing so. Plus, he play a huge part six years ago during Princess Diana''s debutante party alongside Brother Ash, so I''m sure everything will be alright (Speaking of debutante party...) "Why am I getting a feeling that this event is more like a festive event rather than a wedding" [Rean] "True, I actually notice that as well. Even the neighbors around here treat is like a festival..." [Jacks] """Well...""" [Claude, Muse, Alice] Why are they averting their eyes... Actually, I can already guess the answer, but still, why are they actually averting their eyes really bad? "So why is it that Princess Diana decided to turn this wedding into one with a festive mood?" [Jacks] "Not that we are againts it, there should be a good reason as to why she does that" [Rean] She isn''t someone that will do something out of greed, so there should be a concrete reason as to why "Wow... I heard about it, but this is a mountain of gift" [Elise] Elise, who just came back from a small shopping trip, gaze her eyes upon the gifts. Even she herself couldn''t believe the amount of gifts that we received from Princess Nurhaliza, though she said it make sense for a princess that represents a country to buy us these much gifts in the first place ~Ring~ Elise''s phone suddenly ring up, as she quickly pick up her phone, we recognize the four of them quickly. Still, why are they looking like they just saw something unbelievable? I can tell that they''re in no sort of danger, and yet, from the look of their faces, it''s something urgent "You guys. Stay calm and Listen" [Lizard Beastman] All of us make the same reaction. We collectively hold our breath before Elise decided to break the silence "Brother Ash. You saw Brother Ash inside the Ice Dungeon?" [Elise] Chapter 389 - 389: 10 days until Reans wedding [Inside Ice Dungeon] [Elise point of view] After receiving the report from our fellow siblings, we rushed straight into the ice dungeon, more specifically, towards the 14th floor from the Exchange Land side at full speed, but alas, those four had lost track of Brother Ash. They said that Brother Ash did in fact notice them, but that wasn''t the main reason as to why he had to resort using invisibility magic to hide himself, but rather something else, something that was unknown, something strong enough to even destroy Brother Ash''s right arm completely With yesterday search yield unfruitful results, The Valkyrie, some of the adventures and us hope to find at least some clues as to why he was here in the first place, but alas "Nothing" [Valkyrie A] "We couldn''t find anything as well" [Valkyrie B] "How about you guys? Anything that catches your attention?" [Bladel] "Unfortunately no" [Liyana] "Same here. I don''t think there is anything worth reporting on this floor as well" [Mile] That is on the Valkyrie Line call, as for the other "We finally able to use the ancient tunnel of the Traveler King to our advantage!" [Mara] "Hehe, it''s all thank to me!" [Farhah] "That is true, but still..." [Zerolith] "Our search yield no result as well" [Charlotte] "We couldn''t even contact the Yuki-ona and the Holy Beast of Water as well..." [Savel] "If I''m being honest, it feels like they''re not bothering answering our calls at all" [Singa] "To each their own I guess" [Zerolith] They also yield the same result as us Valkyrie, and as for the adventures side "Nothing in particular here as well" [Lily] "Same here. Nothing at all." [Kadeus] "How strange" [Ray] "I know this is Mr Ash we are talking about, but to leave behind no clue at all is still pretty impressive" [Muse] "I just hope he''s safe..." [Rean] It rare to see Rean letting out a sigh, but you could see that he is tired, going extra mile to search for him. As the eldest among us heroes, as well as the "representative" of us orphans, he must feel it is his sole responsibility to bring back Brother Ash no matter what. A sentiment that we all share, but somehow, we can visualize him carrying most of the weight "Birdie, Bobunny, any results?" [Elise] ~Sad screech~~Sad chuckling~ "Unfortunately no" [Kara] "I guess even number wouldn''t help much here" [Karon] "Our aerial survey yield no results" [Kana] ""We tried various spell from all 7 elements of magic, as well as neutral magic. Even tried tapping into God of Death power, but..."" [Lara, Nara] "As much as it pain me to do this, how about all of you call it a day. This is Ash we are talking about, if anything, knowing he is somewhere inside the Ice Dungeon is more than enough for now" [Diana] "If only I can tap into Mother Earth power more freely!" [Farhah] Princess Diana, alongside Mother Aries who been coordinating the search decided to call it a day, and given how neither of us can find anything, I think that is for the best as well. Further search will only waste our precious time and resources, something that we can channel into better activities, and one of it is "I see, we will be making our routine round afterward" [Elise] "Princess Diana did decide to make the wedding as something special, so everyone is in their festive mood" [Bladel] "And you know, this kind of mood is responsible for spikes in crime... Can''t those burglars and thieves find a better job..." [Valkyrie C] "And worse... we are still not on the expected peak of crime, as stalls and attractions are not set-up yet" [Mile] "Let just hope that nothing bad will happen, although I can''t help but to get the same feeling as back then, during Princess debutante party..." [Valkyrie D] "DON''T JINX IT!" [Valkyrie E] True... Please don''t jinx it. If anything, please make this a smooth ride, an extra smooth ride if possible. Not to mention (There are still important guests that didn''t departed yet, like Mrs Khamishah and Queen Rinz, as well as Demon King Druser and Beast King Leogris, but should they come, our schedule will be tighter than normal. With that, come extra problem as well) [Elise] If anything, we still have Mother Aries, Saint Louis and Mr Seraph here to aid us, so that''s something good Taking the exit out from the Ice Dungeon, we greet the guard before going to our scheduled patrol. He seems extra happy, as he couldn''t wait for the marriage event as he has a shift off that day and would like to see the event. Rean personally invite him after knowing it "I''ll make sure to come!" [Guard A] "That means we will have to cover your ass!" [Guard B] And they start bickering and laughing among each other Well, off to work I go "Let us do our best, Behe!" [Elise] "Roar!" [Behe] Behe uses his skill to become an a.d.u.l.t empress behemoth, and with that, we soar through Estel''s sky and make our daily patrol. It has been a while since I make this patrol, and as such, Liyana, (who will usually stuck with office works together with Sir Crow and Sir Ceanu Reaves) and Mile join me on their pegasus We will occasionally land on a big street to make a closer inspection "You three seems happy" [Gizzere] "Oh Mrs Gizzere, are those..." [Liyana] "That''s right. This is the event planner as well as the expected cost for this "festive wedding" they''re having" [Cupid] "If anything, we still have few missing financial report, so I am planning to head to the store myself and get the report" [Gizzere] "You''re retiree, but you''re still active. I''m impressed" [Mile] "Shall we go together?" [Elise] "I don''t see why not" [Gizzere] Our first destination will be the stationary shop there, where I can see Kara getting some supplies for her job as a teacher. That, as well as for her "secret novel" Chapter 390 - 390: 9 days until Reans wedding [Kara point of view] "I''m off" [Kara] "Make sure you teach them something useful, teacher" [Mara] "What! What do you mean!" [Kara] "Some souls told us yesterday, apart from school supplies for your students, you brought quite an amount of paper. It isn''t that strange considering you''re a teacher, but..." [Lisa] "It''s good that you have a hobby and a group of friends that share similar interests, but remember, moderation is the key. Don''t do THAT ever again" [Aries] "I! I won''t! Plus, THAT was an accident!" [Kara] "Are you sure" [Mara] "Triple sure! Don''t make that face like you''re accusing me!" [Kara] Having a good breakfast together with Mara, mother and Aunt Lisa is simply the best, and since it really been a while since we last sit together and talk during breakfast, all of us could''nt help but to chat longer than usual, chewing slower just to make the session longer. Alas, all of us still have works to do, and as such, 30 minutes before my class with the students start, Aunt Lisa and I went to the school together, where we separated as Aunt Lisa wanted to go to the her office at the higher education "Ah, morning" [Charlotte] "Charlotte, Karon. Mr Qudus, Mr Erinmorlin and Mr Flinar, are you here for the Sea Serpent Project?" [Kara] "True enough. The model of Achalasia is long finished, and the project has seen tremendous improvement thanks to no small part of Queen Rinz and Princess Nurhaliza, but..." [Flinar] "Since The First Prince of Kiserre actually manage to escape when the entire country been surrounded by Queen Rinz Fortress Defense Magic, and we are using her magic formula as a stone, we can''t help but to feel worried" [Qudus] "Which is why we will be looking at the project right from the beginning..." [Erinmorlin] "Again... Just don''t for to enjoy the festival... It started today after all" [Kara] "We won''t" [Karon] It supposedly start 3 days before Rean and Mr Jacks weddings, but since the mood of festivity is there already, and with some stalls and attractions already being set up, the citizen couldn''t help but to celebrate it already. Even Princess Diana is considering to just start the celebration early on. Plus... (Since Farhah became the Avery, the elves and the fairies moods sure are in a good spirits, so that adds up more) [Kara] As I walk into hallway, heading to the classroom, my students and fellow faculties greet me, as it been quite a while since I last saw all of them. I sincerely miss seeing their faces and the atmosphere of the school, which further burn my spirit to start today''s class. I''m supposed to cover the properties of magic for today but instead "Please! Tell us more on your journey!" "Saint Louis is so handsome! Please tell us more about him!" "The Holy Beast of Wind as well! That garuda is so huge!" "Not as huge as the giants though..." "And we heard something regarding the Avery! Please tell us about it!" "What about the True Beastman Group? How do you deal with them!?" "I heard that The Holy Beast of Earth and Mirage helps all of you! Is it true?" "Calm down. Calm down. I guess it can''t be help. I''ll change today subjects since some of it do cover your syllabus, so pay extra attention to it. Other teachers might take this opportunity to put some questions on your upcoming test" [Kara] "Aww man..." "Not another test..." "True. Not another test..." [Seraph] """"Ehh..."""" Just when does he... "Your principal specifically requested my presence here for today, that beautiful lady request shall then be entertain. Telling a story is without a doubt, a fun and good activity to do, but with an extra bit of music and performance, it can add spice to the already fantastic tell after all" [Seraph] "I see. Well then, why don''t we have Mr Seraph to come in front as well" (Though that comment regarding Principal Alice is not necessary considering she''s getting married soon) [Kara] "If you insist" [Seraph] And thus, the two of us started to tell our experiences. Considering that many many things happened over the course of our journey, the story takes up quite some time, in fact, just when my one hour long class about to end, the students beg their teachers to let us continue, and considering Mr Seraph here won''t stop anytime soon, they agree to just extend the class until noon, where some of the free students and faculties member also join in as well, and before I realized, the entire classroom is fill with students and teachers alike "I heard that The Behemoth Slayer shows up inside the Ice Dungeon, is it true?" "He''s been taking good care of the older orphans, I wonder just why he started the orphanage" "Teacher Kara, Mr Seraph, both of you personally known him right? Tell us more about him!" "Tell us! Tell us!" "Well, there is still 15 minutes left before noon, so let just wrap this up shall we?" [Seraph] "Sure" [Kara] And thus, we wrap the class up with tales from Brother Ash live. Hearing it from Mr Seraph perspective sure bring some side that I never knew possible from Brother Ash, but I guess that''s just how human behave After class (Oh right... I should met with Your Highness The Fourth Queen and Principal Alice at 1030am... It''s already noon, and it completely slipped my mind) [Kara] And they aren''t inside the principal office, and some of the staff told me they''re heading towards the castle. I guess I should head there myself (This novel that we will made, I hope it will last forever!) [Kara] This isn''t just some love novel, in fact, this is a record pertaining our journey as the heroes z starting from how we met Brother Ash to now itself. Records regarding fallen god, heroes and anything related to it tend to be erased from existence, so we were hoping to preserve it in other way possible, hence, this idea from us which got approval from Mr Filvisar. That''s why, together with the both of them, we work in secret to write this one up. The main star is of course... "Her Highness and The Principal are currently in the Royal Library" [Royal Guard] "I see, thank you very much" [Kara] And on my way to the Royal Library "Huh?" [Kara] Isn''t that... The First Prince of Estel? Why is he with Saint Louis, Seo Ah, Mara and Zerolith? Chapter 391 - 391: 8 days until Reans wedding [Mara point of view] Seriously! I hate the First prince of Estel! Ever since we come to know him six to seven years ago, I can''t help but to feel furious whenever I see him! Of course, it''s a given for him to investigate Saint Louis, whom many presume dead six years ago, and he has every right to do so, not only for those curious mind, but also for the safety of the country as a whole! It''s understandable, but he just wouldn''t accept the fact that King Estel, Princess Diana and some of us knew that Saint Louis was in fact, alive and well all along I applaud Saint Louis, Seo Ah and Zerolith for keeping their composure all the times, which, somehow, makes me all defensive for them, as I keep making sarcastic remarks one after another, so much so that I was kicked out of the "conversation" (more like interrogation if you ask me) soon afterwards. I guess I get what I deserved "Sigh... Anyway, for today..." [Mara] Since I don''t have anything else to do, I decided to help the church with their preparation. It''s some sort of special wedding ceremony, and as such, the usual flow of the event will be different. From vows to... I don''t know. Saint Louis, Seo Ah and Zerolith are the one that knows all about it, and as for me, I just help them buy things here and there. They will be having rehearsal two days from now on, and since Seo Ah and Zerolith are basically having a shaky knees all the times, saying they''re not ready to help Saint Louis himself, I decided to barge in and help them "Let see... First, some flowers of...What is this flower again? And this description, they are used in... Bla bla bla..." [Mara] I really need to up my girl power. Maybe I should ask Mr Filvisar, Farhah or Calypso about it. They ought to know something regarding this flower, and speaking of Calypso "Calypso! Over here!" [Mara] "If it isn''t Mara, why are shouting for me?" [Calypso] Calypso, along with other fairies, quickly fly toward me. They''re currently making the elemental trees frow ever brighter, by infusing it with Farhah''s mana. It''s becoming prettier, that''s for sure, and the leaves that were blown by the gentle winds add ups to the already beautiful scenery. Sincerely, ever since Brother Ash planted those trees, it actually becomes a tourist attractions, more so on the Orphanage areas, Diana''s hall as well as the school. It actually generate revenue for us as well, so that''s a win "I see, hmmm..." [Calypso] "Something wrong?" [Mara] "Not that. I was thinking, maybe I should just give them seed of heart" [Calypso] "What''s that?" [Mara] "Well, according to your description, those flowers represents a sincere heart in one marriage, so I was thinking, maybe if I gives them seed of heart, it will be better" [Calypso] "And what will this seed of heart do?" [Mara] "It''s a special seed, use by some of the more older elves. This seeds will be given to those newlyweds, and they will infuse their mana with it. The seed will grow into what''s in their deepest heart. If they truly love each other, something good will come out, but if it is the opposite..." [Calypso] "I see. What will come out?" [Mara] "That depends on the person. According to Master Filvisar, the results often varied from couple to couple that no two things that came out of it were identical, be it if the marriage is one with pure attention or the opposite" [Calypso] "That sounds good. Maybe you should get the seeds as well as the flowers the church asked for and let them decide for themselves" [Mara] "Fair enough. I''ll ask Master Filvisar straight away!" [Calypso] "Can you just give it straight to Saint Louis, Seo Ah or Zerolith?" [Mara] "By your order!" [Calypso] Ans she quickly fly toward the orphanage direction. That is one task down, and another... "Sis Mara! There you are!" [Kat] "We have been looking for you!" [Blanc] "Huh. Kat and Blanc, what are you doing here?" [Mara] "We were hoping that you can come with us inside the Rock and Sea dungeon!" [Kat] "Mommy and Daddy is busy, and Uncle Syah and Aunt Mimi doesn''t permit us to do so" [Blanc] "That''s why, we just wanted to search for random treasure chests inside the dungeon, so that we can give Rean, Muse, Samurai Jacks and Principal Alice something" [Kat] "I see..." [Mara] The way they''re behaving now, it''s exactly as I am back then, when we sneakily enter the Open field dungeon in order to get something for Princess Diana debutante party. I guess if I back out now, they will just enters the dungeon on their own, which is why "Sure. I am free right now. Let us go there straight away!" [Mara] ""Right!!"" [Kat, Blanc] And thus, the three of us enter the first floor of the Rock and Sea dungeon, and going into the far right side of the dungeon, some small devil spawn, but since they''re just a random minion, it isn''t worth much of a fuss, as I simply use the spear that Karon''s crafted for me and blasted them all away in one go. The impact however, is far stronger than what I anticipated, and thus "Look!" [Kat] "A treasure chest!" [Blanc] "Good gracious, who would have thought that there is a hidden wall here" [Mara] And inside the treasure chest is "Wow! It''s a bead of Sea Flowers! How lucky!" [Blanc] ""And what is that??"" [Mara, Kat] "Not you too Sis Mara! Fine! I''ll explain! No, better still... Watch" [Blanc] Blanc... He''s more feminine than I am to know all this stuff. Well, whatever. I should just watch as she tickles the stem of flowers "What the!?" [Mara] "See! This is why I say we are lucky! This flower, when they''re ticklish, will shoot in crystal of water flower as a distraction while it try to run away" [Blanc] "Do you think they will appreciate it?" [Kat] "Rean and Mr Jacks? I don''t think so. Muse and Principal Alice however, will appreciate it" [Mara] "I guess that settles it then" [Blanc] It isn''t many, and I''m sure there are others with gifts that will beat them in term of price and quality, but at the end of the day, it''s the thought that count As we exit the dungeon "Lara, Nara? What are you doing there?" [Mara] ""We are..."" [Lara, Nara] Chapter 392 - 392: 7 days until Reans wedding [Inside Ice Dungeon] [Lara and Nara point of view] We are afraid. On this happy occasion, anything can happen. We couldn''t help but to imagine 1001 way of things that can go wrong. Especially "Don''t worry Lara and Nara, I will be fine" [Rafiah] She''s confident on her plan should anything happen to her, and if we may add, that''s indeed a solid plan. Utilizing various monsters spawn from the spawning blocks as her arsenal is one thing, to set up trap and tracker on herself is another thing. Some powerful and intelligent individual might bypass all her efforts on keeping herself safe, and considering the situation we are in, Lara/Nara can''t help but to feel afraid... Afraid that those who help Prince Fawan of Kiserre escape from his prison come and take Sis Rafiah away from us. She didn''t tell us, and I doubt many knows about who Sis Rafiah really is. If anything, I can confidently said that only Princess Diana, Grandpa Claude and Filvisar knows about it. Maybe a few mores but that''s about it. That''s why, to keep her safe (Lara... There isn''t any sign of infiltration here) [Nara] (Same here. Plus, no physical nor magical traps that could he set-up here) [Lara] ((And there is no sign of Brother Ash here)) [Lara, Nara] Everyday, we have been going in and out of the dungeon, for various reasons. To put it simply, anything that can go wrong will definitely go wrong, and as such, the two of us, without any orders, work tirelessly in order to prevent that. Sis Rafiah safety is one thing, but there are multiple other reason for us to keep going inside the dungeon, everyday without fail, and those reasons include 1) Searching for Brother Ash who is currently most likely getting controlled by the fallen god. If we did by chance find him, we will split into two, where one of us will secretly follow Brother Ash around while the other tell those back in Estel about it 2) Making sure that the True Beastman Group will not found their way into Estel as to try and kidnap Farhah once more. Considering they''re losing most of their men, we could rule out that this might not happen anytime soon, but it''s better to take precautions nonetheless rather than losing Farhah 3) Making sure that any of the ten commanders of the devils didn''t plan anything anywhere near Estel. Of all the things, this is the one that''s most likely to happen, and the one that will be most difficult to deal with. We pray with everything we have got, hoping that for now, they wouldn''t even set foot inside of Estel. At least, until Rean''s wedding is over But somehow... Somehow... We couldn''t help but to worried about Sis Rafiah safety. Call it a hunch, or maybe even a bit of paranoia, but we couldn''t exactly shake this feeling off, and we don''t even know why. It''s just a mere bad feeling that we hope stay that way ((Most likely, this hunches of ours developed when we were helping the fellow vampires and giants running away from Saintess Angela of the old teaching)) [Lara, Nara] Or maybe it was horn during that period of time. That would be possible as well. If anything, we are grateful for it. It might be taxing for both of us to constantly be on the vigilant side, almost always getting ourselves ready for any disaster to strike. Little time to rest, but as a homunculi, that''s all unnecessary for us as we can simply shrug it off unlike most mortal could''nt do, but... If we are being honest, we have a bit of dislike to these traits of ours, as it makes us different from them. It''s useful, and we are glad to have it, but seeing as how we are so different from them make us feel separated, feels alienated, but it''s at the end of the day, a useful tools for us ((No. No. Bad thinking. Remember back then...)) [Lara, Nara] Remember back then, when they experimented on us to make us homunculi, and remember how the prince of Kiserre kicked us for being useless, only to be saved by Brother Ash, as he treated us the same as he treated all the others. We aren''t merely a tools, but rather, the companions of the ten heroes, and for that, we take pride in our works. Every drop of sweat, every mana spent, every passing second helping them out in area they''re lacking, we will be there ""I''m tired. Let''s go back"" [Lara, Nara] Since we are basically thinking the same things all the times, that remarks was unnecessary as we both could simply walk toward the dungeon exit, but maybe we are just too tired and involuntarily leak our thoughts simultaneously "Good day to both of you" [Guard A] ""Good afternoon"" [Lara, Nara] "You two really are amazing. It makes us looks bad" [Guard B] ""We do it because we simply wanted to"" [Lara, Nara] "Have you guys eaten anything?" [Guard C] ""No need for food and drink"" [Lara, Nara] "That means it''s a no. How about you join us all? We got plenty of food to spares" [Guard A] "True, I just bought them in the stalls fee minutes ago, so they''re fresh" [Guard B] ""If you insist. Won''t decline good foods"" [Lara, Nara] And as such, we join the guards, also bringing out some of the foods inside our item box. We doesn''t really ate considering our nature, so we store it for such occasions, when helping any refugees or anyone in need of it, or simply when Charlotte going "rampage" from low glucose input to her brain due to lack of sweet, so that''s why, we make sure to have foods and drinks inside our item box. Once we are done eating, we head back to the orphanage, where we found "Tomorrow is the practice session!" [Seo Ah] "Need to make sure everything ready!" [Zerolith] "Have you memorized the script yet?" [Seo Ah] "Not yet. I am planning on doing so after calling Htilorez" [Zerolith] Those two are now panicking. Maybe we should help them Chapter 393 - 393: 6 days until Reans wedding [Zerolith point of view] With Rean keep changing his playing with his red bowtie, alongside Muse with her dark black wedding dress, and just beside them are Mr Jacks and Principal Alice with their more traditional knight like wedding dresses, we are now having a rehearsal one week before the actual big day for them "Maybe we should add Beastman, Demon, Angel and Dwarf wedding style as well! That will be something great!" [Diana] "Maybe even vampire and giants?" [Qis] "We already have elven elements incorporated into it, so why not!" [Muse] "Did you guys know how though?" [Liyana] "I am well versed with different demon wedding style, but I''m not sure about the others" [Lily] "Mr Seraph. Something wrong?" [Kadeus] "Could it be?" [Ray] "Well, if you like, I can use all my knowledge and traveling experiences to integrate them rather nicely, that is if the grooms and brides are fine with it" [Seraph] "I don''t have any objections, how about the three of you?" [Alice] And those three agrees to it, and brainstorming session lead by Mr Seraph started. From their respective homes up until Diana''s hall where the wedding will take places, it''s being planned. Drafted again and again, without them showing any sign of stopping "So basically we will be integrating..." [Zerolith] The old style used by the first saint and saintess, whose marriage was blessed by Goddess Achalasia herself. It''s the basis of today standard wedding. The event goes that the bride and groom simply hold their hand and kiss, while getting the approval from their respective caretaker, whether it''s parents or guardians. In the first Saint and Saintess case, it is The Traveler King that gave the approval for both saint and saintess while Goddess Achalasia as a witness. During the entirety of event, Seo Ah and I will be orchestrating verse of marriage again and again, using our magic to ill.u.s.trate the verse all the time without stopping. Sir Ceanu Reaves and Sir Crow (who aren''t here with us today) will help us both alongside Mr Seraph "It''s said that the Traveler King happy cries can be heard so loudly amidst the booming of claps from the guests" [Saint Louis] "That is a bit excessive..." [Charlotte] "What do you mean!? I can imagine how The Traveler King must have felt!" [Alice''s dad] "Now now dear, don''t get too emotional" [Alice''s mom] (Or maybe not...) [Charlotte] "Hey! Don''t take my photo!" [Alice''s dad] "You''re being too emotional, it''s rather funny" [Clothing shop aunty] "Such overreaction" [Alaric] "Really..." [Linda] (You''re in no position to say that Mr Alaric...) [Zerolith] Next, we have Angel Light shower. Since the angel are mostly believers of The God of Light, Theia, they will have an event where the holy mana of light being constantly release from all the guests, until the bride and groom dresses are clocked with it, resembling an armour that''s said to carry several different interpretations based on the shapes taken "Thing is, I am mainly on orchestral team, but I can still do it from my position" [Seraph] "Count me in as well! I will make sure that they will get the best light shower possible! I''ll even tell my friends to join in as well!" [Yefefiah] "Still, you can replace the angel part with Pegasus or Light Behemoth. Some angel tribe does that" [Seraph] "Then we can do mix of both I suppose" [Muse] "I''ll talk with Captain Bladel about lending some Pegasus" [Elise] "As for you, are you ready Behe?" [Jacks] "Meow!" [Behe] Demon thorn of judgement. Marriage is a lifelong process of constant happiness and suffering, and as such, the groom will usually have their mana suppress into a ball of magic stone, only to release all of it at once during wedding. The showering of mana will be manipulated by the bride, condensing it back into the magic stone until it''s reactivated, before the groom swallow the stone back... Literally. It''s symbolising that the bride will do their best to help the groom "Isn''t that a bit too..." [Seo Ah] "It is, and that''s already a "honey sweet" version of the original one. Notice how the word thorn isn''t use in explanation as it was already removed from the tradition. The Demon Kingdom had modified it by a lot. The magic stone used are now being replaced by magic jelly, to prevent injury to stomach. I can ask Druser to bring some should you like" [Aries] "Actually, we have it in stock at Merchant Guild" [Cupid] "True. We can check it now itself" [Gizzere] "I''ll go" [Ram] "I''ll drive you there, you all continue your discussion" [Bond] "That will be appreciated" [Rean] Elves. Basically, Calypso had brought us Seed of Heart two days ago, and after being reinvigorated by Mr Filvisar and Farhah "Here''s the ring that I specifically made. It contains seed of heart inside. You don''t even need to consciously supply your mana, it will suck out the necessary amount by itself" [Karon] "After we get to see the results, and depending on what''s to come, I''ll take care of it. If it''s flowers, then you simply need to plant it inside a pot. If it''s animal, you simply need to take care of it. There are others possible outcomes, but let us move on to integrate other wedding styles first" [Filvisar] "True. We have it covered for all of you on that regards, so don''t worry too much" [Farhah] "So moving on, for Beastman, Savel and I come up with..." [Singa] The Beastman have the most diverse tradition when it comes to marriage. Be it from battling for three days straight to building a statue of their beloved bride and groom, what they decided to pick is "A combination of Dragonewt and Dwarf wedding?" [Muse] "Right. It''s almost similar. For Dragonewt, both groom and bride will simply use their scales from the moment they fall in love to make a weapon or armour, and as for dwarf, they will scours the land for best possible crystal and make something out of it" [Savel] "Of course it''s too late for all of you to do that. Which is why, we already prepare some high quality treasure turtle shell for you" [Karon] "I shed most of my scales imbued with Reshir blessing as well... It was painful..." [Savel] No wonder Savel look rather strange "I see. But still, we never craft something before... Isn''t it a bit hard?" [Alice] "Good point. Which is why we are the one that will do that for you" [Kronbir] "It''s also part of our tradition to seek out best craftsman to prove one love after all" [Erinmorlin] "And as for the design?" [Muse] "That will be up for you to decide. Still, it''s entirely up to you, without any input from us. That way, the couple will still contribute something" [Erinmorlin] "Even if we messed it up?" [Rean] "That''s right, so you better plan out carefully from a scratch" [Karon] "The meaning and usefulness of the craftsmanship will be displayed, so better plan it carefully" [Erinmorlin] "Plus, most dwarves and dragonewt households who still follow this tradition still kept their hardwork as a heirloom" [Flinar] "It represents a significant part of their culture, and honestly, I really like that part of their cultures" [Lisa] As for Vampire and Giants "Giant don''t really have much of tradition in regards to marriage, though their feast is the most impressive one. Maybe our festive wedding can compete with their feast, or probably not..." [Seraph] "As for vampire, it''s blood unification. Literally, one will exchange blood with their significant other" [Alaric] "They obviously can''t do that" [Kara] "I''ll be impressed if they somehow did" [Mara] "Which is why, instead of blood, you could simply exchange mana. In a sense, it''s a variant from demon tradition" [Alaric] "So instead of Rean eating back his own mana jelly, Muse will be the one doing that?" [Nara] "Better still, why don''t we have them both do that, exchanging their mana through eating the others jellies!" [Lara] "Somehow, it feels lewd" [Charlotte] After further discussion "To summarize, starting from now on, they will..." [Claude] They will start wearing the ring made by Karon to make the seed of heart sprout in addition to pour their mana onto the magic jellies --> Start planning for thing to craft --> wait for the big day (all the while getting photographed) --> marching lead by Princess Diana (with help from Valkyrie and adventure) --> entering the hall --> Angel Light Shower and Orchestra of marriage verse begin all the while Special made videos from collection of albums gathered beforehand being played --> The Craftsmanship be readied by then --> Seed of hearts and magic jellies exchanging events --> photography session --> sending them off while Saint Louis lead the marriage blessing """"Us????"""" [Diana, Rafiah, Claude, Filvisar] "That''s right. We have been thinking, instead of my parents, it will be you four sending us" [Muse] "Can you spare us some time?" [Rean] """"Definitely!!!!"""" [Diana , Rafiah, Claude, Filvisar] "Good luck. I have done it before, my stomach feels like it''s twisting around itself" [Mira] "I still remember your anxious face back then" [Haliza] "It''s funny seeing you all nervous during that time" [Naoto] "It was" [Kanji] "If I''m being honest, I''m a bit jealous since she done it more time than I am" [Kana] as for Mr Jacks and Principal Alice "My parents aren''t there no more, so it''s only you two. Father, Mother" [Samurai Jacks] "I''M NOT YOUR DAD YET!" [Alice''s Dad] "FATHER!" [Alice] "Don''t worry Jacks, We will" [Alice''s mom] "Such overreacting father" [Alaric] "Are you really in the position of saying that, considering your reaction whenever Seraph flirt with your little sister Alicia" [Linda] "This and that is entirely different matter!" [Alaric] (He will definitely take after Alice''s dad one day) [Zerolith] Everyone is in such high spirit, and to end our discussion "Since this is an official festive under me, be prepare for royal visit from my father as well. He will come as the King itself, together with the other kings" [Diana] "If that''s the case, I should photograph those royals together with our brides and grooms" [Clothing shop aunty] We need to make this marriage as grand as possible, as to send nobles and royals, both within Estel and other countries a message. The heroes aren''t your to politicised. They will get married without any interference. Princess Diana simply used her own money as a gesture as she''s like an elder sister figures to us heroes (If only Saintess Rumia is here) [Seo Ah] (She expressed her desire just now. I''ll make an arrangement with Holy Beast of Light, Angkasa to teleport her during the event, alongside Alicia as well) [Goddess Achalasia] "REALLY!" [Seo Ah] "What''s wrong?" [Saint Louis] "Pardon me, it just, Saintess Rumia will be joining us as well. Goddess Achalasia will make an arrangement for her to come with Alicia" [Seo Ah] "That''s a good news" [Qis] "SHE''S COMING!?" [Alaric] ((Overprotective brother...)) [Linda, Liyana] It really is a good news. I suppose we can let her lead us in the orchestra of marriage verse And thus, we started the practice session, until late evening, where everyone is still smiling amidst tiredness. Even our fellow siblings of orphanage which play various roles didn''t let out any sigh of tiredness as they''re simply happy having a part to play in this event "Care to join me now itself to craft something? Charlotte and I will be busy tomorrow" [Karon] """"Absolutely"""" [Rean, Muse, Jacks, Alice] Chapter 394 - 394: 5 days until Reans wedding [Karon point of view] The morning bird will be the one that usually wakes me up early in the morning should I stay in the orphanage, but for today, before they manage to chirp as they usually do, two things wakes me up, the first being "Come on now Brother Karon" "Faster! Faster! Or the Honey ball will sold out!" "We wanted to take a look at other attractions as well!" "Sure sure. Make sure you guys stay with me all the times" [Karon] """Right!!!""" "That''s good. Still, we should all take our breakfast first" [Zerolith] "That''s right. Grandpa Claude will be sad should we ditch breakfast for outside food" [Singa] The younger siblings of ours, both from inside of Estel and those coming from Malsia can''t wait to go the festival which officially started two days earlier. Since the festive mood are all around high, Princess Diana decided to start it early Even when Grandpa Claude (alongside Sir Ceanu Reaves and Sir Crow), is managing the event, he still find himself some time to cook breakfast for us all. He''s nice grandpa, that is without any doubt Speaking of Sir Ceanu Reaves and Sir Crow "You guys sure are energetic early in the morning" [Crow] "Which is good. We need all your energy to make the festival a successful one" [Ceanu] "Just leave that to us!" [Savel] Apparently, they have something to discuss with Grandpa Claude regarding some issue on stalls and attractions, and since they''re only having a light munch on their home, they take the chance to actually sit down and discuss the problems with Grandpa Claude all the while eating some Nasi Lemak together with some hot coffee. They carefully but swiftly handle the doc.u.ments while they''re at it, almost naturally if I may add. Like a swordman getting used to his weapon, they''re both top at their administration jobs, which is why they''re the trusted companion of Princess Diana ""Want us to check the stalls in question?"" [Lara, Nara] "If you can, that will be appreciated"" [Claude] ""Understood"" [Lara, Nara] As most of us already have something to do, we can''t participate much in the festival, but that doesn''t mean our involvement is nill. Maybe I am, since the second reason as to why I wakes up earlier than the chirping of the birds is because of the Sea Serpent Project that needed some more look before being finalized for the third time... And the one that getting hit the hardest is without a doubt ~Yawn~ [Charlotte] Poor girl. At the age of twelve, she already lead some international defense project, and so it''s expected for one to stay up late at night to revise, review and recalibrate all the necessary things. Again, she''s only twelve, which is why I lend a helping hand for her as to not let so much burden into her small shoulder. Well, not only me "We practice the magic fireworks session tonight itself, so don''t come home late" [Farhah] ~Yawn~ "Right! I will try my best..." [Charlotte] She answer Farhah in a drowsy state "You know what... I''m gonna drag you at 4.00P.M. sharp, so you better finish everything before I..." [Farhah] "EHHH! Please no... Karon, please say something to her" [Charlotte] "Actually, I agree with Farhah. Farhah, if she insisted on working, please call me. I''ll drag her as well" [Rafiah] "Sis Rafiah... Not you too..." [Charlotte] And her puppy eyes widen up even more, asking for my support to help her ward off those two. Thing is, even though I can relate to her having load of works "It isn''t good for your health, as such, I''ll agree with them" [Karon] "But you have to craft the wedding thingy as well, so surely you also have so little time" [Charlotte] She presented her argument "That and the Sea Serpent Project is different thing" [Elise] "As Elise said. One is without a doubt, work related issues, and another one is me helping my elder brother for his wedding" [Karon] "But I am also doing this for all of us..." [Charlotte] "For that, all of us truly appreciate it" [Crow] "But we also appreciate you not overworking yourselves, wasting away your youth" [Filvisar] "Work will never finish. If anything, you should rest while you can" [Ceanu] "Plus, even Ash knew when to work and when to rest. If you''re trying so hard to imitate him, then you should imitate that aspect of him as well" [Rafiah] "I am not imitating Brother Ash!" [Charlotte] (Yes... Yes you are...) [All] Everybody silently agree that she''s indeed, imitating Brother Ash, though she''s cute so everyone just keep it quiet when she''s denying it After we finish eating our breakfast, all of us went out to enjoy the festival "Noo! Let me go" [Charlotte] "Nope. If you wanted to work so much, then come with Behe and I as we make patrol around the neighborhood area" [Elise] "THAT IS NOT THE WORK I WANTED!" [Charlotte] "No but young girl!" [Elise] "Mrs Mira. Mr Kana! Help me" [Charlotte] Those two turn into a deaf ear "Housey! Calypso Tree! I''m being kidnapped! Help me!" [Charlotte] "Goo. Bye" [Housey] "St.Y .Afe" [Calypso Tree] Our two floating orbs know what exactly happened "Bobunny. Birdie. Behe! Save me!" [Charlotte] "Meow!" [Behe] "Chirp chirp" [Bobunny] "Screech" [Birdie] "I don''t understand at all, but I suppose the three of them are favouring Elise" [Savel] As such, I bring some of the younger children around. There are various stall, show, attractions, and even tournament being held. I can even hear the song sing by Mr Seraph with his trusty guitar as he kept singing a song in regards to what happen at the New Headquarters all the while using his light magic and some photographs taken during that incident to further engage with the audience. He''s making a splendid job at that one With the bustling activities, all of us just decided to take one day off, not thinking of anything. I can see that Rean and Muse are dating inside of the restaurant selling cakes and tea, while Kara, Mara, Mrs Lisa and Mother Aries are shopping for clothes together. They''re trying to buy some attire like that of a noble, which actually suit them all perfectly "Hoho! I can''t wait for our performance tomorrow!" [Calypso] "Right! Let me show you what I am truly capable of!" [Farhah] Those two are in a high spirits. Can''t heard to just join them Chapter 395 - 395: 4 days until Reans wedding [Farhah point of view] "CHARLOTTE! I come to pick you up!" [Farhah] "Just 5 more minute" [Charlotte] "Nope. There is a big festival outside, so I will not let you waste your childhood working around while other are enjoying" [Farhah] "Wait, just wait" [Charlotte] "I guess this is actually a good time to stop" [Karon] "Agree. Just what we need." [Qudus] "Not like we are making any progress anyway" [Haliza] And thus, I drag the ever resisting Charlotte from her work station inside the R&D department located in The Higher Education building. She is strong, magic wise that is, but her physical strength makes me worry. I mean, without using magic to increase her physical capabilities, she''s just your average twelve years old girls, and considering how nobles and merchants are sending her wedding invitation, one could''nt help but to worried about her It''s currently 4.00P.M, and there is still some time left before dusk set in which is why "You two are having fun... I suppose?" [Female elf adventure] Seeing how grumpy Charlotte is, eating her strawberry honey ice cream just beside me, she couldn''t help but to end her statement with question mark. "We are. We are. Don''t worry" [Farhah] "She''s bullying me" [Charlotte] "I AIN''T!" [Farhah] "Umm... I know you''re the Avery, but try not to bully your little sister too much" [Female elf adventure] "I AIN''T!" [Farhah] I know she''s just joking. As my mentor in archery in the past, she''s just as happy go lucky as I am. There''s another male elf archer affiliated with the adventure guild, but she''s kinda naive and overly straight forward kinda guy that just couldn''t read the atmosphere, and speaking of atmosphere "She really is an Avery" "This... This is a blessing for us elf" "What will you do from now on Dear Avery?" "Please! Lead us all" "Ri...Right..." [Farhah] (She''s having difficulty... Somehow, I can emphasized with her considering I am the Mermaid Princess) [Charlotte] Fairies and Elves, somehow, they just recognize me as an Avery. Even the concealing bracelet that were made by Brother Ash back then could''nt help me mask my status as an Avery in their eyes. Heck, I even asked Karon to upgrade the concealing bracelet with his puppet magic, but somehow, just somehow, at the end of the day, they knew I am their Avery "Huh? Isn''t that Sis Diana?" [Charlotte] "Let just say hi to them" [Farhah] She''s making a round as well as enjoying the festival. Who wouldn''t. With the gentle blow of the wind carrying the gentle fragrance of the elemental trees, with each elements distinctively having their smells, and yet somehow mix perfectly together without becoming something offensive to the nose. The gentle laugh of the children and parents enjoying the festival, the stalls owner loud voice yelling discount discount multiple times. The multitude of attraction from swordplay to the school''s stage dance, it really is the perfect mood to enjoy the festival, even when the threat of the fallen god looming ever closer. I wonder, as an Avery... As the leader of elves and fairies, what should I do "Both of you shouldn''t stress out so much. You aren''t alone" [Diana] "True. If you ask me, you two have quite a number of sincere people around you that will willingly lend their helping hands. Even us" [Haliza] "Pardon?" [Farhah] "Is it really obvious what we are thinking?" [Charlotte] "Think about it, they''re the princesssess of their respective countries, and both of you are the elven princess and mermaid princess respectively, obviously they will know what you''re thinking" [Qis] "Indeed. It''s quite obvious. Even us can caught your worries considering we are quite close to Princess Diana back then" [Linda] "Even without all that, the fact that Charlotte keep trying her hardest to complete the Sea Serpent Project is a giveaway" [Liyana] I see. I guess I can hide it well toward others, but not toward them as they cleanly dissect through our mind like a professional therapist "But still, we are also the heroes. What will we do once all of this is over..." [Farhah] "I''m afraid... I am afraid that those devils will be stronger than the Devil that invade the New Headquarters or the True Beastman Group. They''re giving me anxiety that I simply couldn''t shake off..." [Charlotte] The mood surrounding us turn into a heavy one, and the bystander couldn''t help but to notice about it, when suddenly "Must be hard... I don''t really get it, but I do know something" [Female elf adventure] ""And that is??"" [Farhah, Charlotte] "I know you both are Avery and Mermaid Princess, but fact remain, both of you are still Farhah and Charlotte that we come to know from when you''re just little girls. If anything happens to you, all of us will undoubtedly come rushing to your side! At least I''m sure I will!" [Female elf adventure] ""Mrs..."" [Farhah, Charlotte] Hearing that makes us feel happy "As a princess, one word of advice that I can give is that, you and your subjects are bound to take and give. If you happily work for their sake, they will do the same" [Haliza] "As a general advice, that''s indeed true" [Diana] "What a boring subject... Can''t you guys lighten up a bit" [Calypso] "Since when did you..." [Linda] "Ever since Princess Diana said Both of you shouldn''t stress out so much. You aren''t alone" [Calypso] "That early..." [Liyana] Well, since Calypso basically forces us to change subject, we simply have some talks regarding what will we do during the main wedding event, which is basically a recap of our jobs that day Come dusk, and visitors come gathering on the outside of the orphanage, where "Ready all of you?" [Farhah] "Aye aye!" [Calypso] "Marine golems: Luminescent jellyfishes!" [Charlotte] "All of you Fairies! Now!" [Farhah] "Right!" With dusk setting in, we begin our light fireworks festival solely by using magic. Since the orange sky is a beautiful one, Charlotte simply order her jellyfishes to take the same gradient of colour, making it blend nicely with the background, and as for the fire fairies, they did the same, creating an illusion like that multiple mini sun flying around. We slowly make a transition when night fall, where various display of colours are made, which further attract the crowds "Such beauty" [King Druser] "Indeed. What a spectacular show" [King Leogris] "As expected of them" [Old lion duke] "Seeing them and the orphanage truly make me feels like I am finally back home" [Female paladin of the Demon Kingdom] "That''s right, you''re once an adventure here" [Motra''s younger brother] "And will you take a look at that" [Htilorez] "Long time no see, all of you" [Icy Demon Queen] "Your... Your highness! Grandpa! Aren''t you supposed to greet King Estel first? What are you guys doing here!?" [Singa] Singa loud shout causes the crowds to finally realized the spectacular guests we are having Chapter 396 - 396: 3 days until Reans wedding [Singa point of view] "What is it dear?" [Icy Demon Queen] "Nothing, just a little shivering" [King Druser] "..." [Htilorez] The Demon King Druser, and Zerolith''s doppelganger, Htilorez, they''re acting rather strange. Not that they''re having some sort of evil plan to be executed, more like, they''re having some bad feeling, something bad will happen. Call it intuition, or just a natural survival instinct, they''re displaying those kind of vibes. As such, seeing them in this state, Mother Aries, Savel and I can''t help but to get worried as well Right now, we are together with Saint Louis (representing The New Headquarters) as well as King Estel and King Malsia (who just arrived this morning) with her daughter Princess Nurhaliza, and King Leogris of the Beastman Kingdom, having a discussion together with King of Estel and "Welcome to all of our guests" [First Prince] "It''s an honour having you here" [First Queen] Her wives and sons (as well as Princess Diana). First, Third and Fourth Queen together with First prince as well as Zaidi. Nobles like The Duke and Duchess which kidnapped Savel once are here as well, together with their son Sir Ceanu Reaves, as well as Sir Crow. After the delightful breakfast, the First Prince, even before King Estel can spoke a word address his concern "I''ll not permit the Sea Serpent Project. The Communication stones are far too valuable, especially at a times like this" [First Prince] "And what right do you have in dictating this?" [Aries] Mother Aries quickly ask him back "Think of it for a second, if..." [First prince] "I know. It''s our primary concern ever since the beginning, but I ask you, what right do you have in dictating this matter? The Communication stones were provided by Ash in the first place, and the maintenance was covered by the government, not from yours pocket money" [Aries] Mother Aries doesn''t mince her word as she give it straight to the First Prince. This will be one of the many argument that''s to come. Luckily and unluckily, it''s only Savel and I that are here to represent the heroes and orphanages as other are simply busy. Having trained with noble etiquette under grandpa makes this situation our norm during that period "Still, the Goddess Treasure Chest used to replicate the communication stones are held by us royal" [First Queen] "Specifically, by me. Even that, the orphanage hold half of the right to use it, as it''s a joint properties by both Ash and I. Even the Government Pocket money mentioned before was taken from department that I take care of, so wouldn''t I have more right to address this concern, dear Step Mother and Brother" [Diana] Princess Diana shut any further attempts from First Queen and Prince. Unlike the girls that''s comfortable calling her Sis Diana, we interchangeably use Princess and Sis, especially under this formal context "And what about the "hole" mentioned in the report? Any progress?" [King Estel] "That''s hard to say. We should wait for Queen Rinz tomorrow to come and check" [Haliza] Only Queen Rinz is absent, as she will depart tomorrow morning together with Mrs Khamishah and the pair S rank sibling. With that, the discussion regarding Charlotte''s Sea Serpent Project come to a close, and moving on "That''s right. I believe that the Hunter Devil that invade the New Headquarters, were in fact, a genuine one, not a clone or a doppelganger" [Htilorez] "And what makes you said that?" [Saint Louis] "If it''s a clone, the results should be the same as the one appearing inside the Challenge Beast Dungeon, and if it''s doppelganger, I can and I will instantly recognize it, but neither of them hit the marks, so I am sure of my conclusion" [Htilorez] That''s a good news, which mean the Hunter Devil was in fact, dead, and thus, one of the Ten Devil Commander are there no more, which honestly, is a huge relief for us all. Still "That Hunter Devil is powerful, I fear for any commanders with similar or stronger strength than he is will appear" [King Druser] "But we believe that will be inevitable" [Savel] "That''s right. One way or another, it''s bound to happen, especially with the day of the Fallen God awakening coming ever closer" [Singa] The Hunter Devil really gave us all a hard time, and it isn''t strange to think they''re someone just as capable as he him from the devil rank, or worse even more, but as of now, he''s a threat there is no more "And regarding the hero marriage, why are you the one sending him off, Diana? Plus, isn''t Muse a noble, why aren''t we invited to send a fellow noble?" [First Queen] "This again, you really are persistent" [Third Queen] "Say the one that didn''t won her own daughter heart" [First Queen] "Tch..." [Third Queen] (They''re comedy show aren''t they) [Fourth Queen] And before she can start bombarding regarding Rean and Muse "Muse aren''t noble anymore, so the rule of nobility does not applied to her" [Savel] "And I don''t remember approving it" [First Prince] "But father approved it" [Zaidi] "So? If there are still dispute, her status remain that of a noble, and as such, rules of nobility still apply to her" [First Prince] And now, he''s trying to get ahold of matter related to us to his domain. How shameless "What do you think Singa?" [Old lion duke] "Pardon?" [Singa] Grandpa suddenly ask us that. It looks like he''s trying to make me voice my honest opinion, in which case "Rean and Muse love each other. Their marriage, is one without any political ties, and will remain so. Princess Diana sending them off is just their way of saying thank you for all she had done so far. She''s without a doubt, one that supported us through thick and thin, and one where us orphans, regardless of age, think as the elder sister that will always be there for us. As such, like I mentioned, I believe this is nothing more than them showing their appreciation towards her" [Singa] "And if I may add, as Muse mentor when she was once an adventure, she constantly sigh regarding the abusive household where she come from. She even ran away from home before seeking shelter at my place. It was Princess Diana and the orphanage, alongside Sir Ceanu Reaves and Sir Crow the one that supported her through that horrifying experience" [Female paladin of Demon Kingdom] "But like the prince mentioned, her status remain that of a noble" [Duchess] "Coming from the household that actually sent her army to attacked the orphanage once, that isn''t very convincing" [Diana] ""..."" [Duke, Duchess] "My apologies for the behaviour of my mother" [Ceanu Reaves] "No. No. Even when I was the one getting kidnapped, I never feel displeased when I am around with you Sir Ceanu Reaves. Your mother though..." [Savel] "Well, we are getting derailed. Your highness, if you would" [Crow] "Right. Let us continue on to other pressing matters on hand" [King Estel] And thus, the meeting continue, and once we are done "I see. How about I take a look at your mother bodies" [Htilorez] "Thank you Htilorez" [Singa] "I feel like I am not ready..." [Old lion duke] "If you can''t, I will just tell you the results" [King Leogris] "No. I will steel myself" [Old lion duke] "You guys go ahead. I will cover your paperwork and minutes" [Savel] "I''ll help Savel. All of you should head with Singa" [Crow] "Thank you. Let us go" [Singa] And thus, Savel and Sir Crow stay behind for the paperwork, while we are all heading towards the hospital Chapter 397 - 397: 2 days until Reans wedding [Savel point of view] "Your Highness, this is yesterday minutes report that we compiled" [Crow] "Thank you Sir Crow. You as well Savel" [Queen Rinz] "It''s my pleasure to do so" [Savel] As Queen Rinz of Kiserre skim through our report, reading the highlighted important points made by us, she make a sigh "I see, the First and Third Queen of Estel are still acting childish" [Queen Rinz] "Feels like you know them personally" [Savel] "I agree. It might be rude, but what sort of relationship do you have with them? Just asking out of simple curiousity" [Crow] A curiosity that is shared by me as well. If anything, I think I can make a simply guest as to what their relationship are "Just like how Princess Diana and Princess Nurhaliza are friend, the same can be said for my relationship with them. Although the second queen was the one we politically had the strongest relationship with" [Queen Rinz] "She did supported the old follower, and if I''m not mistaken, so does your late husband" [Savel] "That, they are. If anything, I am glad we are changing our alliance toward Saint Louis and Saintess Rumia of the new teaching, although the process was far from easy" [Queen Rinz] Various skirmishes between the new and old follower were and still a frequent sight to see once someone step into Kiserre. Spitting against each other, calling the other devils follower etc, even going as far as to step into the portraits of their beloved Saint and Saintess. Even when Saintess Angela of the Old Teaching is our enemy, seeing her potrait being ridiculed to that level actually makes me angry. I''m sure Saint Louis and Saintess Rumia would stop them moment they notice what happen, as they''re just not reflecting the behaviour taught by the Goddess. If anything, her being her is rather strange as the country needed her and Mrs Saga more than ever, but then again, showing that they''re on a good term with us (and by us, not as Orphanages, but as heroes) is also an important task politically speaking "If there''s nothing else, we will take a leave" [Savel] "Do take care and have a good rest" [Crow] "Thank you, both of you as well" [Queen Rinz] We left her room inside of Estel''s castle. Once we are outside, Sir Ceanu Reaves is walking together with his dad (Duke) and his mom (Duchess). Just like King Estel, the duke have multiple wives, and the duchess in front of me isn''t the one that kidnapped me long time ago. Still "I won''t. My alliance is with Princess Diana" [Ceanu Reaves] "You''re the heir to the household! You should pick the side that will bring most benefits for us!" [Duke] "The benefits of the citizen and country as a whole will be the best interest for us, the duke household. If you can''t understand that much, than I suppose we will never be on the same page" [Ceanu] "With power come stability, which then come progress!" [Duchess] "Indeed, but how one acquired it is also important" [Ceanu] It feels like they''re talking about the future of their house. I can see the stress on the duke and duchess faces while Sir Ceanu is calm like that of a still ocean "We should probably leave" [Crow] "True. I don''t know why I was looking at them rather intensely" [Savel] Their arguments simply captured my curiosity. That''s why, I can''t help but keep looking. As we keep walking, I can hear the footsteps of Sir Ceanu catching up to us. He looks tired, and yet still greeted us with a sincere smile. Truly, he''s a great man with a great heart. He might not get much action, and he will usually be like that of Princess Diana hidden vampires guard, always lurking beneath the background, but should he gone, I''m sure whatever Princess Diana built will collapse. That''s how important he is "Are you three going to the Orphanage?" [Liyana] "Yes, we will like to meet Mrs Saga. Care to join us?" [Ceanu] "Please, allow me" [Liyana] Liyana quickly join us, and I can see the First Prince from a far, looking at her. I can tell that she coming along with us is simply her way of avoiding the prince, something we will gladly do. I even buff myself and make myself bigger, and walk behind her, just so that the First Prince stare wouldn''t penetrate her. Sincerely, his stares is a frightening one... "Thank you Savel" [Liyana] "You''re Elise and Mile best friends, couldn''t just leave you behind" [Savel] Once we arrive at the orphanage, it''s a complete mayhem as they''re all playing around without care in the world, that''s until "I LEAVE YOU FOR 5 MINUTES AND THIS IS WHAT HAPPEN!" [Khamishah] (Run away! Run away me!) [Savel] Her angry shout causes the younger group to freeze out of fear, and even us the older one could''nt help but to feel scares. My instinct tells me just to run away now itself and don''t get myself involve, but "Savel! Charlotte! The two of you will join them! Clean up this messes!" [Khamishah] "Eeh!? I just arrived myself!" [Savel] "And I''m tired... It wasn''t even me the one messing it up..." [Charlotte] "Ohh... Care to repeat that?" [Khamishah] "All right everyone! Move move move!" [Savel] "We will make sure that there is not a speck of dust left behind!" [Charlotte] Her deadly stare, like that of a mother, quickly send shiver down to our spine, as Charlotte and I quickly clean the messes made by the younger group. Well, the two of us are the oldest among them all, so we quickly take charge and tell them what to do, until "You''re all working hard. I''m proud to see it" [Mira] "It''s not as delicious as the one Claude, but treat yourself to some biscuits" [Rafiah] Since Grandpa Claude is busy making sure the festival going smoothly, he''s rarely home at morning and evening, but he will still make sure to cook something healthy for us all, and speaking of him "We are home" [Anjin] "Hmm" [Kucin] "Thank you for helping me, the two of you" [Claude] "No problems" [Kucin] "Squarrel like that are common in Kiserre, so you can just leave it to us" [Anjin] "There''s something only the energy from the youth can achieve, unlike us old bone" [Filvisar] Seeing as to how tired they are, Charlotte quickly prepare some chocolate ice drink for them "Sound tough, just have a seat" [Charlotte] "Oh, you''re already home little Charlotte" [Filvisar] "So, how was the Sea Serpent Project?" [Claude] "Well..." [Charlotte] Chapter 398 - 398: 1 day until Reans wedding Charlotte here! Feels like I miss majority of things happening for the past 12 days or so "Why didn''t you tell me about the festival!" [Charlotte] "Wow Really... Really Charlotte?" [Mara] "Unbelievable... Simply unbelievable..." [Elise] ""Our blood boils hearing that"" [Lara, Nara] "Well, you are rather preoccupied with you work all the times" [Zerolith] "Still, surely you remember the magical fireworks that you and Farhah did?" [Kara] "Did that really happen?" [Charlotte] Is it, or is it not? I can''t really remember. It may happen or it may not happen. All I remember was I my day inside the laboratory at R&D department of the Higher Education, working on my Sea Serpent Project. All I remember these past few days is nothing but my Sea Serpent Project... "Really..." [Kara] "That''s rather sad to hear" [Farhah] "Just why?! I miss a lot of thing! The Food! The sweet! The mood! The sweet! The sweet. Especially the sweet!!!" [Charlotte] "To be fair, we did forced and dragged you out so that you could enjoy the festival" [Zerolith] "You could always try harder..." [Charlotte] "Oh that''s it! Come here you little brat! Let me spank that ungrateful attitude of yours!" [Farhah] "WAIT! NO! Don''t spank me! I''m not a kid anymore! And stop pinching me! It''s hurt!" [Charlotte] "Farhah snap..." [Savel] "Not only her though..." [Singa] And Mara join in the bullying session that took place. They keep pinching my cheeks with all their might "Elise! Help!" [Charlotte] "..." [Elise] But all she does is giving me a cold stare. If anything, I feels like she will definitely join them should I ask her help one more time, which is why "Kara..." [Charlotte] (Sorry, but you deserve it) [Kara] Not you too! Somebody! Anybody! "We are back" [Karon] "My my..." [Muse] "What just happened?" [Rean] "Rean! Karon! Help me! They''re bullying me!" [Charlotte] And I take this opportunity to escape from Mara and Farhah deadly pinch and hide behind the three of them for protection, all the while Elise explaining what happen. Still, Karon''s hand is rather oily, could it be... Did the craft for the wedding already finish? Maybe that''s why he''s with Rean and Muse. I can''t wait to see the final result! "I see. You kinda reap what you sow" [Karon] "Meany!" [Charlotte] "Still, if you want to enjoy the festival, why don''t we all go together?" [Rean] "Really! We can!?" [Charlotte] "Charlotte wait! Think of Muse and..." [Elise] "No, it''s fine Elise. Actually, why don''t all of you go together and spend your final day together" [Muse] "Since Muse herself is fine, I don''t see why not" [Zerolith] "Not that I think of it, us twelve didn''t really enjoy the festival together" [Savel] "Alright then, let us head to the nearest stall first!" [Singa] "Let''s go go go!" [Farhah] "Do you want to come as well Behe?" [Elise] "Meow" [Behe] "Guess it''s a no then" [Elise] "Take care of the mansion, Housey, Calypso Tree" [Kara] ""Underst..d"" [Housey, Calypso Tree] And thus, all twelve of us spend our days together, trying to enjoy the festival. The first thing that they brought up as topic to talk is "So, how was your Sea Serpent Project?" [Rean] "Surely, with the way you work, everything will be more of less settle?" [Zerolith] "Well..." [Charlotte] I actually told Grandpa Claude and the other yesterday, but I don''t mind repeating it once more for them. Currently, there are few problems. First being the amount of mana needed to Kick-start the whole thing. It''s ENORMOUS, PHENOMENAL, ASTRONOMICAL and everything with the same synonyms as those three words are. Of course, it can be compensated with magic tools, and with hoe we are in possession of Goddess Treasure Chest, it isn''t much of an issue. The issue being, that''s the problem with my version of Sea Serpent Project, which is being carried forward into the Queen Rinz version of the project. Since we are using her Fortress Defense Magic as a framework, we are all worried about the recent event happened at Kiserre, and in order to prevent that from happening again, we developed a rather complex spell, so complex in fact, we ourselves don''t understand the entirety of it. Some part of it work, while other not. We even let Housey and Calypso Tree analyze it, but they still unable to code every single thing, which is a worrying thing. Not to mention, the complexity of the spell, couple with the enormous mana needed combine, meaning, you need all seven elements of mana in high amount with neutral mana, being supply precisely without a room for error. Lara and Nara already test run it, but even then, they needed someone as capable as them, which could only mean... "I see. That''s rather hard" [Kara] ""We tried our best, but in the end..."" [Lara, Nara] "I feel like I don''t understand half of it" [Mara] "Honestly, I feel the same" [Zerolith] "But still, if you ask me, why don''t you just go with it? You already have it almost entirely figured out after all" [Farhah] "I don''t think it''s that easy" [Singa] "It it was, I''m sure they will already done that" [Savel] "True, it isn''t that easy. With how my father managed to sneak in and out of Kiserre undetected, we simply don''t want to take any chances" [Karon] "Plus, even if we did go ahead and set the whole thing up while waiting for the optimal solution, we still need to turn it off before installing the new solutions, which will cause an entirely different kind of problems. There''s also a chance for the communication stones to blown up if we hastily done that" [Charlotte] "So much thing can happen..." [Elise] "..." [Rean] Rean is awfully quiet as we discussed this issue "Something happen Rean?" [Elise] "You''re awfully quiet" [Charlotte] "Oh, it''s nothing" [Rean] "Are you thinking of Muse?" [Savel] "No. That''s not it" [Rean] "Huh? Why not?" [Charlotte] "Yeah Rean, why not?" [Singa] "That''s not... Anyway, I was just thinking, the problem Charlotte encounter, maybe Brother Ash can solve it if he is here with us" [Rean] That... He might "Plus, the whole reason as to why we are here, celebrating this festival today, and my wedding tomorrow, is all because of him sacrificing himself six years ago" [Rean] "True. But we could just save him, can''t we!" [Charlotte] "Agree! We are strong enough to do that now!" [Savel] "We are no longer the helpless children we were once" [Singa] "As an Avery, I will make sure to bring him back safely!" [Farhah] "We just need to believe in ourselves, though je sure have a lot of things to catch-up once we rescue him" [Karon] "That will be up to us to help him" [Zerolith] "True, or Lara and I can just..." [Lara] "Use information transfer spell forcefully. That will be easier" [Nara] "Dony do that, though I''m sure Brother Ash can handle it just fine" [Kara] "Which side are you again?" [Mara] "See that Rean, we just need to save him! Let''s have faith in ourselves" [Elise] "You''re right. We will definitely save him" [Rean] And we continue to enjoy the festival, where "Treat us! Treat us!" [Charlotte] "Fine..." [Rean] "Hooray!" [Farhah] "I''ll order the most expensive set of item!" [Mara] "Hey hold up!" [Rean] Poor Rean, maybe I should cover some of the bill for him "And give me this one!" [Nara] "Add this one as well!" [Lara] "Nara, Lara! Not you two as well!" [Rean] Or maybe not Chapter 399 - 399: Day of wedding [Samurai Jacks point of view] My heart, it is beating like crazy. The palpitations that I am currently experiencing is different from the one that''s on the battlefield. Depending on the situation, I can further increase my heart rate to increase my combat prowess or slow it down for stealth on battlefield, but this, no matter how much I tried, it''s still a little bit on the higher site, and again, because it''s just a different kind of feeling from the one in battle, it actually makes me more anxious. "Feeling nervous, our dear S rank adventure?" [Hunter Adventure] "Hahaha! Let him be, let makes him more nervous!" [Borg] "Well, I can relate. I was like that when I married my wife back then" [Ram] "Shouldn''t you be helping them. I don''t know... this is literally YOURS WEDDING!" [Elsa] "Funny, do you want to know why?" [Mimi] "Mimi, please don''t..." [Jacks] The reason, is simply embarrassing. I tried to stop her from talking but "He vomited because of he''s being too anxious... Literally." [Female elf adventure] "And like master and students, so does Rean" [Spearman adventure] "Although I must admit, Rean got it better since he can still control it a bit" [Syah] "Which is why here he is currently, trying to calm down" [Dwarf adventure] "I see. I guess even an S rank adventure still has some weakness" [Elsa] And now, I am here with my fellow comrades, inside the adventure guild, trying my best to calm down. They, together with the guard, knight and Valkyrie under Princess Diana all making their patrols, as the festival is at its peak, with the parade being scheduled later this dusk. Right now, tourist are bustling in, trying to capture the moment when a hero get married. My marriage is only a bit of side attraction so to speak, that''s what I wanted to believe but "Look at the Wind of Blade. People from a far will be disappointed to see the master of one of the hero all weak like this" [Swordman adventure] Apparently, some countries officials do take interest as well, trying to get on my good side so that I will quit being an adventure and work with them. I did received some wedding invitation from nobles and knights alike, both from within and outside of Estel, but I didn''t realize they will still persistently come for it. Not only that "Ohh, looks who''s here" [Axeman adventure] "Please tell me it isn''t one of the stalkers" [Jacks] "Stalker?" (So he really did have some stalkers following him around) [Seo Ah] (Poor fellow) [Alicia] "I know that''s a real issue for you, but calling a saintess that comes to visit you a stalker is a bit rude, don''t you think" [Naoto] "Sorry if I am bothering you, Mr Jacks" [Rumia] "Saintess... Saintess Rumia! Sorry! I don''t meant that!" [Jacks] (He really is in a pitiful state as they said. Kinda strange seeing someone as strong and cool as he is in this state) [Kanji] Now I remember, Seo Ah did mentioned that that her friend Alicia and Saintess Rumia will be teleported by Goddess Achalasia on our wedding days. I literally forgotten about it since I am absolutely in a nerve wrecking state right now "Mr Jacks, if you would" [Rumia] "Pardon?" [Jacks] Saintess Rumia come close to me, extend her hand and a light alongside a chant of prayer from her "Please, begone" [Rumia] "..." [Jacks] I feel... slightly better? "I won''t remove it completely, as Mr Filvisar did mentioned that it''s a good thing for you to be a little nervous, so that you can remember this moment in a more meaningful manner. That said, I removed part of your anxiety just enough so that you could at least not worrying too much and can help. Is that alright with you?" [Rumia] "Definitely! I am ever grateful for your support!" [Jacks] "I appreciate that, though I am the one suppose to feel that given how you handle the crisis in the New Headquarters" [Rumia] My heart rate still beat on the fast side of the spectrum, but it''s within the normal range, so that''s fine. More importantly, I can start walking without feeling like vomiting every few steps due to excessive anxiety. How pitiful of me, but I do feel like I will remember this moment rather fondly, and I''m hundred percent sure Dear Alice will tell the tales of their fathers during our wedding days to our children once they''re grown up. "He''s grinning by himself..." [Lin] "Creepy..." [Female elf adventure] "Well, I won''t tell you to start helping YOUR OWN WEDDING, otherwise you might start vomiting again, so how about how help making round of patrol in this area to start with" [Ram''s daughter] "I''ll do just that" [Jacks] "Alright, I guess we will follow you" [Syah] "It''s nearing our shift anyway, and Bladel and the other should be here around this time to make their routine patrol as well. Let us greet them" [Naoto] "Certainly" [Rumia] "Speaking of shift, the other adventures start coming back here, guess that''s our cues to start heading out as well" [Lin] "Let just go together with all of them" [Dwarf adventure] "Alright! Let start with the dungeon entrance" [Hunter Adventure] And thus we start doing our round together, when a flock of pegasi lead by their captain, Bladel with his rare wild breed of Black Pegasus descent from the sky "Greeting Saintess Rumia, and Jacks, glad to see you''re doing fine" [Bladel] "We were worried about your condition you know" [Valkyrie C] "Liar... You''re laughing your ass off when you heard that" [Valkyrie A] "Language! We are in front of a saintess!" [Valkyrie E] "Please, forgive their rudeness..." [Bladel] "It''s fine, glad to see you''re all still doing great" [Rumia] It''s getting a bit crowded here with all of us here, but it''s fine nonetheless "Hmm? What was that noise all about?" [Jacks] "It''s coming from the dungeon entrance" [Naoto] "Come! Let us all take a look" [Bladel] "Right!" [All] And when we get to the center of the commotion, all of us paralyze due to the one greeting us all, with Naoto releasing one of her arrow to save the guard "What do you think you''re doing..." [Naoto] "That''s..." [Syah] ~Gulp~ I couldn''t help to make a loud gulp "Seo Ah! Alicia! Kanji! Go tell them all what''s happening! Call them! Run if you must! Do it fast!" [Rumia] """Right!!!""" [Kanji, Seo Ah, Alicia] And they started running all the while hastily grabbing their phones, as for us "Get ready everyone! This is him we are talking about! Hold the line until they get here!" [Jacks] "ROGER!" [All] "I''ll support all of you as well!" [Rumia] "Those that couldn''t fight well enough, evacuate the bystander!" [Bladel] This... This will be a tough fight Chapter 400 - 400: Ash? vs Estel part 3 [Rewinding time by a bit] [Near Dungeon Entrance] [Guard A point of view] "Oh, so you''re are a traveler, it''s rare to be one this day" [Guard] "Everyone said that" [Ash] That, that was our first meeting with Ash, which most will come to known as the Behemoth Slayer or the guardian of children "Who would have thought that he will be one of the most important man when we first met them" [Guard A] "No one. I mean, he did introduced himself as a mere traveler back then" [Guard B] "Ohh, we are reminiscing the past is it" [Guard C] "Can''t be helped, we will all go to the wedding of Rean and Samurai Jacks, so none can help but take a trip down the nostalgic road" [Guard D] That''s right. Speaking of nostalgic road "That time when we couldn''t stop the Duke army that kidnapped Alice was it..." [Guard A] "I''m just glad it wasn''t the Duke Son marrying her" [Guard C] "Everyone feel the same. If it wasn''t for The First Prince insisting it''s fine for that idiot son... Sigh... I should feel bad mocking Sir Ceanu Reaves younger brother" [Guard B] "Sir Ceanu Reaves is a good person, that''s without any doubt, but to think his family members are all corrupted..." [Guard D] We were injured, trying to stop the duke personal army passing through the gate at that time, and we still remember how furious Ash, Jacks and Princess Diana were. Who wouldn''t, but at the end of the day, justice was served "And then there were your repetitive cycles of Ash having to go somewhere, all the while he''s reluctant to go" [Guard D] ''The first case being the Thanatos case in Malsia was it" [Guard A] "True. Though what even crazier was the fact Princess Diana brought those orphans, just because of another dispute" [Guard C] "Hahaha, we were shocked beyond disbelief when their signature bus golem try to get through the entrance" [Guard B] That we are. There''s also the time where he together with Sir Crow tried to fool the guard at Kiserre so that they can enter and help Queen Rinz. We were not told beforehand regarding their methods, so we were baffled when Sir Crow brought so much of his staffs toward Kiserre, but at the end of the day, their plan to enter Kiserre succeeded "To fool one enemies, one must fool their allies first" [Guard A] "Not gonna lie, I thought Sir Crow was just your typical noble brat back then, but look at him now" [Guard B] "Together with Sir Ceanu Reaves, they''re dubbed by gentlest of nobles" [Guard C] "Haha, how envious" [Guard D] "Wasn''t it during that time the SS rank monster, Mahsuri start moving as well" [Guard B] "Oh yeah! It was during that time!" [Guard C] "We were paralyze due to fear when she suddenly shown up in front of us all..." [Guard A] "I must admit, I peed my pants a bit..." [Guard D] But the one where all of us could''nt forget, no matter how hard we tried, was that day. Specifically two days. One when Ash was reluctant to go into the Holy Palace to investigate the fallen god related incident. They go there with total number of 4 people, but when they''re all done, Ash was there no more. We were among the first to receive the news of what happen, since we were there, asking Saint Louis about it. How our hearts stopped for a moment, in a total disbelief... "And his siblings... Gosh... I swear for the first one year, they couldn''t really smile" [Guard A] "I still remember, Singa, Savel and Charlotte trying to enter the dungeon on the middle of the night, because they wanted to search for Ash by themselves..." [Guard B] "That was a heartbreaking moment for me. We easily apprehend them, but the way they struggle to bypass us while trying not to hurt us..." [Guard C] "Rean and Princess Diana literally broke into tear at that time when they were told. Not gonna lie, I cried as well..." [Guard D] Those three were simply longing for their brother at that time, as such, even us could''nt really blamed them for trying something so foolish... But now, look at them. Ash must be so proud of them. "It almost time!" [Guard A] "We are personally invited after all!" [Guard B] "Make sure our gifts are ready" [Guard C] "This will be a historical event after all! I wouldn''t want to miss seeing one of the heroes getting married" [Guard D] The heroes that we silently watch all this time, now all grown up. We feel old "Oh, looks like there''s one person trying to enter from the Ice Dungeon" [Guard A] "Let me handle it" [Guard C] As he went there, he suddenly shouted "NO... NO WAY!" [Guard C] He was so shock that he actually stumble a bit, and when we get there, we feel the same "Be... BEHEMOTH SLAYER!" [Guard A] "You''re alive! You''re really alive!" [Guard B] "Goddess! This really is a happy occasion!" [Guard D] It truly is! His little brother is getting married, and he come just in time for the celebration! Quickly, help him register and """"Huh????"""" [Guard A, B, C, D] A strong gush of wind magic blew us and all the equipments there, before he bring out his signature scythe and imbued it with powerful magic "Oi! Behemoth slayer! This isn''t funny..." [Guard A] "Something wrong!" [Guard B] "Snap out of it! Ash!" [Guard D] "Stop it! Please! Don''t!" [Guard C] This is it, we are all going to die here. Even some of the visitors are panicking right now. As The Behemoth Slayer start swinging his scythe, an arrow pierce his palm, making him stop "What do you think you''re doing... Ash" [Naoto] "That''s him alright" [Syah] ~Gulp~ [Jacks] They come! They come to help us, but we can see the tense in their faces, given their opponents is none other than The Behemoth Slayer "Seo Ah! Alicia! Kanji! Go tell them all what''s happening! Call them! Run if you must! Do it fast!" [Rumia] """Right!!!""" [Kanji, Seo Ah, Alicia] And they started running all the while hastily grabbing their phones "Get ready everyone! This is him we are talking about! Hold the line until they get here!" [Jacks] "ROGER!" [All] "I''ll support all of you as well!" [Rumia] "Those that couldn''t fight well enough, evacuate the bystander!" [Bladel] This... This will be a tough fight, but all we can do is quickly run away, helping some fellow adventures and Valkyrie evacuating the area Chapter 401 - 401: Ash? Vs Estel part 4 [Samurai Jacks point of view] It''s powerful, Ash''s attack that is, but something doesn''t feels right. As someone that had multiple sparring session with him, it feels strange. I understand if it feels nostalgic, and in a way, it kinda does, but something definitely amiss in his attack. It''s rather lousy. He just throw one spell at a time rather than bombarding us all "Blade of darkness!" [Bladel] "Blade of wind" [Jacks] "Arrow! Elemental barrage" [Naoto] "Holy mana! Support them!" [Rumia] "Ice. Bl.ck th*?" [Ash?] Just what is that language? I can''t seems to understand it, but I can tell that''s some kind of spell, as evidence of the ice wall blocking our slash attack. Even with Bladel heirloom sword of darkness, combine with my blessing from The Eternal Wind, with barrage of arrow from my fellow adventure, and to finally put the nail in the coffin, Saintess Rumia very own holy mana supporting us, it doesn''t feels like we are putting in much work. One fact is of course, the lack of heroes from our side, making this battle a lot tougher, but it also undeniable, that despite his lack of change in appearance, he''s becoming stronger "!" [Rumia] "Block him!" [Valkyrie A] "We need to protect Saintess Rumia!" [Ram] "Everyone! Support me!" [Borg] "Hold him even if it''s for a second!" [Syah] "We got this!" [Spearman adventure] "Holy Shield! Buff!" [Rumia] Ash suddenly turn and attack Saintess Rumia, but we are grateful that this is such a concentrating demanding fight that all of us can instinctively tells his next move and start to simultaneously act without much of word. They rush to block an incoming attack from Ash''s scythe, with ex guild master Ram and Borg holding their shield in place, supported by Saintess Rumia spell, all the while others are trying their best to block the deadly attack with their best might. It did manage to put a stop at Ash attack, but not for long as "GAAH!" [Ram] "Such power!" [Female elf adventure] "He even blocked all your arrows" [Dwarf adventure] "And Saintess Rumia!" [Bladel] "Shit! Don''t you dare!" [Naoto] We all unconsciously rush toward the saintess, willingly taking her place if that''s indeed possible, but "Huh?" [Rumia] (There''s still a lingering of my mana on your body after all, but I can only use it few more times due to the limitations of my power. That... As well as Life itself blocking me...) [Angkasa] "..." [Ash?] Did Saintess Rumia know any Teleportation spell? I don''t think so, which mean someone or something save her, and given how my blessing from the Holy Beast of Wind react rather calmly, it could only mean... "C.m& [email protected]" [Ash?] Before we can reach and launch our attack, he once again, dash toward Saintess Rumia. Is there something that attracts him towards her? Maybe it''s the same feeling that the half giant Zin described, that there was a voice, a beautiful voice telling her to kill Saintess Rumia. Maybe it was the same. But "Valkyrie! Formation Ur!" [Bladel] "Yosh! Ash! Get a taste of your own medicine! Earth trap!" [Valkyrie F] "Giant wind palm" "I''ll support you as well!" [Valkyrie G] [Jacks] "Fill in the hole! Water magic: Acid!" [Valkyrie E] "Everyone! Just throw your attack at Ash!" [Bladel] "Don''t worry about harming him! We all know this might even not be enough!" [Naoto] "Sorry Ash! But we have to!" [Lin] "Concentrate your attack!" [Syah] And thus, in an attack that can be described as falling into the pit of hell itself, he''s getting bombarded by spell after spell. He''s the one that taught us chantless spell for free once, and now, we are paying him back in order to bring him back towards our side "Expl.s!onx [Ash?] But, in a twist that we all saw coming, he simply shrug it off with his Explosion magic. It did hurts him, but the miasma of the devil did in fact, protected him. Once again, he try to slash Saintess Rumia but "Holy Mana! Purification!" [Rumia] A strong holy mana blew Ash away, that''s what we are hoping ""Got you!"" [Ash][Ash?] "Huh?" [All] What... What was that? Ash scythe was supposed to slice through Saintess Rumia, but he suddenly decided not to do that, instead aiming for his own skull, which understand, make him reflexively dodge his own incoming attack. He twisted his own arm and thus, the scythe ended up piercing the tip of his shoulder bone "Saintess Rumia! Come with me!" [Valkyrie B] "Right! Thank you!" [Rumia] One of the Valkyrie, closest to Saintess Rumia quickly grab her, and flew away "I don''t know what exactly happened, but this is our chance!" [Ram] "Attack him!" [Jacks] "Don''t be afraid! We can do this!" [Swordman adventure] "Valkyrie! Coordinate your attack with the adventures! Formation Kaunan!" [Bladel] "RIGHT!" [Valkyrie] "Oh Goddess! Shield them all!" [Rumia] Once again, a series of attack toward Ash is made, with Valkyrie from our rear end use a spell that further boosted our own spell. If some of us decided to use a flamethrower magic, a Valkyrie will use gust to further augment it. If we decided to use a physical attack, we were boosted with attack up spell. As for me "Jacks! Use it well!" [Bladel] "Thank you! I will!" [Jacks] "I will create an opening! Go for it!" [Naoto] Bladel uses her remaining custom made arrow, pact with various elements to quickly target Ash''s Achilles tendon, causing barrage of elemental reaction, however "Tchh! He simply ignore it..." [Naoto] Even with his foot almost detached from the rest of the body, he keeps going (while the devilish miasma fix it up for him), as such, his speed is considerably lower, which allow me to "Wind of darkness! Consume them all!" [Jacks] "..." [Ash?] Using one of my pupil favourite spell, I slash his spine, from the nape of neck all the way down, and having enough of all of this "E.arth, Fire. Incinerate ,hs&#" [Ash?] (With every bit of my mana) "Holy mana! Holiest shield" [Rumia] ""Watch out!!""[Rumia, Valkyrie B] A column of tall earth pillar spawn, and with it, fire of hell broke out, consuming it all. The surrounding might be unrecognised, but if it wasn''t for Saintess Rumia, shielding us all from the attack, we will be greeted by God of Death by now. That doesn''t mean we are on a clear, far from it, as the miasma not only physically damage us, but it also enter our lung and crushes us from inside, suffocating us alongside the ash from materials being burn "D.e" [Ash?] This is no good, Ash is about to slice through Saintess Rumia "Arrow of wind!" [Jacks] Headshot! It knock him a bit, but it isn''t enough to stop him, but rather "Ice wall! Protect Saintess Rumia! Ice missile shark! Krakeny! Go!" [Charlotte] A strong ice wall made by Charlotte save the day. Almost as Ash effortlessly slice through it. If it weren''t for Krakeny pulling the Pegasus Saintess Rumia rode backwards, and her shark golem pushing Ash toward opposite direction, the outcome will be different Alongside those twelve "That''s a nostalgic face..." [Saint Louis] "Ash..." [Linda] "To think we will fight him today out of all day" [Alaric] "Fate really do work on a strange way" [Aries] "Still, his aura..." [Anjin] "Sinister that is" [Kucin] "I guess we have no choice but to give everything if we want to save him. Plus, considering others are out of commission, we have to..." [Khamishah] And the last one to make her appearance "Qis, along with my other vampire guards, evacuate them all" [Diana] "Roger!" [Qis, Vampire Guard] And they started to do their job ""You guys..."" [Ash?][Ash] "It''s been so long. Ash" [Diana] Chapter 402 - 402: Ash? Vs Estel part 5 Seeing Brother Ash after so long, all of us, all of us can''t help but to breath a sigh of relief (inside our mind that is). It just like what the dream told by us by Rean, Elise and Zerolith after the devastating news six years ago. It might be because of a nostalgic filter in my eye, but Brother Ash really do look young, no, his appearance still remain the same despite six years passed "Can you guys do it?" [Rafiah] Sis Rafiah, Grandpa Claude and Filvisar manage to catch up to us. We frantically come here after Kanji dynamic entrance, shouting about Brother Ash suddenly appears inside the dungeon entrance. After trying to calm ourselves down (and realizing none of us actually check our phone which have multiple miss call from him, Seo Ah and Alicia), we rush here as soon as possible, leaving behind all the preparations for the wedding "We leave it all to you" [Calypso] "True. Better evacuate them all" [Filvisar] "Take care!" [Mira] "Birdie, help them while we evacuate the other" [Kana] "Stay strong, and please..." [Claude] (Evolved beastly transformation: Mythical nine tail fox) "Leave it to us" [Elise] "We will save him!" [Kara] "Just like how he save us all back then!" [Mara] ""He''s strong, but so are we"" [Lara, Nara] "Saintess Rumia, are you alright?" [Zerolith] "Please, forgive Brother Ash for doing it..." [Karon] "It fine... Just do your best. I''ll keep supporting you" [Rumia] "I will!" [Zerolith] "Saintess... I''ll make sure you''re safe!" [Valkyrie B] "You have my support" [Seraph] (Avery power... Please awaken) "That''s a tough job for you Mr Seraph, supporting both us and Saintess Rumia, but we appreciate it" [Farhah] "Everyone! Get Ready!" [Singa] (Dragonewt transformation) "This will be a fight to remember" [Savel] Everyone get themselves ready. Last but not least "I don''t want to hurt you Brother Ash... But I''m sorry! I must!" [Charlotte] "Alright everyone! Stand on your ground! This is Brother Ash we are talking about, and we have to give everything we have got to take him down!" [Rean] "Right!" [Other] Around 20 of us Vs him, and to start the battle "Roar!" [Behe] "Chuckling" [Bobunny] "Screech!" [Birdie] Behe, Bobunny and Birdie all try to apprehend him down. Behe being rescued by Brother Ash himself, and both Bobunny and Birdie being Brother Ash golems knows well not to look down upon this fight, and thus throw a powerful spell right off the bat "GAAH!" [Ash?] And a single powerful swing threw the spell of storm and crystal projectiles into a haywire, sending it back towards us ""Steel wall!!"" [Aries, Karon] A wall of steel block the incoming spell. It actually make a dent at the steel wall, scary. What even scarier is that "KYAAH!" [Karon] A devilish miasma taking the form of a hand stretch out from Brother Ash, destroy the steel wall and quickly grab Karon into Brother Ash direction "Light magic: War weapon barrage" [Saint Louis] Saint Louis try his best to cut the devilish miasma hand, and at the same time, attack Brother Ash with variety of spell. However, it didn''t work "Ice wall!" [Charlotte] "Thanks" [Karon] That shouldn''t be enough to actually stop a full force blown from Brother Ash, but somehow, my ice wall did actually save Karon from getting his neck sliced (Could it be...) [Charlotte] And not only me that think of the same thing (Concentrate Diana... You have to save him) [Diana] It looks like Sis Diana also noticed it, and is preparing to do something ""Cube of entrapment!!"" [Linda, Singa] A large space cube trap Brother Ash inside, and with that ""Wind magic: Storm of scythe"" [Kara, Mara] ""God of Death blessing: Soul pierce!!"" [Lara, Nara] "Mythical nine tail fox: Fire of nine tail fox" [Elise] "Light magic: Cannon of apocalypse!" [Saint Louis] "Holy mana: Resonate harmoniously and increase their effectiveness!" [Seraph] (The cube won''t last long with the barrage of attack...)"Holy mana: Holy Shield! Strengthen the cube of entrapment!" [Rumia] Just as I was about to add my own spell "Gr+6t Explos#on" [Ash?] A powerful Explosion blew us all away, and the sound of metal can be heard clashing "Huh... Huh..." [Rean] "Rean! Change with me!" [Anjin] "Understood!" [Rean] Rean is clashing his sword against Brother Ash scythe, and thing isn''t looking good, so much so that Rean has to retreat due to the damage he receive from the violent clash. Thing is, the same thing happens toward Anjin, and thus "Shield!" [Aries] Mother Aries step in to save Rean and Anjin, reinforcing the shield with the blessing she received from Holy Beast of Earth "Mirage armor!" [Khamishah] Mrs Saga, approach Brother Ash from behind, quickly grab Brother Ash before "Now!" [Khamishah] (Evolved beastly transformation: Splinter cat!) "Dark mana zone: Suicidal kitten slash!" [Kucin] With Mrs Saga holding him, and Kucin slicing Brother Ash left and right, both Singa and Savel quickly join "Chain of space" [Singa] "Dragonewt technique: Hand of mirage dragon!" [Savel] Singa further hold him down while Savel uses the hand of a dragon to make a powerful blow, and to finish it off "Take this!" [Khamishah] Mrs Saga with all her might, slam Brother Ash hard into the ground. It painful to watch, but "Everyone! Run!" [Kucin] "Shit!" [Khamishah] Brother Ash simply shrug it off before sending a powerful Exploding earth needle spell toward each one of them. Good thing that they are teleported by Linda "Are you guys alright?" [Linda] "We are! Thank you!" [Singa] "Impressive, I knew he is strong but now, it''s just ridiculous" [Khamishah] We need to keep attacking or else "Farhah! Let us go!" [Karon] "Charlotte! You join in as well!" [Farhah] "I will!" [Charlotte] The three of us combine our spell to make a combination spell """Deadly swamp!""" [Karon, Farhah, Charlotte] With this, Brother Ash movement is impaired, and alongside it "I''ll try to maintain the spell! Both of you!" [Karon] "Leave it to us! Tree! Drain away his life force!" [Farhah] "Barracuda! Piranha! Ice missile shark! Go!" [Charlotte] Tree from Farhah spell further drain Brother Ash power, while my army of marine golems attack Brother Ash "Lara! Nara!" [Rean] ""We will!!"" [Lara, Nara] Rean, Lara and Nara float up above, once again, clash of sword and scythes vs scythe take place, and given how Brother Ash is in a disadvantage "I have been waiting! Take this!" [Alaric] Mr Vampire Guard leap out from nearby shadow, slicing through Brother Ash thigh, perforating his femoral artery, and to add more wound, he shot that very same place with his pistol "DIE!" [Ash?] "Oh no you don''t! Shield of Holy Beast!" [Aries] The spell from Mother Aries take the form of a large shield, both blocking Brother Ash powerful pillar of earth and lava spell, all the while crushing him "Light magic: Sea of bombarding light" [Saint Louis] "Mirage and water magic: Sea of mirage!" [Savel] "Raging water ship!" [Charlotte] "Just keep going!" [Kucin] "We need to continue! Don''t hold back!" [Anjin] ""Holy mana! Rejuvenate us all!!"" [Rumia, Seraph] And our continues assault goes on and on until, with Saintess Rumia and Mr Seraph help replenishing our mana and stamina "Extr&+2me EXPLOSI*+#O." [Ash?] A large Explosion magic, blowing us all away. With it "KYAAHH!" [Charlotte] A devilish thorn, piercing our abdomens, sucking every bit of life that we have. All of us were targeted, and thing isn''t looking good "It doesn''t affect me! Take this..." [Linda] "Explos-2;¡êion" [Ash?] An explosion magic directed directly at her, blowing her away. However, there''s another person that seems "unaffected" even when she is struck with the same type of attack as us, which kept us all immobilize in pain, she keeps getting closer and closer "???" [Ash?] "Ash..." [Diana] Princess Diana keep getting closer to him, before "Take it... Take all that I will give to you!" [Diana] A beam of light from Princess Diana radiate, entering Brother Ash body through the very same thorn. Brother Ash try to retaliate but "Diana..." [Ash] "Ash!" [Diana] "J7#;¡ê[email protected]¡ê(_;" [Ash?] "Watch out! Armour of Nine tail fox!" [Elise] Elise uses the invincible armour of nine tail fox to mitigate any damage done toward Sis Diana through a spell that can only be described coming from a devil itself. "Princess! Grab me quickly!" [Valkyrie B] "Right!" [Diana] Seeing as how Brother Ash act rather strangely, it seems Sis Diana finally made up her mind "Buy me some time, I''ll give everything that I have to save him" [Diana] Chapter 403 - 403: Ash? Vs Estel part 6 [Diana point of view] How much time do I need to prepare my final attack? I''m not sure, but I do remember both Linda and Seo Ah telling me... "At that time, when death greeted me, I entrusted all the blessing of the heroes companion to you. It feels like that of an eternity, but I''m sure it only lasted for a second or two. I know for a fact, that you will be using it to a better use, and thus, I departed from the world in peace during that time" [Linda] "That time, all I can think of was to save Saintess Rumia. My heart feels like they will be bursting, as I wonder how long the time has passed, only to realise it actually didn''t take that long. It sounds scary, but in all honesty, it doesn''t. Somehow, it feels oddly calming" [Seo Ah] And just like them, the oddly calming feeling that I am currently experiencing, I can tell that no matter what happens, I won''t regret it. "Behe! Birdie! Bobunny!" [Elise] "Thank you for saving us" [Zerolith] As one by one, the strange thorn that pierces our bodies being removed, our counterattack begin, but as most of us sustain heavy injury, it becomes dull "Dark mana zone: Barrage of darkness Abyssal bullets!" [Zerolith] "Dark mana zone: Suicidal kitten bomber" [Kucin] But that isn''t an excuse to stop fighting, as each of us stand up, we believe, we believe that we will save him! We will save him no matter what! "Are you alright, Charlotte?" [Rean] "Yes. Yes I am" [Rean] "Just hang in there. You can rest..." [Rean] "NO! I WILL FIGHT UNTIL THE END!" [Charlotte] "Charlotte..." [Rean] "Princess Diana, please! Your order!" [Charlotte] It looks like she will not step down no matter what kind of persuasion we will be using, in which case "Raging water magician, can you help me immobilize him for a few seconds. At that time, the blessing inside of me, I''ll transfer it all to him in hope of saving him" [Diana] "Right!" [Charlotte] "I will support you!" [Rean] Those two are getting themselves ready to strike at any time, where as other ""Area heal"" [Rumia, Seraph] Rumia and Seraph are healing other without caring much for their injuries, and Ash begin to start bombarding his spells once more, thing look bleak "That thorn, it''s a nuisance" [Mara] "Even my plant magic imbued with Avery power wither..." [Farhah] "And it sting... If it wasn''t for the blessing of holy beast, my fist might be here no more" [Khamishah] "For now, all we can do is dodge and counteract through long distance spell" [Kara] "That will do. Karon, we will shield the long range attacker, cover them all!" [Aries] "Leave it to me!" [Karon] They''re planning to attack him from a far, and as for the thorn that''s coming from the devil''s blessing "There''s too many of them!" [Anjin] "Can you keep up?" [Saint Louis] "I can and I will!" [Anjin] "Linda! Stop!" [Alaric] "You''re badly injured from the direct Explosion magic!" [Singa] "Just rest first! Leave saving Brother Ash to us!" [Savel] "I won''t! I fail to save him the last time! I don''t want that to happen once more!" [Linda] The thorn keep on searching for it next pray, while we are constantly cutting it apart. Good thing Ash didn''t imbued it with any of his spell, or that will cause us all extra trouble "!" [Ash?] "Everyone! Protect Charlotte!" [Khamishah] Charlotte begin charging up all of her spell, as countless magic circle keep intersecting with one another, keep boosting the power of each other, creating a powerful spell that''s ready to be fire at Ash at any moment ~Dash~ Ash, ignoring all the incoming attack, passes through all of them, all the while the miasma of the devil attack those whom he passes through "Fool!" [Khamishah] Mrs Saga quickly grab one of the many thorn, even when the spikes of the thorn keep getting larger and longer, piercing her muscle ""Shield"" [Karon, Aries] Through shield magic, both Karon and Aries block the thorn and Ash path, while other bombard spell after spell, but that doesn''t stop Ash from dashing through "I won''t let you!" [Rean] ~Clash~ And thus, the clash of sword and scythe, with Charlotte''s life at stake happen, but Rean is not alone ""Rean!! Dodge!!"" [Lara, Nara] "NO! Just charge through!" [Rean] ""Tchh... Be careful!!"" [Lara, Nara] And it looks like Lara and Nara almost have the same idea as I am, instead of giving their blessings, they simply reinvigorated the blessing of God of Death inside Ash''s body and thus "#83(+*janskK" [Ash?] Ash begin going out of control, and before he can prepare the next powerful spell to ward us all "Water magic: Droplet" [Charlotte] (((Such power... We will be doom if we get caught in it!!!))) [Rean, Lara, Nara] Those three, before retreating, make a simple last second spell to keep Ash from moving, and a single small water droplet from Charlotte hit Ash directly, before that water bullet expand into a column of water, that''s render Ash immobile. Not only that, inside the tall columns of water are countless magic circle firing multiple spells, from water javelin to ice arrow, at a speed comparable to Zerolith''s firing speed. Any attempt from both Ash and the thorn of devil are nullified by the countless spell being fired at frightening speed "Go..." [Charlotte] "Thanks! I will!" [Diana] I don''t know how I will get through that dangerous pillar of water. I get this feeling, firing off my blessing will be meaningless in the face of this powerful column of water... If that''s the case "What are you doing! Princess!" [Rean] "It dangerous!" [Valkyrie B] ""Can''t be help... Holiest shield!!"" [Rumia, Seraph] "Armour of Nine Tail Fox!" [Elise] "Extreme Defense up!" [Aries] As I extend my hand, the spell inside the water pillar start hitting me. It hurts, even with all the help. Charlotte went as far as reducing the intensity, which Ash quickly take advantage of "!" [Charlotte] ""Oh no!!"'' [Lara, Nara] "Stop him now!" [Saint Louis] "NO! It''s fine!" [Diana] "!?" [All] He manages to escape the moment Charlotte brought down the intensity of the spell, but I manage to cling through him "Ash! WAKE UP!" [Diana] "GYAAAHH!" [Ash?] Pour it! Pour every single last bit of my blessing! Even when the devilish thorn pierce my abdomen, even when he violently punch me! Don''t stop! Just keep on going! Keep on going! "Snap out of it!" [Khamishah] Mrs Saga try to save me, but she get blown away by a spell. It feels long, but at the end of the day "Diana..." [Ash] "Is it really you?" [Diana] "Yeah... Give me a second" [Ash] "ASH! ASH!" [Diana] "+#ajzbwh" [Ash?] "Oh shut up!" [Ash] With the violent clash of three blessing inside of him, the blessing from Goddess Achalasia and God of Death prevail, as evident of some small blackish thing leaving through his skull. It literally pierce from inside the skull toward outside, carrying some of Ash''s brain matter. Just what is that thing? "Oh no you don''t! Space magic: Cube of Entrapment! Wind magic: Great wind palm!" [Ash] Ash entrap that thing, before shouting for "MAHSURI! NOW!" [Ash] "Pseudo Leviathan" [Mahsuri] "When did she!?" [Diana] Mahsuri trusted golem quickly get the job done, and before long, that blackish thing vanish "Mah... MAHSURI!" [Charlotte] "What are you doing here?" [Rean] "Long story short, I have been following him ever since he step inside the Ice Dungeon" [Mahsuri] "And at one point, she realized rather than directly controlling me, God of Life implanted a powerful devil parasite inside of my brain..." [Ash] Ash wanted to continue his explanation, but given how he''s injured, he can''t do so, as he keeps clinging onto me "Brother Ash..." [Rean] "Is that really you?" [Elise] "Please say something!" [Kara] "This... This isn''t a joke right?" [Mara] ""We hope it isn''t one..."" [Lara, Nara] "Don''t be so negative. That''s definitely him" [Zerolith] "True, but why aren''t you saying something?" [Karon] "Maybe because he''s just extremely fatigue" [Farhah] "Most likely. But still! Say something!" [Singa] "Don''t leave us hanging!" [Savel] "Brother Ash?" [Charlotte] "Ash?" [Diana] He looks at them, bewildered by what in front of him, and when he get the energy needed to speak "I''m home, everyone" [Ash] "BROTHER ASH!" [All] They''re all showing a euphoric faces as they tried to rush and hug Ash "Hahaha... slow down. Just let me stand properly first" [Ash] "True, just give him some time for..." [Diana] "Wow, you really look old, Diana" [Ash] "P A R D O N?" [Diana] (((It''s been a while since we last saw that scary smile...))) [Elise, Kara, Charlotte] ~Slap~ "WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?" [Ash] "YOU DESERVE IT!" [All] "Honestly... Welcome home..." [Diana] "Huh, are you blushing..." [Ash] "No I''m..." [Diana] He collapses Chapter 404 - 404: The real wedding day part 1 [At the Orphanage] [Ash point of view] It''s heavy... and yet it''s comfortable. Not only that,it kinda noisy, which wakes me up from my sleep. I wonder, I do know for a fact that I was controlled by a powerful parasite implanted by God of Life itself, and I was in a half asleep phase all this while. Kinda like my soul, my brain and my entire body goes into autopilot mode beyond my control, so when I can get a quality sleep like this "So this is Brother Ash" "He''s young... I tho he will be older than Brother Rean" "He''s the same age as Sis Kara and Mara maybe?" "18? Kinda looks like it?" "But didn''t they told us, that his appearance remain unchanged, so..." "He''s the same age as Princess Diana? 24 years old?" "That should be the case here" I see, they''re the new orphans. Kinda obvious, that''s if this is the same Orphanage... Yup definitely the same. I can tell Housey and Calypso Tree here, even when there had been several upgrades done on them "Let pokes him" "DON''T!" "Princess Diana will be angry!" "Let him sleep!" And they start arguing over small matter. You know what, I don''t feel like sleeping anymore, even when my body practically yearn for it, so... "BAAAAAHHHH!!!" [Ash] """"KYAAAH!!!!"""" "Hahahaha!" [Ash] And they''re paralyze out of fear. From the look of it, they''re no older than 10, so they will fit right into the younger group "Morning all of you. I''m Ash, nice to meet you" [Ash] "Nic... Nice to meet you..." Only the boy answer, well, maybe I went too far with the joke "You''re mean..." "Apologize!" "Yeah yeah... I''m hungry, let''s get some breakfast" [Ash] "True, but we shouldn''t eat too much" "The wedding might be today" (Whose wedding? No matter, there will be a banquet, so that''s all that is matter) "Alright, let us just get ready. You know what, I''m too lazy to take a bath, so let me just brush my teeth first" [Ash] "No!" "Stinky!" "Stinky stinky!" "Fine... But don''t let them know. I feel like pranking them" [Ash] "Secret?" "Secret!" [Ash] """"YOSH!!!!"""" Haha, kid. And speaking of wedding (Vincent. Maria. Congratulations on your marriage) [Goddess Achalasia] ((Thank you Goddess)) [Vincent, Maria] (Estel, Kiara! You''re beautiful!) [Maria] (Haha, thanks) [Estel] It jumbled, the memory I acquired from my parents, but it starting to make sense. What happen back then. Maybe it will reorganize itself. Just need to give some time. Speaking of mother and father, I quickly scan my scythe and (Sigh... They aren''t there no more... Their souls... Thank you for Protecting me. Father. Mother) [Ash] Well........... Before I realized, I already done taking my shower. It feels so surreal... This feeling of sadness... Goddess... I guess I am after all, an orphan that feel delighted about his parents being there for the kids, but only to get it taken away. Counting by the number of time this happen, maybe around 4 time I guess? Maybe. From before I was born in Achalasia, reincarnated to earth and once again, being reincarnated to Achalasia... (Guess the memories of father and mother started to make more and more sense. Let just give it some time) [Ash] And better take a mental note "What the..." [Rafiah] "Shou... Shouldn''t you..." [Calypso] "MEOW!" [Behe] ~Happy chuckling~ [Bobunny] "Ash... You''re awake!" [Claude] "Shouldn''t you rest?" [Filvisar] ""Pleas. R.st"" [Housey, Calypso Tree] "Well, there are multiple cheeky little siblings of mine who wouldn''t want me to sleep, so here I am... But, it good to be finally home. All of you" [Ash] "That was speedy recovery" [Khamishah] "It really is. Not that it''s a bad thing" [Mira] "I''m just glad... Thank Goddess!" [Seo Ah] Oh, so those three are here as well, meaning, there must be some event going on here for them to bring the orphans as well "Gosh! You make me worried... Do you know... Do you know how sad we were!" [Rafiah] "Rafiah wait. It wasn''t his fault" [Calypso] Rafiah hug me, while making a soft fist hitting my back Claude tried to stop her, but just let it slide while using his ghost butler hand to pat my head. Not gonna lie, it feels extra nice, coming from a grandfather figure like him. As for Calypso, it been long since I last tease her, so... "Huh, you actually developed some brain while I was away. That''s surprising" [Ash] "Alright, listen here Blondie... You know what, Rafiah, maybe you should control him like that devil parasite!" [Calypso] "CALYPSO!" [Filvisar] "But he started it!" [Calypso] "But you shouldn''t say that!" [Seo Ah] "Haha. Feels like nothing changes" [Ash] "Maybe I should call them..." [Filvisar] "Let them sleep. I bet they''re all tired after the intense fight yesterday. Plus, I wanted to see how long will they realize before what''s going on" [Ash] "You mean?" [Claude] "Let just pretend like six years back, where I cook something for breakfast, and see how long will it take them to realize" [Ash] "Hoho, I wonder how long. I''m in" [Filvisar] "How about you guys?" [Ash] "Sound fun!" "Let us in as well" "..." [Mahsuri] "Someone already on her role" [Ash] Still "Thanks, Mahsuri" [Ash] "You''re Vincent and Maria son after all" [Mahsuri] "For that, I am grateful" [Ash] And let just cook breakfast. A simple fried rice should be good "Morning..." [Charlotte] Charlotte is up first, and she''s drowsy... She''s grown into a teenager huh, maybe around 12 years of age? Sorry that I couldn''t be there for you during that time, so let just make it up now "Morning Charlotte. Have you wash your face?" [Ash] "I did..." [Charlotte] "Here you go. Take some bread first. I already spread it with honey(She will always ask me personally to do it for her after all) [Ash] "Thank you..." [Charlotte] The other are all trying their best to suppress their laughter, and """Morning""" [Aries, Kara, Mara] "Morning three of you. Up early today?" [Ash] "?" [Aries] "Yes we are" [Mara] "Today might be an important day, but that depends on them" [Kara] (Important day?) [Ash] Does it have to do with the wedding those kids mentioned? Whose wedding might it be? More importantly, Kara and Mara didn''t realize it yet, as for Aries (Gosh, she looks old now), Claude signal her about my plan, and she instantly nod, agreeing to take part as well "Zerolith... You stink..." [Farhah] ~Yawn~ "I ain''t..." [Zerolith] "It''s too early for the ruckus" [Karon] "Like Karon said, it is too early. Just sit there in the table first while waiting for your breakfast" [Ash] """Yes...""" [Zerolith, Karon, Farhah] Hahaha! This is fun. They literally didn''t realize it! Gosh, I love it! ""Morning"" [Lara, Nara] "Morning" [Mahsuri] And those two sit beside Mahsuri. Those two are even worse, or maybe they just met Mahsuri yesterday and as usual, sit beside her in their favourite sofa like they used to do "Both of you... Please don''t run on the stair! You aren''t kid anymore!" [Elise] "But we are starving!" [Singa] "Plus, the fried rice today smell nostalgic!" [Savel] "And here I am thinking that being trained by a noble will make you two better behaving teenages!" [Elise] "If you didn''t listen to Elise, I''ll cut your portion into half" [Ash] "No!" [Savel] "Please no!" [Singa] And those two, like a noble, display a fine table etiquette. Colour me Impressed ""Morning"" [Rean, Muse] "Morning two lovely bird, just take your sit first" [Ash] "!" [Muse] "Sure, I will" [Rean] Muse (just like Aries), realize what happen after Rafiah signal her, and Rean still didn''t realize it. Somehow... They look like a married couples... Could it be... The wedding... Maybe. I should confirm it after breakfast After they all sit, and the breakfast is serve "Let''s dig in" [Ash] "Could you pass me the chocolate drink?" [Charlotte] "Sure" [Ash] "Thank you, Brother Ash" [Charlotte] "..." [Rean] "..." [Elise] "..." [Kara] "..." [Mara] "..." [Lara] "..." [Nara] "..." [Zerolith] "..." [Karon] "..." [Farhah] "..." [Singa] "..." [Savel] "..." [Charlotte] "EHH!" [All] "That took you awhile. I''m sincerely impressed" [Mahsuri] "Hahaha! Once again, I''m back, all of you" [Ash] We have a good laugh, while all twelve of them trying to hide their embarrassment. Rean just sit there, feeling like an idiot for not noticing, and joining him are Elise, Kara, Lara, Nara, Karon and Zerolith, while the rest, try to play it cool that they actually notice me "Yeah right. None of you find it odd" [Calypso] "I know you''re all tired and drowsy after yesterday''s battle, but don''t be careless the next time" [Khamishah] "Every heroes has their own bad day" [Filvisar] And we have our breakfast together. wWhen I ask them regarding the importance event, as expected "Now I feel old" [Ash] Still, congrats Rean Chapter 405 - 405: The real wedding day part 2 So much have changes during my six years absentee in Estel. The people obviously grew older, and there are few new infrastructures previously not there. The Medical Hospital run by Yefefiah and friends (they''re now full fledged doctor, colour me Impressed), The School and the Higher Education and more. But one thing remains unchanged "You''re finally back" [Kebab stall owner] "We are glad that you seem unharmed" [Alice''s mom] "Don''t push yourself so hard dear, you have multiple new siblings to take care of now" [Clothing shop aunty] "Just take your well-deserved rest, let us handle the rest" [Gizzere] "But this is Rean''s wedding! I should help!" [Ash] "You should help by try not to worry us" [Crow] "You look fine, but just get some rest. I know this is hard, but the sooner you recover, the better it is for all of us" [Ceanu] My friends and companions, they''re still a bunch of good-hearted people that I always knew. I''m glad, despite they grew older, their heart remain the same, if not, change to a brighter one. Meeting all of them at once inside Diana''s hall sure give my brain overdose of Serotonin "If we take a look, there''s not much damage left needed to be repaired after yesterday''s fight, so the wedding can go on tomorrow itself" [Qis] "Miraculously, none of the bystanders that were involved meet their demise. I must say, this is truly a miracle. You might actually unconsciously saved them all, teacher" [Liyana] "I''m not entirely sure about that" [Ash] It''s all too hazy, so I don''t want to draw any conclusions. "You''re back" [Rumia] "Yeah I am" [Ash] "I thought she was referring to me taking my call? Almost answered her" [Diana] "Sorry my bad for not specifying it" [Rumia] "What was that call about?" [Muse] "Well, Ash. Can you..." [Diana] "NO" [Ash] "Figure" [Diana] "Excuse me, but what?" [Anjin] "Are you two by any chance communicate telepathically?" [Kanji] "Despite six years have passed, I''m pretty sure what she will tell me. Go to the castle, meeting, bla bla bla... So the answer is no" [Ash] "Well, father and the other kings you''re well-acquainted with already predicted it, so they will just meet you without the any other nuisance" [Diana] "Poor guy, just recovered and now getting dragged against his will" [Lisa] "Yeah, poor me" [Ash] But still, like it or not, I''m sure I will get dragged anyway, given how much I am involved in this whole matter. No matter what, those officials, nobles and royals from other countries have the right to ask me some questions regarding the devil, and they actually need it for the safety of their own countries and citizen, but given the usual development, I just don''t want to get involved in it "You know, I could just accompany you if you need to meet them" [Diana] "Can you? Please do so. I am lost, will definitely lost and surely would have lose without you by my side" [Ash] "..." [Diana] ((That feels like an indirect confessions)) [Alice, Kara] Diana seems to be thinking of something, and somehow, I get this feeling that my heart beat is synchronize with her, as our gaze met for few seconds (which feels like eternity) "Ash, never leave my side again, will you" [Diana] "Negative" [Ash] "Figure. I am the one that send you there in the first place" [Diana] "Don''t worry, I ain''t mad about it, in fact, I was grateful. If I didn''t go there, we will definitely not having this conversation right now" [Ash] Because she sent me there, I was able to delay the fallen god resurrection, and "Plus, thank you for hearing my final request at that time. Honestly, I can''t think of anyone else to take care of them when death was approaching" [Ash] "Nonsense. Even without you asking me, I will definitely do it, they''re valuable siblings of mine as well" [Diana] "Siblings huh" [Ash] Well, she''s blushing... Not gonna lie, my heart skip a beat, and since I can tell both our hearts synchronize perfectly, so does her hearts... This could only mean "You know... I was devastated six years ago, and hearing your final message make the wound even deeper, but I was slightly happy as well... I was happy that you actually think of me during your final minute" [Diana] "Diana..." [Ash] "I was scared this whole time, but I couldn''t really show it. I can do many things, but despite all that, I was still scared... Scared that everything that we love will be robbed once again. Scared that the unknown will get the better of us, and scared... Scared at the thought, that you might not come back" [Diana] "..." [Ash] "So that''s why, promise me! Never ever leave my side again!" [Diana] Well, she''s on verge of tear "Like I said, I couldn''t..." [Ash] "I KNOW! Which is why make another promise with me!" [Diana] "And that is?" [Ash] "If you ever need to leave, promise me you''ll come back safely! Don''t ever, ever leave me again! Make sure you come back to me after all this is done! Better still, I will fight alongside you whenever possible! So promise me, just promise me that you''ll come back alive, no matter what!" [Diana] "Right" [Ash] "Promise?" [Diana] "Promise" [Ash] "God... You sure are one difficult lover to take care of. Making me cry god know how many times" [Diana] "Hahaha, sorry sorry, but I''m glad our feelings actually mutual" [Ash] "So am I" [Diana] So, this is our confession. I can''t really describe what I feels like now. Euphoria? Maybe even higher. Whatever it is, the tingling in my hand after the confessions won''t stop, overjoy by her sudden hug. My leg also feels shaky, feels like I will collapse "Are you two done?" [Charlotte] "CHARLOTTE!" [Elise] "You insensitive brat! Let me spank you once again!" [Farhah] "But they flirting and confessing in front of all of us just makes me cringe! I can''t stand it!" [Charlotte] (Kara, we get the perfect material) [Alice] (How about we write the novel separately and see which one of us write it better) [Kara] (Need to tell the fourth queen as well) [Alice] "Seraph, you can actually stop playing those flute you know" [Khamishah] "But the situation is so romantic, I couldn''t help but to play a melody of romance while they''re confessing" [Seraph] Oops... Whatever. Just let them smile and tease us, I don''t care "Well, how about all of you tell the other about just what happened, that way those trying to court for Ash will think twice" [Diana] "I guess I am the one with more maiden heart, but whatever, cat out of the bag" [Ash] "Somehow, I feel conflicted, but I am just a guard, so I shouldn''t mingle with her highness affairs" [Qis] "So am I" [Alaric] "Well well well, you two will soon get a new master to serve" [Ash] ""You piss me off!!"" [Alaric, Qis] Hahahaha, somehow, it isn''t funny with their deadly glare "So, how about we actually plan tomorrow''s wedding" [Diana] "So our first date is actually planning someone''s wedding. I feel conflicted" [Ash] "Excuse me!" [Muse] "Now now, he''s just joking" [Jacks] Chapter 406 - 406: The real wedding day part 3 [At Diana''s hall] Diana and Claude are currently explaining to me the event that will take place during Rean and Muse as well as Samurai Jacks and Alice wedding, which will take place simultaneously at this hall. The younger group keep repeating the fact that even a high ranking noble will have a hard time booking this hall for any event, which makes this wedding even more special. I must said, that actually makes me proud of them, and also spark my imagination of how my wedding with Diana will be one day, but let just not get too ahead of myself First, the traditional style, and hearing their explanation "I see, kinda like what father and mother does, but with many many more additional elements to it" [Ash] "Pardon?" [Diana] "My father is Saint Vincent while my mother is Saintess Maria, and my little sister, biologically speaking is Charlotte. You might actually recognize our parents more as the first saint and saintess rather than their names" [Ash] "EEHHH!" [Other] "Is that really true?" [Kana] "Yup" [Ash] "What a shock" [Flinar] "Wait, I thought we already told all of you regarding that fact?" [Charlotte] "After the incident at the mermaid kingdom, we were told by that fact, and we relay it already to all of you" [Elise] "So why the strong sound of disbelieve?" [Kara] I see, so Charlotte already knew of that fact. Maybe that explains why she''s been clinging to me ever since. Not that I care "Maybe that''s why Goddess Achalasia decided to resurrect you, because of who your parents were" [Diana] "Saint Vincent and Saintess Maria, if you''re their child, it''s logical indeed" [Rumia] "But then how do you explain Charlotte?" [Zerolith] "And how do you actually knew all of this rather suddenly?" [Karon] "Well, my parent''s souls were the one Protecting me all this time I was controlled by that parasite, so their memories kinda ingrained inside my brain. Regarding Zerolith''s question, I have no idea as well. Frankly, it''s all too hazy, I still need some time for it to reorganize. Heck, I''m sure I still haven''t recovered 10% of their memories" [Ash] And regarding my resurrection... Maybe what Diana and Rumia theorized were right, but I have a feeling that there''s actually a little bit more than that, which is... "Interesting..." [Alaric] "True, guess Princess Diana blessing started to rub on him" [Qis] "?" [Ash] "The way you''re in deep thoughts just now, is how Princess Diana usually looks like when she''s thinking, or more precisely, when her all powerful instinct started to kick in" [Alice] "Is that really alright? Won''t it affect Princess Diana in..." [Htilorez] "I don''t think you need to worry. The blessing already been with Princess Diana for so long that I can assure you some of the effect will still remain" [Saint Louis] "Plus, this is Princess Diana you''re talking about, she''s still a great leader even without one" [Linda] "Which makes me wanted support her even more" [Ash] "Oh Ash" [Diana] ~Clearing throat~ "Rean, do you mind if I sit next to you instead. They''re making me cringe" [Charlotte] "Huh? Sure" [Rean] Charlotte quickly move and sit beside Rean "How come you didn''t react like that when Muse flirted with Rean?" [Mara] "I did, but I am now sensitized by it. Need more time before that happens for Brother Ash and Sis Diana" [Charlotte] "Guess the fact that they''re biologically siblings make it more unbearable for her?" [Singa] "Or maybe because she will not have a chance with Zaidi..." [Savel] "NO!" [Charlotte] "Ohh... Interesting... Care to tell me more about it?" [Ash] ~Gulp~ ""..."" ((We are doomed)) [Singa, Savel] ((Such murderous intent...)) [Lara, Nara] "LET JUST GET BACK TO OUR TOPIC" (Divert the topic back! Divert the topic back) [Rumia] "R...Right" [Ash] ((THANK YOU SAINTESS RUMIA!!)) [Singa, Savel] I keep forgetting the fact that such petite Saintess like her can actually produce such loud ear deafening sound. Let just move on to our next agenda before any bursting sound from her vocal cord escape After helping some of the preparations, before dusk came, I am already at my limit. Guess I am still on my recovery phase after all. God of Life did controlled me for six years after all, so the damaged wouldn''t be done in mere night. I did however, feel grateful for her, since her modification (or maybe it was that damn Saintess Angela the one that did it?) makes me stronger. As such, before I knew it, I fall asleep the moment I rest my back into a nice sofa, and "It''s been awhile, Ash" [Goddess Achalasia] "That was quick, though I did expect this will happen sooner or later" [Ash] This is the same phenomenon that happens when I met the goddess, and seeing her all happy really bring joy to my heart as well "Thank you, for all you have done" [Ash] "Don''t worry, I''m just glad you''re fine" [Goddess Achalasia] I couldn''t really express my gratitude much, but this is all I can, so for now, I will just express my sincere gratitude to both Goddess Achalasia and... "Where''s God of Death?" [Ash] And when I mentioned God of Death, her face change. This is a worrying change... "I did remember a bit, where Farhah touches my soul during her rite of Avery. That power granted from mother earth, and the fact that God of Death isn''t here..." [Ash] "That''s correct. This might be the last chance for this world itself... As such..." [Goddess Achalasia] She is getting herself ready for something big, and as soon as she reveals her intention "WHAT!" [Ash] "You scare us!" [Farhah] "What was that shout for?" [Aries] "No... Nothing..." [Ash] "Are you alright, dear?" [Diana] "Yes... Yes I am" [Ash] Should I tell them about it... No. Better not tell them. Should Agnes and the others knew about it, I wonder what will they do ((That just now... Goddess Achalasia)) [Rumia, Seo Ah] Looks like Rumia and Seo Ah knew that I met the Goddess. Curious as they are, they respect my right to remain silent, and as such, did not pry further into it Chapter 407 - 407: The real wedding day part 4 It''s currently night time. While the younger group are all asleep, I couldn''t bring myself to sleep even when I am dead tired. I don''t know what keeps me awakes at this time of the day, but surely not something related to the fallen god etc. Since I couldn''t even close my eyes properly, I decided to go downstairs, and there, I find "..." [Rean] "You''re still nervous Rean? Have some tea. It''s good to keep you relax" [Claude] "Thank you" [Rean] "You''re absolutely in a nerve wrecking state, that we can easily tell" [Filvisar] "I am..." [Rean] "Wanna tell us anything? It can help you relax you know" [Ash] "You spook us... I thought you''re fast asleep" [Rafiah] "I couldn''t, so I decided to come down" [Ash] "There''s extra tea that I made, care to have some" [Claude] "Absolutely" [Ash] And the five of us sit down together where I sip down the milk tea prepared by Claude. Delicious as always "I''m scared..." [Rean] """"...."""" [Ash, Claude, Rafiah, Filvisar] Looks like he''s about to open up. He decided to sleep here for tonight since this will be his last day before getting married. Not that he wouldn''t come here to visit us, but yeah, you get the drill "I''m scared that I''m not good enough to protect Muse. The internal political rift... Her parents... The First Prince... Everything... Everything seems to be keeping us apart" [Rean] I can see that. I guess when I am glad that nothing changes, I should specify that I am glad that nothing good changes. As for the bad thing, yeah, I just wanted it to disappear, but... "What if, at the end of the day, her strong face finally collapses in tear... What if I wasn''t there, because of my duty as the hero... I just couldn''t help but to think about it... I... I..." [Rean] I see. That''s good of him, thinking all of that. Just when I was about to give him a word of encouragement "You''re right. You might not..." [Filvisar] "Grandpa..." [Rean] "I lost my wife and my family back then, because I was away, for my hero duty. How I lamented it, even up until now itself. They were all killed, together with Claude and his family..." [Filvisar] "Claude... Is that true?" [Rafiah] "True enough... How I still remember that Those damn follower of old religion attack this mansion because Master Filvisar was a hero. Not any hero, but an "elf" hero. They just couldn''t accept the fact that an elf could become a hero... It was the worst day of my life. Not only I couldn''t protect both master and my own family, I couldn''t even met Master Filvisar since I become a ghost way later on... Probably after Calypso rested inside the underground lab" [Claude] This... This is new. Rean, Rafiah and I have not heard of it before, and as such, we give our full attention to those two "I was away most of the time, fighting against the devil a hundred year back, and as such, I had to leave my wife, my child, and even Claude''s family which I came to consider as part of my own family. I still regretted the fact that I wasn''t there when they needed me the most, up until now. How I wish I could ask Az, the keeper of time to turn back the clock just for me..." [Filvisar] "..." [Mahsuri] Mahsuri, who wouldn''t budge from her favourite spot (just across us all), also start listening to it. She might not show any interest, but I know for a fact that she''s feeling sad hearing about what happened as well "But if there''s something that keeps me going all this time, was the fact that I still remember my wedding day, as well as the family that I came to build afterward" [Filvisar] "!" [Rean] "Please, go on... Zerolith, just come down if you wanted to hear it as well" [Ash] "It uncomfortable to seat there in the stair, isn''t it" [Claude] "Sorry, I didn''t mean to pry. I was just trying to get some water when the mood turn heavy" [Zerolith] Zerolith sit beside Rean and start drinking a cup of tea as well. I just notice, Rean is both anxious and somewhat, oddly calm? It''s like, he''s getting the answer he wanted to "Rean, and both Ash as well as Zerolith, you as well Rafiah. Listen close, you guys will be sacrificing a lot of thing in your life, even after this whole ordeal is over, that''s why, I''ll tell you one and only one thing. Don''t ever sacrifice your happiness and the happiness of others around you, just because you think you didn''t deserve it. It''s true that Muse will face an even greater challenge, and in a sense, yes, it''s cruel that you leave her alone, but isn''t it crueler you left her hanging? What makes you think, that if you decided not to married her, all those problems will go away? Can you" [Filvisar] "That''s a tough question..." [Rean] "I see... At the end of the day, whether Rean decided to be with Muse or not, life will still goes on. Different set of problems will come no matter what" [Zerolith] "Exactly. That''s why, I want you to cast aside all those worries, and start looking forward to it. Plus, you only think Muse will suffer, can''t you think the happiness that Muse will get by marrying you" [Filvisar] "That''s indeed the case. Even when Master was away, I still fondly remember the mistress and her son happily talking about Master, like he was there" [Claude] "Hear that Rean?" [Rafiah] "I did... Thank you... All of you" [Rean] "I don''t think I contribute much on this discussion, but I can assure you one thing. If anything comes in your way, tell us, we will more than happy to help" [Ash] "I will" [Rean] "Now that this is all over, why don''t you go to sleep, you will have a big day tomorrow" [Claude] "You as well Zerolith, you will have an important role as well tomorrow" [Rafiah] "Can I just sit here a bit longer... Chatting a bit more" [Rean] "If that''s the case, I will accompany you" [Zerolith] "Count me in" [Ash] And we have a little bit of chat (It''s peaceful... Vincent, Maria...How I wish you are here with us...) [Mahsuri] Chapter 408 - 408: The real wedding day part 5 "It''s the wedding day! It''s the wedding day!" "Quickly! Quickly! Wake him up! Wake Brother Rean up!" "I can''t wait to see him in his wedding suit!" "Plus, we will be escorting him and Mr Samurai Jacks from castle to the hall!" "The parade will be fun!" "Even the neighborhood area can''t wait for the event!" "You guys sure are energetic, but in a rather positive way" [Karon] "Well, you''re rather a quiet person in the past, so maybe they''re bunch of energetic siblings that you will find hard to control" [Farhah] "Not really..." [Karon] "What''s with that look! I know you''re thinking of me as a nuisance!" [Farhah] "I see. Afterward, it will be Brother Karon and Sister Farhah getting married!" "They''re quite close!" "Like Sis Mara and Brother Zerolith" """"...."""" [Mara, Zerolith, Karon, Farhah] "Alright, that''s enough. We have to get ready" [Mira] "Those who are late will be left behind" [Khamishah] "!" "Fast! Faster! Fastest!" "And now they''re panicking" [Rafiah] It''s 6.00A.M. in the morning, and they''re all making a significant ruckus, trying their best to dress up properly, getting ready for the big day, that is "You look dashing today" [Claude] "Thank you" [Rean] "We raised a gentleman aren''t we [Ash] "That we are!" [Calypso] A blackish dark red wedding suit, kinda resembling my fully black clothes given by Goddess Achalasia in term of design, but with more elegant aspect into it. As for Muse, I''m not sure about her wedding dress, but I do heard it was black with motives of green and yellow. Jacks and Elise will be wearing a more traditional eastern kinda style, and I can''t wait to see all three of them ~Yawn~ "You look rather stiff..." [Charlotte] ""Good luck!!"" [Lara, Nara] Not as stiff as last night if you ask me "We still have time before departing to the castle, in fact, plenty of time, so let us take some light breakfast first" [Aries] "Agree. I''ll tell them to get ready" [Kana] "I''ll help" [Elise] And they''re getting ready, just as I am about to join them, Housey and Calypso Tree tell me of an unwanted visitors, trying to woo Rean to give up on his marriage. Apparently, it is a high ranking duke and his daughter from other country. Rean wanted to settle it himself, but I don''t want his mood to be sullied, and as such "Aren''t you the infamous Behemoth Slayer? Good timing, as you can see..." "Leave" [Ash] "Please, just listen. I know you''re a man of splendid quality, so..." "I''ll blast you with a fire spell if you didn''t leave" [Ash] "You can''t do that to my father and I! Plus, we are asking to meet the hero..." "Kiddo, I literally use a large scale Explosion magic to blow away a god, so what makes you think I wouldn''t do the same to you" [Ash] "You can''t do that! We are..." "3" [Ash] "Guard! Protect us!" "2" [Ash] "Grr! I dare you!" "1" [Ash] "Princess Diana will..." "Fire storm!" [Ash] And I surround them with one spell. The guards knew that it is beyond them, and as such, make a face to their lords to just give up "I''ll make sure to bring this to the court!" "Please do so. I won''t mind it one bit" [Ash] "Tchh, guess Princess Diana really have a poor taste!" "What was that!" [Ash] "!" I give them a deadly glare, and just like that, they succ.u.mb into fear. Since they''re to scare too run away, I simply lift them up with wind and space magic and throw them all outside. Tchh, now my mood is ruin... I don''t mind that they hated me for it, but not Diana! I guess I should be extra careful as well from now on, as to not sullied Diana''s good name. I don''t want all her hard work from the oast six years go down the drain because of me "You''re as bold as ever. I''m both glad and disappointed that part of you didn''t change" [Khamishah] "..." [Ash] "You seem worried" [Kara] "I am... I''m gonna eat this fast and went straight ahead to patrol the street, especially at Muse and Alice areas" [Ash] "I see. If they can''t get Rean, they will get to Muse" [Singa] "Same goes for Mr Jacks" [Savel] "Since I won''t do much for today, how about I join you for patrol?" [Singa] "Me too!" [Savel] "That will be appreciated. You two were trained by a noble, so I''m sure you can handle it better than me" [Ash] "Maybe we should patrol during the parade as well" [Savel] ''What do you think?" [Singa] "Sure" [Ash] Not that they''re in danger. Most of Diana''s hidden vampires guard, Valkyrie, adventures and other knights are patrolling around both Muse and Alice''s house, and as such, they''re in no real danger. Still, given how some entitled people behave, trouble will ensure We quickly eat our breakfast, and the younger group imitate the three of so (thus, we have no choice but to eat a normal pace, so we finish at the same time as them). Just as everyone trying to get themselves ready to leave "Rean. Come here" [Mahsuri] "Ri... Right!" [Rean] That was surprising, I wonder what will she do Mahsuri extend her hand, and make a simple spell "It''s glittering" "And fade rainbow actually start appearing!" "It''s beautiful!" "Teach me that!" [Charlotte] "Figure it yourself" [Mahsuri] "Right..." [Charlotte] "This is... THANK YOU!" [Rean] "The least I can do. I''ll follow all of you and cast the same to Jacks, Alice and Muse. Also to Behe during parade" [Mahsuri] "I guess I''ll tell other fairies regarding the slight addition to our plan" [Calypso] "Please do so" [Farhah] "In the mean time, I''ll tell Princess Diana about it" [Mara] I guess even someone like her will feel a bit of joyous in this situation. "Well then, we will be taking the bus golem" [Khamishah] "I''ll drive the other one" [Kana] "The three of you, make sure to at least show your faces briefly at the castle, preferably before the event start" [Mira] """Right!!!""" [Ash, Singa, Savel] Chapter 409 - 409: The real wedding day part 6 [At Estel''s castle: Garden] [Rean point of view] We arrive early at the castle, and the younger siblings of mine sure are excited for it. They''re getting themselves ready for the parade which will happen an hour from now on. Only Master Jacks and I are currently here, as Muse and Principal Alice aren''t here yet, still getting themselves ready. "Rean, Mr Jacks, you two are pathologically anxious right now..." [Haliza] "It''s rather cute, but as two prominent figures, you ought to not show it" [Queen Rinz] Princess Nurhaliza and Queen Rinz are together with us, and teases the two of us quite a bit, when "I guess time really passed. All the kids are getting ood, you two are getting married, and Ash coming back" [Female paladin of demon kingdom] "Speaking of Ash, where is he?" [King Druser] "Singa and Savel aren''t here as well" [King Leogris] "Did something happen?" [Motra''s little brother] "Well..." [Elise] Elise explain to them what happen "I see. On other note, did he check my daughter''s condition?" [Old lion duke] "I wonder if he figured something out" [Htilorez] "He did. Singa showed his mother''s body and he surprisingly knew what it was, albeit he asked to give some time to prepare something" [Karon] "Really!?" [All] "Yes, though we don''t know when he will tell us about it" [Charlotte] I can''t seems to focus on the conversation... Both master and might vomit anytime soon, that''s the impression we get when our eyes meet with each other "You two really should talk, or else you might vomit right here itself" [Fourth Queen] ""!!"" [Rean, Samurai Jacks] "We are not asking you to converse with the one trying to take advantage of you, but rather with us" [King Malsia] And the fourth queen teases us both, with King Malsia joining in as well, but "..." [King Estel] Did something happen to King Estel? "He heard what happened to his beloved daughter, the confession she and Ash made, and when Princess Diana confirmed it herself, that happens" [Gizzere] "I... I see..." [Rean] "Kinda opposite from Alice''s dad" [Jacks] "It sure is" [Ram] "Don''t you think that is just overreacting, right dad?" [Haliza] (Haliza... Getting married...) "..." [King Malsia] "Umm... Dad?" [Haliza] ""..."" [King Estel, King Malsia] "And thus the two human kings have their moment of silence solitary" [King Druser] "Gahgahgah! Don''t worry! Both of your daughters are as splendid as mine, as such, I believe they will make the right choice!" [King Leogris] "I''m certain as well" [Queen Rinz] And the five leaders of their respective countries start conversing... More like they''re talking about Princess Diana and Nurhaliza future if you ask me "That is..." [Kara] (Oh great... A nuisance coming this way) [Mara] "Grr..." (Should we hide somewhere?) Mara, don''t make it so obvious what you''re thinking. The younger group as well... Please, show some manner. The castle is basically their house after all, so it''s a given that they are here "Where is he! Where is that bastard!" [Third Queen] "Pfft... Her daughter with a street thug... How funny" [First Queen] The Third Queen, in a series of angry bursting mode, try to harass us, but King Estel stop her, while Mrs Mira, Mrs Khamishah and Mrs Aries protect the younger group. Some of them even hide behind Mahsuri as well "I won''t approve it! I won''t approve MY DAUGHTER with that dimwit!" [Third Queen] And it looks like she really is unhappy with their current relationship. I feel rather unpleasant with her reaction, even when I can make sense of her situation, but, it still feel bad, as such "No need to do anything" [First Prince] ""..."" [Jacks, Rean] The First Prince, ignoring all, come straight to us, before presenting us with an emblem each "This is?" [Jacks] "My presence, for both of you. Too bad, I wanted the two of you to be under me, not under her, but as such, I will respect all your decision, though that doesn''t mean I will give up" [First Prince] It feel sincere, the gifts that is, but "No strings attached?" [Rean] "YOU WRETCHED! KNOW..." [First Queen] "No strings attached" [First Prince] ""Thank you, we will gladly take it"" [Jacks, Rean] He''s absolutely serious about giving us something, that, as well as trying to get us for himself. Both of us still take the gifts, since we are absolutely sure that he wouldn''t use the gifts to blackmail us in the future. He isn''t that kind of man I believe "Can I ask you something?" [Rean] "Sure" [First Prince] "What do you think of my brother and Princess Diana relationship?" [Rean] "..." [All] Since I am in a relaxing state (suddenly, after getting the gifts), my mouth move by it own and start asking the question that I am 100% sure in everyone mind. I didn''t even realize what I said until I turn around and see everyone staring at us, me for asking the question and the First Prince for the answer "Fool... Today is not about him, nor about my little sister. Today is both of yours special day, together with your soon to be wife, as such, I won''t take the spotlight from the two of you. Both of you should make yourselves the main character for today, not the Behemoth Slayer" [First Prince] He simply leave after "answering" my question. In the end, I''m don''t know the answer to his questions "He''s right." [Kadeus] "Today is both of yours special day" [Ray] "Maybe because they''re nervous, the spotlight does not fall on them! Now then, what should we do?" [Liyana] "That''s a tough question indeed... How about an interview with them! That will be a good start!" [Lily] ""Please don''t..."" [Rean, Jacks] Try as we might, they still insist, and as such, a random and sudden interview is held hosted by my friends. Even when we are force into it, it feels rather nice... ((Recording)) [Lara, Nara] ""Lara! Nara!"" [Rean, Jacks] Since we don''t want the wedding suit to be in a state of mess, we just let it slide "The brides have arrive!" [Bladel] "Make way for the spotlight of the day!" [Diana] ((Tye front escorts. We are rather lucky)) [Singa, Savel] ""..."" ((Gorgeous...)) [Rean, Jacks] "You''re extra handsome today, sweetie" [Muse] "I must said, it''s against all my expectations of how good the traditional eastern wedding suit looks on you" [Alice] ""..."" ((Gorgeous...)) [Jacks, Rean] "You two, that''s rather creepy. At least said something" [Ash] Thing is... We can''t. Word fail to describe the situation we are in Chapter 410 - 410: The real wedding day part 7 [Rean point of view] The parade begin, with Behe getting the same glittery and rainbow treatment from Mahsuri, as do my soon to be wife, Master Jacks and Principal Alice. Behe (transforming to his a.d.u.l.t form) together with the Pegasi of the Valkyrie parade get such loud ear deafening clap from those waiting for the wedding, that it actually makes me nervous. Somehow, I feel like one wrong move from me is all it take to ruin the entirety of the event The younger siblings are waving left and right, and tell us four to do the same, for which Muse did splendidly, just like how Princess Diana will usually waves to her audience, while us three are bit clasp knives when compared to her "Fairies! Get ready for it!" [Calypso] "Leave it to us!" The fairies, lead by Calypso, will start a day light version of fireworks. It''s unique in that, it will utilize the elemental trees that were planted along the streets, with the petals serve as the material for the fireworks. With the colour of the seven elements, fire (red), water (blue), wind (green), earth (brown), mirage (silver), dark (black) and light (whitish gold), the fireworks is definitely something that all of us appreciate "Huh?" [Calypso] "Interesting. I believe, technically this will be the first time I meet the two of you, so just show yourselves" [Ash] The scale of the fireworks become something grander, like the entirety of the country is experiencing it. The fireworks become prettier as the vibrant colours of it resonates with the sudden appearance of nicely arrange crystal flowers that appears out of nowhere from the ground. While it does create a bit of tense for all of us, Brother Ash manage to control the situation. It is only after a short while that I am able to assess the situation, as I didn''t get their blessings "Allow us to take part in it as well" [Ant Aries] "As for me, I guess our reunion of god knows how many thousands of years finally happening, Mahsuri and Ash" [Titania] "Time seems kind to you, Titania" [Mahsuri] "Wow, so this is the first fairy. You''re undoubtedly different from the one that appeared inside my parents memories" [Ash] "I did met Saint Vincent and Saintess Maria when I was young after all. Who knows how long it been, but enough talking. I just come here to celebrate this wedding" [Titania] "Thank you so much, O Holy Beasts" [Alice] "Your presence brought much happiness to this already bright event" [Muse] And thus, the two Holy Beasts join the event, and the crowds becomes more excited with the presence of the holy beast. The loud clapping and cheering resonates until we arrive at the hall, where the orchestra of wedding rite, lead by Saintess Rumia is play. Melody and rite flying across the hall as they visualize the word, the meaning, the melody of the rite in a perfect manner. Saintess Rumia, Mr Seraph, Mrs Yefefiah, Zerolith, Htilorez, Seo Ah and other from the angel race all joining in, as their mana start to gather around our wedding dresses, starting to take a shape of a long dress that sweep the floor "MY LITTLE ALICE! MY LITTLE ALICE!" [Alice''s dad] Amidst all the clap, music and cheer, Alice''s dad loud happy cry echoes inside the hall "Dear, you''re undoubtedly too happy" [Alice''s dad] "Dad..." (A bit embarrassing, but I think I will cry) [Alice] (((Isn''t that how The Traveler King react when those ten getting married...))) [Ash, Mahsuri, Titania] We move ever closer with each step, where the one awaiting us is "Welcome, the four of you. I''m sure you''re excited, so without further ado, let us begin, the wedding" [Saint Louis] The highest authority figure, Saint Louis will be conducting this whole wedding, and first in the event is displaying the craft that were made by Karon and Mr Erinmorlin. For that, our crafts, by pure coincidence are "The symbol of long lasting relationship, two swans in love with each other. Classic but nevertheless, a good one" [Karon] "Plus, not only the dwarf tradition of marriage are being displayed, using Savel''s scales as the base material, the dragonewt tradition is incorporated. And the swan? What better way to represent a marriage loyalty other than a swan" [Erinmorlin] "Can we have the four of you touches it?" [Karon] """"Sure""""" [Rean, Muse, Jacks, Alice] And when we touches the swan, a projection appear... That is... "Incorporating camera and my puppet magic, this swans that were crafted serve as an album as well. Brother Ash suggested me to call it as digital album" [Karon] ""It''s beautiful"" [Muse, Alice] "All you need is a touch of your mana to edit it, to view it back and more, but we will tell you more after the wedding" [Erinmorlin] "Next, can we have the elven and demon representative to take the stage?" [Crow] "Please, allow us to escort all of you" [Ceanu] "Let us go" [Flinar] "With pleasure" [Demon Queen] The seed of hearts representing elven, while the safer version of demon thorn of judgement tradition being held. We first exchange the jelly mana that we had been infusing with our mana for almost a week, and when I eat the jellies of mana from Muse, I can feel that it''s beyond refreshing "Finish it with this special wine. It will help you absorb the mana of your significant other better" [Demon] "Thank you, we will" [Jacks] We drink the wine, and as soon as we are finish, the seed of heart encased within a special rings crafted by Karon started to act strangely, and what pops out of it is """"A tree branch????"""" [Rean, Muse, Alice, Jacks] "No... That is undoubtedly!" [Farhah] "Such magnificent..." [Flinar] "I believe we should let the Fairy Queen herself explain the significance of it" [Filvisar] "I''ll do the honour" [Titania] And Titania the fairy queen take the four tress branches, and start tapping our shoulder with it "This is call the spouse of the tree of life branches. It''s filled with energy of nature, that will grant their bearer a good and long healthy life. Even with the presence of an Avery near you did indeed help on sprouting this tree branches, it will be impossible without your sincere feeling, as such, plant in near your house for a good and long relationship" [Titania] ""We will"" [Muse, Alice] Another good thing happens. It feels impossible, but here I am, receiving happiness after happiness. """Smile""" [Shopping cloth aunty, Liyana, Cupid] A quick photography session by those three (and by quick, it actually takes thirty minutes, which didn''t feel that long actually. Probably because of all the happy chemical release inside of my brain). Karon and Mr Erinmorlin take this opportunity to teach us how to store the photographs taken inside the swans After the photography session, Saint Louis finally start the ceremony. The plan was to have Alice''s dad and mom to send Master Jacks and Principal Alice off, while Princess Diana, Sis Rafiah, Grandpa Claude and Filvisar for us two, but now "Me too?" [Ash] "Come on, don''t be shy" [Diana] "Please, do so Mr Ash" [Muse] "I couldn''t be any more happier if you did" [Rean] "Goddammit, I swear if I ended up crying and someone recorded it, I while chase him to the end of the world" [Ash] "C R Y I N G? I''M NOT CRYING!!!" [Alice''s dad] (Those two are definitely overreacting) [Charlotte] And thus, those seven accompany us, up until the final three small steps, where Saint Louis begin the official rite. I can hear the sound of hicks coming from Alice''s dad, as he tries his best to stop crying, and as for Brother Ash... Let just say, he''s trying to safe his face, even went as far as using Illusion magic to cover up his proud sad face (which is quickly being dispel by both Princess Diana and Titania) The orchestra that was brimmed with happiness come to a sudden halt, and the hall become dead silence, as only Saint Louis voice can be heard, and it''s finally time, with Saint Louis telling us to tell the depth of our loves to each other, the words come naturally "Muse" "Darling" "Sweetheart" "Jacks" [Rean] [Muse] [Jacks] [Alice] My eyes, ensnare by Muse''s eyes, and my lips, without my permission, speak from the very bottom of my heart """I love you my wife""" [Rean, Jacks] ""I love you, my husband"" [Muse, Alice] And thus, our first kiss "I announce that they''re now, husband and wife!" [Saint Louis] "Congratulations on your wedding. Rean, Muse, Jacks and Alice" [Goddess Achalasia] Through the Goddess orbs, our wedding, is bless by the goddess herself, as it shine ever so brightly Chapter 411 - 411: After the wedding "It''s an honour to have everyone here, celebrating our wedding today" [Rean] "We thank you all that comes, both near and far" [Alice] "With that out of the way, there''s only one thing left" [Muse] "CHEERS!" [Jacks] "CHEERS!" [All] It''s been smooth thus far, and having Goddess Achalasia herself giving her blessing to this wedding is a perfect closure to the wedding event, that''s if you didn''t take into account that we are having a feast like a giant would Food that were cooked by professional chefs, by Claude and the orphans, even by our friends from various walk of lives, all contributed something to this feast, bringing from something as simple as french fries to something spectacular like a wyvern meats. Of course, those fours spend a fortune as well, making sure that the guests will get enough food, and to prevent any waste, they prepared some sort of packages so that the guests that wanted to bring some of the foods home can freely do so. It''s a feast befitting of a king if you ask me, which honestly, for someone stingy like me, feels excessive, but I will let it slide, considering the number of guests they have, this much food might actually be not enough "Dance! We must let them dance!" [Lily] "True! What sort of wedding didn''t include one!" [Kara] ""Please don''t..."" [Rean, Jacks] "Kahkahkah, you know what, you get a free pass, UNTIL everyone get a taste of the wedding cake, so better prepare now, however short the duration of time you get" [Ash] "Don''t worry, we can guide you" [Muse] "Plus, I do remember you''re actually quite a decent dancer" [Alice] And thus, we (Diana and I of course), tease them before "Care to dance with me?" [Diana] "What if I accidentally step on your foot once again?" [Ash] "Don''t worry, I''ll make sure that will not happen" [Diana] "If that''s the case, then why not... Probably after they''re done. Don''t wanna take their spotlight" [Ash] "Deal!" [Diana] Before long, Seraph actually started to play a melody that wanted to make everyone find their dancing partner, and start dancing. Of course, those already married dance with their partners. Ram and Gizzere, Borg and Lin, the kings with their respective queens (minus Queen Rinz that is). The mood is a great one, but the main star of the day still didn''t take the center of the stage. Can I just lift them up with magic and straight out forces them? Nah... Let them do it themselves "Care to dance with me?" [Ray] "Absolutely!" [Liyana] ""Interesting"" [Elise, Mara] "How about you Mile? Any partner?"[Farhah] "Zero" [Mile] "Same..." [Farhah] "Then why don''t you dance with me, Farhah?" [Karon] "With you... Better than no one I guess" [Farhah] """Interesting""" [Zerolith, Savel, Singa] And they all, one by one, started to find their dancing partner. Things is... "Care to dance with me, Charlotte?" [Zaidi] "Why me?" [Charlotte] "Just thinking, you shouldn''t miss such joyous occasion out" [Zaidi] (Go Zaidi Go!) [Diana] "Ohh... What do we have here?" [Ash] ((Murderous intent detected. Murderous intent detected)) [Lara, Nara] It''s obvious (for outsider that is, not for Charlotte), that The Fourth Prince Zaidi do have a crush on Charlotte. Since Charlotte is still a little girl in my heart, I can''t help but to interfere with it, but "Just let them be" [Rafiah] "No" [Ash] "She''s twelve, and she do know how to take care of herself" [Rafiah] "Rafiah, I thought we had a mutual agreement that I will be overprotective toward the girls, and you towards the boys?" [Ash] "I don''t even remember such agreement!" [Rafiah] "But you''re quite overprotective when it comes to young Singa and Save back thenl" [Ash] "That has nothing to do with romance! They''re just brash and always careless most of the time!" [Rafiah] I guess it''s only me feeling that, or she''s just denying it because there are peoples around her. Definitely the other, I hope and think so "Well, you''re late. See that?" [Diana] "Should I use space magic or wind magic to separate them?" [Ash] "L E A V E THEM A L O N E" [Rafiah] "Sigh... Fine" [Ash] And now, I kinda get why The Traveler King and Alice''s dad reacted when they saw their respective child getting married "I''m beat..." [Seo Ah] "Thank you for guarding us" [Rumia] "That''s our job" [Naoto] "Two beloved daughters of Goddess Achalasia all defenseless, of course people will try to get their hands as dancing partner left and right" [Valkyrie C] "If that''s the case, why don''t I dance with you?" [Saint Louis] "With pleasure" [Rumia] "How about you Seo Ah?" [Kanji] "I''ll take your offer" [Seo Ah] One by one, everyone started to dance, and the climax is of course "Go Rean Go!" [Kadeus] "Do your best Jacks! Just don''t vomit on your wife face!" [Female elf adventure] "That''s an awful way to give an encouragement" [Crow] Those four started to take the center of the attention, with us adding spells left and right just to make them clearly stand out from the rest, but as you guess it, things done without any plan tend to go haphazardly, so we all unconsciously decided to let the Fairy Queen Titania do the honour of doing it "It started to get crowded" [Ash] "How about we use the corner over there and dance" [Diana] "I''m in" [Ash] The two of us, leaving the other behind, start dancing. Diana guided me patiently, with each steps she takes, she skillfully guided me without even uttering a single word, and yet, I am able to match her rhythm perfectly... No, she''s just that good that she actually improvised my clumsy attempt on dancing into a beautiful dance, guiding it along the way just to make it look even more spectacular "You''re still in a worse shape... Aren''t you..." [Diana] "You can tell?" [Ash] "That I do... Should we stop?" [Diana] "Don''t worry, I''m fine. Let us keep going a little longer" [Ash] "Tell me when you start feeling discomfort alright?" [Diana] "I will" [Ash] Our dancing session come to a halt as "..." [Alaric] "Umm... Brother?" (He''s angry isn''t he) [Alicia] (Deep breath... Deep breath) [Qis] "..." [King Estel] "Umm... Dearest dad?" [Diana] "Let leave those two lovely bird shall we" [Fourth Queen] "Appreciate it" [Ash] So that''s how I look like when Rafiah tell me to leave Charlotte and Zaidi alone. Chapter 412 - 412: Offering a solution It''s the day after their memorable wedding, as Saint Rumia and Alicia are ready to depart with the help of Holy Beast of Light and Goddess Achalasia, I actually stop them, at least just for a while as I need to tell them two important things, the first being "An imperfect homunculus?" [Old lion duke] "Mother is a Homunculus!?" [Singa] "Kinda, it''s much more complicated than that. I would even go as far as to say that she isn''t the current text book definition of Homunculus" [Ash] ""True. Different from Mahsuri and us"" [Lara, Nara] Those two were having the most confusing face when I first mentioned the word Homunculus, but now, they''re somewhat showing less confusion in their face. They still didn''t grasp what I would like to say, which is fine. Second thing I will do is "You can do that?" [Charlotte] "Yes. I believe I can offer you the solution for the Sea Serpent Project. It''s a good project and I am sure it will bring benefits both on a short term and long term" [Ash] Both Singa and Charlotte come straight to me after the confession to discuss their problems with me, and magically enough for them, I can offer the solution to their problems. The first to take priority is of course "Let us get back to Mrs Sachmis over here" [Ash] As I said that, I begin to scan her lifeless body, and what do you know "Yup. As expected" [Ash] "What? What happen?" [Old lion duke] "Please tell us she''s fine!" [King Leogris] "The best description that I can give now is that she''s akin to Linda, and yet different from her" [Ash] "Like Big Sis?" [Liyana] "You mean, she can become a minion of God of Death like I am?" [Linda] "That she could, or I could just fix and place her soul properly back inside her body" [Ash] "!" [All] ""But we can''t detect her soul!?"" [Lara, Nara] "True. If we can, the problem will be long solve" [Linda] "Plus, you said just now she''s an imperfect homunculus, even though she didn''t fit perfectly into the definition" [Diana] "Care to explain?" [Titania] "Gladly" [Ash] Of course, the case of Singa''s mother, Sachmis is a complicated one, so let just break it down one by one, as simple as possible to them Let start with the area I am most confident with, that''s regarding her soul 1. Regarding the soul, it''s there, that much I can tell, or else the body will begin show sign of decay. It''s further supported by the fact that my scan magic using the power from God of Death did in fact, show her status as alive 2. For a lack of better word, her soul is... Misaligned. That''s the best description that I could give to them. Kinda like the feeling when you can fit something into an empty box, but you know it shouldn''t be place that way "But she''s rather..." [Farhah] "I won''t deny it, but it''s there. Not only her soul, but also, you can actually makes out a bit of her vital, however impossibly low the vitals are" [Ash] "Is it?" [Rafiah] Rafiah try to inspect her once more, and as expected "There isn''t any sign of life though? Just like how Yefefiah and I inspected it few weeks ago" [Rafiah] "Like I said, it''s impossibly low. She might breath one or twice... who knows in a day? Even her heart rate follow the same pattern" [Ash] "How is that even possible?" [Zerolith] "Unless... But how!? Even if she knew of Dwarf racial magic, she couldn''t possibly!?" [Karon] "That''s a bit puzzling for me as well" [Ash] Karon did told me regarding his dad and his racial magic yesterday, so it''s either a pure coincidence or there is some sort of connection Which bring me to my not as solid as the first point "Her body, it somehow behave like that of an imperfect homunculus. Naturally, she, just like any other imperfect homunculus should die without proper maintenance, but she doesn''t. Either it''s due to the powerful life force from the Holy Beast of Fire or because she''s afflicted with Puppet magic of the dwarf, just like how Karon''s dad was like" [Ash] That''s the simplest way for me to tell them, and understandably "So, can you cure her?" [Singa] "Yes, and no. Rather, sorry once again, for the of better word, I will said I can only patch her up" [Ash] "Why?" [Old lion duke] "Her soul misalignment is not only due to "misplacements", but also part of it still inside the Holy Beast of Fire. Plus, her body shouldn''t be possible to support life without her relying on some sort of mana supplement" [Ash] ""Just like us back then..."" [Lara, Nara] "Hence, why I used the word imperfect homunculus" [Ash] Well, that''s the gist of it "So, we should start searching for Simba the..." [Savel] "That won''t be necessary" [Ash] "Why is that?" [Aries] "I can just heal her up, and let her lead the way" [Ash] "Is that even possible?" [King Druser] "It is. Soul will yearn for part of their soul should it gone astray. We can definitely take advantage of that" [Ash] "I see! That''s good news indeed!" [Mara] "Can you start right away? I feel bad just leaving her like this when we could let her join the conversation" [Rumia] "Saintess Rumia right, I also feel bad" [Rean] "I will. Diana, do you manage get it?" [Ash] "The A rank fire magic core? I even made several copies of it with The Goddess Treasure Chest" [Diana] "Really! That''s great" [Ash] At least there''s more to spare, which I can use as a backup should something gone wrong "Did you buy the magic core?" [King Leogris] "That I did, from the merchant guild itself" [Diana] "Please, let us pay the cost back" [Old lion duke] "Don''t worry, consider it my way of helping my little sibling" [Diana] "Sis Diana..." [Singa] That''s rather heartwarming... I should start right away and give them more reason to smile! Chapter 413 - 413: Sachmis, The Red Lion once again _________________________________________________ [In a certain country] [Simba, The Dark Lion point of view] "So, the witch in question, alongside the angel king Seraph and King Druser of the Demon Kingdom are both in Estel?" [Serial killer dwarf] "As do most of the heroes, plus..." [Second traitorous prince of Demon Kingdom] Plus... "It looks like The Behemoth Slayer is there as well, albeit he''s injured from what the first prince of Estel mentioned" [Second traitorous prince] "!" [All] "That bastard..." [Fawan] "Here is what happen" [Second traitorous prince] So, the rumour that the Behemoth Slayer was with the devil is indeed the truth, and now, he''s back, together with the other heroes, helping them all "Isn''t is hard, kidnapping those three in a situation like this?" [Fawan] "It is, but this is also a golden opportunity" [Second traitorous prince] "They''re in a cloud nine, and thus, they tend to get careless around this time. Plus, with the help of those inside Estel, we can do it" [Serial killer dwarf] "We have to trust both the first prince of Estel and your brother there to do the task" [Simba] If we can do this, the operation can enter it final phase. "LET US GO! YOU TRAITOR!" [King] The king of this country, whom we kidnapped and replaced with an imposter make his daily ruckus. He''s not that important, so we shouldn''t really keep him any longer, but, he''s actually a good candidate for our experimentation and thus "!" [Simba] "Something wrong?" [Second traitorous princes] "..." [Old Demon King] "No... Nothing..." [Simba] What... What was that? Was it just my imagination (Sachmis?) [Simba] _________________________________________________ [Singa point of view] Brother Ash, whom after six whole years of disappearance, finally come back to us. Not only that, he, alongside his presence, bring us joy that is undescribable, and he will further make it, by first helping to heal my mother """Can we help???""" [Linda, Lara, Nara] "Sure. The more the better" [Ash] "I remember helping you during Linda''s case, so I should do the same as well" [Rumia] "I appreciate it. Just do it like the last time" [Ash] "I guess the best other can do now is simply watch" [Saint Louis] He first take the magic cores that were brought by Sis Diana and start making some sort of modification to it first, before trying to... "Rumia, can you?" [Ash] "Leave it to me" [Rumia] "Alright, men out" [Ash] "I''ll just cover it up with some mist, that way they wouldn''t see anything" [Titania] "It''s fine. We will go. It feel disrespectful after all" [Zerolith] Saintess Rumia remove the clothes from mother, and with that, they started to talk about implanting the magic core that were brought into her. Even when we exit the room, we can still make out the discussion of it. It looks like Fire Magic Core from a lesser dragon were used since it''s of the highest quality (not as good as The Holy Beast of Fire, Hell Tiger Har, but as a temporary replacement, it''s more than suffice) "Here''s the thing about creating Homunculus. You''re basically forcing a monster characteristics of having a magic core into us, being with no magic core, and as such, it requires extensive modification. That is, if you couldn''t perform this" [Ash] "Perform what?" [Diana] We don''t know what he will do, but Charlotte told us it''s ok now to enter as they already done making preparations. It looks like they implanted the magic core into the chest area of mother, and Brother Ash is about to perform something "&# Homunculus +2qbsu ja-2!" [Ash] "THAT LANGUAGE!" [Htilorez] Htilorez shouted, and for a good reason "The language of the ancient devil!?" [Khamishah] "True. More specifically, the language first used by God of Life" [Titania] "Plus, the spell that Ash is currently using, it''s a branch of God of Life technique as well. Looks like he''s using memory from Saint Vincent as a guidance" [Mahsuri] "That sure look complicated" [Ant Aries] Brother Ash start to sweat profusely, but Charlotte quickly uses some of her water magic to cool him down, while Kara start using her wind magic to blow some gentle wind. We wanted to ask questions but given how extremely focus Brother Ash is, we couldn''t ((This doesn''t look as painful as they once did to us...)) [Lara, Nara] (So this is how I was created by Vincent... No. It''s slightly different, and it''s also different from the Mermaid King and mine attempt to save Charlotte back then...) [Mahsuri] Mother''s body begin to undergo rapid decay and regeneration as new tissues quickly rotten and being replaced by a new one. Plus, there''s some sort of special blood vessels forming from the center up to the periphery and once it''s done """!!!""" [Linda, Lara, Nara] "You three look surprise? Did something went wrong?!" [Elise] Elise take the word straight out of my mouth. The answer however, is a reassuring one "So that''s what you mean by misalignment of the soul" [Linda] ""We can detect it. Mrs Sachmis soul"" [Lara, Nara] ""REALLY!!"" [King Leogris, Old Lion Duke] "Right. Now that the body is that of a homunculus, we can start fixing the soul" [Ash] "Pardon me Ash, but why didn''t you fix the soul first?" [Haliza] "If I did, her soul might not be able to stay since her body is too weak to support life. She might pass away due to natural cause" [Ash] "so now...?" [Singa] "Yes, it''s fine..." [Ash] He started to breath heavily. He''s still not fully recovered after all, but he keep pushing himself """"Leave it to us!!!!"""" [Rumia, Linda, Lara, Nara] "I''ll aid in however I can as well!" [Seo Ah] "If that''s the case, I''ll just instruct you on what to do" [Ash] And thus, with Brother Ash instruction, they slowly making progress. Sentences like align this to her head, and this one goes here keep on being repeated, and finally "Now we just wait for her to wake up" [Ash] "How long will it take?" [Singa] "That, I am unsure of. It could take anywhere from..." [Ash] "SIMBA! DON''T!" [Sachmis] Mother suddenly grab Brother Ash''s arm and squeeze it hard, with her claw striking deep down into the bone "OUCH!" [Ash] "Kucin!" [Anjin] "Hmm!" [Kucin] The two quickly save him, and "Sachmis! It''s me! It''s me!" [King Leogris] "That voice... Leo? AND is that you! Father!" [Sachmis] "Sachmis..." [Old lion duke] "I''m glad mother is finally back" [Singa] "Mother...? Wait... It couldn''t be... Singa?" [Sachmis] I''m glad, though my feeling isn''t as strong as the relieve and happy face of grandpa and King Leogris "I''m glad, but can you guys actually heal me up a bit..." [Ash] ""Stop it. Don''t spoil the mood"" [Qis, Alaric] "Are you two still angry about me dating..." [Ash] ~Deadly glare~ "It''s fine. I''ll patch him up" [Rafiah] "Thank you Brother Ash!" [Singa] That, I should say as Sis Rafiah try to stop the bleeding "Sure. Anything for you guys" [Ash] I''m glad that he''s still someone that we could still rely on Chapter 414 - 414: Direction The reunion of a family will always be something touching for me... Which also mean "Sad that he will leave you?" [Aries] "Won''t deny it... Rean, Kara, Mara and now Singa... But I''m also blissfully happy for them as well" [Ash] "We are like a parent after all, so I can relate with what you''re feeling right now" [Mira] "True. If their happiness mean separating from us, then it''s for the best" [Khamishah] "As their guardian in Demon Kingdom, I will say that''s indeed the truth. If you love something, then set it free" [Female paladin] So us the director of orphanages from different countries all share the same feeling, as Sachmis started to rub on Singa''s head multiple time, all the while hugging him tight. Well, he did met with his grandfather before, but couldn''t really come back due to some issue that I don''t know whether it''s resolved or still ongoing, but now... Just like how Aries wanted to take care of Kara and Mara back, I will give the same permission as well. It simply a cruel thing to separate a family without any solid reason "Ha....Ha...." [Sachmis] "Here''s something to eat" [Rean] "I don''t feel hungry for food, but thank you young gentleman" [Sachmis] "Your magic core just started to functioning, so you''re experiencing a transient lack of mana. Just give it some time so that it could work properly" [Ash] "My magic core?" [Sachmis] "Mom, let me introduce you to Brother Ash" [Singa] "Brother Ash?" [Sachmis] "Well, I better explain everything, maybe from the very beginning itself so that you''re aware for what happen" [Ash] "Dear, I think you can leave that to me. I can fill in the gap of your absentee for the past six years as well" [Diana] "If you insist" [Ash] And thus, I take the backstage pass and let Diana roll the story from me. She even went as far as my first day inside this country, mentioning the fact that I was reincarnated from Earth and my mission is to help this siblings of mine to defeat the fallen god. How I created the Orphanage, the up and down that happened. All of it. Even my death and what''s to come (They... They couldn''t smile for the first one year huh...) [Ash] Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. "!" [Ash] "It''s fine, you''re here with us now. That''s what matter" [Charlotte] "That''s right... Thank you. Charlotte" [Ash] The sudden hug really caught me off guard, so much so that I give Charlotte a head pat like I used to, only for her to deny it since she''s after all, a "grown up" girl... Yeah, fair point, you must be ashamed of me doing this thing. That actually hurt, and what more hurtful is "I see... Care to tell if there''s any diplomats or any of their royal member currently present on Estel? I would like to have a little word with them" [Ash] "No. There isn''t" [Ceanu] "How fortunate of them, escaping hell that will come should I find them right now itself" [Ash] "Please, just multiply it by a hundred fold whatever you''re imagining right now. I''m still mad about them trying to lock me up!" [Charlotte] (I guess those two really are sibling. They think alike) [Crow] "Dear, can I continue?" [Diana] "Please by all mean my Dear Diana, and maybe you could tell similar story of any idiots trying to harm my siblings in any way possible. Give the preparators name whenever possible as well" [Ash] "I know what you''re thinking, but please don''t. I already done something about it" [Diana] "I appreciate that, but I feel like giving some extra services. That''s all" [Ash] So, some stupid royalty tried to take Charlotte all for themselves. Unforgivable! I should really come up with something as to... (Brother Ash, it''s obvious what you''re thinking right now) [Farhah] Farhah whisper it to me. Not that I care. (She''s increasing her pace isn''t she) [Qis] (That, the princess do) [Alaric] "And that''s the gist of it" [Diana] "..." [Sachmis] "Gist of it"... That''s actually a long doc.u.mentary if you ask me. I kinda wanted to hear more from the last six year, but maybe I should save it for another time. Even if they didn''t want to tell me, I can just hit up the adventure guild for any information, od really, just about anyone. They will surely tell me, though I have to hide my true intention "Fallen god awakening... My son becoming one of the ten holy heroes? Orphanages? So many things happened while I was "asleep. I feel ashamed. As a noble, I fail not just to protect The Holy Beast of Fire, Hell Tiger Har, but also fail to see my son in his journey to become a full fledged hero" [Sachmis] Oh wow. Colour me Impress. She''s like that of a noble knight you see in manga and novel. She does carry around the same air of dignity like Qis does, but she''s bolder and even more expressive compare to Qis "Sachmis, what actually happened back then? I thought you were killed by..." [Old duke] "I almost was, if not for my husband and Simba saving me" [Sachmis] "That husband... It''s him right?" [King Leogris] "Yes... Yes it is. Simba''s half human half lion beastman little brother" [Sachmis] Simba. I guess it''s inevitable for us to talk about him whenever this kind if issue arise "Goddess... I can''t even remember much. I do remember that I was chased by Saintess Angela and her minion, but beyond that. Even the reason was all too hazy for me..." [Sachmis] "Ash?" [Haliza] "Either it will come naturally or some of the components are still inside the Hell Tiger Har" [Ash] That''s the only natural conclusion I can come up with "Tell me, if you are to falter a guest, which direction do you think will Hell Tiger Har currently be" [Ash] "There" [Sachmis] Before she can even think about it, her hand raise up and show toward a certain direction, even without her realising it. "Perfect. With this, we can know the current location of the True Beastman Group" [Ash] "Maybe we can use the extensive map of Achalasia that was created by the engineer to further pinpoint it" [Karon] "That would be a great idea, but let her rest first shall we" [Diana] True. Let her rest, she''s still trying to gasp for air after all Chapter 415 - 415: Just take a day to rest! "Just let me touch my sword at least! I need to get back my strength and help Singa back as soon as I can!" [Sachmis] "Mother! You can''t! You''re still too weak!" [Singa] "Which is more of a reason I need to gain my strength back!" [Sachmis] "Geez... You''re stubborn, but in a positive way. I sincerely admire that" [Ash] "Brother Ash! Just help us convince her!" [Savel] Good point Savel, the thing is... "No! You have to rest as well! You''re in a horrible shape!" [Charlotte] "But I need to help you with your current project!" [Ash] "Dear, you can''t even walk properly yet, so please just listen to us and get a good rest" [Diana] "But..." [Ash] "Pot calling the kettle black" [Elise] "That he is" [Zerolith] Yup, I can''t disagree with that, so I guess the best I can do is "Fine... I''ll take a rest" [Ash] "Good, now let me..." [Diana] And Diana stumble a bit. Qis quickly help her, and "Your highness..." [Qis] "But..." [Diana] "Welcome to the resting club" [Ash] Poor Diana. She just can''t catch a break isn''t she. Plus, she''s the hardest to convince among the three of us. I could just play with my little siblings, and Sachmis can just reminiscing the past or talk with Singa more and more, but Diana might not have anything to do. Come to think of it, I don''t even know what she usually do in her leisurely time. Better still, did she have any leisurely time for herself? (On one hand, I wanted to spend my time more and more with the kids, but on the other hand, I wanted to spend my time with her as well...) [Ash] "What are you thinking of, Brother Ash?" [Karon] "I was thinking of an activity that involves Diana and us together" [Ash] "Trying to include us in your date?" [Farhah] "Naturally. I mean, I can just leave you all behind and go out for a date with her, but that is just inappropriate" [Ash] "..." [All] It take me a moment by looking at their dumfounded faces that I realized I just blurted out my thought. Diana''s reaction however "A date that involves them as well... A tea party maybe?" [Diana] "For our first date? That might be a good idea. I''m no expert when it comes to tea but I do know it can help us relax" [Ash] "True! Plus, I can personally teach them tea etiquette as well. Now that I think of it, I never really had the time to taught a class or two with them, so this should be a fine opportunity" [Diana] "That settles it. Care to join us?" [Ash] "Tea! Sweets! Of course!" "The tea from the castle should be good, right?" "Of course it will!" They''re all getting excited. Well, I don''t think we can get the tea from the castle, so let just make do what we have right now Housey and Calypso Tree quickly set up a long wooden table, and some special table for us two. "I''m impressed that you actually consider setting up a special table for us" [Ash] "True. What a smart magic core" [Diana] That they are. Claude, after bringing some of the tea leaves from the kitchen, begin demonstrating his etiquette skills Infront of us all, and as usual, he display nothing but only the highest of calibre a butler can do. The younger group, impressed with his etiquette, begin imitating him, and me, being their older brother, try to play along with their lousy attempts but "Ouch! Your pinch hurt!" [Ash] "Do it properly" [Diana] "But..." [Ash] "D O I T P R O P E R L Y" [Diana] "Yes Ma''am!" [Ash] Need to observe Claude carefully, from how he lift his finger to "Ouch!" [Ash] "Such lousiness!" [Diana] "Diana... This is a date right?" [Ash] "Why of course, but this is also a teaching lesson. As such, I need you to demonstrate the highest level of display befitting of a future king" [Diana] She''s taking this extra seriously... "Sigh... Br... Ouch!" [Ash] "No sighing" [Diana] "Someone! Anyone! Help me!" [Ash] And just as I expected "Ha! You missed!" [Ash] She tried to pinch me for asking a help, only for me to dodge the deadly pinch, but... ~Deadly glare~ "Here you go Your Majesty Princess Diana. Pinch me however you like... OUCH!" [Ash] (Scary) (Grandpa Claude, please teach us properly...) (We don''t want to end up like that) "Hohoho" (To be young) [Claude] Someone... Anyone... "I told you didn''t I not to ask for help" [Diana] "Technically, you don''t... OUCH!" [Ash] Alright! No more! "Fine! I''ll only display the highest quality of etiquette skills! Just watch me... OUCH! Can you stop that!" [Ash] "No shouting" [Diana] She''s enjoying this! "Yes I am Dear Ash" [Diana] She admitted it easily . . . What started as a date turn my hand into a mass of redness from her pinch. Nonetheless, it''s a good date. They''re all having a happy and satisfying face, and so do I, so much so that it actually makes me wanted to take a walk with Diana "We wanted to follow!" "No! You guys stay behind and clean the table" [Mira] "Ehh..." "Haha, thanks" [Ash] We take a walk across the neighborhood area, and it really feel refreshing. Just the two of us, and bunches of guard stalking us out from a far. Ignore them. Ignore them "Sorry for your hand, dear" [Diana] "Well, maybe I will become your husband, so that level of training is mandatory" [Ash] "Maybe. Can''t you just say I will definitely become your husband" [Diana] "That... I guess you''re right, dear" [Ash] Me and my negativity. I should just make sure Me Rean and the other comes back home safely after our fight with the fallen god "..." [Ash] "What''s wrong?" [Diana] "Qis, Alaric, do you feel it?" [Ash] They quickly come closer, as do the other hidden vampires guard "We did" [Qis] "It was brief, but there''s definitely someone stalking us" [Alaric] "!" [Diana] "This can''t be good" [Ash] "Ash, can you?" [Alaric] "I will. Considering the time we are now, ignoring it is a suicidal move" [Ash] But unfortunately, we can''t find anyone or anything suspicious. This... This makes me feel unease Chapter 416 - 416: Helping Charlotte part 1 The one stalking us yesterday, this bad feeling that I had ever since yesterday, it still wouldn''t go away, as such, they''re all asking me "is everything alright?" "You look like you''re in trouble" and the variation of those questions. I can just tell them that my intuition is telling me something bad will happen, but there''s no evidence per se to point it out. However "Since her highness blessing is currently inside of you, I will not take it for granted. That mere bad feeling might turn out into something big. As such, I already immobilize some of the guard and knight on a patrol" [Qis] "Thank you, please let me know should they find anything strange" [Ash] "That goes without saying. Plus, I''m sure they will find you even without me telling them that" [Qis] With that out of the way (for now at least), the most dreadful hour of mine finally come. There''s no helping it, as I step into the castle. For me, those six years went by quickly without me even aware of, so it feels like I am about to step inside the castle, reporting the incident that happens in the Holy Palace. For some of the familiar faces, like the maids and guards however, they actually react rather positively. Not all of them though. The one that''s on Princess Diana side will be happy to see me, but the other one, well, let just said I am more than happy if I can go back home now, happier than them not seeing my face "Stand straight up. You''re an important person in this meeting" [Sachmis] "I already warned him multiple times. I almost give up" [Qis] "Then you should just do it by force" [Sachmis] Sachmis quickly take his scabbard and poke my back, and my reflex cause me to automatically stand up straight "You two! You really can become best friends with one another with those attitude!" [Ash] "Brother Ash, please don''t shout. Plus, mother is right. It unfitting for you to show that you didn''t want to come here through your posture" [Singa] "Fair point, but by doing so, I can avoid needless conversation, which in turn let me get back home quickly" [Ash] "That''s one leap of logic" [Savel] "..." [All] Just like that, our conversation come to an end, and since the silence is a good sign for other to start mingling with us (and by us, I mean those ten), I quickly start another random conversation with them. I do notice the nobles are trying to approach Rean and other so that they could get close to them, but I just hate those eyes. They could at least hide their true intention but they didn''t. This go on until we get to the meeting room, where we quickly take our seats. Just like what King Estel promise, it''s only those I am uncomfortable with, but "Pardon me" [First Prince] "And you have to come and ruin the mood for me" [Ash] "I guess our feeling is mutual, though I will say I am looking forward for any good solution from you" [First Prince] "That, you can" [Ash] "Good, otherwise, I would not let this Sea Serpent Project to move forward" [First Prince] "Geez, just like what they say. You did realize they''re technically mine to begin with" [Ash] "And yet it''s beneficial for the countries that it should be under us to make a rightful decision as well" [First Prince] "Fair point" [Ash] The meeting still didn''t start and we already have our usual tone of conversation. Though of course, I didn''t mind him that much, since he''s at least, argue with fact and logic. "Please let us in!" "We need to know as well!" "Should this project become useful, we have the right to be involved and protect our country as well!" "You already took all those heroes for yourself! At least let us protect our country through this!" "That, will depend on the gentleman here" [King Estel] I really wanted to say don''t let them in. I just can''t relax knowing that their eyes are one that trying to take any sort of opportunities for themselves, but (Some of them are desperate enough, and it''s a genuine one) [Ash] It''s difficult for them to fight against the devil without the presence of heroes. Estel, Malsia, Kiserre, Old Headquarters, Beastman Kingdom, Demon Kingdom. In a way, their accusations of these countries hogging my little siblings is rather true. They''re the one protecting my little siblings and as such, my siblings simply return the favour. However, a hero should appear fair and unbiased "Fine. Should we move to a bigger room? Though only one from each countries may come" [Ash] "Really!" "Please! Make it two" "Except the country from where that person originate. Make it zero" [Ash] "No! Please don''t!" "Alright, but know more bargaining" [Ash] "Brother Ash, that was bad of you" [Charlotte] "Don''t praise me that much Charlotte, you''re making me shy" [Ash] "You know I wasn''t praising you right" [Charlotte] "Of course, you''re my little sister after all" [Ash] Plus, this whole meetings thing is, in the end of the day, for their sake. I want to reduce their workload whenever possible And thus, each countries representative are chosen by themselves. King Malsia, whom age make him appear friendlier, actually give some sort of advice to the attendees. I can''t really hear what he say, but I can guess the contents. I guess he wanted for more and more countries to participate as well, for the sake of humanity as a whole. What a great man you are. In fact, I''m sure this whole thing was planned, so that I myself give the permission for them to join the meeting "That''s correct. That way, you wouldn''t really get irritated and prevent those countries from their potential destruction" [Gizzere] "Ultimately, it will benefit us all should they survive this whole ordeal, don''t you think" [Fourth Queen] "Geez, I kinda miss those mind readings ability of the two of you" [Ash] After we get relocated "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen" [King Estel] "It''s an honour to have you here today" [Diana] Well, let just get started... (Again. This bad feeling) [Ash] (Brother Ash?) [Rean] (Are you alright?) [Elise] (Don''t worry, I am) [Ash] Just that... (Where''s King Druser? Seraph as well. Why are they late?) [Ash] Chapter 417 - 417: Helping Charlotte part 2 Now, to start with, why don''t we have Charlotte here to tell back the problem she''s facing in her... "I''m sorry, we are late" [King Druser] "Please, forgive us" [Seraph] "You two are late" [Demon Queen] "Just where do did the two of you go?" [Female paladin] "It''s fine, just please, take your seat" [King Estel] "..." [Ash] "..." [Rumia] (They''re hiding it pretty well, but just why are they staring at King Druser and Seraph rather intensely?) [Saint Louis] (Interesting) [Diana] Hmm... "Can I continue?" [Charlotte] "Oh, yes please continue" [Ash] "Well, to summarize, our current problem will be the layer of complexity surrounding the spell itself. Some of the structure of the spell are literally unknown to us. Not only that, the amount of mana and the precision to fire it off, it need to be done without a margin of error, if not, the effect will simply become disastrous" [Charlotte] "That''s the short version of it. Since one of my spell is being used, I can tell that it isn''t as easy as she make it sound. The magic circle, like a gear of a clock, is interdependent with one another. One wrong move and the cascade of effect will definitely spiralling down to an uncontrollable situation" [Queen Rinz] "The engineering team Mr Erinmorlin and I had test run countless simulation, so far, the results shows that it could be done under extreme precision, and that chance further increase with the three of them here with us" [Haliza] She point her finger to Lara, Nara and I. It''s true, we can do that, considering we can use every elements possible. Not only that "Artificial intelligence?" [Diana] "Well, that''s the term they used in my world" [Ash] "Are you an expert on it?" [Lisa] "In my world? Of course not" [Ash] "Then why do you plan on taking this risk?" "Are you mocking us?" Some of the diplomats, who''s just worrying about the fate if their countries, couldn''t handle the joke. Well, I feel bad for them, and what''s more, the tense look at Crow and Ceanu Reaves faces as they thought I will just throw those diplomats out of the room makes it even worse, as if I am some sort of villain mastermind. Maybe I will, but this time, I guess the blame is on me for making a joke at a wrong place and time "Calm down. He isn''t that type of man who will say something and fail to deliver it" [First Prince] Even before Diana try to back me up, the first prince does. He just wanted to access the whole situation without any sort of disturbance, so that''s why he make the cal. That, as well as making sure that those diplomats knows who is the one "incharge". Crafty bastard, but whatever, I can and will make sure Diana shine "Well, I am unaware of how the artificial intelligence work in my world, but the statistical of the artificial intelligence and the spell of this project work rather in a similar way, at least that''s my impression. Take a look at this" [Ash] I bring out one water magic core and use a fortress defense magic on it, with command of putting out fire, before making a simple fire ball at my hand. It put out the fire straight away, that''s the basic of fortress defense magic, similar to that of a train AI "The problem with the Sea Serpent Project is the spell where you didn''t know the function of it. In my world, that is an enigma in itself, but in this world, I can at least know the cause of it" [Ash] "And the cause is?" [Lisa] "The complexity of the spell make it possible for them to create their own mind. Just like how Housey and Calypso Tree does" [Ash] "I see. Fundamentally, they''re self-evolving by themselves as to sustain themselves, am I right?" [Charlotte] "But is that''s the case, why can''t Housey and Calypso Tree analyze it when we asked them?" [Haliza] "Well, that simply because they lack the "brain" to do so. For once, they''re complex themselves, but the complexity of the project is far beyond them, at least for now" [Ash] "I see. So you''re planning on using them as a platform of sort, utilize them after a major upgrade to analyse the project and thus, solving the issue, am I correct?" [Diana] "80% correct" [Ash] "So, what''s the other 20%" [Muse] Well, I can tell that they''re all excited for the answer "I need Housey of all orphanages to do it simultaneously with me. This is a major project after all, as such, I need as much "brain" as possible to analyse it. The catch it, whether you like it or not, the Sea Serpent Project need to be activated first, so that we can utilize the very same project to our advantage" [Ash] "Why is that?" [Queen Rinz] "I think I kinda get it. You can upgrade the Housey here in Estel, but not in Malsia, Kiserre, Demon and Beastman Kingdom. As such, once you upgrade the "brain" here, and start the project, you can upgrade the Housey elsewhere, and start fixing the problem" [Charlotte] "Hence, why I need the project to be up running first" [Ash] "And who will help run the "brain" elsewhere" [First Prince] "For that, I need the court magician of the respective countries to help me. Diana, if you would?" [Ash] "I will" [Diana] "I know I can count on you" [Ash] "Question, what is the chance of the communication stones suddenly blown up?" [King Estel] That''s a good question. We are using the communication stones that I implanted years ago to make the telephone communication work. If it suddenly blew up, the disaster... I don''t want to imagine it "Under my hand, I can make it to less than 10%. Of course, that''s not including any unforeseen circ.u.mstances such as the devil attacking the communication stones" [Ash] That, I can make sure of. After a seriously long Q&A that drain me away "It''s decided, the project will continue" [King Estel] That it does. "Don''t you want to sing a song for this occasion, Seraph?" [Saint Louis] "Hmm? Why of course" [Seraph] "?" [Diana] (((...))) [Ash, Rumia, Saint Louis] Looks like even Saint Louis and Diana starting to felt something wrong. It''s just a faint aching of "something out of the line here". Could we be the one overthinking it? Chapter 418 - 418: Helping Charlotte part 3 [At the Orphanage] [Charlotte point of view] Today is the day. The day where I will finally use this magic core that I got from Mahsuri to realize my Sea Serpent Project, a project that utilizes the power of this magic core together with the communication stones implanted throughout the dungeon to create a line of defense network, that in theory, can send an army of marine golem at any given point of time anywhere where the spell can reach Brother Ash coming back home after six years, Rean and Muse as well as Mr Jacks and Principal Alice getting married, Singa''s mother is together with us, and of course, now, this project getting the green light approval. It only keep getting better and better (She''s humming. Looks like she''s imitating Brother Ash less and less) [Elise] We still need to upgrade our current Housey and Calypso Tree, something made easier as The Holy Beast of Earth and Mirage, Shielding Ant Aries and Fairy Queen Titania gives us the magic cores needed. Helping Brother Ash out is Kara, Karon and I as we get ourselves ready "This shouldn''t take too long, so you can just leave it to us" [Kara] "You need to conserve your mana for what is to come" [Karon] "Just let us handle it" [Charlotte] "Alright, I take your offer" [Ash] Brother Ash quickly seat next to Sis Diana. I thought he will start flirting with her, but instead "..." [Ash] He looks suspiciously at Sis Rafiah. Not only him. Sis Diana, Saint Louis and Saintess Rumia also did the same. I wonder why? "Just where is Htilorez?" [Zerolith] "Worried about your love life?" [Mara] "First, she isn''t. Second, yes, I am" [Zerolith] "Better start looking, or else you will become someone paranoia and overprotective like a certain vampire guard that we know" [Mara] "..." [Alaric] "Haha" [Alicia] "I will, right after we see this project through" [Zerolith] Just as I am about to say something to join in the conversation ""Every.hing Re.dy"" [Housey, Calypso Tree] "All right, here we go" [Charlotte] We started to upgrade the two floating magic cores that have been with us since we stay in this mansion. As a result of the upgrade "With this, the zombies and marine spawning blocks inside the Training Hall are upgraded as well, capable of producing low tier S rank monster, right Rafiah?" [Ash] "Hmm? I mean yes, we can finally utilize the full potential of it" [Rafiah] """""""...""""""" [Ash, Diana, Saint Louis, Rumia, Claude, Filvisar, Mahsuri] Maybe she was just blanking off, imagining something strange, so that''s why her response a bit strange, but now, even Mahsuri, Grandpa Claude and Filvisar started to feel something strange. "Alright, we are all good to go" [Calypso Tree] "She talks exactly like a certain annoying fairy I knew. Speaking of her, where is she?" [Ash] "Haven''t seen her" [Housey] "Maybe she''s wandering around like usual" [Farhah] "Plausible" [Singa] "Still, Housey and Calypso Tree finally get to converse normally with us" [Savel] "A great upgrade indeed" [Rean] That, it is. The kings and diplomats, seeing the floating magic cores of ours, couldn''t hide their reaction, as they''re simply speechless and impress by it "Now, it''s time for the three of you to take the stage" [Rean] "Good luck" [Muse] Muse say as she cling to Rean ""Leave it to us"" [Lara, Nara] "Let me stretch for a bit... And there" [Ash] "What''s with the body enhancement spell?" [Khamishah] "Probably because his body is still weak" [Aries] "Right you are" [Ash] It feels like there is another reason for it "It feels ages since we saw you doing your job as community leader" [Liyana] "Guess this will be the first official one after so long" [Mile] "Almost forgot. About it" [Kadeus] "Somehow, it feels nostalgic" [Lily] "Maybe we should take a photograph or two for this special occasion, right Mr Seraph" [Ray] "Why of course, this is a joyous occasion after all" [Seraph] Oh Mr Seraph, you never change do you. (Just why are they looking at him rather strangely, again?) [Charlotte] Did something happen that make them hate Mr Seraph? I can''t see anything wrong. (Charlotte? You notice their glare as well?) [Kara] ~Nod~ (I wonder what happen) [Elise] Not only us (Rean. Ray) [Muse] (What is it dear?) [Rean] (So Rean hasn''t notice it. Maybe it''s just us getting tense) [Ray] (Maybe...) [Muse] (?) [Rean] Some of us started to get rather uncomfortable. Maybe it is because all of us are in a tense situation, as the failure of this project will cause a huge loss to all countries involve ""Initiating contact with other Housey"" [Housey, Calypso Tree] ""Supplying mana and constructing spells"" [Lara, Nara] "Wow! You guys really improve tremendously. Looks like as your Big Brother, I simply need to give 200% of my... Everything!" [Ash] "GOOD LUCK!" [Charlotte] "Do your best!" [Linda] "We have faith in you" [Queen Rinz] Thus, they started to utilize the Sea Serpent magic core, and the enormous magic core started to suck a lot of mana from those three, as well as the magical mana supply from the magic tools gather beforehand "Charlotte, can you check the functioning of communication stones? Simple phone call should be fine" [Ash] "Just call my telephone" [Kana] "Right" [Charlotte] Like they said, I started to call Mr Kana, and it looks like it still functioning... Hmm? "Water mana... I can feel some sort of water mana!" [Charlotte] "So am I" [Kana] "Other, please verify it as well" [Diana] "Right!" "I should call the Court magicians of other countries that are currently involved as well" [Lisa] "I''ll help" [Qudus] And thus, we call each other. Some started to get their hand wet just by simply making a phone call, indicating that the communication stones started to absorb the mana from the Sea Serpent, causing the line of networks brim with water mana. As to compensate the other mana, those three, alongside the numerous high quality magical tools started to supply Fire, Earth, Wind, Mirage, Light, Dark and Neutral mana as well until "I''ll take it from here" [Sea Serpent magic core] "It talk!" [Calypso Tree] "Just why are you the one feeling shock" [Housey] "I can tell Housey actually takes after me with that remarks of him... Anyway..." (What should I call this enormous magic core now?) [Ash] Ohh... Brother Ash wanted to name the magic core, if that''s the case "Serpie! Please!" [Charlotte] "Gosh not again... Whatever, I leave it to your capable hand for now, Serpie our water guardian" [Ash] "Haha. This truly feel nostalgic" [Diana] Brother Ash started to sit down, while Lara and Nara continue helping Serpie here and there before ultimately did the same. Serpie mention that we should give him some time to sort something out "Phew... I''m exhausted" [Ash] "Great job Ash" [Diana] "Thank you... Seraph, why don''t you sing something for us" [Ash] "Of course, I was about to do that" [Seraph] "Maybe you should make Alicia join in as well" [Saint Louis] "SAINT LOUIS!?" [Alaric] That remarks from Saint Louis throw everybody off, especially Mr Vampire Guard "Of course, but I don''t think I will. I will respect her choice after all" [Seraph] That was surprising, coming from him. What even more surprising "Brother Ash, what are you doing!?" [Rean] "Saint Louis!" [Ash] "I know! Light magic: Light Chain!" [Saint Louis] "I''ll add as well! Earth magic: Shackles. Space magic: Cube of entrapment!" [Ash] "Brother Ash! Saint Louis!?" [Charlotte] What!? What is going on? "Ash?" [Rafiah] "Uncuffed us now!" [King Druser] Even the usually calm and friendly King Druser started to get angry. Brother Ash and Saint Louis shackles Sis Rafiah, King Druser and Mr Seraph. Just why? Everyone are simply confuse right now "What have you done to those three?" [Saint Louis] "Answer now, or we will not be playing nice cops anymore" [Ash] "Sorry that I am late, but I finally found it, the necessary materials" [Htilorez] "Htilorez?" [Zerolith] "Rumia, I think we better explain it to other" [Diana] "That, we should" [Rumia] Chapter 419 - 419: Our suspicions [Turning back the time for a bit] After the long draining Q&A session, I stretch myself just to vent out the tiredness that''s been acc.u.mulating. It feels good, albeit not much if it weren''t for Diana pinching me, saying it''s unfitting for me to do so. My bad, my bad Still... This feeling of suspicions (Try to think of it rather naturally. Don''t force it) [Diana] (Can you do it with me?) [Ash] (Of course. The blessing of the heroes companion might not be there with me no more, but the side effects still persists. It''s weaker, but I''m sure it''s still stronger than yours) [Diana] (If that''s the case, I''ll be depending on you more) [Ash] (Let just work together, isn''t it better) [Diana] (Right. Can''t let my sweetheart do all the works) [Ash] (This isn''t the time to flirt... But I appreciate it) [Diana] Think naturally... This feeling. It''s like Seraph and King Druser are still the same person, but at the same time, isn''t. The only thing that I can think of which fit perfectly into the description is (Doppelganger) [Ash] (I think the same as well) [Diana] "Ash, Princess. Are you by any chance?" [Rumia] "Good timing. I know you and Saint Louis noticed it as well" [Ash] "O Saint, care to hear on our thoughts?" [Diana] "That I do, but let move along. Stay vigilant and act natural. We don''t want them to be suspicious of us" [Saint Louis] ~Nod~ The three of us nods simultaneously. The four of us started to walk together, talking some random things but at the same time, we add in what Diana and I have been thinking "Oh no. I forgot to buy something. I guess I''ll call Htilorez and ask her to help me" [Ash] "I forgot my doc.u.ment inside the adventure guild. I guess I''ll ask ex guild master Ram to help me" (Should ask Bladel to get something as well. Maybe a strand of hair is available where King Druser stay) [Diana] Saint Louis and Rumia knows what we are trying to do. Basically, ask Htilorez help and see whether we can confirm our suspicions on those two being doppelgangers. "I see. I''ll need to gather something first. I also need to buy some material as well to prove it as well" [Htilorez] "If that''s the case, maybe she can go with Ram?" [Diana] "Htilorez, I''ll see you in the adventure guild" [Ram] "Right!" [Htilorez] Now, all that''s left is to act natural and keep our eye on those two According to those three, Htilorez need some material that can react make the DNA of the original body and the doppelganger to react. At least, that''s what I come to understand when they use the term building block of life. It can be cell, it can be tissue, but at the end of the day, they contain DNA, so that''s that My suspicion didn''t stop there however. It make sense if it''s Seraph, but how did someone as heavily guarded as King Druser can be replaced without the female paladin or his wife notice, unless... (My brother, am I right?) [Diana] ~Nod~ (But we have no evidence aside from this) [Diana] (True, which make it rather infuriating) [Ash] He''s involve as well. This sharp instinct that I got from Diana really pointed out to him. Even Diana feel the same Once we got to the orphanage, we are in for another surprise (Not Rafiah as well...) [Rumia] Damn it. If that''s indeed the case, I can tell who is the one responsible for all of this, as well as their most motive behind it. Rafiah is the witch with power Seraph and Iblis, Seraph is Seraph... But for King Druser... He might got some ties with the fallen demon king, Iblis... To finally put the nail in the coffin for us, the conversation with this fake Seraph we are having confirm it all "Phew... I''m exhausted" [Ash] "Great job Ash" [Diana] "Thank you... Seraph, why don''t you sing something for us" [Ash] "Of course, I was about to do that" [Seraph] "Maybe you should make Alicia join in as well" [Saint Louis] "SAINT LOUIS!?" [Alaric] Yup. I was told about Seraph antique during the incident at the New Headquarters, so her not hitting on Alicia, Alaric''s little sister is just plain suspicious. He is usually a debaucherous person, but now, it likes he suddenly tone down his personality, by a lot. That might happen naturally after some big trauma or some sort of incidents that change the perspective of someone life, but for him to literally do that rather suddenly is nothing but suspicious "Ash?" [Rafiah] "Uncuffed us now!" [King Druser] We tied down those three using our magic. King Druser, who is friendly and will not get angry suddenly shouted out loud startle even his female paladin and his wife. They both find it strange that Druser actually shouted out loud, so out of his character As for Rafiah, the fact that she actually almost unaware of the spawning blocks inside our Training Hall is a dead giveaway. Usually, she will be the first among us all to think of what we can do with those spawning blocks, but her response is plain suspicious. It likes she doesn''t even realize the existence of those spawning blocks "What have you done to those three?" [Saint Louis] "Answer now, or we will not be playing nice cops anymore" [Ash] "Sorry that I am late, but I finally found it, the necessary materials" [Htilorez] "Htilorez?" [Zerolith] "Rumia, I think we better explain it to other" [Diana] "That, we should" [Rumia] Thank goodness that Htilorez and Ram are finally here. The situation is a tense one, which prompted Diana and Rumia to quickly explain why we find those three suspicious "My my, you three look awfully pale, Fake Rafiah, Fake Seraph and Fake Druser" [Ash] "Htilorez, former guild master, if you would" [Diana] Amidst all this, Saint Louis and I manage to get a glance at the first prince (He''s suspicious alright, but god he is a pro at hiding his emotion) [Ash] (No matter how well you hide it, you can''t fool thee eyes of a former dark guild master) [Saint Louis] Chapter 420 - 420: Where we are heading next Htilorez is preparing something. If I didn''t know any better, it honestly look like some sort of science experiments that we performed during our school. With those test tubes in line, she first started by taking a strand of hair from the Fake Rafiah before asking for Elise and the girls to search for any strand of Rafiah''s hairs. I wanted to say it''s impossible but "This is her hair" [Elise] "One question, how do you..." [Ash] "Not answering" [Elise] She instantly shut my question down. I guess it will remain a mystery for me. Maybe because they''re close that she could identify that strand of hair she take from Rafiah''s room. Or maybe that room is only used by Rafiah? Maybe but I do know other will occasionally sleep there with her as well. Maybe it''s because her keen sense of smell coming from the yellowish brown fox beastman tribe. ~Glare~ Somehow, I get the feeling I hit the mark. Maybe it''s obvious I was thinking about it and she somehow knew I was getting the answer right. Anyway, apart from growing as a splendid older sister, she''s getting scarier as well. I guess I can''t tease her like I used to. Well, actually I can, and I''m sure it will be more fun to do so now compared to her younger self "Positive!" [Htilorez] "No way! You... What did you do to Sis Rafiah!" [Zerolith] I thought that the test tube will explode or something when the strand of hair from Rafiah and the doppelganger Rafiah mixed together, but rather, it simply vanish into the air. The medium inside the test tube is acidic, but not a strong acid. Even if the acid is on a low spectrum of pH, it will still release some sort of bubble and strange smell when you burn a hair, but this doesn''t look like the case (What more, Zerolith and Rafiah, is he finally able to completely accept Rafiah?) [Ash] If that''s the case, then Claude''s advice that one time was accurate. Time surely heal a wounded heart. He''s acting unbefitting of a priest, almost like his former rash self as a child coming back to the surface when it comes to her favourite older sister "Zerolith, I''m sorry, but can I move to the next one" [Htilorez] "Ri...Right. Sorry about the sudden outburst" [Zerolith] "Zerolith, we are all worried, but we shouldn''t disturb Htilorez doing her work" [Elise] "I know. I''m sorry" [Zerolith] Still, I thought that Htilorez can actually detect a doppelganger rather naturally without any of this test. I guess she just wanted to prove to us in a scientific manner? Anyway, she wanted to pluck a strand of hair from Fake Seraph, but "Ouch!" [Fake Seraph] (That look really hurt. Even I grimace from it) [Yefefiah] "That hurt!" [Fake Druser] "Here you go" [Ash] "Thank you" [Htilorez] Gosh, she really looks like a female version of Zerolith from up close. As I handed over the feather that I pluck from fake Seraph and a strand of hair from Fake Druser, she quickly prepare the material. According to Diana, Ram is the one getting a pluck of feather from the real Seraph, from Alice''s parents inn where he is currently staying, and as for the real Druser, it''s Bladel the one that help getting the material. "Positive. So those three are indeed a Doppelganger... but not just your average Doppelganger" [Htilorez] "And why was that?" [Ash] "Could it be... I see. I did remember you telling me about the fate of doppelganger. They are rather a paranoia type of people. Should they met someone that they are based on, they will either protect the person or simply kill them as to end any of their suffering" [Aries] "Ohh. That make sense. Considering that they''re "replacing" those three, they aren''t worried about what will happen to the real one" [Ash] Doppelganger will die if the one they''re based on die. So they will protect those who they are based on if they wanted to live long. Should they suffer from terminal illness, the Doppelganger wouldn''t die no matter what, and as such, will usually search for those who they are based on, and straight away kill them just to end their own suffering. It''s a cruel fate if you ask. Considering how they were created in the first place, there''s no escaping this fate for them "Then where is my husband currently is!?" [Demon Queen] "Goddess. I fail to protect my king! I''m sorry everyone. I''m sorry Mrs Aries for smearing the position you created as the Paladin of Demon Kingdom" [Female paladin] Those two are stressed out to the max, but "For starters, calm down. We should investigate when and where they come in contact with these three" [Aries] "I can just interrogate them now itself" [Alaric] "I can join in as well... But I won''t since I can guess who''s the one kidnapping them and how to find them" [Ash] ''Are you serious!" [Demon Queen] "I am. Sachmis, it''s all depends on you now" [Ash] "Me!? Whatever the reason is, I''m in. As a noble of the Beastman Kingdom, I can''t let the Demon Kingdom whom we are so close with plunge into chaos should anything happen to their king" [Sachmis] She really is the perfect picture of a knightly female noble. I can really see Qis taking some form of mentorship from her just to improve herself "Where are we heading next?" [Khamishah] "Good question, for now, let us use the Achalasia model inside The Higher Education to pinpoint them" [Diana] "Diana, can you take it from here. I''ll tell you whom I think responsible and why" [Ash] "Aren''t you following them?" [Charlotte] "I want to, but I need to take care of Serpie as well" [Ash] ""Then we will stay as well"" [Lara, Nara] "Thank... And one last thing. Alaric, I got a bad feeling about CALYPSO not being here, can you make them vomit out what they did to her" [Ash] ""WHAT DID YOU SAY!!"" [Filvisar, Titania] Those two, upon hearing Calypso is involved, release a cold bloodl.u.s.t stare onto the three Doppelganger. Looks like they will be involved in interrogating as well Chapter 421 - 421: Their thoughts on the relationship [Before entering a dim room] [Alaric point of view] "Are you ready?" [Alaric] "Always has" [Qis] "I will tell the other Valkyries to tighten their patrols. We can''t afford to let those three escape no matter what" [Bladel] "Appreciate it. We should start with interrogating the Fake Seraph first" [Alaric] "Right... You''re sincerely worry about Mr Seraph aren''t you" [Qis] "Why should I be worrying about that pervert loud angel!" [Alaric] "Alaric, you really are a tsundere" [Bladel] "I ain''t!" [Alaric] Right now, we are going to interrogate the three fake doppelganger that''s been imposing as Seraph, Rafiah and Fake Druser. We need to know everything about the reason as to why those three are being kidnapped, though Ash said that he knew the most probable reason (Speaking of Ash...) [Alaric] Why is he the one that managed to grasp the princess heart... I just couldn''t see how it''s possible... "Sigh..." [Alaric] "That''s a long sigh. Don''t tell me, are you actually scared of tormenting someone that looks like your best friend?" [Bladel] "I ain''t" [Alaric] "Or maybe you don''t wanted to interrogate a woman? Rafiah is a cute lady that rival Saintess Rumia after all" [Bladel] "I ain''t" [Alaric] "Or maybe you''re anxious. What if that''s indeed the real King Druser, and you somehow kill him in the process and boom... You''re now a terrorist!" [Bladel] "I ain''t" [Alaric] "Then what could possibly be the cause?" [Bladel] Bladel, the captain of the all female pegasi riding knights Valkyrie, is the one that''s anxious. While not as close as Yefefiah, she had been supporting Rafiah as one of her close friend as well. This one-sided conversation that I had with her, couple with her tone that''s trying hard to suppress the shakiness behind her words, it''s obvious that she wanted everything to settle back. With Rean finally getting married, and Ash finally coming back, the atmosphere become one that''s a pleasant to be in, and everyone, including myself wanted it to continue that way, amidst the current apocalypse that will happen soon (Again... Speaking of Ash, why is he the one...) [Alaric] I don''t mind if Princess Diana fell in love with either Sir Ceanu Reaves or Sir Crow. Those two are finest of the noble gentlemen, though I know that''s impossible. Sir Ceanu Reaves and Princess Diana has a relationship like that of a mentor and a mentee, while with Sir Crow, their relationship is that of a close co-worker. If anything, it would be even strange that Princess Diana would fell in love with either of those two As I try to close the door, Bladel, once again, have a quick chat with us two "Do your best! Or else Princess Diana and her future husband will remain anxious" [Bladel] ~Flinches~ Not just me, even Qis, Princess Diana first personal royal bodyguard flinch hearing that word. Seeing as to how our reaction is one of the same, Bladel quickly ask us "What? You two don''t actually approved of their relationship?" [Bladel] Judging from her tone, she actually approved of it. Not that we three have a say in this matter, but "Tell me, what do you think of it" [Qis] It is Qis the one that initiate the question that represent us both "Aside from his rudeness, I actually think they''re actually a great couple. Princess Diana with her political mindset that''s for the best interest of her subject, and Ash with his brash but resourcefulness for almost any situation. They actually make a dynamic couple if I am being honest. Sure, Ash is still a traveler, but at this stage, I think he had established himself as one of the most important character not only in Estel, but maybe in Achalasia" [Bladel] So that''s her opinion on those two. I can''t find any sort of argument in her judgement as what she said is the truth, but "I don''t have a quell with his status, but in regards to his behaviour... He''s acting like a barbarian with his attitude. While I do find it useful given in some situation, you can''t simply kick a noble, or any person for that matter when you''re simply pissed off" [Qis] "That''s indeed true. I do find it strange as well, that Princess Diana can ignore that side of him, but if I''m being honest, I would rather see him keep that boldness of his rather than completely throw it away. That way, he can protect our princess from any potential leeches" [Bladel] It''s not that Princess Diana can''t throw salts to those damn leeches by herself, but having Ash does indeed make it easier as well. Even I am in favour of his act whenever those damn greedy eyes stare at Princess Diana, seeing her as nothing more than their personal tools to boost their statuses up (only to get crushed by the princess) "So how about you Alaric? I can tell that we both are in the same boat regarding Princess Diana and Ash" [Qis] "Personally, I am against it as well, and my argument is the same as you. Other than that, I do agree with Bladel''s point favouring their relationship. It''s a complicated one, but at the end of the day, it''s Princess Diana and Ash''s decisions, and as such, as her personel, I will do my best to support her" [Alaric] "I guess we really are on the same boat" [Qis] "Whether we agree or not, let just make sure everything went smoothly from here on out. After all this is done, and those ten kids finally defeat God of Life, maybe we can have this sort of discussion once more, one weeks before their potential wedding that is" [Bladel] "I feel like we will always talk about it" [Alaric] "True" [Qis] After the short conversation, Qis and I quickly enter the dim room, and just as we discussed beforehand, we will first interrogate the fake Seraph. I wonder, how will the real Seraph actually react if he''s in this exact same situation Chapter 422 - 422: Lyrue Leaving the interrogation of those three fake doppelgangers to Qis, Alaric and Valkyrie, we quickly move from the orphanage (leaving Serpie behind as it configurate itself with Housey and Calypso Tree), to the R&D department since our objective is to let Sachmis use the model of Achalasia to track down Simba and his fellow conspirators With the other guests still following us around (since they needed the confirmation first hand as to what''s happening, especially to Demon King, Druser), I talk to them the most likely culprit. Of course, Diana has the same idea "The Traitorous princes of the Demon Kingdom" [Ash] "Now, they''re better known as the Meddling third party" [Diana] I see. So they''re going by that name nowadays. I think there is too much information being provided to me, that maybe it simply slipped from my mind, or maybe they overloaded me with updates after my long slumber that they just thought one of them already told me about it. Well, at least I do know their allies as well, which is strange. I know they''re working together with Simba and Serial killer dwarf, but I don''t even know that I didn''t knew about their group names. Talk about strange As for the reason why I suspect them behind the kidnapping, part of it has to do with the side effects of the blessing from Diana and another part of it is because "Me?" [Farhah] "That''s right. It suddenly hit me... We have an Avery and soon to be Mermaid Queen here with us. We also have Seraph which is basically Ruler of Angel. What we still didn''t have is Traveler King to represent dwarf. Human King and King of Beast. To end it all, we might have Iblis on our side, and that''s all made possible with a certain someone" [Ash] "That''s Sis Rafiah?" [Zerolith] "CORRECT!" [Ash] The original ten heroes, alongside those seven titles that I mentioned, they fight side by side against a common enemy that''s the fallen god. Whether it''s coincidence or planned, I get this feeling, the ten heroes and those seven representative will rise once more for the finale with God of Life. It doesn''t really matter that Farhah is an Avery while Charlotte is the soon to be Mermaid Queen, since some of the original ten heroes also bore the titles as well "But what will Rafiah do...!!!" [Claude] (I can tell Claude already knew the answer, at least the beginning of the answer) [Ash] Since witches are still clouded with mystery, even in this world.... (This world?) [Ash] Strange... Did I ever meet a witch before, on earth? Maybe Father and Mother met them? Maybe. It''s like some sort of wire inside my brain just refuse to connect just yet for me to remember it all. Plus, just why did the word "this world''s witches" bring me this much confusion? Well, there''s no point in thinking too hard about it right now. I don''t think I can come up with the answer even if I take my brain out and squeeze it dry, so let just move on to our agenda "Anyway, Sachmis, if you would" [Ash] "I just need to point out a place right?" [Sachmis] "Given how great this model of Achalasia is, I can bet my money that it will work" [Ash] "But what if I pointed out wrong" [Sachmis] "Don''t worry. Everything will be fine. Even if you can''t pinpoint out Simba''s whereabouts through this model, we can still rely on your gut feeling of where your other half of soul will be" [Ash] "A better way of doing it will be combining it both" [Flinar] "True. Your general gut feeling plus the location where you pointed out in this map. If it matches perfectly, problem solved. Even if it doesn''t, we can still do some calculations and figure out where they are" [Erinmorlin] "If it comes to the second one, you can leave it to me" [Qudus] After convincing her, she takes a step forward to the very, very meticulously crafted and detail model of Achalasia. Colour me impress. I am no expert, but even I can appreciate how they actually perfectly crafted this. The countries interconnected through various dungeons, and even each floors of the dungeons are detailed. Of course, you can''t replicate all of it exactly, but if someone wanted to complain that this model sucks, I''m sure they will be drown in spit of insult from various people defending this masterpiece "Tchh. No hesitation. Someone that been taking care of my child and his siblings are in trouble." [Sachmis] She take a deep breath, and start closing her eyes. In one quick motion, she lift her right arm and start poking at the country where she believes the other half of her soul is "THAT COUNTRY!" [Charlotte] Charlotte shout make Sachmis open her eyes. I must said, even I was surprised by her shout "Charlotte, what happen?" [Ash] And why does it looks like I am the only one left out. Rean and the others are basically shock to say the least "Brother Ash, did you remember how Charlotte was... Well... Being detained in a certain country" [Kara] "Oh that one where... I see. Is there any diplomats of them currently around? On another note, I forgot to ask the name of that country when you first tell me that story. Care to inform me now?" [Ash] "..." [Elise] "Elise?" [Mara] "No. I just remembered something as well. Just let me make a phone call to one of them really quick" [Elise] Elise take her phone and quickly dial someone. She save the number as fellow siblings, so I know that she''s calling someone from a different orphanages. "Well, the name of the country is Lyrue" [Diana] I see. So basically, our next adventure will take us to Lyrue. (One more thing....) [Ash] The first prince. Why is he still awfully calm about this? My instinct just keep telling me there''s something wrong with him Chapter 423 - 423: Night before departure part 1 The night embrace us all. Housey and Calypso Tree are still calibrating Serpie, our gigantic magic core, which will be our most powerful ally on the fight against the devil one day. The sound they produce is a loud one, but they''re self aware of it, and as such, they take precautions by themselves by erecting a vacuum barrier in order to prevent any leakage of sound, which will cause those kids to wakes up from their beautiful night sleep (And just to make triple sure) [Ash] I check their room one by one. They''re having troubles to fall asleep since their favourite eldest sister, Rafiah was kidnapped by someone that will do awful things to her. Understandable, and the exact reason (one of, or to be more precise, the extension of the reason) why I can''t fall asleep is precisely because worrying about Rafiah as well. Closing the last door, I now know that they''re all fast asleep, which is good since "Mahsuri, Titania, and Ant Aries, are you ready?" [Ash] ~Nod~ "Thank you, for taking part in it... Just to recap, all I need you to do is to watch the perimeter. Nothing more, nothing less. As for finishing the final blow to him, I''ll do it myself" [Ash] This is an important operation, one that I couldn''t afford to fail no matter what, which is why, I need these three powerful warrior by my side. Once I am getting ready to depart "Nine tail fox technique: Armour of tranquility" [Elise] "El... Elise!?" [Ash] "And not just her" [Muse] "Rean! Muse! You too!" [Ash] When did she wake up? I''m sure I saw her asleep with the little one. As for Rean, what is he doing here with her wife? Just go home and... No. No. No. I don''t want to imagine it. Shoo shoo bad perverted thought of mine. Go faraway and never come back "Brother Ash, it''s a mistake thinking that we are both still your little weak siblings needing protection all the times" [Rean] "Care to involve us in this whole secret operation of yours?" [Elise] "I might not help much, but I can''t leave the whole burden to my husband alone" [Muse] "Geez... I guess I can''t escape like last time, giving you my sweet words as elder brother... Maybe I can just force myself through and see what will happen if you stop me" [Ash] """!!!""" [Rean, Elise, Muse] Well, I wouldn''t do that, but they think I am serious about it "If you want to joke, maybe don''t take it too far" [Claude] "It''s bad for our heart" [Filvisar] "You two as well. Actually, it''s strange if you two didn''t notice my little plan" [Ash] And so now, one day before departing to Lyrue, nine of us are here, standing in front of the door where other are asleep. I just hope Khamishah here will remain asleep. If she somehow wake up and come down here, I really don''t have any choice but to ask Mahsuri, Titania and Ant Aries to chain her. Fortunately, she doesn''t "So, what''s now, Ash? I''m sure you will proceed with or without telling them. Decision is yours" [Mahsuri] "Just make sure whichever one you pick will not leave you with regret afterward" [Titania] "Oh boy, I guess this will be a tough one for you" [Ant Aries] True, but I guess it''s an obvious one. "Fine. You three are kids no more. As for Claude and Filvisar, I guess I should consult with you two before even trying this..." [Ash] Now then... How do I begin? How about I tell them my plan straight away """""!!!!!""""" [Filvisar, Claude, Rean, Elise, Muse] Yup. That''s the reaction I except them to make. It''s only natural for them to make "Before you start shouting... Neutral magic: Area of silence" [Ash] "You should start using that spell even before Elise wanted to shout... Maybe when you told us about this plan of yours..." [Muse] "Haha sorry" [Ash] As for Elise "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!?" [Elise] "No" [Ash] And my simple single word answer make her little volcanic eruption into a catastrophic one. She really takes after Rafiah after all this years, albeit, her one is scarier than Rafiah "Are you fully prepared for the consequence, not only should you fail, but also should you succeed" [Filvisar] "This will severely shaken this country, whether you like it or not" [Muse] "This is like Princess Diana and her the Holy Palace prince all over again..." [Rean] "Oh, so that''s she do with him" [Ash] "Wait... WHAT!" [Elise] "Rean..." [Muse] "Sorry, it just escape my mouth" [Rean] "Rean! Muse! Tell me more about it! Right now itself!" [Elise] It feels like some sort of political secret that shouldn''t be expose no matter what, but Rean literally spit it out from his mouth rather unconsciously. Maybe she''s taken aback by my plan that his brain simply let loose. Before things escalate any further... "So, what will it be? I am going no matter what. So what''s your choice? Rean, Elise, Muse?" [Ash] "You sure know us, excluding us right from the start" [Claude] "We will make sure the other are fast asleep, but you should also finish it quickly" [Filvisar] That''s the response that I am 100% sure they will make. Now, for those three "Let me in" [Muse] ""!!"" [Rean, Elise] "Are you sure?" [Ash] "I might be useless when it come to fight, but this us the First Prince we are talking about, and as such, I''m sure I can be of use" [Muse] "How about you Rean?" [Mahsuri] "I can''t just leave my wife alone... I''m in" [Rean] "You two... Fine! But just so we are clear, I am still against it!" [Elise] "Me too. Just keep this a secret from Diana" [Ash] "She will definitely know about it" [Muse] "I''ll just feign ignorance then" [Ash] "You make it sound so easy..." [Muse] And thus, my secret plan of exposing the First Prince go into motion with additional three persons. Worse case scenario, I might need to kill the first prince should he really is guilty Chapter 424 - 424: Night before departure part 2 "Over here. This is the best spot to sneak in" [Elise] "For the vice captain of the Valkyrie, is it really ok for you to expose this to us?" [Muse] "Err..." [Elise] "Come on. Answer her now" [Ash] "Brother Ash!" [Elise] "Let not get careless now" [Rean] Right now, we are sneaking into the Estel''s castle, with a single goal of having a one-on-one "talk" with the first prince. Talk is a rather soft word. On one hand, I am simply excusing him of working together with the meddling third party, since the only hand on my card for making this call is because of the intuition. I am rather anxious myself, should this intuition is really wrong, but since Diana also felt the same, I will trust it no matter what. Worst case scenario, and highly likely that will happen, I have to finish him off for good (Hmm...) [Ash] I give them a hand signal for them to stop moving. Rean, Elise and Muse take the message and stop. As for other three, they''re taking different route from us, just to ensure they got the whole castle covered and will inform us of any movement that will likely hinder our goal "Why do we stop?" [Muse] "This" [Ash] It''s the mana from the Fortress Defense Magic of Estel''s castle. Not just any mana, I can clearly feel Charlotte''s mana woven together into it. My best guess will be, as the court magician of the country, she is also responsible for maintaining the spell, and as such, it isn''t strange for her mana to be interwoven together with the spell. I must said, even when I wasn''t there to teach her in-depth regarding this spell, she actually do a fine job. I can tell she''s using Housey and Calypso Tree as a model to further improve the fortress defense magic of this castle, but alas, since she''s Housey and Calypso Tree as a base model, I know exactly how to mess around with it and "Done. Let''s move" [Ash] "Before we move any further... Shadow leap" [Rean] "I''ll add. Nine tail fox technique: Armour of tranquility" [Elise] "I''ll add one. No, two. Invisibility magic. Mirage magic: Barrier of Ignorance" [Ash] "Appreciate it" [Muse] Rean decided now is the best time to max out all the necessary precaution, and as such, Elise and ai added some spell from our own as well, to increase our chance of successful infiltration. With this, we quickly search for the first prince, and what do we have here... (Better record it) [Ash] He''s releasing those three fake doppelgangers, and not only that, some of the guards, they look strange. Not to mention, the guards on the floor. Wait! Isn''t that... The Valkyrie and the hidden vampires guard! They''re unconscious! "And to finish it off" [First Prince] Looks like he is trying to do something toward the unconscious Valkyrie! Oh no you don''t! ~Leap~ "You''re as impulsive as ever, Behemoth Slayer" [First Prince] "Like Fawaz... No! This is different!" [Ash] I manage to dodge his last minute attempt of grabbing me. His hand, it''s fill with some sort of mana. My instinct is telling me it will be dangerous, and as such, long range attack will be the best "Still, I wouldn''t have guess you will take action this soon. I guess my little sister sharp intuition is with you after what she had done. Always annoy me, that girl" [First Prince] "Guess there''s no point hiding it from you" [Ash] While we are conversing, I use my wind, earth and space magic to save the unconscious guards lying on the ground to safety. He doesn''t seem particularly mindful about it at all "So, why do you do this? Siding with those traitorous princes? If I''m being honest, you''re out of character by doing so" [Ash] "True. Still, if we can gather all the forces necessary to fight against the devil, wouldn''t it be better?" [First Prince] "That''s rather true, but their methods are beyond shady" [Ash] "A small price to pay, for the benefit of the royal" [First Prince] "Pardon?" [Ash] "While I am concern about the citizen, Should the top withered out, they will be left helpless after the threat of the fallen god pass by, and as such, will withered away in an instance. That''s why, for the safety and benefit of all, I should at least make sure us survive this whole ordeal. For the benefit of the humanity as a whole" [First Prince] "I see... That settles it then" [Ash] Taking my scythe out, I quickly engage with him. I can tell that he is far stronger that what he look, and I''m sure he enhanced himself one way or another with some shady method, but "I might be weak and recovering, but, there''s no way I will loose!" [Ash] "Get hi..." [First Prince] "Dark slash" [Rean] "Heaven and hell fire" [Elise] "!" [First Prince] "I guess you''re also looking down on them as mere kids." [Ash] He really didn''t expect Rean and Elise to join the fray, and in an anti climatic fight, we win without breaking a sweat "You! If it comes to this..." [First Prince] "I''ll be taking this" [Muse] "Muse!" [Rean] "Looks like I really underestimate all of you" [First Prince] Is that it... Something amiss... Muse take some strange crystal from the first prince (Titania. Mahsuri. If you would) [Ash] ((We will come and...)) [Mahsuri, Titania] "KYAAAH!" [Muse] The crystal engulf Muse, and just as she''s about to vanish "Caught you!" [Ant Aries] The Holy Beast of Earth and her minion save the day. One of the minion ant looks rather different, as it gulp down the crystal and another one try to close down the portal "I''m glad I was able to foresee this or else you will be tossed by now" [Ant Aries] "Just now... That portal?" [Elise] "It''s unstable, but I can tell one thing. That''s the portal to the devil side. He''s planning to engulf you all there" [Ant Aries] "Not to the world of Doppelganger?" [Ash] "Close. While I do know the devil and Doppelganger live in one dimension, there''s barrier erected by God of Light, Theia... No, by the current form of her, Holy Beast of Light, Angkasa that separate those two world, albeit, it''s getting thinner" [Ant Aries] "I see. Guess we are careless. I''m glad I bring you with us" [Ash] I really am. I don''t want to meet the fallen god once again. At least not now "Now then, I suppose there''s nothing much to do now except..." [Ash] The first prince, while anticipating the involvement of the holy beast, didn''t anticipate his back up plan will be spoil so quickly by Ant Aries. Rean and Elise mentioned that since the holy beats of earth here had been dealing with devil invasion on her nest before, she might develop some sort of six sense and countermeasure to it, and thus, her quick and prompt action to save us all Just as I am about to swing my scythe to his neck "Wait!" [Diana] "Diana!" [Ash] Just how did she know? Chapter 425 - 425: Morning before departure part 1 [Charlotte point of view] [At the orphanage] The night is a chill one, making sleeping together with other siblings way more comfortable. Some of them will be departing tomorrow, back to their respective orphanages after spending a week or so here, not only because of Rean''s wedding, but also because the sudden return of Brother Ash. The older one and those who met with Brother Ash before were simply overjoyed, sharing our feeling, reunited with Brother Ash after six long years, and as for the one that never met Brother Ash, they quickly open up their hearts to him, just as fast as the four other Guardian of Children (Mrs Mira from Malsia, Mrs Khamishah from Kiserre, The current female paladin of the Demon Kingdom and the one from Beastman Kingdom) After comfortably getting into my thick warm comforter and setting the air conditioner to a suitable temperature, my eye finally shut itself automatically, as my body prepare itself for tomorrow big adventure. ~Door Creaking~ Somebody at the door... (Elise...) [Charlotte] She will usually check the other little one and make sure they''re sleeping. Nothing out of ordinary here for her to get up at this hour. Plus, with how Sis Rafiah was kidnapped right under our nose, it isn''t strange should some of the little one find difficulty falling asleep. The same actually goes for me. Not only Sis Rafiah, Mr Seraph and King Druser were kidnapped as well, but, in other for me to function efficiently tomorrow onward, a good night rest is vital . . . (This wet and tingling sensation...) [Charlotte] From the castle... (!) [Charlotte] The... The Fortress Defense Magic of the castle! Somebody broke into the castle! And this mana sensation... This technique... This isn''t just some random stranger, nor the devil or the meddling third party. The one that dispel it in almost an instant, it is Brother Ash! He does it so swiftly, but the technique that he used, and the little bit of information that I get as the signal cut-off for a moment only for it to reconnected as if nothing happens... This is definitely Brother Ash! (I''m confused... But more importantly!!!) [Charlotte] I''m mad! Is he looking down at me? I know that I am the little sister here, and he still look at me just like how he used to look at me when I am still six years old, but I am one of the court magician of this country! He should do better than that to deceive me! (And Elise isn''t here... That mean...) [Charlotte] I better check the other. As I open the door and look downstairs, I notice that Mahsuri isn''t in her favourite spot as well. They''re definitely up to something "Charlotte" [Filvisar] "You''re up early little one. Having trouble falling asleep?" [Claude] "You''re hiding something aren''t you! Where are they?" [Charlotte] "My my" [Filvisar] "Looks like you caught up. Tell me, how did you know" [Claude] "Well..." [Charlotte] Apart from what I mentioned just now, Grandpa Claude and Filvisar behave like they''re hiding something. If it weren''t for the sensation I felt, and the fact that I can read the subtle facial expressions of them trying to hide something, I will think buy whatever "lies" they will feed me in order to cover them up. Honestly! We are not a child anymore! "So they''re in the castle..." [Charlotte] But for what... "You''re calling Princess Diana?" [Claude] "I am. You both won''t try to stop me?" [Charlotte] "No. They have their own reason going out at night, and you have your own reason for calling Princess Diana. Neither of you are right nor wrong" [Filvisar] "I see" [Charlotte] After I inform Sis Diana "You''re making a bit of ruckus here" [Karon] "Something happen?" [Zerolith] "Well..." [Charlotte] Looks like I wake them up. Should I wake Lara, Nara, Farhah, Singa and Savel as well? Plus, even Mrs Mira and Mrs Khamishah are here with us. So should we call them as well? "Let the other sleep" [Zerolith] "Knowing them, I don''t think any of our worst nightmare will happen, but that doesn''t mean we shouldn''t go to the castle" [Karon] "Then we should get moving now" [Charlotte] Under five minutes, we get ourselves ready, and thank goodness they left our usual Bus golem behind. Not that the other Bus golems from different orphanages are bad or anything, but we don''t want to use it without their permission And when we get to the castle, the castle guards are confuse as to why the three of us are here, but we get entry after calling Mrs Qis (with the background noise of certain someone getting preached by Sis Diana). When we get there "Charlotte... Heal my ear please..." [Ash] "Ohh... Looks like your funny joke touch my humour bone..." [Diana] ~Gulps~ Not only Brother Ash, I can see that Rean, Muse and Elise getting the same treatment, albeit one with much lower intensity. Still... (Looks like Sis Diana is both thankful and angry about whatever happen here. She isn''t angry at those three, maybe a bit, but she''s rather irritated that something happen, she wasn''t inform and Brother Ash somehow hit her nerve with one of his joke.) [Charlotte] At least that''s the impression that I got, since there is no way those three will sneak into the castle and deactivate the fortress defense magic just to prank someone "Fairy Queen, Titania, mine telling us what exactly happened?" [Zerolith] "Surely. Though I kinda want to see Ash getting nagged from his future wife a bit longer. Kinda funny. Looking at them now make me my memory replay daily lives of both Estel and Kiara" [Titania] And thus, Fairy Queen Titania fill us three about what happened "No way!" [Charlotte] "I can see that actually happened, but to think without Holy Beast of Earth, thing would go extremely bad is beyond my expectations" [Zerolith] "Thank you Ant Aries, for saving them" [Karon] "You''re welcome" [Ant Aries] As for Mahsuri, since there isn''t anything better for her to do, she just sit there, on one of the table, being served tea and biscuits by one of the castle maids, albeit she doesn''t touch any of it. Maybe a sip or two, but definitely not more than that Chapter 426 - 426: Morning before departure part 2 What''s Diana doing here? She''s panting, not only because of her running and trying to get here as soon as possible, but also, because she''s worried, worried about us. I can tell it in a glance "Brother... I, Diana Rose, hereby declare your arrest by the name of our King." [Diana] The first part, after she said brother, it isn''t hesitation, but rather, confusion. Not the confusion of why did his brother siding with the meddling third party, but rather... (Qis and the other guards. They''re hiding it quite well. Even Diana herself. The fact that they just wake up from sleep that they don''t want to) [Ash] I see. I can tell what''s happening. Three plot by three separate party, all center around the fake doppelgangers. The first prince, trying to release them. I am not sure why, but knowing him, there''s bound to be more and more reason Diana, who wanted to capture the prince by her own hand, only to be put asleep under some sort of spell. The confusion part that I noticed earlier is simple, why didn''t her brother finish her off for good when it''s his best chance of doing so. Maybe, just maybe, he wanted to let the fake doppelgangers escape, kill Diana and put the blame on both doppelganger for killing a royalty and blame Diana for her incompetency (Finally undone it) [Titania] (Undone what?) [Elise] (I''m surprised you didn''t notice it, but it actually make sense. There is a sort of hybrid spell of doppelganger and devil being put on them, to make them fall deeper into coma) [Titania] (We... We couldn''t sense it at all) [Muse] (How about you Brother Ash?) [Rean] (Unfortunately no) [Ash] (That''s even more surprising. I reckon you''re put under that very same spell plus being controlled by a devilish parasite at the same time. The fact that you didn''t even realize the same spell being used on your future wife is worrying) [Titania] (I see... I guess I really am incompetence) [Ash] (Don''t be too hard on yourself, none of us did) [Rean] Well, the third party is us, the one that sort of succeeded on achieving their goal So, to summarize Diana, knowing her brother is up to something, make a plan to capture him --> Be put under a spell --> will be killed Should I not interfere with my own plan Plus, looking at Linda''s current state, I''m sure she''s their go to should anything go south, but she''s also equally, if not, even more affected by the spell than any of them. Most probably, Linda and the other assume petty trick won''t work for someone who''s the minion of god of death, but alas, lesson learn. I guess God of Life and Death power really do antagonize each other By the way, (Just what is the trigger for them to wake from their sleeps?) [Ash] Better just ask her. I don''t know what''s with their long conversation, I''m sure it is sibling and political related stuff that I am not much interested, although by this point I should Regardless, after being chained under a powerful spell, they brought the first prince into the same confinement back. Is it appropriate? Well, since we are all here, any attempt should be futile. For now, while awaiting King Estel, I should just ask Diana how she suddenly wakes up "Charlotte call me. Somehow, just somehow, that actually wakes me up..." [Diana] "A simple phone call? That''s strange?" [Muse] "Given the situation now, I guess we can attributes it to the goddess will" [Titania] "Maybe. That''s my best bet as well" [Ash] Maybe. Since she''s close to Rumia, who in turn close to the goddess herself. Plus, she basically is a nanny that take care of my siblings, so I''m sure Goddess Achalasia won''t let all what she had done to vain (Nanny... Pfft...) [Ash] "I can tell you''re thinking of something rude" [Diana] "Of course not. How could I ever do something so cruel to you out of all people. Don''t you trust me at all" [Ash] "Suspicious..." [Muse] "Coming from Muse, I say we got ourselves a case here" [Diana] "Muse, just go back and flirt with Rean" [Ash] "Already did" [Muse] She said that while pinching Rean''s nose, which understandably, make him blush. "If Diana do that to me, it will look like a big sister doing it to her little brother. Maybe a nanny to the one she care" [Diana] "Oh! So that''s the rude thought you have just now!" [Diana] And thus, the brutally nagging from her side started. Since the atmosphere is a relaxing one (minus the fact that the first prince is still inside the confinement room that is), she continues to nag at me and my blabber mouth. (Geez... Nanny) [Ash] "What was that!" [Diana] "Nothing, my song bird" [Ash] "Gosh..." [Diana] And when did Charlotte and the other get here? Looks like they''re with asking Titania what''s happening As such, it didn''t take long for the King to get here, alongside the temper tantrums First Queen to come, demanding the release of her "good" well behaved son. I can agree with the well behaved part, but the good part, I could just show this video that we recorded earlier and "And how could I believe such recording! You might use your magic to impersonate my son and frame him for any wrongdoing!" [First Queen] "For that, we should let forensic magic expert and the court magician decide, don''t you think" [Diana] Not gonna lie, First Queen make a fair point. And what''s with the forensic magic expert. First I heard of it "Just show it later at the trial. As such, please submit the material to the court for evidence processing" [King Estel] "I better make tons of copy. Who knows, they might accidentally burn the recording or slip it into the bottom of the Rock and Sea dungeon" [Ash] Yeah, I don''t want such accidents to happen, so I should make as many copy as possible Chapter 427 - 427: Departure to Lyrue With the morning showing itself, so does some sour faces that show up with it. "I can''t believe it..." [Farhah] ""We feel betrayed"" [Lara, Nara] "Have anything to say, Charlotte?" [Singa] "Why me! You should ask those three first!" [Charlotte] "You''re equally guilty in our eyes" [Savel] "Yeah Charlotte, how dare you leave them behind" [Ash] "Brother Ash! That wasn''t even funny" [Charlotte] "Somehow, it irritates me further" [Mara] Instead of gathering in the orphanage, we gather in front of the castle, since last night incident still hasn''t wrap up just yet. Even the other orphans, alongside their respective directors, gather around to say farewell. But, that isn''t all there is to it "Please... Save him... Save my husband, Aries" [Demon Queen] "I fail as your replacement, and I fail as paladin to protect my lord... So, I ask you as well, please save the King Druser" [Female paladin] "That we will. You two should focus more on sniffing out should there be any other imposters among your ranks" [Aries] "The same go for each and every one of us" [King Leogris] "This will be tough" [Queen Rinz] "But that, we should" [Haliza] There might be other whose been replaced by the fake doppelgangers, and that''s why, we need to weed them out before they pose a much larger threat, and the one that will help with all of it is "Do your best" [Zerolith] "You as well" [Htilorez] Those two looks like a twin now. Htilorez will teach the magicians how to perform similar experiment she done to detect the fake doppelgangers That''s for the one that will go back to their respective home countries. As for us "Are you sure about it?" [King Estel] "That, I am" [Diana] "This will be the first time all fourteen of us going on a mission together" [Kara] "You forget Qis, Alaric and Co" [Ash] Qis come closer and whisper (It''s only us two, since the other vampire guards will stay to help sniff out the fake doppelgangers) [Qis] ~Nod~ I make it less obvious that I nod due to the information Qis just told, and pretend that she was threatening me should I do anything to Diana, for which all of them, from Saintess Rumia to Charlotte know that it''s just a ploy (even when they didn''t know the true content of the whisper), but "Make sure you protect my daughter with your very own life!" [King Estel] "Father!" [Diana] "I will" [Qis] (He became dense when his favourite daughter is involved) [Fourth Queen] King Estel didn''t take the clue. Both Qis and I were simply taking precaution, since we just wanted to make sure that the fact Qis told me about the vampire guards leaving behind will not spread. It might sound stupid to take this much precautions, but better be sorry rather than letting those rats escape from our grasp. King Estel however, didn''t get the clue, or maybe simply refuse to take the clue. I can''t blame him. A princess and somewhat a thug like person like me spending time together, yeah, I will react the same should I am in his shoe if I''m being honest "Well then, take care" [Khamishah] "All of you, make sure to come back home safely" [Mira] "Just make sure you save those three and yourselves above all else" [Naoto] "Sis is right" [Kanji] ~Screech~ "Bye Birdie" [Anjin] "Meow" [Behe] "You too Behe" [Kucin] "Bobunny, take care of the orphans here" [Kana] ~Chuckling~ One by one, they start to depart "May the goddess be with you" [Saint Louis] "We will come and visit you after again" [Alicia] "Goodbye, the three of you" [Seo Ah] "You as well, and make sure to stay safe and vigilant, Seo Ah" [Rumia] "I will" [Seo Ah] Saint Louis, Saintess Rumia and Alicia depart by using teleportation. They will be using the goddess orb together with the help of Goddess Achalasia and Holy Beast of Light, Angkasa to do so. If you ask me, Angkasa should just give my twelve siblings her blessing straight away, but alas, she needs us to find her first. Maybe there is a reason for it As per the one that will follow us on our journey to Lyrue, it will be "Muse, is everything ready from your side?" [Elise] "I just need Rean on my side if I''m being honest" [Muse] "..." [Elise] "That''s one nasty glare" [Linda] "Hahaha...." [Rean] "You should be more serious young girl, albeit it''s understandable for a newlyweds to do so" [Sachmis] "Sachmis, Singa, Savel and all of you, take care" [Old lion duke] "We will, father. You take care as well" [Sachmis] "This old bone still have energy behind it" [Old lion duke] It will be us, alongside Muse, Aries, Diana, Qis, Linda, Alaric and Sachmis. Diana and Muse are there, mostly for the diplomatic part, and given the situation, it''s extremely crucial role. We are up against those fake doppelgangers that take the spot of the country official, so we need their support in order to weed those fake as many as possible "Sir Ceanu, Sir Crow, Liyana, please, sniff them all out" [Diana] """We will""" [Ceanu, Crow, Liyana] So, alongside the vampires, those three will also help searching for the fake doppelgangers "Good-bye" "Take care" "Bring Sis Rafiah back!" "Mr Angel as well! He''s funny!" "I''m worried about Calypso, but I believe in all of you" [Filvisar] "Make sure to eat this before lunch" [Claude] "That we will" [Rean] And to finish it all "Don''t worry, Mermaid kingdom is safe as of now, so I will be here protecting the orphanage in your stead" [Mahsuri] "As for us, this is goodbye" [Ant Aries] "Calypso is still well and alive, I can still feel some sort of connection between us, but do help her out. As for me, I need to gi back and watch over the Forest Dungeon" [Titania] With that, the twenty of us depart, using the trusty Bus golem of ours "Buckle up everyone" [Ash] Chapter 428 - 428: Going to Lyrue part 1 _________________________________________________ [At Estel''s castle] [Liyana point of view] Shackles, finally, seeing the first prince, who tried to get me for political reasons being put on a shackles bring extra joy and euphoria to my mind. I am not from a powerful family, a mere baron, and yet, my father and mother, desperately trying to sell me off to the power hungry prince, just for the sake of keeping themselves a noble. There have been countless other who do the same to their daughters, and by all mean, I actually don''t see those girls getting threated harshly at all. No torture, nothing. They''re just getting ignore witj the prince actually showing his eye full of disgust at them, but they''re still getting the privilege they were promised. I have this feeling, that the prince just wanted to make sure each and every single one of the noble house actually abide to him, thus, he make that move "You''re looking much better today" [Crow] "True. It''s refreshing rather than your usual anxious fidgeting" [Ceanu] "I can''t help it. It feels like my mental state taking it well deserved holiday" [Liyana] That''s the best way I can describe the state I am in right now. It literally feels like my brain is on her vacation mode, relaxing somewhere in the beautiful beach at the Rock and Sea dungeon "So, any idea where to start?" [Crow] "You mean the fake doppelgangers?" [Liyana] "That, as well as your future" [Ceanu] "My future..." [Liyana] That, that''s a good question. _________________________________________________ [Inside the ice dungeon] It''s cramp alright... So much so that I wanted to make the suggestion of using two separate camper van golem. I can tell that, even when Diana us enjoying the company, her usual luxurious lifestyle make her uncomfortable with this tight cramp space. I''m sure, as a royalty, she has a luxurious camper van golem, so "No need. I always wanted to experience a roadtrip together with all of you" [Diana] "You said that, but you look slightly uncomfortable. Plus, if I''m not mistaken, didn''t we had it before? 7 years ago after the Thanatos incident at Malsia?" [Ash] Now that I think of it, we have, but that''s different. Those kids are smaller back then, and we didn''t have Aries, Lara, Nara, Alaric, Sachmis, Muse and Linda with us at that time, so it isn''t nearly as cramp as it is now "Still, this is the first time all of us are together, I''m so happy despite the circ.u.mstances we are in" [Charlotte] "That, I would agree" [Elise] "Meow" [Behe] "Even Behe agree with it" [Savel] As long as you guys are happy with it, and nobody is complaining, I am fine with it. "So, what did all of you do during this time? Traveling now and back then during my time sure changes drastically" [Sachmis] "How is it during your time, mother?" [Singa] "Well, for twenty people sharing one "unique carriage" like this itself is still something that bewildered me, not to mention, the comfortness and the speed we are traversing through the dungeon" [Sachmis] "That''s indeed true. I still remember those day. It''s awful if you compare it with bus or camper van golem" [Aries] "We have Karon here to thank. He really did a fine job upgrading and improving bus and camper van golem" [Farhah] "True. He did a splendid job" [Qis] "I was just improving what Brother Ash created" [Karon] "You should still feel proud of yourself though" [Karon] I can tell that each and every one of us here agree that Karon really did a splendid job. Just as I am about to enter the 6th floor ~Slow break~ "That is! The Yuki-ona from back then!" [Rean] "Easy there. She isn''t hostile" [Ash] I stop the camper van golem around 2 meter away from her before stepping down to approach her. "You''re free from the fallen god I see" [Yuki-ona] "That, I am..." [Ash] I feel like, somehow, I owe her both gratitude and apologies, but I couldn''t really remember why "Another thing, Master Reshir is truly delighted with the powerful water mana flowing through the communication stone, so much so that he will actually help whatever you''re planning" [Yuki-ona] "Really!?" [Charlotte] "As expected, it''s the mermaid princess the one responsible for it. Master Reshir is currently smoothing out the mana flow of the Sea Serpent magic core in this dungeon" [Yuki-ona] (You can try to summon something from it, Charlotte) [Reshir] Reshir, the holy beast of water telepathically communicate with us all. Charlotte and I anticipated the sudden telepathic call, but not the other as they were startled by it Approaching one of the concealed communication stones on the road side, Charlotte begin her command "Ice missile shark!" [Charlotte] And just like that, few ice missile shark golems appear from the communication stones. It actually make us excited temporarily, but "A golem shark! But..." [Alaric] "You did it...?" [Mara] "It kinda deformed though..." [Kara] "True, something feels off" [Zerolith] "Mr Ash, can you summon your own Ice missile shark?" [Muse] "True, we can compare it with the original one" [Diana] ""Charlotte, you as well"" [Lara, Nara] ""Alright"" [Ash, Charlotte] The two of us did as requested, making those ice missile shark line up and comparing it side by side "The size is obviously smaller" [Rean] "And the fins, they''re misplaced" [Charlotte] "Maybe it''s just me, but the teeth, look kinda odd?" [Linda] "You''re right. It looks fragile and haphazardly arrange" [Diana] "The water mana behind it is lacking as well" [Lara] "Still, this is a good sign if you ask me" [Zerolith] "True. That mean this project of her starting to take shape" [Alaric] "We should probably take some time to report this" [Charlotte] "Already calling Haliza and the other" [Diana] "That''s fast" [Savel] "Alright then, maybe we should take a break here. Those who are involved in the project can make some adjustments, while other can start prepping for lunch" [Rean] "I''ll be the chef for this lunch, any requests?" [Muse] "Anything that Rean dislike please" [Ash] "..." [All] "What?" [Ash] I was just joking Chapter 429 - 429: Going to Lyrue part 2 _________________________________________________ [At Estel''s castle] [Liyana point of view] My future... That''s a hard question. All this while, I was only thinking of getting my own freedom for the sake of my future, but now, I feel awfully blank All this while I was with Princess Diana, admiring her constant struggle for the sake of other. With Muse, who despite in almost the same condition as I am, manage to break free from her chain, attain her freedom and the love of her live. With Elise and Mile, the two Valkyrie, one who''s a hero and another one is a simple commoner, together rising through the rank of Valkyrie to attain fame and respect of the citizen of Estel Now that Sir Crow and Ceanu Reaves ask me that question regarding my future, surprisingly, I just stared at them, unable to even utter a single word. Nothing, just a blank face was enough for them to figure out I don''t have any answer from the back of my mind (Plus, their look... It actually make me feels miserable) [Liyana] It wasn''t that they''re mocking or belittling me. It''s the face that Mr Claude and Filvisar gave toward the orphans, that those orphans still have a long road ahead of them, and it''s ok to take your time. (I know that it''s fine to take your time, but given how they''re all ahead of me, I couldn''t help but to feel left behind) [Liyana] Plus, with my sister, Linda who''s now a minion of God of Death, even though I am more than happy to see her around, with her constantly helping me in any way possible, it makes me feels even more left out behind Hmm? "Congratulations on your wedding, Mr Jacks, Mrs Alice" [Cupid] That''s Charlotte''s best friend, the reindeer beast girl, Cupid, congratulating them. Now that I think of it, she''s without a doubt, ahead of her same age peers, albeit not as far as Charlotte, who is the youngest court magician as well as the youngest ten heroes out of the bunch "Thank you" [Jacks] "Where are you going?" [Alice] "I was told to help the Valkyrie to sniff out any fake Doppelganger hidden in the castle" [Cupid] "How so?" [Jacks] "Just gonna give them the necessary materials needed. That, as well as asking them should they require any additional materials" [Cupid] "Then you should go with Liyana there" [Alice] "Pardon me" [Liyana] I guess with my hole piercing glare, it''s only natural that they will notice my presence. I should just join them with their conversation. Plus, Mrs Alice is right, I can help make Cupid''s job way easier _________________________________________________ [Inside Ice Dungeon] [Charlotte point of view] "You sure have variety of marine golem at your disposal... You sure took advantage of the marine spawning blocks inside the training hall" [Ash] "Sorry..." [Charlotte] "Oh, I was just impressed that''s all. As long as you didn''t break it, and Rafiah is fine with it, then why not. Just use everything in your arsenal to your advantage" [Ash] I thought Brother Ash would be mad, but contrary to what I was expecting he simply amuse by my wide variety of marine golem. He''s half right and half wrong though, since half of my marine golems were the result of my constant grinding at the Rock and Sea dungeon "You two, you should take a break" [Rean] "You two been going non stop improving it in short amount of time. You should rest. Especially you dear, you should remember you''re not fully recovered yet" [Diana] "I will" [Ash] And they''re flirting once again. This feels like back then, when I was the third wheel, following Rean around when she''s with Muse. Now that I think of it, maybe that''s why I was immune to Muse''s constant flirting towards Rean. Now, I am about to get suck into the very same position once again Part of it, even back then with Rean and Muse, might be due to Brother Ash sudden absence from my life. Kara and Mara moving out with their mother, Mother Aries and Aunty Lisa. Zerolith, going for his training as demon priest, Singa and Savel for their noble training at the Beastman Kingdom. Farhah, alongside Mr Filvisar and accompanied by Karon and Calypso training as Avery. It feels like more and more people leaving me out from their live. I know it isn''t true, but being apart from them just make me feel lonely "Something wrong Charlotte?" [Karon] "Nothing" [Charlotte] "Oh, this is her usual lonely sulk" [Aries] "Mother Aries!" [Charlotte] I thought that should be our little secret! "I see. It''s like when my husband feel a bit left out when all attention was toward Singa" [Sachmis] "I will pretend I don''t heard that" [Singa] "Haha, so you''re a mommy boy back then" [Farhah] "I am still a baby back then! Plus, I don''t even even remember much of what''s happening!" [Singa] "That''s a bit sad to hear. Sorry..." [Sachmis] "I... I don''t mean that" [Singa] "Boo..." [Ash] "Good grief, you have to hurt your mother feeling" [Farhah] "Boo..." [Mara] "You guys, stop teasing him" [Zerolith] That''s interesting. I guess Singa''s father is like that of Alice''s dad... "I wonder how our mother and father was..." [Charlotte] I don''t even realize that I utter those words, making the atmosphere suddenly turn from light, to heavy to even heavier "You have it tougher didn''t you. Now that I think of it, you might not never met with them before..." [Ash] ""Brother Ash... Charlotte..."" [Lara, Nara] "I... I mean..." [Charlotte] "You know what, once their memories are completely integrated into my mind, I''ll let you peak at it. Deal?" [Ash] "Really!?" [Charlotte] "Really really" [Ash] "It''s a deal then!" [Charlotte] I can''t wait for that to happen! "Speaking of it, do you want a daughter or a son?" [Muse] "Now that''s an interesting question!" [Diana] "What say you?" [Qis] "To think even you find the question amusing, that''s beyond my expectation" [Alaric] "True, but somehow, I was half expecting that. Doesn''t know why though" [Linda] And now they''re all pressing Rean for an answer "Kara, what''s with that pen?" [Savel] "Taking a note for my novel references" [Kara] It''s lively here. I guess even if we are far apart, or never met each other, we will always be a family. Sis Rafiah, and Calypso, wait for us! We will save you! That goes for the funny Mr Seraph and kind hearted King Druser as well! Chapter 430 - 430: Going to Lyrue part 3 _________________________________________________ [At Diana''s hall] [Liyana point of view] Getting our phone ready for the upcoming call with Princess Diana and Nurhaliza, I bring some tea and snacks for Sir Ceanu, Sir Crow, Mrs Bladel and myself. It''s just a regular update from both our sides, so a simple phone call should be more than enough, but given how we wanted to make sure all the fake Doppelganger hidden within us expose, a proper talk should be made. (Since it''s just a day after their departure, Princess Diana and the other Should be on the exchange land by now.) [Liyana] So that mean they need to pass through Exchange land --> Mountain dungeon alpha --> Mountain nation --> Mountain nation --> Mountain dungeon Beta --> Lyrue As for Princess Nurhaliza, she should be resting inside her castle in Malsia now, and so does Queen Rinz in Kiserre. That makes King Leogris of the Beastman Kingdom and the Demon Queen who will still be traveling to their respective nation. "Sorry I''m late" [Mile] "Huh? Why are you here, Mile?" [Liyana] "And you brought Ray as well" [Crow] "Mrs Bladel asked Mile to be the replacement, and as for myself, I guess I am the representative of the Adventure guild" [Ray] "Did something happen..." [Ceanu] ""Well..."" [Ray, Mile] And the phone call from Exchange land ring. So does the one from Malsia. Not only that, we received call from Queen Rinz, Saint Louis team, The Beastman and Demon Kingdom groups as well. Why are they calling us all? (Isn''t this basically the whole usual people in our meeting then. I guess I can put aside my doubts for the future on hold for a little while) [Liyana] _________________________________________________ The exchange land. Given how prosperous with markets of various items, it''s perfect place to go on a date with Diana, and winding some time with all of them, but given what happen inside the last floor of the ice dungeon before we arrived here, I should put my desire off "Those are the ten heroes!" "It''s Princess Diana! So, that blonde gentleman must be..." "THE BEHEMOTH SLAYER!" "And the current Estel''s adventure guild master... No, the former Paladin of the Demon Kingdom! Aries!" "Thank goodness! We are saved!" And they spared no time to gather around us, like ants swarming their preys... "MAKE WAY" [Qis] "Don''t you see you''re obstructing her highness!" [Alaric] Qis and Alaric went down and try to control the situation. They''re basically Diana''s bodyguards, so they must be pretty familiar handling this kind of situation ""Karon"" [Lara, Nara] "On it" [Karon] "I guess I can pinch in as well" [Mara] "I feel bad for them though" [Kara] "Alas, we need to settle down first" [Sachmis] "I guess putting some illusion spell from my arsenal will help as well" [Savel] "In that case, I guess I''ll transport those two inside with my spell" [Linda] "I''ll help you with that part" [Singa] Kara, Mara, Lara, Nara and Karon spares no time and set a soft earth wall barricades so that we can pass through the crowds safely inside our Camper van golem. I designed this golem so it can even survive monster attacking us, but that doesn''t mean I wanted something bad to happen to it. Not even a scratch "Phew" [Qis] "That''s one desperate stampede" [Alaric] "I guess it must have spread even further than what we initially thought" [Diana] "Partly because of the Sea Serpent Project, so those countries participating in this project should be less affected" [Charlotte] "But for other..." [Savel] "I understand, but for now, let just find ourselves a room" [Elise] "Meow" [Behe] "I know a place or two here, so I''ll drive us there" [Rean] "We been there with Ray, Lily and Kadeus before, as part of our mission with the adventure guild" [Muse] And before we can go any further "Isn''t that!" [Linda] "No doubt about it! Rean! Stop the bus...No. Linda, can we transport those two?" [Ash] "Four actually" [Linda] "Huh?" [Ash] "I guess you only met Faris and Faizi before, but those two... nevermind, letting Linda here explaining it to you will be the fastest" [Zerolith] "I''ll trust you then" [Ash] "I won''t mind doing it another time" [Singa] Even though the crowd started to disperse thanks to the earth wall and Savel''s spell, I still feel a bit of hesitation to stop the Camper van golem, and for the second time of the day, those two transported someone from outside to inside the golem "Faris, Faizi, welcome" [Diana] "You know them? And judging from the sound of it, so does Zerolith, though I guess it kinda make sense, but the real question for me is, who are the other two?" [Ash] "It''s really been a while, Behemoth Slayer" [Faris] "You two, just introduce yourselves to the other, though Faris and I still need to do the same" [Faizi] Faris and Faizi, they are literally once the neighbors of Saint Louis, before moving out to the holy palace and act as an insider source, so it make sense that Zerolith would know of them, and as for the other two, I kinda get the gist of who they are. They''re the former butler of the Holy Palace and the guard that work for the holy palace. Well, ex butler and guard I suppose, as they''re now working closely with Faris and Faizi as well. I guess Saint Louis kindness really rub on them, and for the better "Instead of the inn you wanted to stay, how about here" [Ex-guard] "That''s basically our branch in exchange land" [Ex-butler] "Rean" [Diana] "I will" [Rean] Rean stop the carriage, before me parking the camper van golem inside my item box. The worker in this inn instantly recognize Faris and Faizi and start guiding us into a large VIP room hidden from plain sight. It''s simply big if you ask me, that it can fit us all rather comfortably, albeit it''s lacking in term of privacy part, so much so that Rean wanted to book a room for Muse "Scandalous" [Lara] "Indeed. Scandalous indeed" [Nara] "What do you plan to do with me Rean?" [Muse] "Muse!?" [Rean] "Yes Rean, what do you plan to do with her?" [Diana] "I guess my little brother is all grown up" [Ash] "Stop teasing him. He''s all blushed now" [Aries] "Anyway, just rest here for a bit. We should prepare for the upcoming call with Estel''s and Malsia''s side" [Sachmis] "I wonder. Maybe we should pitch in the other as well" [Elise] "Then I''ll tell Saintess Rumia about it" [Zerolith] "I guess I''ll call the Demon Queen" [Mara] "I''ll call grandpa then" [Singa] "As for me, I''ll notify Queen Rinz herself" [Diana] Ain''t this turning out to be our regular meeting then? Given what happen after we tested out the Sea Serpent Project and the thing we were experiencing on the last floor of Ice Dungeon, I guess this is just a perfect time Chapter 431 - 430: Going to Lyrue part 4 _________________________________________________ [At The Rock and Sea dungeon] [Samurai Jacks point of view] "Soar! Gale!" [Jacks] "Valkyrie! Formation fenryl!" [Bladel] "Yes ma''am!" [Valkyrie] Just... Just where did all these monsters come from! No... All these devilish monsters! It''s different from the one that had been plunging us for the past six years... They''re stronger, more demonic and more... Terrifying. It as if, they''re celebrating something, and I could only guess one thing "Jacks! Don''t daydream too much!" [Naoto] "Of course, my apologies!" [Jacks] Naoto with her arrows pierce the tail of the lesser demonic water dragon, and with Valkyrie finally done dealing the finishing blow. Estel and Malsia are after all, dealing the same threat, and I think most countries will be experiencing the same "Good job. There are still bunches of them, but leave it to me!" [Jacks] "No! We will. Support you." [Kadeus] Kadeus simply charge and with his pseudo-monsterification of his centaur beastman part, he ram those small pesky demons one after another "Careful!" [Lily] The small demons begin tearing the hard calf muscles of Kadeus through one bite after another, like a feast for all "Forest magic: Area heal" [Female elf adventure] "Nice" [Swordman adventure] "Not as good as Flinar, Filvisar nor Avery Farhah, but that should do it" [Female elf adventure] "To truly finish it all" [Jacks] "Birdie, can you make a combination attack with Jacks?" [Kana] ~Screech~ "Howl! Steel Garuda!" [Jacks] With me and Birdie, the steel bird golem that ash created, we rip those devil apart. Heads. Eyes. Spinal cords. Arms. Lower limbs. They''re all detached from the trunks of the devils before pouring down like a heavy storm of blood and viscera "And the Sea Serpent Project... It''s just activated, but it sure save us all" [Syah] "I''m just glad Princess Diana and the other approved and support Charlotte''s brilliant idea" [Borg] "Couldn''t agree more" [Mimi] "But we still need to patrol this area. Can''t let anything escape" [Bladel] "But don''t you have a meeting with Princess Diana?" [Ram] "That.. You''re right" [Bladel] "Ray, Mile, can both of you go? You both are level headed and can convey things better than other after all" [Lin] "We will mother" [Ray] "Is that alright with you Captain Bladel?" [Mimi] "By all means" [Bladel] _________________________________________________ "And that''s what happen inside the Rock and Sea dungeon" [Ray] "I see. I suppose all are experiencing something similar?" [Khamishah] Just a nod, before they each telling their experience about it. From Zin the Half Giant together with the Holy Beast of Wind protecting the New Headquarters, to Beastman King and Demon Queen convoys surrounded by pack of ogre devils before being save by the knights of Beastman Kingdom, and finally, The Saga Khamishah with the two S rank siblings making sure situation is under control "Faris, Faizi, how is it? Inside the Holy Palace?" [Saint Louis] Saint Louis spare no time and ask the most important question of the day. Those devil, they''re definitely stronger, and bolder than usual. That much, any one of us can tell without fail. Heck, even the usual ordinary citizens can sort of tell they''re suddenly becoming even more aggressive than usual "We escape precisely because we wanted to convey what happen" [Faris] "Albeit, we can''t exactly comprehend the full situation ourselves... But the late Demon king... The very same demon king that wage war decades ago... Suddenly roam around the street" [Faizi] What... What the... "Im... Impossible! Druser''s father? But how?" [Demon Queen] The current Demon Queen, shouted, with every voice of disbelief. The very shame of Demon King, the one that once was the cause of a war on the continence of Achalasia. Due to him, the first, second and the third and last prince, which is the current Demon King, Druser try their best to get themselves the throne. If I''m not mistaken, Druser wasn''t really interested on the throne, but because of the casualties of the wars that spread throughout Achalasia, he step up and together with Aries, they claim the throne of the most powerful kingdom, the Demon Kingdom "Elves were kidnapped and sold, dwarves being enslaved and mine minerals, orphans being mercilessly drafted as meat shield and experimentation... Those days..." [Aries] And those old enough to experience the war, couldn''t help but to gulp. All of us who never experienced war can only look at their depressed faces and imagine what sort of horror that war was. I, for once, am glad to never experience it, but at the same time, what Saint Louis once told about his past keep getting repeated inside my brain "And then what happen?" [Diana] Diana broke the silence. "An army of Doppelganger, from various races come forth, and not only that. They''re definitely more than one of them?" [Faizi] "What do you mean?" [Zerolith] "I''ll elaborate. Imagine Htilorez, your very own doppelganger, and imagine there''s ten Htilorez, almost the same exact copy as each other, with only slight difference between each one of them" [Ex-guard] "Is that... Is that even possible..." [Htilorez] Even Htilorez couldn''t comprehend it, as doppelganger only exist because of their Achalasia counterparts. So, going by the Ex-guard explanation... "There are ten version of the same people? Is that even possible?" [Rean] "Or they simply use the power of Iblis? Maybe that''s how?" [Htilorez] "Oh yeah, I kinda caught the power of the first demon king during my rite as the Avery, but is that even possible?" [Farhah] "Not... Unless..." [Ash] Unless "Anyway, it''s just speculation, but Rafiah, Druser and Seraph most likely being used to cause the very same thing we are talking about" [Ash] "But how is that related to the sudden aggressiveness of the devils?" [Leogris] That, is something none of us can answer "It''s simple. Us Doppelganger simply accelerate the God of Life awakening" [First Prince?] The first prince of Estel, suddenly make his appearance, just beside Ceanu and the other, much to our disbelief ""You!!"" [Ceanu, Liyana] Without missing a beat, all of them there simply drew their weapon, before "Useless" [First Prince?] Chapter 432 - 431: Trouble in Estel part 1 [Liyana point of view] It''s scary... This... This is the first prince fake doppelganger... While the true first prince of Estel is a cunning man for his royal ambition, he''s without any compassion. The original will still show some sort of softness, or kindness, but this one """Sir Ceanu!!!""" [Liyana, Crow, Mile] Sir Ceanu Reaves, in an instant, is kill by him, as he tries to protect me from a heavy spear "Damn... Damn you!" [Crow] Sir Crow, unable to process... No, processing all that''s happening, but unable to accept the sudden death of his best friend as well as his mentor, burst in rage, as he charges through with his small knives "Foolish" [First Prince] All it take, once again, is a thrust from his large heavy spear, but this time "Don''t get careless! All of you! Retreat!" [Ray] "We will hold him down! For now, just run away and call for help!" [Mile] We simply nod... "Damn you!" [Ash] From the monitor, Teacher Ash rage can be heard, and so does the other. I can still hear King Estel from the monitor, ordering the closest knights with him to come here at Diana''s hall as fast as they can "Why the sudden attack?" [Ray] Ray, a B rank adventure, an adventure and friends of Rean, ask the question. It''s true, there''s no motive for him to do so. This is so unlike the true first prince, which will usually opt for more sneaky and yet effective methods "Since they aren''t here, I will simply take advantage of it. Sometimes, brute force win over other" [First Prince?] With that answer, both of them are blown away. Taking the lifeless body of Sir Ceanu Reaves, he''s trying to do something "STOP IT!" [Liyana] With every bit of my ice magic! Stop whatever he wanted to do! Just like how my Big Sis Linda unable to control his powerful space magic, I have the same problem in regards to my ice magic, but that''s all changes when Teacher Ash volunteer to teach me how to properly utilize it. I''m grateful, because not only I was able to properly utilize my uncontrollable ice magic, but also make friends with Elise and the other, as such "I won''t let you hurt Sir Ceanu Reaves!" [Liyana] "Hmph, useless girl. Your only worth was in your body and position you can offer my true self, but as of now, you''re nothing more than a hindrance" [First Prince?] Changing his attention for a short period of time, he throw his large heavy spear into my upcoming blizzard magic. Both magic and spear collide, as I try to overpower him "Doppelganger technique: Disperse" [First Prince?] With that single spell, the single spear multiply, and another one find itself charging into me ""We won''t let you!!"" [Ray, Mile] Ray and Mile interfere. Mile, as the second vice captain of Valkyrie alongside Elise, is the strongest one among the four siblings, while Ray, the oldest among themselves, is the wisest one With Ray stopping the incoming second spear, Mile uses her own spear and clad it with her magic and aim for the First Prince? head, and the two clashes, with the first prince? using his magic "I''ll support" [Liyana] "No! We will!" [Crow] Ignoring Ray and Mile''s suggestions, the two of us supported them in battle. (Damn... He''s strong... Weaker than Mr Jacks, Mr Ash or Rean, but definitely strong... I get this feeling, we can''t let him do whatever he want, or else Estel will surely be in trouble. What more, he''s special as compared to other fake doppelgangers, but why?) [Ray] Ray looks like he''s analyzing something. Plus, he looks trouble. (I can tell that helps is already on their way, so we should simply stall out time) [Liyana] That much, is something that I''m sure all four of here can agree with. Oir chance of winning with only the four of us is pretty much slim. What more, Sir Crow and I are non combatants to begin with, so the best we can do are simply supporting the two siblings Ray and Mile (But if this continues...) [Liyana] If this continues... "Then I''ll rather charge forward!" [Liyana] "!" [All] The heavy spear that''s colliding with my blizzard magic, I simply ignore it and let the spear thrust itself forward. Covering myself with an ice armor, and making the floor slippery, I glide through the floor, with the spear centimetre away from crushing my skull, but I manage to dodge it successfully and "Ice magic: Ice age" [Liyana] My ice magic isn''t anywhere as impressive as Charlotte. I''m sure it wouldn''t even reach her level no matter how hard I try. But "Charlotte and Savel''s Ice Magic focus more on destruction, but as for me, I simply focus it more on icy beauty" [Liyana] The Ice age spell begin to fill in the room, with countless snow like particles made from my magic. It strengthen myself as well as my allies and, healing them as well in the process, and as for my enemy "Magnificent... It draining and damaging me simultaneously. You and your sister might come from a Baron Family, but this magic rival that of us royal" [First Prince?] We can do this! We will surely stall time until "But, at the end of the day, there''s a reason as to why us royal stand at the very top. Be it knowledge, power or magic!" [First prince?] As he says that, he unleashes his neutral magic to it max, while simultaneously "There are more of them!" [Crow] There are four of them now... And each of them trying to kill each one of us here... "Become the foundation for our new worlds" [First Prince?] """"Never!!!!""""" [Sir Crow, Ray, Mile, Liyana] That''s out answer, when death approach us. I''m sure, if Sir Ceanu Reaves is here, he will join us as well "Well said younglings. I''m glad that my grandchildrens befriended all of you" [Filvisar] "As such, for now, leave it all to us. Protecting the young is the job of the old" [Claude] The first to arrive, isn''t the castle guard or knights, now is the adventures, but Mr Filvisar and Mr Claude from the orphanage Chapter 433 - 432: Trouble in Estel part 2 _________________________________________________ [At the Exchange Land] "DAMN IT! DAMN IT!" [Ash] In one single thrust, Ceanu was there no more... It''s so sudden, that none, NONE of us foresee coming in this meeting. "Where are you going, Ash?" [Diana] "To Estel of course!" [Ash] "And will that really solve the problem!" [Diana] My loud shout of heading towards Estel to help them all is simply overruled by a single firm royal verdict coming from Diana. Her eyes, those eyes imply that by her order, I, as one of her current subordinate, should obey to her order no matter what, and obey it I will. As I take back my seat just beside her "Sigh... What a terrifying lover I have" [Ash] "Forgive me, we all wanted to do the same, but for now, we shouldn''t allow my brother''s plan to make us derail from our current mission" [Diana] "Princess Diana is right. We still have ton of dependable allies back there, as such, we should all believe in them" [Aries] "And that we will. As heartless as it sounds, we should focus on our current situation" [Rean] "True, plus, it''s the one with long term solution. Saving Sis Rafiah, Mr Seraph and King Druser will undoubtedly help us all" [Elise] Still... "Good luck... All of you" [Farhah] Making a prayer sign of the elves, we join Farhah, hoping for the best possible outcome for the interest of all "If worse come to worse, they still have Mahsuri there" [Charlotte] "She''s dependable alright" [Ash] But if she started to act, you know the situation is a grim one. For now, let just see how Filvisar and Claude handle the situation _________________________________________________ [At Diana''s hall] [Claude point of view] "Bobunny, can you bring them all, ALL of them including staffs and visitors inside this hall somewhere safe. Please, with Sir Ceanu Reaves as well" [Claude] ~Firm Chuckling~ The golem rabbit, sparing no second to waste, started to divide itself rapidly. Countless crystal bunnies coming out, flooding the hall, bringing all of whom are inside the hall, somewhere far from the fake doppelganger that Master and I will be facing "What about you two?" [Filvisar] "We are combatants, and as such, please allow us to support you" [Mile] "In your eyes, we are akin to that of a grandchild, but we are currently standing as a B rank adventure and second vice captain of Valkyrie, as such, allow the honour" [Ray] "Very well. All three of us will support Master Filvisar" [Claude] ""Right!!"" [Ray, Mile] Those two, they grown up so fast. They''re after all, someone that I look after just like those ten. As such, I can''t allow any harm to befall them "Tree magic: Wooden hammers" [Filvisar] Master Filvisar started the fight with his wooden hammer magic. Just like his current age, the wood coming out from his magic is that of an old tree, brittle and as expected, it''s easily exploited by the four fake doppelgangers of the First Prince of Estel, thrusting their spears to destroy the many wooden hammers, forming countless splinter "Wood magic: Splinter thrust" [Filvisar] "Mirage mist. Strengthen those splinter" [Claude] "!" [Fake doppelgangers] ((Amazing... Their combos remind me of the S rank siblings, Anjin and Kucin) [Ray, Mile] It''s been so long since Master and I get into a real battle. We do occasionally spare on our free time, and as such, we begin to adapt to each other new fighting style. Our bond from back then prove nothing but beneficial as it doesn''t take us long to actually understand one another in the heat of battle once more "An old relic of the past, and a ghost that couldn''t fully embrace death. How beautiful, and unsightly at the same time" [First Prince?] The first prince? spears begin to attack us once more, with his fire magic further igniting the wooden magic of Master Filvisar. If it was Master from before, he would simply shrug it off with his anti-flame wood magic, but now, he simply use the fire to his advantage, as the wooden magic reorganize itself, forming a fiery wooden fire balls that launches straight at them "Water magic: Water balls" [First Prince?] "Wind magic: Oxygen depletion" [First Prince?] "Hoo..." [Filvisar] "Each one of them are using different elements of magics" [Mile] "Well, they might be Doppelganger, but as such, it''s better we treated them as a separate individual" [Ray] "Very well said" [Claude] Apart from magical elements, there are also slight variations on their spear techniques. One of them are way aggressive with his spear, attacking us the most with it, while another one simply use it spear as a form of defense, another one balance between offence and defence and the last one, like Ash and the other, clad the spear with magic for extra fire power. They are all originating from a single person, but just like how different Zerolith and Htilorez are, so are the four doppelgangers standing in front of us "Young Liyana Ice Age magic will soon disappear... As such, I believe I should end this" [Filvisar] "Don''t get to ahead of yourself, old man" [First Prince?] "Careful, old hero like him shouldn''t be taken so lightly" [First Prince?] "True, I am old, but my age are not mere numbers" [Filvisar] As Master said, he begin to acc.u.mulate his magic, and those four quickly try to interrupt Master from doing something """We won''t let you!!!""" [Claude, Ray, Mile] The three of us block them, while Ray and Mile uses their very own bodies, I simply use my mirage magic and begin distorting their perception, making them stumble. Alas, they''re of the royal, they quickly get back on their feet but "Too late" [Claude] Master spell is completed. Taking advantage of the ice age magic, he summon forth a large carnivorous plant with high affinity to ice and mirage magic. As the plant started to suck every bit of ice age magic into it large belly, it take along with it the four resisting doppelgangers ""Just go!!"" [Ray, Mile] Young Ray and Mile give those four a final ram, and with that, the four loses their footing, and quickly being swallow by the carnivorous plant. It''s high affinity to ice magic preserve the ice age spell of young Liyana. As for the mirage part "Mirage magic: Fall into the deep sleep" [Claude] I let the carnivorous plant eat my mirage spell, and before long, the evidence of physical struggling subsided, and the plant let out a loud burp "Are they...Digested?" [Mile] "No. They''re simply asleep" [Filvisar] "I see" [Ray] "Way to go!" [Ash] "As expected from the four of you" [Qis] Cheer can be heard coming from the phones that were still on "Sorry we are late" [Vampire Guard A] One of Princess Diana hidden vampires guard arrive Chapter 434 - 433: Going to Lyrue, traversing Mountain dungeon alpha part 1 [At Exchange Land] "Sir Ceanu Reaves..." [Elise] "I...I still can''t believe it..." [Kara] "He was there all this time for us... For us all... And yet... We can''t be there for him" [Charlotte] "I''m sure he would understand why we couldn''t go back to Estel... Even still..." [Aries] "It''s heavy... He''s my mentor to begin with" [Diana] "He was nice, even toward his enemies. A respectable figure by many. I guess The Fake Prince Doppelganger targeted him since he''s an influential figure that supports Princess Diana" [Qis] "Smart... But idiotic at the same time. He literally bestowed upon himself the hatred from us all" [Alaric] "I swear to god, should I find that bastard right now...!" [Ash] "Ash... Princess Diana is..." [Linda] "It''s fine. Even though The First Prince is my brother, you know of our relationsh.i.p.s right. If anything, he made it easier for me to enact any act to dethroned him, that''s if father somehow still choose him as a successor of Estel''s throne" [Diana] "I can''t see how King Estel will give the throne so easily to him, not when he murdered Sir Ceanu Reaves when we are conferencing through the phone" [Singa] "But, what if... This is part of his plan... Maybe his next target is..." [Savel] "That''s enough for now. We are all sad due to sudden death of Sir Ceanu Reaves, but I''m sure he wouldn''t want us to grieve us for so long, hindering our mission to save Sis Rafiah and the other" [Karon] "That''s true. Best we can do now, as previously me, is to go towards Lyrue" [Rean] "Faris, Faizi and you two. If there''s anything else you wanted to say regarding the current situation at Holy Palace?" [Zerolith] "Knowing what happen there will definitely help us in the long run" [Farhah] "Apart from the sudden appearance of the previous demon king, no. Nothing else" [Faris] "Though unrelated, we were just informed regarding the current situation at the Mountain dungeon alpha... Apparently, not only devilish monsters... But usual monsters activities increase by ten folds... Could it be..." [Faizi] "They couldn''t possibly summon a Doppelganger for those monsters!?" [Mara] ""No evidence to deny nor support it"" [Lara, Nara] "But the increase monsters activities is alarming without a doubt" [Sachmis] "I can scout ahead by using the power gifted by mother earth" [Farhah] "Please do so, that will be helpful" [Ash] It''s a long conversation between us all... Seriously. All of us here, including Singa''s mother Sachmis who just "woke up" from her long slumber deeply affected by the sudden death of Sir Ceanu Reaves. Such a gentleman figure, even among the finest of noble, suddenly getting pierce by the spear of the first prince doppelganger... It''s too sudden, and we wanted to mourn him more... I can tell each one of us think of the same thing, and yet, we have to move on, both literally and figuratively now itself as wasting time isn''t something any of us can afford But... "Farhah... Before you scout the mountain dungeon alpha, can you sprout me any flowers. White flowers will be the best" [Ash] "For me as well, if you don''t mind" [Rean] "Same!" [Charlotte] "Maybe you should do it for all of us" [Elise] "Is that fine with you?" [Diana] "I see. What''s some flowers as compared to giving the right and proper grief for him" [Farhah] And Farhah did just that. The flowers that she make from her plant magic sprouts one after another, filling the entire VIP room. It''s pretty, lush white with faint smell of rose mix with aloe Vera. It''s soothing, and without even me asking, the ex butler of the Holy Palace show us all the nearest river. One by one, starting with Diana, we pray for the man himself, with Zerolith leading one final prayer after all of us have given our proper respect, and finally "Thank you, for all you have done" [Diana] "Representing the heroes, we pray for your good journey in the after life" [Rean] "Meow" [Behe] "Yes, as with the Valkyrie" [Elise] From twenty of us, I guess I am the second least affected, but damn it still hurt. By figure, I should only know him max of one year, but during the six to seven years duration where I was controlled by the parasite implanted by the fallen god, he keep looking after my siblings, as well as the orphanage, while still praying everyday for my return. He considers me as on of his good friend despite our difference in status. Honestly, it damn hurt that this is the best that we can do now "..." [Sachmis] "What''s wrong? Mother" [Singa] "I guess the people here still expecting something from us" [Sachmis] "Quite persistent" [Alaric] "I can''t help but to pity them. If the monster and devils are literally wrecking havoc, they don''t have much to do here" [Mara] "They''re basically stuck" [Lara] "Maybe doom until we defeat the fallen god itself" [Nara] "That, or we save Rafiah, Seraph and Druser" [Ash] Farhah, after giving her final prayer to Sir Ceanu Reaves, start scanning ahead, and just like the report, she describe the havoc happening in the mountain dungeon alpha "Should we use the ancient tunnel?" [Farhah] "The one created by the Traveler King? That''s a good idea" [Karon] "It''s at time like this that the traveler king created for mother, father and other ten heroes" [Ash] "If that''s the case, then we should definitely utilize it" [Linda] "I guess, not counting the time with Mahsuri, this will be the first time we are using the ancient tunnel by our own" [Charlotte] "Karon" [Farhah] "Got it. I''ll scan any entrance to the ancient tunnel" [Karon] "I''ll try buying any maps related to it" [Faris] "I''ll help. Can buy some food and drink as well. As for the rest of you, better just rest inside the camper van golem" [Ash] "Right" [All] And just like that, we decided to use different route to go to Lyrue. At the end of the day, the ancient tunnel we are using still pass through the mountain dungeon alpha Chapter 435 - 435: Going to Lyrue, traversing Mountain dungeon alpha part 2 "NEVER AGAIN!" [Charlotte] "I wholeheartedly agree with you" [Diana] "Muse, they''re there no more" [Rean] "Don''t let go of me my dearest husband" [Muse] (Somehow, I can imagine Muse not even bothering about it and just use the opportunity to cling harder to Rean) [Ash] With Farhah keep begging for forgiveness as she fail to detect the numerous giant leeches and centipedes of various species crawling inside the ancient tunnel that we were using, the girls (and boys of course) still get the feeling that those slimy crawly monsters creeping through our skins. It helps that we were inside the sturdy camper van golem at that time, and as such, we can just ram through most of the monsters with it, and that''s exactly where the problem started You see, if it is one, or maybe ten, it wouldn''t really be much of a problem to the camper van golem, but hundred upon thousands of those, keep getting ram by camper van golem, and the problem starts. The tyres started to become slippery, with the mirror start getting dirty by all those slime mucous with centipedes legs stick to it, and not to mention all the bloods and viscera flying around, with the pungent smells that causes the beastmen group start having serious nausea. Plus, with each kill, they release like some sort of pheromone I suppose, that attracts their own kind, signalling please, revenge our deaths. "Fresh air... Fresh air" [Singa] "It still stinks..." [Elise] "You guys rest first, we will clean the camper van golem" [Karon] "Appreciate it" [Sachmis] "I don''t think we can even approach the camper van golem" [Savel] "I''ll just use my water magic from a far to help" [Charlotte] And thus, we started to clean the camper van golem. We exit through a random tunnel and end up just shy away from top of a hill. Like the name, mountain dungeon alpha comprises of multiple hills and mountains stretching far and wide. Since we are not on a very tall hill, oxygen wouldn''t be an issue, and even if it become an issue, those with wind magic (me myself, Rean, Kara, Mara, Lara, Nara and Singa) can just supply some oxygen using our magic "This spot here is a bit hard to wipe" [Zerolith] "Indeed. I should use earth spell to clean it out" [Karon] "Just make sure the exterior is clean, and I''ll start cleaning the inside once it is done" [Aries] "Yes!" [Ash] Rean, Zerolith, Karon and I (with Charlotte pouring her water magic from a far) work hard on cleaning the exterior, and once all four of us achieve a satisfactory results, Aries, Qis and Farhah start filling the cabin with some sort of natural perfume. With the high altitude that we will traversing through, I think it will not be an issue should they put extra flower or two since our sense of smell will be affected "Hmm..." [Lara] "It''s there isn''t it" [Nara] "Do you detect something?" [Linda] "Don''t tell me it''s the homunculus?" [Mara] Lara and Nara simply node "Bet they''re using the natives of Mountain Nation" [Alaric] "That will put us in a difficult situation" [Kara] "Meow" [Behe] "They''re coming?" [Qis] "My scan magic say otherwise, they''re cautious but that mean..." [Ash] "They''re already aware of us" [Savel] "I hope they are beastman among them, that way we can just show this emblem from King Leogris, but..." [Singa] "I don''t think it will work out that easily" [Farhah] "Plus, they''re doppelganger, so I don''t think they care that much" [Charlotte] "And with how they''re having the terrain advantages, we are in deep trouble" [Muse] "Proceed carefully and deliberately, all of you" [Diana] "Roger" [All] And thus, after the short break, all of us (minus Zerolith, Farhah and I) went back inside. The three of us can fight at long range, and so does few others but for now, we decided to get in the roof, get in some fresh air of the mountain and start scanning with our power "There''s hardly any plant at high altitude, although if there are, they''re quite unique" [Farhah] "Yeah, never saw some of them before" [Zerolith] "It will start getting cold, and the oxygen saturation will drop, so whatever happen, cling to the camper van golem like your life depends on it, got it?" [Ash] ""Right"" [Zerolith, Farhah] I can tell that those inside already activated their magic, couple with the self adjusting autonomous magic core of the camper van golem, they''re comfortable inside. The magic core of the camper van golem even went as far as comforting us on the roof, which is nice "Is this high enough?" [Karon] "I think it is" [Kara] "Let start calling them and see whether we can get through anyone" [Elise] "Based on the principles, doubt it will happen" [Diana] "But if somehow we can get a signal, then we should take full advantage of it" [Muse] Based on the maps of Achalasia (a cube like world with countries interconnected with dungeons), we should be able to get signal around here as right above us is somewhere on the Ice Dungeon. Just when all of us are about to give up "I got a signal! From Serpie!" [Charlotte] """Really!!!""" [Ash, Zerolith, Farhah] The three of us couldn''t help but to shout. (I see... Basically, since Serpie is a kind of golem made by Charlotte and I, it would make sense for her to be able to get some sort of signal) [Ash] Charlotte quickly update Serpie (the sea serpent magic core), "I''ll relay it to the other through multiple Housey and Calypso Tree" [Serpie] "That''s good, any updates on Estel?" [Charlotte] "I detected some sort of barrier that try to prevent any outsider from..." [Serpie] And the line disconnected... That''s worrying "I wonder what will happen to Estel" [Farhah] We can''t help but to feel worry as well. Just as Karon about to start the engine "Wood magic: Wood arrow" [Farhah] "Sniper of dark abyss" [Zerolith] "Thunder spear" [Ash] We detected an armies of sort approaching us Chapter 436 - 436: Trouble in Estel part 3 [In Rock and Sea dungeon] [Samurai Jacks point of view] Just as we are all about to head back into Estel (after saying our goodbyes to the Malsia''s team lead by Naoto), we came across something I am well familiar with. It''s different, and yet the same as the type of barrier that was used by Saintess Angela and the Devilish Hunter commander during their attack on the New Headquarters. "Why is there a barrier here!?" [Bladel] "Plus, isn''t similar to the one back at the Holy Palace?" [Swordman adventure] So the other notice as well. Unlike the one made by the Saintess Angela (black colour barrier with sinister miasma of the devil), this one is silver in colour, kinda akin to that of a mirage magic natural mana colour. "We can''t get through no matter what!" [Female elf adventure] "Mr Jacks!" [Valkyrie B] "I know!" [Jacks] I don''t know what happen, but something that''s not good, that''s for sure. This just reminded me of the time where trouble arise in the New Headquarters, and as such, with the blessing bestowed upon me by The Holy Beast of Wind, The Eternal Wind, I gather around my wind mana and rapidly increasing it concentration over a small area of my blade. (The Eternal Wind mentioned that the advantage of having wind magic is the fact that it''s literally all around us, and as such...) [Jacks] "Such power" [Syah] "That''s an S rank adventure for sure" [Mimi] The Eternal Wind simply use every last bit of air molecules over a large area to exert it power, and as for me, gathering those air from surrounding, I used it over the blade of my small area to create a violent storm after storm with each slash "Galiant storm!" [Jacks] With enough force, I slash my katana onto the barrier "It cracks!" [Borg] "Way to go Jacks!" [Lin] "!?" [Jacks] "What''s wrong?" [Spearman adventure] ""Something coming!!"" [Valkyrie A, Dwarf adventure] I manage to put a crack on the silver barrier, but "Jacks!?" [Hunter adventure] "No! A Doppelganger!" [Bladel] "Shit! Are you serious!" [Borg] "A Doppelganger just come out of the barrier!?" [Valkyrie D] Seems that way. I am hundred percent sure that with my powerful slash just now, the barrier should supposedly suffer a heavy damage. Even if it doesn''t completely destroy the barrier, it shouldn''t just leave a cracks on it. No matter how I see it, it''s impossible for my technique imbued with the power of The Holy Beast of Wind to only cracks that much of the silver barrier (Which could only mean...) [Jacks] The Barrier, in response to my attack, create a copy of myself, a Doppelganger in an instance, and, and simultaneously, after that doppelganger of mine was created, it started to use the same type of attack as mine, to counter my attack But that should also mean ~Katana and big sword slash~ The fake me suddenly launch an attack with his big sword, targeting nearby adventure, and as such, using my wind magic and gathering it at my feet, I dash through and the clash between us two start "Support Jacks!" [Bladel] "That goes without saying" [Female elf adventure] "WAIT! LET ME HANDLE IT ALONE!" [Jacks] It''s true that we can definitely win a lot faster if they support me, but (For once, seeing myself using a big sword is a bit amusing) [Jacks] The fake me intrigue me in a lot of way. While it share similar magic properties as I am, it instead uses a big sword akin to that of Singa and Savel, and unlike me who make fine slash, it brute strength force which is better than I am simply smash through everything, leaving strong burst of wind with every smash (So, while the Doppelganger created from this barrier do share some similar properties, they''re also different) [Jacks] Just like how different Htilorez is (the female Doppelganger version of Zerolith) from Zerolith, I can assume this fake me is also the same. As such "He''s winning!" [Valkyrie C] "Go Jacks Go!" [Female elf adventure] There is also the fact that I am much stronger than he is. Whether it''s simply because my vast experience or some faulty mechanism within the barrier, or it''s just a simple fact that I am fighting a completely different individuals that just so happens to look similar to me, that I couldn''t decide, but it''s obvious from our sword and wind exchange, that there are some differences between us, and as such "Slash" [Jacks] With one slash, I broke his big sword and end his life, with the wind force of mine forcefully rip apart his chest wall, crushing his lungs and heart in the process. Accidentally "Another one!" [Axeman adventure] "So every time someone hit the barrier, a copy of themselves appear" [Bladel] "And it looks like there is some sort of variation as well" [Mimi] This time, it''s me with bow and arrow, using wind and space magic at his disposal. To further affirm the theory, Bladel try to hit the barrier with his heirloom dark blade, only for another male version of her appear with light sword Unlike me though, the male version of Bladel have similar style as that of the real Bladel, and as such, it only comes down to which of the two got the better technique. Being a male, the fake Bladel have the upper advantage on term of physical side of spectrum, and even the light sword of his seems superior from the one Bladel is using, however "I am a Valkyrie, and as such..." [Bladel] Her usual Black Pegasus mount come and support her, giving her the overall advantage in the battle "This... This will be challenging" [Lin] "For now, just support Jacks and Captain Bladel! Refrain from even touching the barrier!" [Syah] "RIGHT!" [All] As such, the battle continue... Just what is going on inside of Estel now? Now out of all time "I''ll be taking this sword of yours" [Bladel] "And this second fake Jacks Doppelganger weapon, may I have it?" [Female elf adventure] "Sure" [Jacks] "Anyway, we need to figure something out, and fast" [Mimi] "Let me try and contact Ray and Mile first" [Lin] "Good idea, everyone, try to contact the one inside" [Bladel] "Right!" [All] Chapter 437 - 437: Trouble in Estel part 4 [In Estel''s Orphanage] [Liyana point of view] After the fake first prince were subdue by the old hero Mr Filvisar and his trusty ghost butler Mr Claude, we try to apprehend them, and right at that moment, a strange silver barrier was erected all across Estel, causing those four Doppelganger of the first prince to disappear entirely. As if they were attracted to the barrier, or rather, like school going children rushing back home to their home Panic ensure, and Sir Crow, Ray, Mile and I decided to go to the orphanage first and foremost, bringing along with us the corpse of Sir Ceanu Reaves, where "I''ll preserve the corpse first" [Filvisar] "Please... Do so..." [Crow] "Let me help with it" [Claude] While those two are trying to preserve the corpse, Ray are busy trying to get a phone call for those adventures outside. He try calling Mr Jacks, his parents Mr Borg and Mrs Lin as well as their figurative uncle and aunt figure Mr Syah and Mrs Mimi. He even try to call Lily and Kadeus outside, but to no avail As for me and Mile, we try our best to distract the ever curious younger group, as they sense something bad will happen. Not only that, we don''t want them to see Sir Ceanu Reaves corpse, at least not on such condition. It will be a nightmare inducing for them, and as such, we gather them around Mahsuri, which has not moved an inch from her usual favourite spot. Be it the younger boys trying to drag her by force, or the younger girls trying to apply makeup to her, she didn''t move. Even the sudden appearance of the silver barrier did not bother her one bit. Mile and I can tell she knew what happen outside, just that she couldn''t bother dealing with "small" issue like this (I guess it''s better than her not being here, at least with her around we all feel safe) [Liyana] She''s literally the strongest one among all of us, even stronger than the SS rank adventure, The Saga Khamishah from Malsia "Right. Please excuse us" [Vampire Guard A] The Vampire Guard, confirm that the phone call he make to his friend inside the country is still functioning. Mile also did the same, able to call the Valkyrie Juniors that are still inside Estel but unable to call her captain nor the one outside of Estel "So, what should we do?" [Vampire Guard B] "For now, can you guys confirm the situation with King Estel? I will try to gather any information with fellow adventures that are still available inside of Estel. Ex guild master Ram should already take some of action" [Ray] "Then I''ll do the same with any remaining Valkyrie" [Mile] "Then I''ll be the relaying point. Please, tell me anything new" [Liyana] "Usually it will be Princess Diana the one that we will relay all the information, but given how you''re close to her and always there to help her, then we will trust you with it" [Vampire Guard A] That''s good and encouraging to hear. Just as they are all about to head out "Call from our master, Charlotte" [Serpie] "I barely receive the signal" [Housey] "It will be disconnected, so we better boost your signal instead!" [Calypso Tree] The three Fortress Defense Magic Core of the Orphanage claim that they receive a signal from Charlotte, who are now currently inside the mountain dungeon alpha, a place with no coverage. Still, geographically speaking, it make sense They display Charlotte static blurry video images and her voice that are now being amplified by neutral magic. The signal feels like it will be disconnected anytime soon, so all of us focuses our attention to not miss out anything "That''s good, any updates on Estel?" [Charlotte] "I detected some sort of barrier that try to prevent any outsider from..." [Serpie] And true enough, the line disconnected before Serpie can finish it sentences. We try calling back through Serpie multiple times, but to no avail "Liyana, can you try again? In the mean time, all of us will first gather the necessary information" [Ray] "I will! Be careful!" [Liyana] And thus, they went out, and not too long afterward, Sir Crow did the same, as he went toward some potential noble houses that may know what''s going on. It''s highly unlikely, since I''m sure the first prince will only tell a few handful powerful noble, but it''s worth trying (For now...) "Serpie, Housey and Calypso Tree, may I ask you something?" [Liyana] """Yes???""" [Serpie, Housey, Calypso Tree] First, I ask Calypso Tree to gather around any fairies that''s inside Estel. While there aren''t many fairies as compared to their natural habitat in the forest dungeon, having even a small number of them around should be useful. While I am only acquaintance with Farhah, I''m glad Calypso Tree agree to relay my message to the fairies, and that massage is simple, help the other gather around any information As for Serpie "You''re not as strong as Master Charlotte nor Ash, but... It''s worth the try" [Serpie] "I am well aware of that, but thank you for trusting me" [Liyana] If Serpie can get Charlotte just now, than we should simply try again and again, but again, there''s zero result. Think... Think... How can I get through them... (But does it really need to be them?) [Liyana] They''re all busy, I''m sure they''ll face difficulty in Mountain dungeon, and as such "Can you connect me with the adventure just outside the Rock and Sea dungeon?" [Liyana] "I''ll try" [Serpie] Again, the result is nill, but "Can you create any golem from the connected portal stone inside the Rock and Sea dungeon?" [Liyana] "Just barely" [Serpie] "What can you create?" [Liyana] "Some low level golem. The barrier prevent me from creating anything powerful outside of Estel" [Serpie] "I see. That''s plenty, for communication at least. Please, can you create a water slime golem just outside the Rock and Sea dungeon" [Liyana] "I will" [Serpie] Now, let see if we get any results Chapter 438 - 438: Going to Lyrue, traversing Mountain dungeon alpha part 3 Wow... Simply wow. I know that they''re the ten heroes, and they literally defeated me and save me from the clutch of the Fallen God, not to mention the few sparring session that we have just to get myself back to my performance, but wow, simply wow "Are you still astonish by their growth?" [Aries] "I am. Feels like my honourable position as their big brother have come to its end" [Ash] A bit of flashback might help. You see, when we were surrounded by an army of Doppelganger which we assume coming from the mountain nation (a neighboring country of Lyrue), Zerolith, Farhah and I start the first attack, and them, without any sort of discussion, jump straight into the action, with Rean naturally taking command. They split themselves nicely, with the front assaulter, middle support and back sniper, you get the picture, and it wouldn''t take long for us to gain back the upper hand, even with the overwhelming disadvantages in number we have. Rean with his dashing leadership and strong gale of wind accompanied by darkness fire, charge through and lead the front of the battle. Elise with her Evolved beastly transformation: mythical nine tail fox that cinder everything all the while riding the Empress Behemoth of ours that is Behe. Zerolith with his dark mana zone couple that consume all couple with his newfound mirage magic from Fairy Queen Titania. Kara, like her mother, gracefully support the entire squad throughout the entire battlefield with her wind and earth magic, while Mara, equally gracefully slice her opponent with a knife on one hand and a lance in another hand. Lara and Nara which is like the better overall version of me, greatly utilizing all sorts of elements, even taking account of terrain and height advantage. Karon, with his specialize hammer that crack through the mountain, together with Farhah, which albeit the lack of plant, uses her Avery power to gain back the fight. Those two basically provide the mean to fight the overwhelming number of opponent. Singa with his wind and space magic pushing the enemies as far as he could just to keep us safe. Savel with his ever better dragonewt transformation cleave through the battlefield and Charlotte... Basically Mahsuri in the making, well, a teenage magician version of Mahsuri that is. They all coordinate beautifully. Plus, even when Rean was the one taking command, Diana also naturally pitch in as well, utilizing Linda, Qis, Alaric, Aries and even Muse and Sachmis to her advantage. Those two coordinate so well, that I thought they have their own fair share of battle together. True, Rean is in the front giving command, but that doesn''t mean Diana that was watching and supporting from the back. Her outlook on the entire fight as well as her sharp thinking help us save all the times and energy for this otherwise long battle Linda with her powerful space magic that kept us from harm. Qis, with her beautiful swordmanship that rival Rean and Jacks, whom both are widely respected as one of the greatest swordmaster. Alaric, with his ever better assassin skill that quickly dwindle down the number of opponents. Sachmis, with her noble heroic knight like action, with each shout encouraging the allies while scaring away the opponent, and lastly Muse, keeping everyone in check with her support spell from a far "Well, you aren''t the only one. I feel so useless in this battle as well" [Sachmis] "You two don''t need to be so hard on yourselves" [Diana] "True. In a sense, you both just wake up from your long deep sleep, so it''s logical that you felt left out behind" [Aries] "Sigh... Appreciate it" [Ash] "Your sigh, it''s not only due to your feeling of powerlessness isn''t it?" [Muse] "Saw right through me didn''t you. Well, I still can''t find myself to let them go and fight the fallen god... Even when they''re having a better chance than I am" [Ash] That''s still a fact. I just can''t no matter how hard I try, but looking at them now, it feels both easier and harder at the same time. It''s complicated, that''s the best way for me to describe my current feeling "Done" [Alaric] "That was quick" [Charlotte] "So, what did you get?" [Diana] "Well..." [Qis] From the interrogation that was done to few survivors by Alaric and Qis, they concluded that the Mountain Dungeon, just like Lyrue, is being overtaken by The Meddling Third Party, albeit... "Not all hope is lost" [Long Hair Girl] One of the orphanage from Kiserre, whom we met just after the battle, told us her side of the story. We just naturally stumble with them, after they departed from Mountain Nation for some business. I''m glad that I am able to see them again, and looking at them now, they''re equally reliable like Rean and the other "There are quite a number of us orphans there, and we also found out regarding the resistance group made by the indigenous people there" [Rabbit beastman] "True. If you guys can take advantage of it, you can just enter and leave the Mountain Dungeon" [Elf Girl] "Though I''m sure they would appreciate your help to liberate the country from the meddling third party" [Dwarf trader] "That seems more likely" [Elise] "What do you think we should do?" [Charlotte] "Helping them have its own merits, but at the same time, we are short in time as well" [Rean] True. For once, every second pass means that the danger surrounding Rafiah, Seraph and Druser will increase, but like Rean said, helping them will bring us several benefits Liberating the country from The Meddling Third Party means that for one, we will have a temporary safe place to rest, as well as getting the overall better picture of what''s going on inside Lyrue. But at the same time, those Meddling Third Party will surely knew our exact location, which might spell more trouble "Diana, decision all yours" [Ash] "Agree. We will follow what you have to said in this matter" [Zerolith] "Well..." [Diana] Chapter 439 - 439: Going to Lyrue, traversing Mountain dungeon alpha part 4 Decision from Diana, we will help those who are affected there, at least just to make sure that the Mountain Nation wouldn''t be controlled by the Meddling Third Party "They''re after all, a tribe of mountain people that advocate peace more than anything else, and as such, I believe it''s our win that we help them no matter what" [Diana] "That''s indeed the case, but sneaking inside the country will prove as difficult as sneaking into The Holy Palace. After all, during the war of the Demon Kingdom succession, they are one of the few countries that were basically untouched by both The First and The Second traitorous prince faction" [Aries] "Makes you wonder how they succ.u.mbed now" [Farhah] "Sometimes, brute force win over other methods" [Rean] "Nicely said. We need to scout ahead of their numbers first and foremost before joining the resistance group" [Sachmis] "I believe we can use the connection made by orphanage now itself" [Long hair girl] Taking her phone out, the long hair girl simply made a phone call, and what do you know "Brother Ash! Princess Diana! And you guys!" [Lizard orphans] One of the lizard beastman from Kiserre''s orphanage, surprise to see us together with the long hair girl We were all surprised by the fact that they''re able to use the phone to call someone from the mountain dungeon. As far as we know, they aren''t any communication stones being set up here "Do you plant any communication stones around here?" [Qis] "We did, albeit it''s a hard journey, plus, keeping it a secret might actually be harder" [Rabbit beastman] "Surprisingly, the devil magic core were efficient as a substitute" [Elf girl] "And so far we didn''t encounter any sort of problem" [Dwarf trader] "Gosh, Mira and Khamishah must be extra proud of you" [Ash] "Indeed, even I feel proud of them, knowing we have a reliable siblings across Achalasia" [Rean] Apparently, they have been setting traps here and there just to traps small and weak rank devils, but just because they''re labelled as weak, doesn''t mean they aren''t any risk. Typical zombies or goblins will be far stronger and cunning when they are converted into a devil, and as such, they''re basically risking their life with this project of them "I see. You use the numerous number of devil to your advantage, thus, even with low grade magic core, you are able to achieve satisfactory results" [Kara] "Plus, devils are basically around, so you don''t even need that much effort to disguise the communication stones" [Lara] "Even us thought of those communication stones as nothing more than a defective magic core of the devils" [Nara] "And yet it wasn''t. The range might me weaker, but as long as it works" [Elise] "Interesting. I did remember our experiments back then with the Communication stones, but to think you guys manage to make the theory into practice just show how clever you guys are" [Charlotte] "Oh please, we aren''t anywhere near your level. If anything, we are just glad we were able to attend the school" [Long hair girl] Not only Rean and the other, those whom I rarely met also shown a surprising growth, and something that I wholeheartedly welcome. It''s nice seeing they are all carrying the spirit of Orphanages, helping one another in time of easiness, or in time of dire need. Each of them taking part and contribute in area of their expertise, be it from science and technology to economic to political science and also in art and combat. "Understood. We will try to get in touch with the resistance group" [Lizard orphans] "Great, in the meantime, we will try to reach there as fast as we could" [Diana] "Please, be careful all of you" [Zerolith] "To all of you as well" [Lizard orphans] "Should there be emergency, just call them straight, I''ll coming rushing to your side" [Ash] "Noted" [Lizard orphans] And we end our call. The communication between us reminded me of the early phase of telephone development, where we get a static like images and sounds, but looking at how they''re setting the line in secret, that even Diana herself is unaware of is pretty damn amazing "Can we connect it to Serpie?" [Charlotte] "If you like, please do so" [Long hair girl] "But we are still unable to get signal from Serpie itself" [Savel] "I guess Charlotte should do it when any opportunity arouses. As of now, it''s in our best interest to move" [Muse] "Agree" [Karon] "With Serpie mentioned about the unknown barrier, I don''t think we can get through Serpie anytime soon" [Alaric] "You guys can park the mini camper van golem of yours inside my item box. Just share the ride together with us" [Ash] "There is some space left after all" [Linda] And they gladly take the offer. It''s becoming a bit more cramps than last time, but if it means that I could ensure their safety, than it''s something that is worth the hassle. Heck, I don''t even mind it so long as I can ensure their safety. They might be a.d.u.l.ts now, but the fact that they were once under the care of the orphanage will remain and as such, as the Director of the Orphanage, it''s my duty to ensure their safety We keep traveling through the main middle road of the Mountain Dungeon. I''m sure if it weren''t for the camper van golem, our journey across the mountain dungeon will be at least twice as long, and that''s a generous guess. Couple with how the devils and the Doppelganger keep attacking us, and it actually make delay our journey by about two days. "This is still fast, that''s if you compare it to more traditional methods of traveling" [Sachmis] "That, I have to agree" [Aries] And thus, we arrive at the First Floor of The Mountain Dungeon, Mountain Nation side. The temperature is on the lower side, but not as low as the Ice Dungeon. We uses our adaptability magic to make ourselves warm, and keep on sipping hot tea/chocolate/coffee to warm ourselves. We even eat some hot pau or noodles as it''s simply the perfect temperature to do so "There they are!" [Long hair girl] I recognize those who are approaching us. They''re without a doubt, the orphans from different orphanages, all grown up, and together with them, is the resistance group that''s trying to free their country from the influence of the Meddling third party Chapter 440 - 440: Trouble in Estel part 5 [Along the street of Estel] [Ray point of view] Through experimentation with various people, I can summarize few things regarding this silver barrier 1. It''s a barrier that''s almost on par with the one appearing during the incidence at the New Headquarters. Almost on par since it lack the same defensive capability as the one appearing back then 2. It can produce fake doppelganger of those touching it with the intention of harming it. While some regular citizens do touches it, they done it so more out of curiosity, and as such, nothing happens to them, nor does the barrier summons forth their fake doppelgangers counterparts. Whereas, us adventures and knights that were trying hard to destroy it were greeted with surprise. I myself had fought a magician version of myself, and thank goodness I prevailed. 3. Almost nothing can enter nor leave the barrier, making Estel basically one large prison. A very very large prison. I can''t communicate with mom and dad who are just outside the Rock and Sea dungeon, and neither them can do the same. (Almost nothing since...) [Ray] Liyana with her quick thinking manage to summon a low level slime golem to communicate with them outside. The process is a bit complicated, but it get the job done. Basically She summon forth a slimy slime golem through Serpie to the nearest communication stones --> The slime in response to her mana and instructions rearrange themselves forming a word --> The adventures outside in response did the same --> The results were interpreted by Serpie So far, that''s the only way we can communicate with them, and for now, that''s good enough (This also mean one thing) [Ray] That there are other ways, a blind spot that we can use to our advantage. This barrier isn''t a perfect one. You can tell that the plan to erect this barrier has been made for quite some time, but at the same time, my instinct tell me that the silver barrier was erected prematurely. As such, I believe we can find a way to overcome it "Ray, anything new?" [Mile] My little sister, Mile who is part of the Valkyrie spotted me walking across the street "No. I try searching for portal stone or something similar to it, but none. How about you?" [Ray] "Same here. The Trainee Valkyrie and I tried to search for any anomalies, but we found nothing so far" [Mile] "I see. How about the situation in the castle? Any changes?" [Ray] "Unfortunately no... I''m worried for King Estel, Fourth Queen and Zaidi safety" [Mile] While the hidden vampires guard of Princess Diana try to approach the castle, they were in for a surprise, as the castle is surrounded by a stronger silver barrier on it peripherals. Just like the barrier that surrounds the country, nothing goes in or out of it, and that includes communication in and out. "And the vampires guard try every secret routes possible, but they couldn''t even find a way to infiltrate it" [Mile] "That''s to be expected... From what happen, we all can tell that the source of the barrier is in fact, hiding inside the castle itself" [Ray] That much is obvious for us, who have been with Princess Diana for the past years. In fact, it''s logical that the first prince of Estel will do whatever he plan now itself With The ten heroes not inside Estel, bringing together with them the biggest threat to his political career, now is the best time for him to seize the throne for himself. (Plus, without Princess Diana and Mr Ash, and the death of Sir Ceanu Reaves, us who supported Princess Diana are left in a shambles...) [Ray] Truly, this is without a doubt, the perfect opportunity for the first prince. Plus, we aren''t sure what his next objective are. For all we know, we are running out of time. Every second we are left in the dark, the prince will proceed to tick his list of thing to do, and with every list done, the situation will surely turn into a catastrophic one. I''m sure, knowing the first prince, he will make us all summit to him by force (It isn''t a bad choice, considering we can just play along and wait for Princess Diana to come back, but...) [Ray] If that''s all, it isn''t logical. Food from dungeon getting cut out due to the barrier, and the insecurities felt by the citizen who are trap inside, as well as the economic halt brought upon this barrier, it brings nothing but losses for the country. Surely, the throne isn''t the only thing that the prince have in his mind, which brings the question, what''s the final goal he sought to achieve while erecting the barrier? An army of fake doppelgangers on his disposal? Possible. As a test run to protect Estel once the fallen god fully recovered? Also a possibility... "Ray... What should we do?" [Mile] "For now, we need a trustworthy leader to unite us all" [Ray] And there is only one person that comes to my mind. "Mile, can you bring me to the adventure guild?" [Ray] "Right" [Mile] With her Pegasus, we soar through the sky and in no time we arrive at the guild, with the adventures panicking on what they should do, and as expected "Guild master, what should we do?" "Our food is running low" "If this keep up, there''s no way we can survive" "Calm down, all of you" [Ram] "That''s right, panicking won''t achieve us much" [Gizzere] The ex adventure guild master, Ram, also a former fallen Marquis will be the best choice, and alongside him, is his wife who is also the former guild master of the merchant guild "Marquis Ram, I would like to have a word with you" [Ray] "Marquis huh, I have long been stripped off from that titles" [Ram] It''s true, plus, he isn''t even the guild master anymore, enjoying his retirement while leaving everything behind for the former Paladin of the demon kingdom, but now of all time, is the time that I believe, he can prevail Chapter 441 - 441: Trouble in Estel part 6 [At the Adventure guild] [Ray point of view] Within the adventure guild, not only the adventures of various ranks gather, but also the Knights, the guards, the citizen and even those from other countries, all gather around to ask the current acting Guild Master for the solution. Indeed, when all connections to their head figure are lost, in this case, not having any statements made by the castle, the people will naturally flock to the one they trusted the most. Usually it will be Mr Ash or Sir Ceanu Reaves but as they''re both not currently here, naturally, the task fall into the hand of the acting guild Master Worries, anxieties, madness, sadness and many other negative feeling, all waiting their time to explode, and if we don''t do something, it will only take a worse turn "Guild Master Ram, I''ll help you! First thing first, we need to gather all possible allies!" [Ray] "Ray is right! He will gather any remaining adventure! As for me, those who are working with Princess Diana or the Fourth Prince Zaidi!" [Mile] "..." [Ram] "..." [Other] With Guild Master Ram and Gizzere, having retired and suddenly being bombarded with this sudden request, it is to be expected that they will need some time to recollect themselves, and as expected "Ray, Mile! We are counting on you. Since the number of allies might be large, we will gather at Diana''s hall" [Ram] "Cupid, can you gather around the merchants at the same location? As for me, I''ll use the authority given by Princess Diana to book the hall immediately" [Gizzere] "Right!" [Cupid] Cupid, the reindeer beast girl (Charlotte''s best friend) give her firm answer "All of you! Help Ray and Mile! As for those that couldn''t do anything, just make a patrol before going to the hall! One hour from now, we will all having a meeting there!" [Ram] "Right!" [All] And now all of us give similar response as Cupid. But... (No. It should be fine. I''m sure The First Prince targeted Sir Ceanu Reaves because he will be a huge hindrance to his plan, so the hall should be safe for now.) [Ray] But just in case, I take my phone out and call Liyana. I tell her about what happen and ask her something "Can you ask Serpie to scan the surrounding area then? Make sure any potential threats are reported directly to Guild Master Ram" [Ray] "I will! You hear that Serpie?" [Liyana] "Yes! Housey, Calypso Tree, help me as well" [Serpie] ""Of course"" [Housey, Calypso Tree] "I''ll tell Sir Crow as well! He can surely gather some personal knights from various noble houses, including that of his own" [Liyana] "Appreciate it" [Ray] With that, all of us quickly scatter and start gathering allies. Adventures, Knights, Guards, mercenaries and even Mr Claude and Filvisar. We should gather as many of them as possible. All those who are strong, which, without exaggeration, can be said as the pillars are out Mr Ash, Princess Diana, Mrs Qis, Mr Alaric, Mrs Linda, Muse, Mr Sachmis, the current guild adventure guild master Mrs Aries and the twelve of them (Rean, Elise, Kara, Mara, Lara, Nara, Zerolith, Karon, Farhah, Singa, Savel and Charlotte) are all heading towards Lyrue to save Mrs Rafiah, The Demon King Druser and Mr Seraph The strong adventure, especially Mr Samurai Jacks are trying their best to break the silver barrier from outside, together with the Captain of the Valkyrie, Mrs Bladel with their core forces So, we should gather as many people as possible! Mr Filvisar and Claude will be a force to be reckoned with. So does the remaining hidden vampires guard of Princess Diana and Valkyrie. Of course, the strongest among them all, Mahsuri should be counted, but I''m sure she will only move from her spot in the orphanage should the situation turn dire. Plus (It will be better if she''s there with the orphans, that way the first prince would not use the orphans as hostages) [Ray] Walking briskly across the street, I start telling the adventures about our current plan. Be it the lowest ranking adventures (I rank) to that of the same rank with me (B rank). In response, they do the same, and the chain start to get bigger and bigger, like a snowball rolling down the hill, getting larger at every interval. (I just realized... We don''t have any A rank adventure on our side...) [Ray] If that''s the case, I just hope the remaining hidden vampires guard of Princess Diana is as strong as an A rank adventure. I know that Mr Alaric is a strong one, he can be put together with the upper echelon of the A rank adventure, maybe even nearing an S rank in term of strength and experience, but I''m not so sure about the other vampires guard, but they''re the people that Princess Diana choose, so I have faith in them "Got it!" "I will start patrolling the area first!" "Some of the citizen are starting to get restless, so it will be better for us guards to do so" "We will surely gather there, under the leadership of Guild Master Ram" "In the meantime, we will try to get other knights and guards to join" "Maybe even telling the Knights from few noble families" "Please do so. If there''s citizen that wanted to join, just tell the head families to come. Even if they couldn''t help us much, getting updates regarding the current situation will at least help them to calm down, even if it''s for a bit" [Ray] "Right!" "In that case, maybe one representative for every 5-10 houses to avoid overcrowding" "That depends l, but we are counting on you" [Ray] "Leave it to us!" Slowly but surely, we start gathering, and as the appointed time is getting closer, the crowds that gather in the Diana''s hall start to get larger and larger. The member of the church, even without their beloved Saintess Rumia by their side, still do a splendid job, making sure the crowds stay calm and are in order And finally "Thank you for coming here" [Ram] Guild Master Ram, alongside his wife Ex Guild Master Gizzere, Mr Claude and Filvisar and Sir Crow take the stage Chapter 442 - 442: Going to Lyrue, traversing Mountain dungeon alpha part 5 I will keep saying this, until I meet with all the orphans that I came to know, and they''re like 95 of them before I was controlled by the Fallen God (Only counting the Estel, Malsia and Kiserre as I couldn''t meet the Beastman and Demon Kingdom Orphanages before I was controlled), but gosh, they''re all growing up into a splendid people aren''t they. Even with the resistance group of the Mountain Kingdom comprises of the natives are there just beside us, I couldn''t help but to greet each one of the siblings from different orphanages of mine. I''m just glad my feeling are getting through them, and I''m even more glad that they''re all having the eager eyes just like that of a kid, finally catching their father after long hours of works. At least that''s the impression I get after seeing their eyes, which make my efforts of developing the Orphanages all the worth while While I am here "busy" with them, Diana,Muse, Aries, Sachmis, Rean, Singa and Savel spare no time and just greet the resistance group first. It''s kinda my fault as it''s not a polite act of making someone who are in dire need of help waiting, and as such, we wrap our long reunion short. The resistance group, knowing that it''s Diana herself come, alongside the infamous paladin Aries quickly pay the highest form of respect possible, which actually make the whole situation kinda awkward for me, even just by seeing it, but I guess I am the overly laid back here. This much is actually normal for their culture Cutting short the reunion, I start to greet the resistance group and apologize for making them wait "It''s fine. You''re the Behemoth Slayer aren''t you? Your exploits in the past are actually well known among our citizens, particular that in Kiserre" [Resistance leader] "Huh? Why is that?" [Ash] The resistance leader, a tall dark elf man with horizontal scar on his forehead. With his long braid brown hair, and his winter like cloth, he''s quite the looker. He however, can''t stop looking at Farhah, however hard he tries to feign ignorance. Since Farhah is the Avery, an elf like him couldn''t help but to do so. Kinda like how you meet your president or king, you just can''t. Still, they know of my various exploits especially that of the Kiserre''s incident, I wonder why? I''m 100% sure I don''t have any relationship with anyone from this country. Is it because I''m famous? Maybe, but I get this feeling Aries, Saint Louis, and Khamishah who done the same and are even more popular will get more attention. so... "Most of the slaves you save during the Kiserre''s incident are actually the natives of this nation" [Diana] "And with your camera back then, it actually make the process of finding the family members involved a lot more easier" [Resistance leader] "Really! I have no idea!" [Ash] Talk about a surprising fact. I literally don''t know about that "Mountain Nation is a unique country. Our country relies solely on the mountain dungeon for our defence from any external forces, as a result, adventures and knights are scarce between us. Plus, most youngster will look for a job in neighbouring countries like Lyrue or the exchange land, even Kiserre, making those who can fight even less" [Resistance leader] "Which make it the perfect opportunity for the Traitorous princes to took over your country, am I right?" [Sachmis] "Unfortunately, that''s the case..." [Resistance leader] I see, they kinda have like a brain drain resources, only we should replace the brain part with brawn. That''s for the military strength of the country. If I am to look at it economically, the nation is surrounded by mountain dungeon from both sides. Of course there are other dungeons connected to it, but according to the long hair girl that frequently make her trade here, the dungeon are somewhat the same like that of the mountain dungeon in nature. They might have plenty of unique resources that can only be find here, but the difficulty of traversing the dungeon make most merchant give up as the hassle aren''t worth the money, or maybe they just don''t want to risk their life, especially during this crisis era of fallen god awakening Couple all that, and you got yourself one country that''s kinda isolated from the rest of the world, which beg the question "How about we actually enter the country first. Discussing here any further isn''t ideal" [Diana] "Good call. My adaptability magic started to run low" [Muse] "Just stay close to me. I''ll supply my mana to you" [Rean] "But of course, how could I ever be separated from you <3" [Muse] Flirting aside, all of us agree and start taking a detour, into the nearest Ancient tunnel that''s connected to the Mountain Kingdom. Taking out my camper van golem, and another extra one where Zerolith take the wheel, all of us safely get inside the country. If only if it''s that easy "The fake doppelgangers!" [Resistance leader] "They sniff us out!" [Farhah] "Quickly! Before they start to..." [Lizard Beastman] Without them finishing their sentences, Linda, Singa, Lara, Nara and I quickly teleport out from the camper van golem and start slicing through our opponents. While Linda and Singa primarily uses their space magic, Lara Nara and I uses earth magic from all directions and start impaling them one by one, purposely missing most of their vital organs, sparing them from the quick death that everyone deserves in this situation "I guess we have the same idea. Lara, Nara" [Ash] ""Learn from the best"" [Lara, Nara] "I feel conflicted with that praise just now" [Ash] I reap what I saw. Plus, I am someone with the title of Guardian of Children, and they basically grown up following this specific examples of me. I guess all that nagging Diana and the other tells me finally started to manifest "Anyway, we will tie them up. Help me out will you" [Ash] ""Right"" [Lara, Nara] As usual, I will leave it to Qis and Alaric for the interrogation. Maybe these guys know more than the one attacking us back then Chapter 443 - 443: Going to Lyrue, inside Mountain Kingdom part 1 Tibet, that''s the best description that I can come up with after seeing this nation for the first time. It''s absolutely stunning, with wintery theme all over the place. The people are nice even when they''re basically in a deep crisis, and that''s actually a bit concerning, since I can spot so many "twins" hanging around together. Concerning because of two things 1) Are they being brainwashed by their fake doppelgangers? Or 2) Are they really in deep trouble? If they aren''t, why should we help the resistance group I mean, you can practically see two sets of identical families, from the grandparents down right to their pets, nearly identical sitting together, having their usual buttercup tea with fatty bread in one of the restaurant, all harmoniously while the light snow keep falling. If I am being honest, I am kinda jealous seeing that sight, and I just don''t want to disturb them ((Are they really in trouble??)) [Lara, Nara] ((Beats us)) [Kara, Mara] (We should probably listen to the resistance first) [Aries] (That would be for the better) [Zerolith] Our very twins, Aries and Zerolith are having the same doubts as mine. I''m sure the other are also thinking of the same thing, which prompts me to "I''ll explain what truly happened once we are there" [Resistance leader] "For now, trust us" [Long hair girl] "If you said so, but I''m only trusting my fellow siblings for now, not the resistance group they''re trying to help" [Ash] "Fair enough" [Resistance leader] The resistance group might be lying and tricking my fellow siblings from different orphanages, but seeing as how those siblings of mine carry themselves out, even went as far as settings their own version of communication stones using the devil magic core, I doubt they will be foolish enough to get themselves tricked by the resistance group "What is th..." [Charlotte] "Charlotte!" [Dwarf trader] One of the siblings make a "SHH!!!" sign and quickly prompt Charlotte not to point her finger at a certain area behind the alley. Naturally, our eyes glued into it. None of us turn our head, but simply gaze upon the alley that Charlotte''s pointed out, and (Just...) [Diana] (Goddess...) [Muse] (We should probably increase our pace) [Bunny beastman] (Good idea miss. Everyone, please follow me) [Resistance leader] (Right!) [All] Gosh, if only I can use the camper van golem or the bus golem inside this country, than we can all stare at that thing for as long as we wanted to, but given how we are basically infiltrating this nation, we couldn''t do that. Once we are inside a certain inn, and the owner recognize the resistance leader, all of us take a moment to let out our sigh "Just... what is that?" [Alaric] "I can sense multiple of the same souls inside that gooey visceral thing..." [Linda] ""Same here"" [Lara, Nara] "Same souls? You don''t mean..." [Diana] "I get this feeling, that''s what happen when the fake doppelgangers and the real live person mingles with each other for so long... Am I right?" [Ash] "That''s correct" [Resistance leader] "Then why is there ''something''... No multiple thing that feast upon it?" [Savel] "Kinda reminds me of how the devils cannibalized each other to get stronger" [Singa] "You''re right... It feels similar in a way" [Elise] "And the people around here, aren''t they acting overly calm... Don''t they know what will happen?" [Karon] Multiple questions are thrown once everyone get a moment to calm themselves. "Alright, let just give them some time first. No need to bombard them with all the questions" [Rean] "Rean is right. For now, we can actually just take a moment to rest for a bit" [Sachmis] "That, I can agree" [Farhah] "Ash, can you bring out those people?" [Alaric] "And I''ll prepare a space magic for you and Qis to interrogate them" [Linda] "That will be appreciated" [Qis] "Alright, but both of you should also rest first" [Ash] Since we were ambushed earlier, I kept some of our ambusher alive just for the sole purpose of getting some valuable information from them. Since this isn''t Estel and we are here not on any official capacity, I just store them inside my item box magic. To my surprise, they actually survive (after I defrost them and getting them out from my item box magic). I mean, I do know since time inside will be stop and it isn''t the best place to enter for a long period of time, living organism won''t likely survive, which is why I Savel, Charlotte and I basically freeze them first and put them in a state of suspended animation with help from Lara and Nara. "Well, before they start screaming..." [Rean] "Yeah..." [Alaric] Alaric and Rean quickly knock them out flat, and from waking up from suspended animation they straight away get knock out. Poor fellow. The other then stuff their mouth and put some clothes to cover their eyes "Here, have some tea first" [Resistance member] "This is the butter tea that we saw earlier, am I right" [Kara] "That''s correct. It''s our local speciality here" [Resistance member] "Then can we have the fatty bread as well? It looks like it will blend well with the tea" [Singa] "Already on it" [Resistance leader] "Here you go" [Inn owner] "Thank you. I guess we should all eat first before we proceed with any discussion" [Diana] "Diana''s right. Let just sit back and relax" [Ash] With Diana''s suggestions, we quickly take a seat and eat. Not trying to get lovely, but Diana''s actually try to feed me with her two hand, trying to copy the two husband and wife in front of us "My my... How daring of you, your highness" [Muse] "Not as daring as you" [Diana] "Oh please, I just started doing this with Rean" [Muse] "Somehow, I doubt that" [Charlotte] "Hey" [Rean] "Haha. You know, I''ll surely enjoy this situation, if it weren''t for the two guards glaring at me with their murderous intents" [Ash] "What could you possibly mean..." [Alaric] "We are just her highness guard, we can''t possibly interfere with her personal life" [Qis] (That wasn''t convincing...) [Elise] (Meow...) [Behe] (Even Behe agree with it) [Kara] For now, let just fill our stomachs Chapter 444 - 444: Trouble in Estel part 7 [Ray point of view] Worries, anxieties, all these boiling negativity mix together creating sense of unrest that swept through all those whom gather here, but amidst all that, the sight of those five at the stage quell those emotions down the drain. It isn''t at the same level like that of the princess, where with her confidence eye, unwavering confidence and admirable leadership, where she can turn even the most unsettling emotions of her subject into that of a motivation and thus, together bringing the desire and best outcomes for all. Princess Diana is on a whole other level, but these fives (Sir Crow, Ex Marquis and adventure guild master Ram with his wife who is the ex adventure merchant guild master Gizzere, Mr Claude and Filvisar) who the public trust, almost bring the same effect (Right now, the current merchant guild master, Ram and Gizzere''s son is trying his best to handle the situation with the merchants and nobles, as to keep the internal economy afloat, so that''s why he ask his mother, the former guild master to come for his stead) [Ray] As the ex guild master step forward and clear up his throat, he begin briefing them all regarding the situation, and "I''m sure you''re all aware of how dire the situation is. The princess and her convoy, together with the heroes are currently elsewhere, most of the powerful knights and adventures are trying their best to breakthrough this mysterious barrier from outside, and even worse, King Estel''s own castle been blocked by that very same barrier... To make matter worse, some of the nobles and merchants start to take advantage of this situation for their own profit and benefit. Plus, we aren''t even sure who started all this" [Ram] We do, but ex guild master decided not to mention the real culprit as it might make the situation even worse. A decision that make us all whom know the truth nod slightly. Should they know the first prince is the one behind all of this, then it would likely create a disbelief for the good royal like King Estel Princess Diana and Prince Zaidi, or worse, it could turn into a political turmoil between those supporting The First Prince vs Princess Diana "For now, what we need to know is the situation of each household. What you got or what you''re lacking of. This is a matter of survival, as our country are basically cut off from the outside world. Those who got extra flour, share it with other, and those who got extra meat, share it with the less fortunate. We will do this with the assumption that this situation will remain unchanged for one month" [Ram] "Hold your horses!" "ONE MONTH!" "We come here for solutions! Not for rationing!" Some words of discomfort started to spring up, and just when the ex guild master wanted to give his reasoning "If you can''t do that now, then I''m afraid you won''t even have what it take to survive during the Fallen God awakening" [Filvisar] "!" [All] The old elven hero, Mr Filvisar word silent them all, as they start pondering, will the fallen god awakening really be far worse than the current situation "While the young heroes are out there, struggling to fight thousands upon thousands of devils, we will basically be stuck here for god know how long. That''s the time, where not only some of you will die of starvation, but also because of selfishness. Neighbors started to accuse of other stealing their goods, or thievery rate for survival increases. I can tell you more and more about it as the country will willingly shut down their own access to dungeon as to not let the devil, as to not let even a single devil enter" [Filvisar] "..." [Claude] Mr Filvisar eye, it''s the eye of those veterans, telling the youngsters about his horrifying experience, and Mr Claude''s eye is that of a survivor, unpleasant eyes that try to forget what happen during the turmoil period "Which is why now is the best time to unite. Listen here, while this situation is an unpleasant one, we can still overcome it" [Ram] "True. For now, what we need more than food and drink is the corporation from all side to get out from this mess as soon as possible. Of course, we are not going to just sit here and wait for some miracle to happen, instead, we ourselves have come up with a few plan going forward" [Crow] That is fast. I wonder what the five of them discuss while all of us start gathering people towards the Diana''s hall "For now, just like what my husband said, we need all of you to start rationing with eachother. Of course, some of the noble houses and the merchant guild will help. Not only that, to keep the business floating, we will make a strict guidelines for the benefit of all, otherwise, some merchant will definitely take advantage and increase their prices by multiple folds. Though that being said, expect some bumpy road from your side as well" [Gizzere] The unrestness started to fade away. As their eyes started to see where this is going, thw the explanation is kept short but pack "While we will center our base of operations around here, do remember that you can also relay any information at the orphanage, the adventure and merchant guilds or any guard post. For now, I want every head of the family or those representing few section of houses to come and meet me" [Gizzere] "As for adventures, knights and the alike, let us discuss this further" [Ram] With that, the gathering dismissed. "I''m worried about Mile and Blanc. I will fly to our house first, fetch them up and let them stay with the orphans, so can you please keep note for me as well. I''ll leave representing the Valkyrie to one of the junior here" [Mile] "I will" [Ray] Mile take her pegasus and fly toward our house. As for me, alongside other adventures, knights, guards, the hidden vampires guard of Princess Diana, and other Junior Valkyries start to gather for some briefing Chapter 445 - 445: Trouble in Estel part 8 _________________________________________________ [Just outside Rock and Sea dungeon] [Samurai Jacks point of view] It''s been a week or so since the princess and the other departed from Estel, the same amount of time (give or take one to two days) we are trying to breakthrough this silver barrier without any notable results. We didn''t brought that much of food supplies to begin with as it was only a normal monsters and devils subjugation to begin with, and now "You guys really have it tough" [Princess Nurhaliza] The convoy from our neighboring country, Malsia own princess (Princess Nurhaliza or like Princess Diana simply call Haliza) come to lend us her aid. Some of us decided to ask the aid of Malsia in this time, as more helping hand and brain will usually translated to better and faster for us to solve this issue "Sorry for taking your time, your highness, even when your country got it own share of problem, but we are grateful nonetheless for your help" [Bladel] Bladel, the Valkyrie Captain, extend her gratitude True. Not only Estel, even Malsia, Kiserre, Beastman and Demon Kingdom are plaque with the issue of fake doppelgangers infiltrating their rank, it just that our country suddenly have this silver barrier erected alongside the aforementioned problem "Don''t worry, Diana, Ash and the other had came to our aid multiple times in the past, think of this as my country way of paying back our gratitude" [Haliza] "That''s true, though I must said, the timing of this barrier couldn''t be more suspicious" [Naoto] "Based on the political turmoil of your country, I can deduce who is behind all of this" [Malsia''s adventure guild master] "I am not that involve with political stuff, but truly, even I can tell who the primary suspect is" [Female elf adventure] "That is rather. True." [Kadeus] I can tell most of us think of the same person "Well, without "Concrete" evidence, we couldn''t do much" [Kana] Kana emphasize the word concrete. Apparently, we found out through them that the first prince killed Sir Ceanu Reaves, live when they''re having their usual video conferences, which naturally make us all suspect him. That in itself is more tham enough for us to suspect him but (Is that really all there is to it?) [Jacks] Maybe it is. Maybe is isn''t. Either way, that doesn''t change the fact that we need to find a way back inside our country as soon as possible "It''s the usual time" [Lily] Lily, who has been waiting in front of the communication stones, alert us. Even when all hope seems lost, there is some silver shining ray of hope as this communication stones allow to communicate with those inside through unusual mean Liyana will use her ice magic onto Serpie to summon some low class slimes golem to this communication stone, and molded it into a word or code that we can understand, and in return, we do the same. That way we can update each other about our current progress "So, what did they say this time?" [Kanji] "I see" [Swordman adventure] "They''re trying to use Bobunny as well huh" [Borg] "If that''s the case, your geographical knowledge should come in handy here, Mr Qudus" [Seo Ah] "I''ll try my best" [Qudus] _________________________________________________ [Inside Diana''s hall] [Ray point of view] "I must said, I only ever saw Mr Alaric before, but never saw all of you before" [Ram] "True. Still, for a hidden vampires guard, Mr Alaric been standing out quite lately" [Valkyrie Junior A] "That, we couldn''t agree more" [Vampire Guard A] "Though we are glad he get the recognition he deserves" [Vampire Guard B] We are currently here to discuss our role in this situation, and true enough, the first thing that all of us address is "We couldn''t find any way out from the country" [Junior adventure] "That''s right. Even the family I serve does not have any clue regarding any hidden passage" [Noble knight] "Which make this situation even worse" [Guard C] "Surely there must be something, but what..." [Crow] As we keep pondering, a playful fairy come and try to enlighten the mood "Cheer up guys. If you keep doing this, the atmosphere will dampen like Lou Carcolh is here" [Fairy] Lou Carcolh, a Serpent snail like monster. It varies in sizs and shape, but usually, a pack of them will constitute as an A rank threat. (Lou Carcolh... Where did I...) [Ray] Strange... It feels like it hit home closer than I think it would, hearing about it (Where did I...) [Claude] (Lou Carcolh...) [Alice] (It feels like some memory trying to resurface) [Erinmorlin] (Hold up...) [Lisa] (Isn''t that when...) [Flinar] And not only me, even Mr Claude, Mrs Lisa, Alice, Mr Flinar and Mr Erinmorlin think of the same thing, which could only mean it is something related to the orphanage, or """""That is it!!!!!!""""" [Ray, Alice, Claude, Lisa, Erinmorlin, Flinar] All of us simultaneously shout. From the looks of it, each one of us have the same idea "Claude, mine telling us all what happen?" [Filvisar] "Sure. Though of course, it might get block as well..." [Claude] "It''s worth the try" [Ray] "That is correct" [Flinar] "Though we can''t cover it all... Not with our current number" [Erinmorlin] "If it''s number, why don''t we deploy Bobunny? In fact, that rabbit golem is the perfect choice in this situation" [Lisa] "What say you, Claude?" [Alice] "Of course, I''m sure Bobunny wouldn''t mind" [Claude] We get ourselves one plan already "So... Mind telling us all?" [Ram] "Oh, pardon us. We get ahead of ourselves" [Lisa] "Am I late to the meeting? It looks like you get yourself a brilliant idea" [Mile] Mile come back just in time "Sure. Remember the endemic situation 7 years ago?" [Ray] "Yeah, It was cause by Lou Carcolh ruining the water supply run by the duke family. Why do you ask that?" [Mile] "I see... Worth the try" [Ram] Look like Ex Guild Master Ram get the gist of our plan . Even the hidden vampires guard caught on "Thank you for it, little fairy" [Flinar] "I don''t know what happen, but I''m glad I was able to help" [Fairy] Chapter 446 - Chapter 446: Going to Lyrue, inside Mountain Kingdom part 2 "A Doppelganger flower" [All] "That''s right. That''s what happen for those mingles with those fake doppelgangers for far too long" [Resistance leader] After getting our proper rest, all of us are ready to hear what the resistance leader inside of this Mountain Nation have to say, and the thing that we saw while trying to get here, something that was made out of silvery flesh all sticking together, like that of a child building something with scraps and hot melt glue is term as Doppelganger flower "That flower. I''m not sure how it was form, and I am not even sure which come first, the flower or the fake doppelgangers, but I can say confidently, that they''re both interconnected and interdependent with one another" [Resistance leader] Like the chicken or the egg, which come first, but "Is it really important to deduce which come first in this case?" [Alaric] "If I''m being honest, as of now, not that important" [Resistance leader] "True, so why don''t we just continue" [Diana] "As you wish" [Resistance leader] As all of us start to adjust our seat and give our full attention, the resistance leader, the dark elf start filling us detail after detail "This is based on our observations, but the Doppelganger first started to come into picture around two months ago. During that time, they aren''t that many of them. Of course, all of us are actually surprised by it, but there is someone that, no, two person that help quell down all those worries" [Resistance leader] Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click /book/opening-an-orphanage-in-another-world_14756838605525405/chapter%C2%A0446-going-to-lyrue-inside-mountain-kingdom%C2%A0part%C2%A02_50949932785388121 for visiting. "And that person were... The First Prince of Kiserre Fawan and The Seriel Killer Dwarf..." [Long hair girl] "FATHER!" ""HIM!?"" [Karon] [Lara, Nara] "Are you serious?" [Elise] ~Nod~ Not only the long hair girl from Kiserre''s Orphanage, but the other nods along as to reaffirm the statement "Let me guess, they try to convince all of you that the Doppelganger meant no harm?" [Ash] "Exactly that, and somehow... Just somehow... Neither of us felt anything wrong in that situation during that time" [Resistance member A] "And you guys?" [Zerolith] "As much as we hate to admit, we feel the same..." [Rabbit beastman] "Looking back, that might be why none of the information regarding what happen here didn''t rrach any of your ears" [Lizard Beastman] "As if we were convinced that everything was alright, even when we can just tell Mrs Saga or any of you for that matter" [Long hair girl] Hypnotism? Maybe. But... "Does the Doppelganger flowes have something to do with it?" [Muse] "That, we aren''t sure, but those flowers started to bloom around that time" [Resistance leader] "It isn''t something that I can control, nor something I have knowledge in" [Farhah] "That''s depressing, hearing an Avery saying that" [Resistance leader] "Meow" [Behe] "So, what happen next?" [Savel] "Ah, forgive me. Well, for a month or so, you can say everything was fine... Until..." [Resistance leader] "Until?" [Kara] "Until I noticed that some of us were there no more... Starting with my mother, then my father, and before I knew it... I was left alone, surrounded by those fake doppelgangers" [Resistance leader] "That''s scary..." [Charlotte] "Well it is. Though of course, we kinda learn something as well" [Resistance member C] "What did you learn?" [Mara] "I saw my fiance getting along well with her fake doppelgangers, and that dastard brought her to the flower before... Before..." [Resistance member D] The dragonewt try his best to talk, only to be pat in the back not only by other resistance members, but by Savel as well, and the long hair girl start talking as to fill the gap "That flower consume the person, growing ever stronger and powerful before birthing out another version of that person at regular intervals" [Long hair girl] "!" [All] All of us made the same surprise face. Without a pause "Birthing them?" [Qis] "At regular intervals?" [Linda] "Then did the previous demon king actually do the same when he was there at the Holy Palace?" [Sachmis] "That, we aren''t sure..." [Resistance leader] "Maybs it is. Maybe it wasn''t. Maybe it''s a variation, we can''t talk about what the demon king do as it''s something still unknown for us" [Dwarf trader] "But given how the meddling third party was involved, the chance of the method being the same is quite high" [Diana] "That''s something we can all agree with" [Ash] "So helping them here will definitely help us uncover the truth along the way" [Rean] So, to summarize Fake Doppelganger suddenly appear two months ago --> Fawan and the serial killer dwarf convinced them that it was alright --> the fake doppelgangers brought their real live version to the flower --> the flower consumed that person and birth out another variation of that person at regular intervals "What about the thing that ate the flower?" [Aries] "Oh yeah, that thing..." [Charlotte] "That thing was something beyond us as well..." [Resistance member A] "Though of course, it try it best to destroy the flowers and the fake doppelgangers" [Resistance leader] ((Could it be...)) [Diana, Ash] "Your highness, Ash, did you figure something out?" [Qis] Qis, seeing as to how both Diana and I making "that face" interrupt our train of thought but before we can tell them what we think "Could it be, that thing that try to eat the flower... The real Doppelganger?" [Zerolith] "Sincerely, I feel the same" [Rean] (Oh wow, I''m impressed they can come to the same conclusion as us) [Ash] "It isn''t a far stretch to say that" [Diana] "True. We lack any sort of evidence, but that''s the only thing that we can think of" [Ash] "But that thing appearance is... Hideous to say the least" [Farhah] "Yeah. This isn''t something good to say, but it''s hard to disagree given how hideous that thing was" [Singa] And that''s about it, that wrap our discussion "So, any idea where our two preparator are?" [Karon] Karon, who seems to be losing patience when hearing his father was involved, quickly ask the next question "They will occasionally come, just to check at the situation" [Resistance leader A] "Fawan is a bit predictable, as he always come at regular intervals. In fact, his next visit will be tomorrow itself, but..." [Long hair girl] "As of the serial killer dwarf, we aren''t sure ourselves" [Elf Girl] "That''s plenty of information already. You done well figuring that out" [Aries] "True, so we can start preparing on our "greeting" with Fawan tomorrow itself" [Ash] "Ash, Alaric and Mrs Aries, given how the three of you dealt with him once, I reckon you can take the lead here" [Diana] ""Count us in"" [Lara, Nara] ""Both of you!!??"" [Kara, Mara] "Sure why not" [Ash] "Then can you leave thing related to my father to me!" [Karon] "You always become hot heades when your father is involved... You know what, Charlotte and I will follow you and make sure you are not acting reckless" [Farhah] "I will. Even I started to worry looking at you now" [Charlotte] "Then the rest can simply join either of those two, while also making a third group for miscellaneous job" [Muse] "Right!" [All] So, the three group will be Team capturing Fawan = Ash, Aries, Alaric, Lara, Nara, Kara, Mara Team investigating Serial killer dwarf = Karon, Farhah, Charlotte, Linda, Zerolith, Savel, Singa Team miscellaneous = Diana, Muse, Sachmis, Rean, Elise, Zerolith, Behe Chapter 447 - Chapter 447: Going to Lyrue, inside Mountain Kingdom part 3 [Inside Mountain Nation] "Good luck" [Elise] "We will begin our investigation, as for you seven, stay alert and be ever vigilant" [Diana] "Well, Fawan isn''t that much of a threat... Well screw what I said, his hot temperness brought nothing but trouble back then" [Ash] "Which is why a swift action is needed this time around" [Alaric] "According to information brought by your fellow siblings and the resistance group, Fawan will be here alongside an elite group protecting him" [Aries] "We can dismantle the elite group" [Kara] "That we can, so please take down Fawan quickly" [Mara] ""We will"" [Lara, Nara] "Just to be on the safe side, I''ll hide in your shadow and disarm him moment we got close" [Alaric] ""Right"" [Lara, Nara] It''s 1030A.M in the morning, and our group set out to the first floor of the Mountain Dungeon Beta, the dungeon which connect Mountain Nation with Lyrue, from where Fawan will be coming Fawan himself aren''t that strong, and with how our line up made up of, we have nothing to worry about, but given how he summoned the gigantic thousands arms serpent Drakon back then, it''s best if we move with the assumption he will do just that again, and what better way to tackle this situation? Prevent him from doing it entirely that is (Easy on paper, but the execution part will be way way harder than what I can imagine) [Ash] As we head out (using different type of clothing than usual as to stand out less, even went as far as using invisibility magic and silent magic to prevent anyone from noticing us), I can hear Elise and Behe start forming their own plan on how to get more information. Looks like she''s having a discussion with Diana and Qis about it, and as for other miscellaneous group, they started to scatter around, just assessing the situation "Next" The guard guarding the entrance to the Mountain Dungeon Beta shout, and all seven of us exit the country, into the dungeon alongside a group of people heading towards Lyrue (This will be harder than I imagine...) [Alaric] (Are they Doppelganger?) [Aries] ((Mix. Human and fake doppelgangers)) [Lara, Nara] (That will make it even more complicated...) [Ash] (Agree. With this many people going to Lyrue as well, we can''t exactly attack Fawan out there in open) [Mara] (They will undoubtedly report us for attacking Fawan, or worse, attack us to protect Fawan) [Kara] Well, there is only one thing left to do (I''ll distract them, in the meantime, you guys act normal and be prepared) [Ash] (And how do you plan on distracting them?) [Aries] (I can sense a group of low level devil goblins nearby, I''ll attract them with my blessing, and draw them near) [Ash] ((Don''t be ridiculous!!)) [Kara, Mara] "?" ""Nothing. They''re hungry that''s all, but we can''t afford to let them eat first, otherwise our food and water supplies will ran out soon"" [Lara, Nara] "If that''s the case, here, take this extra sandwich of mine" ""Tha... Thank you"" [Kara, Mara] Even when all we do are whispering, Kara and Mara almost shouted, which attracted the attention of nearby people. Luckily Lara and Nara quick thinking save the day, and now, I feel bad for suggesting it. Is there any other way for me to... "Look!" "It''s Prince Fawan!" "!" [All] Already! According to the information, they shouldn''t be here until 1200. "Ah, Citizen of Mountain Nation, going to Lyrue I suppose?" [Fawan] Fawan, in a dashing manner, greet them. Not gonna lie, he''s in far better shape than when he''s trying to take the throne from Queen Rinz. He looks even more dashing compare to last time (Shadow dive) [Alaric] In a daring move, Alaric quickly use shadow dive and hope from shadow to shadow, until he''s in the shadow of one of the elite guards. Fortunately, none of them realize it. Of course, he''s after all, Diana''s most trusted hidden vampires guard, so this level of skill is expected from him "Is that a lesser dragon corpse on your back?" "That''s right, we are thinking of feeding it to that flower, adding more arsenal for our future battle" [Fawan] "THAT''S GREAT!" "As expected of Prince Fawan!" "The two demon princes, Simba the dark lion and the strong dwarf! You guys really are the best!" "If only you can clone the heroes as well!" "That will be most reassuring" "Now now. Don''t be greedy" (That''s suppose to be the job of First Prince of Estel after all) [Fawan] I see, so they''re making Doppelganger of a lesser dragon. Truth to be told, that will be even more reliable as compare to water golem made by Serpie, but there must be a catch here (They''re all excited) [Kara] (I''m glad they just didn''t notice us here) [Mara] (All of you, listen. Once the crowd and the prince are separated, I''ll lure the devil goblins onto the prince convoy. Get ready) [Ash] ~Nod~ The prince however, keep on talking, but it didn''t take long for him to makw his cool prince like exit, you know, the one where he wave at the lady to swoo them. Yeah, that one. It was super effective I suppose, but that give me the chance to slip out into the group of devil goblins, attract their attention and "Now! Space magic: Translocation" [Ash] As the devil goblins try to attack me, I entrap them inside the space magic and translocate them near Fawan. Of course, having his elite guards, the group of devil goblins are quickly subdue, but """"""Earth magic: Giant Pitfall"""""" [Ash, Aries, Kara, Mara, Lara, Nara] The moment after victory is always the moment one become careless, and in synchronism, all six of us uses pitfall spell just below the convoy "This is!" "It''s a trap!" "This mana!" [Fawan] Just as Fawan is about to take something, Alaric leap out from nearby shadow and "YOU!" [Fawan] "We meet again, and good night" [Alaric] Alaric quickly punch Fawan in the neck, right at the carotid area where the vagus nerve is, making Fawan blackout on the spot, and as for the guard "Damn you vampire!" "Kill him!" Even when they''re falling, they still able to process what''s going on, but so do us, who are up there, watching what happen "Space magic: Translocation" (Quickly, bring Alaric and Fawan out) [Ash] "Nicely done" [Aries] "Fire magic: Great fireball" [Lara] "Light magic: Light bomb" [Nara] "Thunder magic: Thunder spear" [Mara] "I''ll support. Wind magic: Hurricane" [Kara] Thoss four, quickly pull out their spell and subdue the elite guard, but against all odds "We are not going down that easily!" "Kill them!" They quickly leap out from the pitfall, and start attacking "Shield!" [Aries] With her shield, Aries protect those twins from oncoming physical and magical onslaught, and with her other hand, she throw her lance to the nearby group. If it''s the younger Aries, that will be devastating, but instead, three of the men manage to block it using their own shield "Pretty impressive, but not enough I suppose" [Aries] The shield petrify, and crumbles into dust, leaving those three open for ""God of Death technique: Soul pierce"" [Lara, Nara] Three down, seventeen more to go, and it will not take that long given how we have the upper hand "The heroes!?" "And The infamous paladin!" "And that blonde man must be" "Behemoth slayer Ash at your service" [Ash] I threw my scythe toward them and launch a strong fire spell up in the sky, confused, they aren''t sure which one they should be looking for and that''s the moment where "Thunder Lance!" [Mara] "Great wind palm!" [Kara] Using lance made by Karon, Mara pierce the armour of the group hold by Kara''s grear wind palm spell, knocking them out in an instance "Shit! Water magic: Great tsunami" "Doppelganger technique: Copycat" (Interesting) "Earth magic: Shield of great earth" [Ash] Aries earth wall cover us from rampaging tsunami, but ""Weak"" [Lara, Nara] (Well, you can''t really compare them to Mahsuri and Charlotte) [Alaric] "Weak and stupid that is... Thunder magic: Electrocution!" [Ash] Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click /book/opening-an-orphanage-in-another-world_14756838605525405/chapter%C2%A0447-going-to-lyrue-inside-mountain-kingdom%C2%A0part%C2%A03_50950664808888826 for visiting. ""We will add more!!"" [Kara, Mara] And thus, because of their panic spell bursting, they brought this for themselves, and thus, ending the battle. Some of them are still conscious though, but a powerful bash from Aries''s shield do the trick "That''s quick" [Ash] "Which is good. I don''t want to know what happen should Fawan here act recklessly again" [Alaric] "That, I must agree" [Aries] "Anyway, we should head back now" [Kara] "Don''t want anymore people to come and expose us" [Mara] ""Need to clean up evidence of the crime scene as well"" [Lara, Nara] "You aren''t wrong, but maybe word it more nicely" [Ash] Chapter 448 - 448: Trouble in Estel part 9 [At the orphanage] [Ray point of view] "Done" [Serpie] "With this, we are always connected with you" [Calypso Tree] "Try not to hurt yourself so much" [Housey] The three magic cores inside the orphanage really have their own personality aren''t they. Serpie is a mix of Mr Ash and Charlotte when it comes to his pattern of speech, while Calypso Tree is a mix of Farhah and the Fairy Calypso. As for Housey, it''s mix of Mr Ash and Mr Claude. The magic core (Housey and Calypso Tree) are nothing more than two floating magic cores in the beginning, but now, it''s almost like they''re living entity of themselves, communicating like this is all normal. I''m sure any outsider seeing the sight of three floating magic cores talking with us will be in shock, scratching their head and trying to make sense of what''s happening, but for us, it''s now a normal phenomenon Before exploring the underground drainage of the country, we went to the orphanage for two things. 1) As to let the three magic cores attach their mana signature onto our phones, that way we can always have a strong connection no matter what. We might loose connection because of the barrier, or simply because we are too deep underground. Maybe something unexpected will happen that can interfere with our line. So it''s a good idea to do this, like a safe line for us all 2) Since the plan will involve the rabbit golem created by Mr Ash, Bobunny, we plan on getting a clone of Bobunny each. Bobunny main strength isn''t that of his physical strength or magical power. In fact, it''s weak like that of a C rank monster, but don''t let that fool you. It makes up for it with it explosive cloning ability. Even if it weak individually, you don''t want to get barrage by thousand of same attack at the same time With Bobunny''s cloning ability, we will explore the underground drainage system of Estel, and try to find the way to connect with the outside world. That, as well as the castle "This is the ration that I can procure" [Kebab stall owner] "Take this potion as well. Make good use of it" [Merchant] "I can''t give anything that will prove useful, so at least take this light magic stone to illuminate yourself once you''re underground" [Clothing shop Aunty] "That''s actually useful" [Crow] "Agree. If only we can replicate it using the Goddess Treasure Chest" [Claude] "Well, it was with Princess Diana the last time, so it''s somewhere inside the castle now" [Liyana] "I hope the first prince didn''t find out where Princess Diana hide the treasure chest" [Filvisar] "I can assure you that it''s place somewhere safe, but given how much time have passed, I can''t help but to feel anxious as well" [Vampire Guard E] Since the Goddess Treasure Chest is capable of replicating anything put inside of it, it''s an item of legendary status. It was gifted by Mr Ash to Princess Diana during the debutante party back then, and now, it''s a joint property of both Princess Diana and the orphanage. ~Chuckle~ Bobunny chuckle loudly "Bobunny is comparing itself with the Goddess Treasure Chest" [Housey] "True... Both can multiply... Kinda" [Cupid] "Bobunny can only multiply itself, while the Goddess Treasure Chest can multiply anything put inside of it. Quite similar and different at the same time" [Mile] "No matter, both are there to help us" ~Chuckle~ Bobunny chuckle happily as the orphans started to praise the crystal bunnies. "Excuse me. Sorry I''m late" [Noble Guard] The noble guard of the Duke house come, bringing with him the underground drainage map "Please, make this a secret" [Noble Guard] He volunteered himself to get a copy of the map stored inside the Duke house. Given the situation he is in, he will be consider lucky if getting fired is the only consequence he got, stealing from a prestigious noble house. Most likely not, as his pale face tell me the consequence will be a heavy one "Appreciate it. We have the map we created long back, but with this, it will surely help" [Erinmorlin] "Everyone, no matter what, this is to be kept a secret! Understood!" [Ram] "OF COURSE" None of us wanted the noble guard to get any sort of punishment, so we will keep quiet about it "I''ll make a copy of it, but I''ll only give the copy to the leader as to prevent the copies from finding himself into the Duke house. The leader, please make sure that you burn the copies once it serve the purpose" [Lisa] Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click /book/opening-an-orphanage-in-another-world_14756838605525405/chapter-448-trouble-in-estel-part-9_50974475587484419 for visiting. Right now, we are dividing ourselves into four large groups, and depending on where we start and the situation once we are inside the drainage system, we will further divide ourselves into smaller groups, but minimum of four people is a must in any given situation. Roaming monster, or worse, roaming devil, or even the Doppelganger might be there, awaiting us, that''s the assumption that we made going inside the drainage system. The drainage system is a vast one, one that even the Duke themselves who controls the water drainage system of the country didn''t know each and every corner of it. Based on the assumption that the Loa Carcolh seven years ago was a monster from the Rock and Sea dungeon, then we can assume that the the Rock and Sea dungeon and the Drainage system are connected, most likely by the ancient tunnel. If we can (or Bobunny can) find the path, then we will be able to contact with the outside world, and hopefully, even gaining access inside the castle and found out what actually happened "Is everyone ready?" [Ram] "RIGHT!" "YES" "ALWAYS READY" "Listen, the core of this operation will be Bobunny, and you guys are assisting it in any way possible, so if you find yourself in danger, don''t hesitate to fall back! Of course, this is an important operation, but so does your life!" [Ram] "May the Goddess, be with you" [Crow] "RIGHT!" With a powerful shout, we get ourselves ready and head to the aforementioned position Chapter 449 - 449: Trouble in Estel part 10 [Inside Estel] [Ray point of view] As our group are going to the designated area, I can see that the people are actually helping each other out. Some ant beastman who knows a preservation technique for meat offer his storage room so that the community can keep the meat supply for long. Other, who have extra flour, rice, corn and other staple foods start sharing it with each other who are less fortunate. "Hope this will all be over soon" "I hope what the old elven hero said will not happen" "One can only hope..." "This is hard, and I can''t imagine how much harder will it be once the devil and the fallen god awaken" "Let us pray to Goddess Achalasia that everything will be alright" "Alright, time to see if the house over there need any help" Seeing them like this further motivate our group Of course, there are also other that try to take advantage of the situation, but they''re soon getting questioned by the merchant guild for raising the price without thinking twice. Price surge is to be expected, but for them to increase it by ten folds of normal price at this stage is something unacceptable "It''s you guys. Good luck out there" [Alice''s dad] "Pleass come home safely" [Alice''s mom] "Thank you" [Ray] The area we are designated is somewhere near Alice''s parents inn. A peek at their inn and we can see that there are foreigners who are basically stuck here, inside the country. Stress as they are, they try their best to help other as well, especially Mrs Alice''s parent as they''re all getting their daily basic needs from them. Still, it''s not as rowdy as usual. Situation aside, the usual sight of Mr Seraph who will usually make his daily "concert" here as the traveling angel bard is there no more. It feels strange but I''m sure Rean and the other are trying their best right now, and for that, so should we "This is Liyana talking through Serpie from the orphanage, do you guys hear me?" [Liyana] Liyana voice can be heard, as we made ourselves into the underground drainage system. "This is Mile here, I can hear you pretty well" [Mile] Mile, in response, answer the call, representing us all. All of us can hear the force transmission from Liyana''s call, but to make thing simple, we only let Mile answer her, since there are other 10 groups answering her as well "Good. I confirm that all ten groups are able to communicate seemlessly. The next periodic call will be an hour from now, so make sure to answer the call whenever possible. Also, if you think that the line will be unstable in certain area, please ensure that you call me so that I can relay it to other as well. Please also ensure that whenever you are going to split into a smaller group, you inform the other as well as me. Last but not least, stay safe and don''t be afraid to make a call if you think you''re in trouble. Liyana out" [Liyana] With that, we uses the light magic stone and illuminate the damp dark drainage system. It''s horrid in smell as one would expect, but a use of adaptability magic should do the trick. Giant rats, giant flies start to swarm us all, as we begin scouting the area. Of course, us adventures, Valkyrie and knights alike can take care of it easily but "Seeing the cute bunny golem dismantle them all sure is something..." [Valkyrie Junior A] "Agree, but I''m just glad it isn''t us on the opposite site of the attack" [Knight] "Another thing we should be grateful for" [Ray] "Should I burn the corpses?" [Young adventure] "Please don''t. You will make the carbon dioxide acc.u.mulate here. Will be dangerous" [Ray] "As such, please refrain using any fire magic. Even earth as manipulating the structure around here can make it more unstable, or worse, collapsing" [Mile] "Mrs Alice, Mrs Lisa, Mr Flinar and Mr Erinmorlin do warn us about it. As such, we should approach it just like how Mr Ash does back then" [Ray] "Right" Of course, it isn''t to say we need complete restrictions when it come to using those magic, but it serve as an extra strong precaution for us all. Except Bobunny who can shoot earth magic, most of us who use earth magic manipulate the earth surrounding us, so we should be extra careful not to do that Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click /book/opening-an-orphanage-in-another-world_14756838605525405/chapter-449-trouble-in-estel-part-10_50996342054514894 for visiting. Seeing as they are intersection up ahead, "This is Ray speaking, we will be splitting up into two groups" [Ray] "This is Liyana speaking, roger that. May I know further details" [Liyana] As such, we make the update before splitting up. Along the way, we encounter more rats and flies which is easily handle by Bobunny. As some of us have their mana run low due to the constant need to apply adaptability magic, we take rest here and there, drinking mana potion. Of course, we also ensure to answer the call from Liyana for her periodic update. So far, there are at least 25 smaller group after four after of underground exploration. (The underground drainage system sure is a large one...) [Ray] Plus, the group that went to the site where Lou Carcolh were spotted by Mr Ash seven years ago reported that there are none of them this time around. A good news and bad at the same time. Good since that mean we won''t have to worry about the endemic to come once more, and bad since we are going in with the assumption of finding monster, particularly Lou Carcolh so that we can trace from where they''re coming, and use the same route so that the adventure, Valkyrie and knights that are stuck outside can come inside As we are down to our last four "!" [Ray] "Ray, what''s wrong...!" [Mile] "Did you hear that?" [Young adventure] "A meow?" [Valkyrie Junior A] "Let us take a look" [Ray] ~Firm Chuckling~ And what we see once we get there is "A group of snow cat!" [Valkyrie Junior A] "What''s a monster from Ice Dungeon doing here?" [Young adventure] "Doesn''t matter. Mile, I''ll mark this spot, so please call Liyana" [Ray] "Already on it" [Mile] A glimmer of hope for us all Chapter 450 - Chapter 450: Going to Lyrue, inside Mountain Kingdom part 5 [Elise point of view] Since we are currently split into a group of three, and the group which I am in is task with miscellaneous kind of jobs, gathering information so that we can plan ahead on what to do next will be the best idea. So far, from what I can say, the royal of this country are, without a doubt have themselves replace by their Doppelganger. Even if they aren''t, I''m 100% sure that they are currently being accompanied by the said fake doppelgangers. If that is the case, then I''m afraid there will be no room for negotiation between Princess Diana and the ruler of this country. Even if by miracle, there is one person who has not been replaced or have any sort of fake doppelgangers accompany him/her, I doubt there''s much we can do in this situation, which mean (Should we just abandon this operation? Helping Sis Rafiah, Calypso and the other will undoubtedly be better) [Elise] Yes, we are a hero, and we have the duty to help them, but doesn''t this situation seem "You''re so deep in thought. Thinking about your lover Ray?" [Muse] "That''s not even funny" [Elise] I answer with slight tone of annoyed. I know Muse means no harm with her tease but I can''t help it since she''s stopping my train of thought. "You know, I was thinking, what would happen if Mr Ash didn''t bother helping me out back then. Would I even be with Dear Rean if that''s the case." [Muse] "?" [Elise] "I mean, I can''t imagine him not helping other in need. Sure, he prioritize the orphans more than any other people, but what would happen if he didn''t? For once, I''m sure I will not be with Rean right now, probably getting bid by the highest noble to become his wife" [Muse] Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click /book/opening-an-orphanage-in-another-world_14756838605525405/chapter%C2%A0450-going-to-lyrue-inside-mountain-kingdom%C2%A0part%C2%A05_51044250552430876 for visiting. "Don''t talk like that. I''m sure you will be fine" [Elise] Muse suddenly express her thoughts. I can spare her my ears and thoughts since we are in the middle of a break inside one of the fancy tea shop, eating a sweat good fatty butter bread with strong cup of bitter green tea. Maybe the mood, the atmosphere and the food just make it much easier for one to talk herself out "And it will not just be me. I mean, most adventures and knights might have lost their lives if it wasn''t for him teaching his chantless magic for free. Mr Jacks getting from a B rank adventure to now a famous S rank adventure because of him. Mr Alaric improving his stealth mode by a mile more. Mrs Aries finally reunited with Kara and Mara. There''s many more of people that he touch, not just the orphans" [Muse] "True, for that I am grateful and proud that we call him Brother Ash" [Elise] He have done so much despite only been here with is for a short period of time. It won''t be an exaggeration to say that his contribution greatly help other, even turning their live around for the better. The more I think of it, the prouder I feel, and it make me smile unconsciously "All of that is simply because he''s trying his best to help other despite him being reluctant" [Muse] "Haha, I can agree with that." [Elise] He''s not perfect, and he always complaining about not wanting to help certain kind of people, but at the end of the day, he still giving his best to do so regardless of his laziness "That''s why Elise, I don''t want you to think that helping the people of this country will be waste of time" [Muse] "Muse!" [Elise] That was so sudden that I (with a very minimal decibal) shout her name. Thank goodness other beside us didn''t take notice of it "I''m in agreement, that the time we spent here can be better utilize to save Mrs Rafiah, Calypso, Mr Seraph and King Druser himself. They might be suffering now even as we sip out our cup of bitter green tea. Not to mention, we are close those four, but, like I said, if Mr Ash was not the Mr Ash we come to know, we might not be having this conversation now. Maybe I will be stuck in a cage in a wealthy mansion of a noble, being use as an object of l.u.s.t, or better... Find myself hanging myself rather than being the object of l.u.s.t" [Muse] "..." [Elise] "I''m not saying what you thought earlier is wrong, and it''s acceptable for you to worry about them. It just that I was afraid, I was afraid that if I didn''t interfere your train of thought just now, it will slowly consume your mind, and you might not be the same Big Sis Elise that we all come to know and love. The Big Sis Elise that is caring for eveyone and will always try her best for her little siblings" [Muse] "Muse..." [Elise] Now I feel ashame of myself. I must say, I have to thank Muse for her advice just now. It''s always start with this unpleasant small thought that will one day corrupt a person "Thank you, Muse" [Elise] "You''re welcome, and if you ever wish to repay me, you can always reserve a special seat for me during your wedding day with Ray" [Muse] "Muse!" [Elise] "Oh, it wasn''t him? Who else could it be? Mr Crow maybe?" [Muse] "Muse, I am being serious" [Elise] "So am I. I can''t wait to see whom will you choose as your future husband. The son of King Leogris of the Beastman Kingdom is a gentleman himself. Oh I know! Maybe even Motra''s little brother" [Muse] "Good grief" [Elise] I guess Muse will always be Muse "So here you guys are" [Zerolith] "Enjoying a cup of tea my dear" [Rean] "Care to join us? We are talking about a suitable partner for Elise here" [Muse] "Meow!?" [Behe] "No we are not!" [Elise] "We would like to, since it will be a good time for us to update you on what we found just now" [Zerolith] ""!?"" [Elise, Muse] With that, Rean and Zerolith join us as we begin to share latest information we get Chapter 451 - 451: Going to Lyrue, inside Mountain Kingdom part 7 [Inside Lyrue kingdom] [Charlotte point of view] "What''s wrong Karon?" [Qis] "Oh, he''s just being Salty that we couldn''t find any trace or clue regarding his father, even when I tap into my Avery power, it didn''t yield any sort of result" [Farhah] "On other related note, we did find a clue or two regarding Simba the dark lion, just that he isn''t here currently" [Singa] "Oh..." [Sachmis] "Your reaction tell me that you expected that" [Linda] Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click /book/opening-an-orphanage-in-another-world_14756838605525405/chapter-451-going-to-lyrue-inside-mountain-kingdom-part-7_51057133306827752 for visiting. "I am. The other half of my soul is literally with the Holy Beast of Fire, and I can tell that it wasn''t here the moment we step into the country" [Sachmis] "That just leave Brother Ash group and Princess Diana with some good lead" [Charlotte] "That''s right, though we will wait for Ash and the other first before we proceed" [Diana] "You said that but..." [Charlotte] "I''m sorry for what the person I am based on do to you long ago". [Doppelganger prince] This person, or more specifically, the person that this Doppelganger is based on, was the one that tried to prevent me from leaving the country once. If it wasn''t for the male and female elf adventure as well as few other adventures from Estel, I would sincerely fall for the traps, attack the prince and who knows what ploys will that prince use to make me his personal treasure This Doppelganger, unlike Htilorez is to Zerolith, is almost the same in term of appearances, but his manner of speaking is different. For once, this Doppelganger here is much much more polite, from the way he conducted himself to his manner of speech while talking with other. He also has a silver eye, which is his most unique feature Still, waiting in the same room as him just make all those bad memories flooding in. I know it wasn''t this Doppelganger that cause the issue back then, but the fact that he''s almost similar to the very same prince make those memories resurface. (I feel guilty about it, but I can''t help it) [Charlotte] Since we are waiting for Brother Ash and the other, we begin introducing ourselves, and just as the last of our siblings done so "Sorry we are late" [Ash] "No, you arrive just in time" [Long hair girl] Brother Ash and the other arrive, and just as he cast the silence spell, he bring out the good from his item bag "Jackpot" [Ash] "So you succeeded!" [Diana] "Pretty easy if you ask me" [Ash] "Just glad that he doesn''t bring any trouble like the last time" [Alaric] """Agree""" [Aries, Lara, Nara] "And who do we have here?" [Mara] "It''s rather impolite of us, we are..." [Kara] As they introduce themselves, the Doppelganger tell us his side of the story, and "So you''re... Whatever. It wasn''t you the one that did that to Charlotte" [Ash] (At least feel bad for me more!) [Charlotte] (Charlotte, it''s obvious what you''re thinking) [Elise] Elise whisper it to me. I am being immature here, but it just couldn''t he help. Seeing this, Sis Diana and Muse quickly get into the business "We can leave the unconscious Fawan first, so mind telling us what brings you here, after contacting the resistance group?" [Muse] "Right. Please do so" [Diana] "Very well. I might as well as start from the very beginning, maybe from the time The Behemoth Slayer here actually attacking the prince" [Doppelganger prince] "!" [All] All of us suddenly turn our head and stare at the dumbfounded Brother Ash. "This... Actually, I do hear a rumour of this country''s royal getting attack once, but since there was no other rumours or anything to confirm it, I just slide it off as a baseless rumours" [Muse] "Plus, this must be during the time when Ash was still under the control of the Fallen God" [Qis] "Maybe, as I am 10000% sure I never set my foot here before" [Ash] "True. More specifically, few months after Charlotte here getting "detained" by the prince" [Doppelganger prince] "So, it was before this whole things happen" [Resistance leader] So basically it''s the period after my departure here and before the first appearance of the doppelgangers here in Mountain Kingdom "Your action during that time cause a great distress to the royal. With the impending doom of the fallen god awakening, and how the heroes are perceive as the personal knights of Princess Diana, any offers to help combat the devil is a good option. What''s more, it''s coming from the neighboring country, Lyrue" [Doppelganger prince] "Lyrue and Mountain Kingdom are basically like Estel and Malsia after all, so I reckon this cause all of them to trust whatever proposal they come up with" [Muse] "And what''s the proposals?" [Qis] "Nothing. It''s a trap. Once they allowed the convoy from Lyrue to enter the castle, fake doppelgangers lead by the two traitorous prince of demon kingdom barge in, together with the old demon king, albeit, I must said, the old demon king look lifeless. Like a puppet being controlled by someone" [Doppelganger prince] "Puppet huh..." [Karon] "You don''t think..." [Farhah] I can tell that all of us here are having the same thought "Could it be, the serial killer dwarf uses his pupper magic to..." [Savel] "Unsure. Unless I see the old demon king by myself, I will refrain from commenting" [Ash] We are glad to hear from Brother Ash that the dwarf lost racial magic, puppet magic couldn''t resurrect a person "Their operation was, as you can see, a success, and the rest, I am sure you know what''s happening" [Doppelganger prince] "But that isn''t all right?" [Diana] "Correct. If it just to tell you guys a story, then I can just send someone else that''s equally unaffected by me, but rather, I come here with a proposal" [Doppelganger prince] He proceed to bring out something from his item box magic "This, this is the sacred heart of the once Goddess of Light, Theia or better known now after her defeat by the God of Life as the Holy Beast of Light, Angkasa. With this, I hope you can actually rescue them from the flowers they are entrapped within " [Doppelganger prince] "!" [All] That thing... That thing is... Chapter 452 - 452: Trouble in Estel part 11 _________________________________________________ [Inside Rock and Sea dungeon] [Samurai Jacks point of view] Our search for the alternative entry into Estel still bore no fruit. With no way of breaking down the barrier from outside, and the morale of the group draining down into the depth of the sea below, all of us, with the support of Princess Nurhaliza of Malsia and the Adventure Guild of Malsia still keep it going no matter how tough it is "I''m sorry, we were unable to find any notable entrance from the Open Field Dungeon" [Khamishah] "We will try again, so don''t give up" [Anjin] "Hmph!" [Kucin] The SS rank adventure and the pair S rank siblings from Kiserre, as well as the adventure guild of the Kiserre are also with us, looking for any alternative Just as we are about to end our call "There is a message from Liyana!" [Princess Nurhaliza] "What!" [All] Princess Nurhaliza, who is currently on break, say it out loud. This isn''t the usual update, so something important must have happened. I waste no time to call the adventures and Valkyries. All of us stare intensely at the slime that are summon from the communication stones "They found a way!" [Valkyrie F] "A path into the Ice Dungeon!" [Spearman adventure] "That''s a good news!" [Lily] "Qudus!" [Naoto] "Understood!" [Qudus] Qudus, an expert geologist from Malsia quickly take out his map and try to find any way possible to connect the ice Dungeon to us here So, this silver barrier does have holes that we can penetrate "For now, I''ll send a message to them that we received the message" [Haliza] "So, we should all focus on finding a path towards the Ice Dungeon" [Jacks] "That seems to be the best alternative" [Khamishah] "I might not be as good as Diana when it comes to this, but each and everyone of us here, the path that we have taken thus far have started to show it fruit, and as such, move forward and may the Goddess be with you!" [Haliza] "RIGHT!" [All] She''s just as good as Princess Diana when it comes to this type of speech, as all of us are invigorated by not only her words, but also the chance presented to us _________________________________________________ [Inside the Orphanage] [Ray point of view] "Message from Princess Nurhaliza of Malsia and The SS rank adventure, Mrs Khamishah. They will find a way into the ice Dungeon as well. I repeat, they will find a path into the ice dungeon through the ancient tunnel" [Liyana] With that interpretation from Liyana, all of us here started to feel better. No, we are in a high spirits right now, as this can be it, the path that will uncover the mystery of what''s currently happening here on Estel. Adventures, Knights and citizens alike that are currently gather here all feels the same, celebrating the news After our discovery of a group of snow cats inside the drainage system, we tried our best to follow their trail, but, we prove to me unmatched as the snow cats managed to "escaped" from our sight. It''s not like we were hunting them, but from their perspective, we kinda were. Even Bobunny''s clone couldn''t catch up to them, and thus, we decided to regroup first and plan ahead for the best course of action "Good job on finding the path, Ray and Mile" [Kat] "You guys really did a good job!" [Blanc] "With this, we can start preparing for the next "expedition"" "Right right" Blanc, Kat and the younger group of orphans approach us. That aside "We still couldn''t find any alternative pathway into the castle" [Vampire Guard A] "We literally try to enter through the drainage system of the castle, but who would have thought that the barrier actually cover that area as well" [Vampire Guard E] "As frustrating as it sounds, that''s to be expected" [Claude] "Which mean that the source of all this is definitely from the castle" [Filvisar] As each of us started to discuss the best possible way to overcome it Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click /book/opening-an-orphanage-in-another-world_14756838605525405/chapter-452-trouble-in-estel-part-11_51204231641746117 for visiting. "Alright, listen up everyone" [Crow] Sir Crow quickly got our attention "We will definitely send a large number of groups into the area, but given the time now, it''s better for us to prepare everything first and head out there tomorrow morning itself" [Crow] "That''s right. It would prove suicidal if we send all of you at night, without any proper rest or equipment. For those that I''ll call, please come forward and take the necessary equipment and supplies that the merchants gave to us. Remember to divide it equally" [Ram] First on the list is our group of four that come to discover the snow cats, and follow by many other. Almost half of the force are to be utilize there, while the other will keep searching for any alternative pathway. We can''t be happy with just a single path, so a back up will be highly appreciated. Even better, a path towards the Rock and Sea dungeon itself. That way, we can reunited with those from outside and start to tackle the core problem "Ray, Mile, Kat and Blanc, how about you stay here with us for tonight" [Claude] "It''s getting late after all" [Filvisar] "If you''re inviting us, then why not" [Mile] "Right, it will be rude not to accept the invitation" [Ray] As such, we gladly have our sleep over. Mr Filvisar and Claude give us four siblings a room for us, and we get the good night sleep we so needed Come tomorrow morning, even before the morning sunshine, Mile and I quickly get up, and prepare ourselves for the Expedition. As we eat our breakfast prepared by Mr Claude, Ex Guild Master Ram and Sir Crow come early in the morning, with Liyana (who''s been staying with the Orphans all this time) joining us for breakfast. As more and more people gather, and all the people enlisted yesterday are here, we depart and enter the drainage system for the second time, wasting no time and after an hour or so, we are back to the spot we last saw the group of snow cats "Are you guys ready?" [Ray] "We are!" [Young adventure] "Let us proceed!" [Valkyrie Junior A] "Be careful, and best of luck everyone!" [Mile] We exchange motivational word with each other, and slowly, we divide ourselves and continue on exploring until... Chapter 453 - 453: Trouble in Estel part 12 [Inside of the Ice Dungeon] [Ray point of view] "Great job on finding a way out Bobunny!" [Young adventure] ~Happy Proud chuckling~ "We really are inside of the ice Dungeon!" [Valkyrie Junior A] "Ray. I''ll call mom and dad, can you call Uncle Syah and Aunt Mimi." [Mile] "Right" [Ray] We are finally out! At first, we were just searching in random, with no specific directions nor clues in our minds, but when we think of ice dungeon, we think of the cold temperatures and breeze. Relying nothing more than that, we asked one of Bobunny''s clone to guide us to place where it find the dropping, and as we go and go, we started to notice that mist started to form with each of our breath. We couldn''t help but to get excited at that time since it prove that one simple thought from us can actually be translated into a success, and here we are, adequately prepared to enter the ice dungeon thanks to the merchants contribution. Pack with a warm snuffy clothes as well as adaptability magic to mitigate any freezing status, we desperately make a phone call to anyone we know. Mile calling for our parents while me calling for Uncle Syah and Aunt Mimi. As for the two whom are with us, they try to call the adventures and Valkyrie that are currently inside the Rock and Sea dungeon "It''s connected!" [Valkyrie Junior A] "Huh... Is that really you!" [Valkyrie B] "So am I!" [Young adventure] "Wait! That scenery!" [Hunter adventure] That''s great! Just when we are about to talk to them "Watch out!" [Mile] Rain of arrow targeted us, and not only that "It keep pursuing us!" [Valkyrie Junior A] "Damnit! Plus, the force behind each shot is powerful! My hands started to get numb blocking and parrying it" [Young adventure] "This is like..." [Mile] "Right. Like Karon''s puppet magic" [Ray] So our opponents is a dwarf then? Dwarf lost racial magic, puppet magic is a type of magic similar to that of a fortress defense magic that Mr Ash love to use. It''s basically a type of magic that can give "life" to any object it so desire. Karon stated that it''s like giving an essence of your magic and let it form it own thoughts. Kinda similar but different from the fortress defense magic we all know. For once, it can be use in almost any weapon or object unlike the fortress defense magic, and secondly, the mana requirements isn''t as demanding as that of the fortress defense magic. Several weapons from the heroes, like Mara''s lance and Zerolith''s gun are imbued with the power of puppet magic from Karon. Even Karon own hammer, that cause tremor like that of an earthquake is in fact, imbued with his own Puppet magic "Over there!" [Ray] "A devil elf and a devil dwarf!" [Mile] The male devil elf, white like that of a snow, with ears bigger and pointier than your usual elf. It decorate the ear excessively, almost like it''s his pride. The male dwarf, way muscular for it size, with teeth like that of a tusk... no like that of a giant teeth. The devilish aura they emits are nauseating even from afar "Shit! A devil now out of all the time and place!" [Young adventure] "Bobunny! Can you shield us?" [Valkyrie Junior A] ~Firm Chuckling~ With a green emerald wall shielding us, we can heard the dissatisfied sound the devils make, and this is the opportunity we use to counteract Taking out his crossbow, the Valkyrie junior launch a series of attack aim directly at those two devil, which without any effort, simply caught the bow launch at them but "Now! Explode" [Valkyrie Junior] A time delay attack that cause the arrows to be explode. It caught the two devils off guard, for which """Now!!!""" [Ray, Mile, Young adventure] The three of us launch our all out attack, targeting the elf first and foremost, so that it would not fire off his arrow from a distance. Sensing this, the dwarf quickly try to shield his elf friend, but ~Chuckling~ Bobunny, who been digging underground, made it appearance just behind the elf. Surprise by it, it try to shoot an arrow right at Bobunny. It hit the mark, but Bobunny already cloaked itself with a titanium making it invulnerable Bobunny launches itself at high speed, hitting the elf directly at the face, and just like that, the devil elf is defeated, and as for the devil dwarf, I slice his arm first as not to allow him to use his claymore. The tendon rupture but he simply switch his arm, but it prove to late ""Take this!!"" [Mile, Young adventure] Mile, launch her attack and shove her weapon, piercing the right ear, as the tip of her weapon find itself pointed outward towards the left eye, and as for the young adventure, a straight stab right into the heart Just when we thought we are safe "Careless aren''t you" [Necromancer Devil] A human devil, activate his spell, and just like that ""Die"" [Zombie devil elf, zombie devil dwarf] The two, now a mere puppet, launch a suicidal attack unto us "GO!" [Ray] Pushing those two behind forcefully, I receive a direct claymore attack at my knee, leaving it dangling with only a tendon that keep it from being detached from my body "RAY!!! NO!!!" [Mile] My little sister, Mile frantically swing her weapon as to prevent the elf from firing his bow right at my face. Bobunny is now struggling to keep the necromancer at bay. As the two now zombie try to finish me off "Zero freeze" [?] A spell instantaneously freeze those two, and with a single thrust from the blue sword, the two devils shattered right in front of my eyes. "You are!" [Ray] "We meet again. You''re a friend with those young heroes if I am remembering it correctly" [Yuki-ona] It heals my wound before finishing the necromancer off with her umbrella. The Umbrella which act as both offensive and defensive weapon quickly cause the necromancer to retreat, but the S rank Yuki-ona monster, who is loyal to her master, the Holy Beast of Water, Ice Dragon Reshir prove to be a formidable foe, even for a devil "What brings all of you here?" [Yuki-ona] Sensing no other danger, we started to talk with the Yuki-ona, not before ""Ray, Mile! Are you alright!?" [Borg] "What just happen!?" [Lin] "You look..." [Syah] "And isn''t that the Yuki-ona!?" [Mimi] We politely ask the Yuki-ona to give us some time to answer the phone, for which she agree Chapter 454 - 454: Going to Lyrue inside Mountain Kingdom part 8 With the so call heart of the God of Light on our hand, we can actually do something regarding the people trapped inside the Doppelganger flowers. It''s not like they''re eaten and digested by the digestive enzymes of the flowers. Well, in one look, it does look like that, but according to all the intel that we got, it''s more like they''re being kept alive by the flowers (minimally alive that is), so that the flowers can keep generating a Doppelganger of that person entrapped within it. Thing is "If we are talking about a strong space magic user, Linda and Singa will definitely be it" [Diana] "Agree. Lara, Nara and I are next best, but I don''t think we are near where as proficient as both of you are" [Ash] "Alright, leave it to me!" [Singa] "I swear I won''t disappoint any one of you" [Linda] "That''s good and all, but any idea where to start?" [Farhah] Next will be the targeted flowers. We can actually start anywhere if I''m being honest but Rean here got another plan "Let start with the castle first. It should be the source of all the problems in this country." [Rean] "Rean''s right. If we can rescue their leader first, we can easily deal with aftermath, but to get there..." [Elise] "Don''t worry about that. We can use this idiot here as our pawn" [Alaric] "I can use mirage magic and keep him hypnotized and follow our command. We can all replace the elite bodyguard of him" [Savel] "That''s exactly what I was thinking" [Alaric] So, instead of sneaking around and try to enter the castle, we will be controlling Fawan (by we, specifically Savel will, as the rest of us will blend in as the bodyguard). That''s a neat idea "Let me peak into his memory first. There will definitely be an info regarding the flower location" [Ash] "I actually had that info, but it wouldn''t hurt to do so" [Doppelganger prince] "As for the layout of the castle, our group got it covered" [Resistance leader] "But it wouldn''t hurt to peak into his memory. We can get more information and can better pull this trick off" [Zerolith] "Alright then, I''ll do it before we execute this plan" [Ash] So we got ourselves a frame of plan that we will do. Sneaking in might be easier said than done, and once we locate the flower, it''s up to Linda and Singa to do their part as the rest of us will probably meet the retaliation of such action. Attacking the flower that started it all will surely alert each and everyone, and I can''t see how they will not retaliate and be silence about it "Then not everybody should be inside the castle" [Charlotte] "I said the bare minimum should be more than enough. Princess Diana is a must, as she will definitely be recognized by the royal family once they are rescue" [Muse] "Another hero they will recognise will be..." [Kara] We all stare at Charlotte, as she start to make the dissatisfied sound. I really appreciate if she didn''t take that after me. "I''ll do it... Sis Diana..." [Charlotte] "I will. Don''t worry about it" [Diana] "Now I feel like meeting that bastard of a prince ... personally" [Ash] "Mr Ash will be station outside the castle then" [Muse] "Agree" [Mara] "Hey!" [Ash] ""Brother Ash, you will definitely kick that prince face once you meet with him"" [Lara, Nara] "I can vividly imagine that" [Karon] "As much as I find it funny, I will appreciate it if you didn''t kick the prince. My trade with this country will surely be affected by your action." [Long hair girl] With the majority of them voting me out, the power of democracy once again fail me. I''m sure I will not kick that bastard face right away... Well, right away is the keyword here. If he somehow still has the nerve to do what he had done to Charlotte, I''m sure the blood will go rushing to my head. Let just hope my lovely Diana will be able to prevent that from happening "If you''re going inside the castle, I might as well go as the representative of the Duke House of the Beastman Kingdom" [Sachmis] "I''m no longer the Paladin of the Demon Kingdom, but I''m sure some of them will still recognize me. If all goes well, we can establish a friendly ties with this country" [Aries] "I think I''m starting to see our team here" [Elise] "So am I" [Rean] So those with diplomatic power will storm the castle. They are Castle infiltrating team = Diana, Muse, Qis, Alaric, Linda, Charlotte, Singa, Savel, Sachmis, Aries The other (Me myself, Rean, Elise, Kara, Mara, Lara, Nara, Zerolith, Karon, Farhah and Behe) will face the Doppelganger that try rushing in toward the castle. "Can we take a look at the map again. I want to see the flowers location. We can better divide ourselves further with it" [Rean] "Right. Just a moment" [Resistance member A] With that,we started to further plan our actions. The date of the operation will be tomorrow itself, that''s what we would like to do but "Given that we wanted to use Fawan, we ought to do it today itself" [Elise] "Correct. A moment of delay is to be expected from any convoy coming from another country, but too long and it will be suspicious and will deter our plan" [Qis] "So, should we start around 500Pm? People will start closing in their business around this time, and most people will start to go back home." [Resistance leader] "Not too early nor too late. I said that is perfect" [Doppelganger prince] "We better start moving then" [Sachmis] "Right. Let me just use memory dive technique on Fawan first" [Ash] And thus, our preparation begin. In such a short notice, all of us including those from the other orphanages and the resistance group start to move. We quickly went to our assigned location and "Did you hear that?" "Prince Fawan is finally here!" "Really!" "I can''t wait to see him!" "Come! Let us go and see the parade!" "Surely" And so it begin Chapter 455 - 455: Going to Lyrue, Inside Mountain Kingdom part 8 [Charlotte point of view] As to make our plan even more believable, our group that was assigned to infiltrate the castle start gathering just outside the Mountain Dungeon Beta, where Savel, with his powerful mirage magic, start casting mind control spell onto Fawan. It help that not only Savel is a powerful user of mirage magic, but also because how Mr Alaric had beatan up the poor prince beforehand that the prince mental resistance go further down the drain. Yes, the prince is angry, but that was easily exploited by Savel, who commented that he uses the negative emotions from the prince to ease his mind control spell, and before the prince even realize "Tchh! That lowly vampires. Anyway, I have managed to kill him. Just let his rotten corpse be eaten by a group of red goblins" [Fawan] "Yes my lord" [Singa] "Those groups of vampires should really know their place" [Alaric] Impressive. All of us couldn''t help but to applaud (inside our mind that is), of how powerful and skillful Savel mind control magic is, to make the prince believe that he successfully fended off an attack from a group of vampires. Prince Fawan doesn''t even realize he is now under control of a spell. Not only that, he didn''t even realize that his elite guards are being replaced by us. Of course, we put illusion magic (again, thanks to Savel) and also fill up the number to twenty by asking the Resistance member and our fellow siblings to fill in the number but for him to not even realize something is wrong with his guards just further convince us that we can make this infiltration a success "I have disposed the vampire into the stomach of an orc" [Singa] "Very well. Let us move on to our next agenda" [Fawan] "Yes, our lords" [All] And thus, our convoy of "escorting" this prince started. We keep on walking with the corpse of a lesser dragon that were defeated by the original elite guard, and once our group arrive at the entrance "My prince. You''re behind your schedule. Is there something the matter?" The Guard guarding the entrance, with a worried face, quickly ask the prince. "Just some rotten vampires and his friends trying to sabotage us. Worries not, they''re all inside the stomach of a gluttonous orc" [Fawan] "As expected of the prince and his fellow elite guards" "There''s no need for us to scan all of you as I''m sure you''re all tired. As always, we welcome all of you to our beautiful country" "We hope you have a pleasant stay" "It''s a pleasure to do so" [Fawan] Rumour of the prince arrival quickly spread, as the tired citizen quickly their energy and start cheering for the prince arrival from the sidewalk. Prince Fawan become that of your fairy tale prince, waving left and right to the citizen in a manner befitting that of a royalty, unlike his fit of anger just now. The sea of human, beastman elf, dwarf, and their fellow fake doppelgangers continue to cheer for us until just in front of the castle. Along the way (I can see some of our siblings and the resistance members already on their position. If all goes well, we can end this in one go) [Charlotte] And it doesn''t look like anything will go wrong at this stage. "Prince Fawan" "It''s their convoy" "Open the castle gate" "Yes" We enter the castle without getting into any sort of trouble. Once inside, we were all greeted by the fake doppelgangers as they welcome Prince Fawan. "All of you may rest in this room" "Thank you" "Take a good rest, all of you. You have done an excellent job so far" [Fawan] "We will, your highness" [Savel] And thus, all twenty of us are guided into a single large resting room. It''s s bit smaller than your typical guest room inside of Estel''s castle, but it''s still comfortable enough for all of us to finally let our sigh "Careful now, this is no place for us to let our guard down" [Aries] "Linda, can any of the fake doppelgangers sense you?" [Diana] "Fortunately no" [Linda] "If that''s the case, can you scout around first" [Qis] "Plan to do just that" [Linda] "Based on what Mrs Linda will tell us, we can effectively sneak around and execute our plan" [Sachmis] "For now, resting on this comfy room is the best course of action" [Muse] As Mrs Linda quickly leave the room (by going through the wall), we sit down and start enjoying the snacks that are provided to us. The maids and butlers of the castle will occasionally come and greet us, and ask us if we wanted anything. Of course, we take advantage of it by asking for more snacks and sweets. We also chat with them, asking about how their works, where they are station etc in the most natural way. The one that did the most splendid job will be Sis Diana herself, Mrs Qis, and Muse as they understood well about the life of a castle worker "So, based on what the worker tell us, we can strike around 830-1000P.M" [Charlotte] "That should be the case" [Doppelganger prince] "But just to be on the safe side, we should wait for Mrs Linda and ask for her opinion as well" [Resistance leader] "That, we should" [Aries] It didn''t take long for the minion of God of Death, Mrs Linda to come and tell us all that she had saw, and she further confirm that it is indeed, the best time to strike is around the aforementioned time. We bring out the castle map and based on what Mrs Linda said, we plan for the best route to take to reach the doppelganger flower, and once it''s 830P.M (Everyone, it''s time to strike!) [Diana] (Yes!) [All] Making a small circle, all of us motivate each other as we begin the plan to save those who are trap inside the doppelganger flower, starting off with the one inside the castle Chapter 456 - 456: Trouble in Estel part 13 [Inside Rock and Sea Dungeon] [Samurai Jacks point of view] Don''t give up! Ray, Mile and the other have show us that there is indeed a way for us to bypass this silver barrier and get inside Estel. Now, we should just find a way to go into the Ice Dungeon and that will be the first step for us to solve this problem "Dammit. So many of these damn Loa Carcolh" [Swordman adventure] "And this devil also... They''re taking the appearance of a baby..." [Female elf adventure] "Feel bad about killing them, but given how they''re the one that comes to slit our throats" [Axeman adventure] "Twin Blade: Sword of light and dark" [Bladel] The captain of the Valkyrie, with her newfound weapon of light, cleave the path ahead. "Still... It''s endless" [Valkyrie A] "And without the heroes, our stamina drain faster when facing against them" [Knight A] "But, this is what all of us will face someday, when those tens confront the fallen god directly..." [Naoto] "And for that..." [Jacks] Taking on the giant mermaid devil that suddenly appear behind us, I cleave the head with help from the blessing of the holy beast of wind. It try to launch a surprise attack through one of the pond that are scattered around the ancient tunnel, but my I''m ever grateful for my sharp sense to detect it, making the surprise attack a failure for the mermaid "This isn''t going anywhere..." [Syah] "But for them... For my sons and daughters! I will not give up!" [Lin] "You got that right honey!" [Borg] "That doesn''t mean Syah is wrong though... We are basically just running around now without any proper plan" [Mimi] "That, I am well aware of... Even my strange ability just bring us this far" [Qudus] The archeologist from Malsia, Qudus, can detect if something is wrong through his special ability m He describe that if he felt something is wrong, his palm will start feeling numb, a numb where he describe as something strange and special, something which he take advantage of to avoid danger when he was once, a bandit traveler inside this very same dungeon "This spot..." [Kanji] "It''s spacious. Let us take a break" [Naoto] "Agree. Who know how many hours we have been running and fighting" [Valkyrie B] They are right. Even when there are senses of urgency in all of us, neither of us will disagree for a small break like this. There are no monster, devils nor fake doppelgangers around, so we should take this opportunity to rest first before doing anything else "Can you reach you son and daughter?" [Naoto] "Unfortunately no. They might be inside an ancient tunnel where the line from communication stones couldn''t reach them. Well, that, or we are the one in that situation" [Lin] "Both also seems plausible" [Dwarf adventure] "I tried calling Mrs Saga and the other as well. Same result" [Seo Ah] ~Screech~ "What''s wrong, Birdie?" [Kana] "This steel bird golem seems restless" [Lily] "Maybe because. Bird dislike. Confined space." [Kadeus] From how Birdie react to Kadeus words, we can all agree that is indeed the case. As it try to move it wings around, the golem created by Ash, unintentionally release some light breeze magic that ventilate the area. It feels nice as the gentle wind touches our sweaty body, and none seems to want it stop (I can even feel Birdie''s mana going out into one of the tunnel...) [Jacks] Since Birdie was also blessed by the same blessing as I am, It feels like his mana and mine are one and the same. I can imagine the tunnels in which the wind escape... (Isn''t this... Too realistic) [Jacks] It feels like I can actually see it for myself, even when I am here. ~Jacks started to get up and looking around~ "What''s wrong Mr Jacks?" [Seo Ah] "Hmm... This seems good enough" [Jacks] This tunnel here is dark, and aside from the entrance, I can''t actually measure the length, width and depth of the tunnel "Can you help me with something" [Jacks] "What do you want me to do?" [Hunter adventure] "Birdie, you as well" [Jacks] ~Screech~ Seeing as I am trying something new, all of them started to gather around. I ask the Hunter adventure to go inside the dark tunnel, and with his good night vision he determine the length width and depth of the tunnel, without telling me any of it. I close my eyes and ask Birdie to use it breeze magic once more, specifically, directing it inside the tunnel and (I was right! I was able to detect the mana... No. It almost feels like I am one with the wind mana itself) [Jacks] "Jacks, what is with that smile?" [Bladel] "Nothing. Just that the tunnel measure around 2 meter in height, with width of 4.5 meter at it largest, and the hunter adventure just went in around 70 meter before stopping, am I right? Oh, there is also the rocky herbs here and there inside the tunnel" [Jacks] "That... That was all correct!" [Hunter adventure] Needless to say, all of them quickly come to the same conclusion as I am "I see... By utilizing this as well as my unique ability..." [Qudus] "How about we get started right away. Birdie, Qudus and Mr Jacks, are you ready?" [Kana] ""Yes"" ~Screech~ [Jacks, Qudus, Birdie] And thus, all of us start to get up and start exploring the tunnels once more. With the three of us combines, the exploration is much much better, yielding faster results as we can quickly find the tunnels that we should take, until "This is..." [Valkyrie B] "Hey! Isn''t that!" [Anjin] "So you guys actually find your way out from the Rock and Sea dungeon" [Khamishah] Our combined effort pay off! We are currently inside the Open Field Dungeon. Seeing Mrs Saga and the S rank siblings confirms it all "Not only them" [Kucin] The Black Cat S rank lady pointed out her finger into one of the many tunnels in this area, where """"RAY! MILE!"""" [Syah, Mimi, Borg, Lin] ""Father! Mother! You two as well!"" [Syah, Mimi] Looks like it''s all connected after all. Traveler king from the past, you aren''t here no more, but I feels like we owe you a big one, for creating this ancient tunnel Chapter 457 - 457: Trouble in Estel part 14 [Diana''s hall] [Samurai Jacks point of view] All of us, after having stuck outside of the Rock and Sea Dungeon, being denied entry into Estel by this mysterious silver barrier, finally get inside Estel. The first thing that comes to our mind were indeed, wanted to cheer and have a small celebration, but "Yes... Sir Ceanu Reaves... Was killed by the fake doppelgangers of the first prince..." [Ray] Ray, who got the help of the Yuki-ona to find a path leading towards Open Field Dungeon (from the Ice Dungeon), tell us the shocking news after one of the Valkyrie suddenly ask about Sir Ceanu Reaves "You... You''re kidding right?!" [Female elf adventure] "Please tell me this is just a joke" [Bladel] "Unfortunately... It wasn''t" [Vampire Guard A] None of us couldn''t believe that word. Looking around, we can definitely tell that wasn''t a joke at all. The atmosphere is a heavy one. Plus, death isn''t something to joke with, more so if the person is someone like Sir Ceanu Reaves. As hard as it''s to swallow that bitter hard pill, all of us, who couldn''t do anything at that time, can only offer him a piece of our thoughts and prayers, and ask him to lend us his strength, in this pressing moment "Now that it come to this... Any idea how we can sneak inside the castle?" [Swordman adventure] We couldn''t help to mourn for too long, and the Swordman break the ice, asking for any plan they devised so far "Truthfully, none" [Ram] "All of us had come up with thousands and one idea, but none seems to work thus far" [Crow] "Though having all of you here will definitely open up more possibilities" [Gizzere] As I fear, we have no concrete plan yet on how to breakthrough the silver barrier surrounded the castle. The elite hidden vampires guard that work with Princess Diana had tried numerous way to get inside the castle, but their efforts bore no fruit thus far, and thus, all of us here sit down and have a discussion inside this big hall. All of us got this feeling, that we will definitely be here, until the morning light hit our face, just to come up with a solution "No. Already asked her, she won''t even budge" [Claude] "Thought so, but just to confirm it" [Seo Ah] "The fact that Mahsuri doesn''t even bother moving means that the threat Isn''t that significant in her eyes. Though I don''t know what exactly to feel with it" [Liyana] Some people from Malsia and Kiserre are also here to help us. Our gratitude for them to come and aid us in desperate time Suggestions after suggestions are thrown out. Use space magic to infiltrate. Already done and fail. Brute force? Of course, the first on the list that will definitely fail. Using drainage system to sneak in? Blocked by the silver barrier "Hmm..." [Khamishah] "Mrs Saga, what''s with that long hmm?" [Kanji] "I was just thinking, shouldn''t we ask Goddess Achalasia herself for some help?" [Khamishah] After being pointed out by the SS rank adventure, all eyes are now on one of the favourite daughter of the Goddess, Seo Ah, the one with the same power as Saintess Rumia. Naturally she become a bit anxious with all the eye staring at her, but regardless, she try her best to communicate with Goddess Achalasia and ask her for a solution "The same way the heroes breakthrough the barrier of the fallen god on their fated battle?" [Seo Ah] "I see... Never thought of trying that one before" [Filvisar] "But, we don''t have any of the heroes with us" [Guard A] An excellent point, but "Let just heard what Mr Filvisar has to offer" [Jacks] "Stage is all your" [Alice] "Guess you''re too hasty out there" [Guard C] "My bad" [Guard A] From Seo Ah to the old elf, we listen closely as to what the old hero have to say. He clears out his throat and begin his side of explanation "I''m sure some of you are already aware of it, but for those who haven''t, during the disaster that is the fallen god awakening, she will be surrounded by her thick powerful miasma and barrier that prevent any sort of harm coming her way, as she keep advancing to wreck havoc on this world. One of the reason why the heroes are the only one with the power to stop her, is because we are the only one capable of going through the barrier without being severely affected by it" [Filvisar] "Affected? What do you mean by that?" [Ray] "As she keeps advancing, those miasma of her will turn everything, from plants to monster to us, into her follower, into the devil, even against their own will. That''s why, as soon as the fallen god awaken, countries are shut down, as they pray that the heroes will defeat the fallen god as soon as possible, as to prevent the ever increasing number of devils" [Filvisar] Such tragedy... Anything and everything (except for the ten heroes) will surely be affected by the miasma, and turn into a devil, ever increasing the strength of the fallen god armies as it awaken. Tales of countless devil charging through countries one after another doesn''t sound impossible after hearing that one "So, if the heroes can enter the barrier of the fallen god unaffected, we should then find someone that will not be affected by the barrier? Is that what you want to say?" [Lisa] "But the heroes are also affected by it mind you, albeit not as much as the other, but that is a discussion for another time. What the Goddess meant just now, is simply the method that us heroes use to crack through the barrier of the fallen god" [Filvisar] "And that method is?" [Flinar] "Prayer to the goddess" [Filvisar] "Huh?" [Bond] Not only Bond, all of us share the same reaction, but nonetheless, we keep staring at Mr Filvisar, for explanation "Intrigue aren''t you. Just let me explain first" [Filvisar] Chapter 458 - 458: Going to Lyrue, Inside Mountain Kingdom part 9 [Inside Mountain Kingdom castle] [Linda point of view] The heart of what was one, the God of Light, the god of those angelic under their leader Seraph. Now, taking form as the Holy Beast of Light, Angkasa, this holy heart of the goddess, is now our hand The Doppelganger prince, when he showed us the heart, none, and by none, not even a single soul can refute. Deep inside, somehow, we all know this chunk of golden crystal is the real deal. Like the God of Light Theai herself, telling us that is indeed, her heart. From Ash to Princess Diana, to even me, we wholeheartedly accept the fact as the holiness of the heart resonate with our heart, especially "..." [Singa] Singa and I, who are the two most powerful space magic user in our current team, can''t help but to keep staring at the heart. All the other heroes had the same look, but as someone with the highest affinity to space magic (which is closely related to light magic), he been staring at it the most intensely. It''s like, he is trying to communicate with the heart, or rather, he is trying hard, to "listen" to what the heart has to say "There''s no one here left, now should be a good time to start" [Aries] "Other, please watch the perimeter, and deal accordingly to the threat presented" [Diana] "Right" [All] As we successfully breach the castle through infiltration, and now getting to the first source of the doppelganger flower, Singa and I quickly resonate our space mana to that of the holy item. The mana required to match the spectrum of wave coming from the holy heart itself alone is high, but that''s something within our expectation. As the space mana keep filling up the hall "You there! What happe..." [Castle magician] A group of magician come rushing in, after detecting the high amount of mana emitted by us. Luckily the other are here to help us, as they swiftly deal with any potential threat of the castle guards and worker "That''s earlier than any of us expected" [Charlotte] "Which show that they do actually take their job rather seriously" [Alaric] "Are you happy as a fellow professional or are you pissed off?" [Qis] Listening to their conversation, both Singa and I can tell that we are in a safe hand after all, and can continue performing this spell. After all, they''re someone we trusted so deeply, sharing an almost unbreakable bond by this point of time "Here it come" [Singa] "Are you ready Singa?" [Linda] "Always be" [Singa] Confidently saying that, the two of us try to detect and translocate the one trapped inside this gigantic meaty doppelganger flower. We can detect several people briefly before _________________________________________________ "Life! Why are you always start that topic with Achalasia and Death!?" [?] "This topic again Theia..." [?] This is... What is this? It feels like we are floating aimlessly while... "Vincent, Maria, Estel, Kiara..." [?] An angel with wing of white, radiating his holy mana all over the place, greets a group of people to his castle. It''s a magnifying castle, something straight out of fairy tale. None of the castle I visited thus far can match this, even the current Demon Kingdom castle pale in comparison to this absolute beauty "Iblis... You know that betraying your God will mean..." [?] "I know that... The pain that I will..." [?] "I''ll try and ask the God of Earth... No... Now call Mother Earth to..." [?] Iblis... As in... The First Demon King? If I''m not mistaken, this should be the start of a very very long throne issue on the demon side, spanning across multiple generation until the current Demon King, Druser (which was kidnapped along Rafiah and Seraph). Based on the intel we gather thus far, the doppelganger were born into this world because of his unique magic, as well as the help from Mother Earth to alleviate his pain and loneliness, giving rise to alternate version of life, doppelgangers. A conversation between a human, a demon king, and an Avery I presume take place, before the we watch the next memory "You witch!" [Iblis] "Theia and Seraph is there no more, Agnes and God of Life already... Now it''s time for your..." [?] "No! That is Seraph..." [Iblis] What will that so call witch do with Iblis!? We try ro grasp more and more of it but couldn''t find so, instead, before we get sucks out, we manage to glimpse into one final memory "The red witch of the earth, can you please make a deal with me" [?] "Regarding those three? Vincent, Maria and Ash? How about the female fetus Charlotte?" [?] "Mahsuri and Time will deal with her..." [?] A deal? Who made this deal with the witch? And Earth. Isn''t that Ash was originally from? _________________________________________________ "Urghh..." [Linda] "You two finally wake up!" [Savel] "What... Happen?" [Singa] Before we even realize it, we are surrounded by an angry mobs of fake doppelgangers, and just beside us are the equally confuse "Just what happen?" "Why are they so many of... Me?" So, our operation is a success. The big doppelganger flower is there no more, but now "So, you''re here. Heroes, Fallen Paladin Aries, that damn vampire and Princess Diana of Estel as well" [Fawan] "Long time no see Fawan. Enjoy escaping your prison sentence so far? Last I know, you''re playing prince in this country as well as Lyrue" [Diana] We are completely surrounded, not only by those doppelgangers but (So, they manage to use the corpse of the lesser dragon to duplicate...) [Linda] That number of lesser dragon should pose serious threat. Just how will we escape this? (Singa... we should...) [Linda] (Escape with all of them by using our combined magic? Already on it) [Singa] As expected from one of the hero. He''s quick to make split second judgement. We might win this, but it will come at a heavy cost no matter how we look at it, thus, escaping should be the better option Hope this will all turn out well Chapter 459 - 459: Going to Lyrue, Inside Mountain Kingdom part 10 With the holy mana from the heart of the God of Light, Theia radiate ever supremely, I can feel within it are the mana signature of Singa and Linda. I know that it will be a success no matter what happen since (The mana from my heart will guide them all. Both in this nation and on your next destination) [Angkasa] (Tell me... If you''re currently the Holy Beast of Light, then, the Holy Beast of Dark, Az is...) [Ash] (True, partially that is) [Angkasa] (So, there is more to it...) [Ash] A conversation between me and the current form of Goddess of Light take place. Almost like a phone is being implanted inside my brain and I can hear her sound. It kinda different from when I speak using telepathy with other, or when I spoke with Goddess Achalasia, which is kinda strange, but it isn''t that much of a big deal (Tell me... Are those three still...) [Ash] (Don''t worry they are. They''re precious "materials" for that group, thus, any harm won''t befall them) [Angkasa] (So they really are being used to create this fake doppelgangers...) [Ash] Iblis, the fallen demon king that refuse to become the king of devil, was cursed to be eternally alone and in constant agonizing pain by the God of Life. What makes him betray the God of Life is unknown to me, but I do know, in desperate attempt, he ask the Avery of that generation and Mother Earth for some soothe. Thus, with his wish and by the power of Mother Earth and Angkasa, a space for doppelganger was born. Sadly, that same space was occupied by the fallen god even up until today. That was doppelganger. What the Meddling third party is currently trying to do, is to use any remaining power from that bloodline, and recreate their own version of doppelgangers for whatever purpose they are trying to achieve, thus, born fake doppelgangers. King Druser, whom based on what the current Demon Queen told, once attempted a spell to gain the power of the fallen demon king. No one is certain why he does that, but all we know is that it is a success, albeit weak. Now, couple with the power of angel, or more specifically the power of Seraph, the king of angel that can preserve something for eternity, and Rafiah powerful witch ability, they manage to do something that is only made possible by the power of God. What''s more, Rafiah also have the power of Seraph and Iblis on her body, which further amplified this whole process. My guess as to why Rafiah have those two power got something to do with how the previous Seraph married with all the different species, and somehow or another, Rafiah was born with all three power. The bloodline of Seraph, Iblis and Witch all within a single vessel. This is only possible through the angel race preservation magic, something that our current Seraph commented once "Something happens inside the castle!" "To arm!" "We can''t let them get in the way of our life!" "TO ARM!" "This is bad..." [Ash] We expected that the fake doppelgangers will do everything in their power to stop our plan, but for the whole nation itself to be mobilize... They isn''t even a moment of hesitation or confusion among them, which is something impressive, but what''s even more impressive in my opinion is the fact that even real people wholeheartedly rally together. I''m sure it''s because they don''t know what will happen to them (their ultimate fate of getting swallow by the doppelganger flower) and that they already see those fake doppelgangers as part of their own live Normal citizen ranging from young teenager to that of an old men, adventures, knights, guards and alike, all rally together with different weapons on their hand, be it from frying pan, broom to great axe. I don''t want to use offensive spell on them, even when I know I will get hurt in the process. Sure, the fake doppelgangers blended in as well, but they also continue their daily lives as normal citizen, and I can tell they aren''t that experience in term of fighting skill and experience (Giant Earth wall. Let combine it with flora magic: red roses thorn) [Ash] Silently, from the empty alleyway, I cast this magic and block the way to the castle. The earth wall stand tall, with thorn of plant from red roses to prevent them from climbing the wall. Not only that (Minor earth ailments spell. Minor petrification, minor poison, minor muds. Go) [Ash] I imbued those ailments status as well. It will not bring great harm. The petrification will go away at least after a full minute pass, the poison status will at best make them vomit twice, and the muds status is only to slow them down "What! What is with this wall!" "Somebody is definitely trying to prevent us from entering the castle!" "This spell! The caster must had prepared this huge powerful spell beforehand! I never see this type of spell being cast in an instant in my entire life!" "Only people like Behemoth Slayer from Estel can do this! Last I heard he was still inside of Estel!" I''m sorry, I''m actually here. Plus, even if it wasn''t meant as a compliment, I feel proud that my instantaneous spell is mistaken as something that took a prep time "Shit! We can''t advance!" "Then let us look for another path!" "Fellow adventures, let us help the citizen find a path! Nobody knows the city and street like us!" "Fellow guards and knights! Quickly, find the spell caster!" "YES!" Again, I''m impressed with them. They are even better than the citizen, guard and adventure of Estel in term of unity and respond to crisis. I mean, those people that I know will panic a bit first, but will quickly organize themselves afterward even without any of our help, but this people, they''re nothing short but impressive. So much for their nickname of peace loving nation, or maybe because they value their peace so highly that all of this happen naturally, like a knee jerk reflex for them Well, there is only one thing to do now (Hide myself and let see what other are up to) [Ash] Chapter 460 - 460: Trouble in Estel part 15 [Seo Ah point of view] "First, may I know anyone with any kind of blessing?" [Filvisar] That was the first question ask by Mr Filvisar, before explaining to us about a way to break inside the castle "Me myself, my sister and Mrs Saga are all blessed by the Holy Beast of Mirage, Fairy Queen Titania. Is that count?" [Anjin] "Definitely" [Filvisar] "If so, then Birdie and I are blesses with the Blessing from Holy Beast of Wind, Eternal Wind" [Jacks] "I''m blessed with the same blessing as Saintess Rumia, albeit a minor one as compared to her" [Seo Ah] "Anyone else?" [Claude] So, total of seven people are blessed by some sort of blessing. That''s actually quite a number in a single hall. In fact, some countries doesn''t even have any person with blessing "So, I suppose these seven people will be the one infiltrating the castle?" [Kana] "That''s right. I suppose for this type of barrier, the participants doesn''t particularly need to have blessing, but it will make the process much easier" [Filvisar] "Given the name of the process, prayer to the goddess, I suppose having a blessing will definitely make it easier, but how so?" [Ram] "First, I''m sure you all know the significance of blessing" [Filvisar] All of us nods. Even a child will know. Someone with a title or blessing meant a huge deal. Yes, they will receive a significant boost in their power and magic such as the heroes, or someone like me and Director of Orphanages (particularly our Mrs Mira and the one from Beastman Kingdom who aren''t "battle oriented" type of people) will definitely have an easier time as the blessing from the goddess will somehow make their whole life easier, like the goddess actually guided them without them even realising it. But most importantly, those with titles are those closer to the goddess, and that''s a fact. That''s why, everyone wanted some blessing or title, especially those working with the church. Since there are no way to forge title or blessing (since you can just bring someone to the Goddess Orbs inside the church to see their status), it''s something that''s way precious than title given by any governments "As the name suggest, we, especially those involve, will pray to the goddess to let us pass the barrier. Of course, other are more than welcome to join in as well. The seven of us will first place ourselves surrounding the barrier of the castle, and start chanting our prayer. Once we started the prayer, a ball of holy light will be bestowed upon us, that will guide us to enter the barrier safely without any interference" [Filvisar] "Is that simple?" [Female elf adventure] "It is, especially given how our target is stationery and doesn''t try to kill us" [Filvisar] "I can only imagine how the heroes will perform it during their fated battle against the fallen god" [Erinmorlin] Mr Erinmorlin is right. Our target this time is the castle which will not move anywhere, and as it turns out, unguarded, making our process much easier as compared to what those ten will went through in near future I can imagine it... I don''t know how big will the fallen god be, but assuming she take the form as large as the castle, and keep on moving, trying to place surround her itself is one thing. Plus, given how the devils are there, actively preventing said process, that''s another major issue by itself. Devil ranging from those newly created by the miasma of the fallen god to the ten commander of the devil all actively trying to kill the heroes. Last but not least, I can''t imagine the fallen god will keep quiet about it, as I''m sure she herself will actively prevent those ten from entering her barrier. I now understand why the technique is call prayer to the goddess. You literally need an active intervention from Goddess Achalasia herself to pull this through. Not only the heroes, we who will not involve directly in said battle need to pray our hardest, so that they can breakthrough the barrier on the upcoming day "Goddess..." [Seo Ah] "What''s wrong, Seo Ah?" [Kanji] "I just feel bad for Elise and the other... They will definitely have a hard time in the future..." [Seo Ah] "Yeah... I can''t imagine what they will went through..." [Kana] So the other are also thinking of the same thing. From Mrs Saga to us both, we all can tell how hard will the whole true process be like, and thus, we unconsciously pray for the best for them in the future "So once inside, we need to gather around first, and search for the source of the barrier" [Jacks] Mr Jacks break the silence "Assuming it''s fill with enemies no matter from which side, I said the front entrance will be the best for all seven of us to gather around" [Anjin] "That''s true, but let not forget one thing. Seo Ah here is a non combatants at best, so I''ll say she and Birdie should at least went inside together. We will place her at the castle entrance and all of us will come rushing to her" [Khamishah] "I''m worried... Can I go with her as well?" [Kucin] "Given our target and the strength of the barrier we are facing, I''ll say it''s fine if the three of you went together" [Filvisar] "Mr Filvisar will be place the closest to them, and all of us will rush through then" [Jacks] "Good enough" [Anjin] "Then all of us will standby near the castle main entrance as well as the back entrance. Once the barrier is there no more, Guild Master Ram and I will lead the charge" [Bladel] "Sound like we have a plan. While we are at it, can I have some of the Valkyrie and the vampires for one specific mission. You don''t need to fight, just prioritize on saving those trapped inside of the castle, be it from King Estel himself to the maid and butler. Of course, I''ll assign some of the adventures and knights as well, but given your mobility, your group will be the best for the job" [Ram] ""Of course!"" [Valkyrie, Vampires] Thus, we decided on the location, timing and group. Once all of us are adequately prepared, we start marching, toward the castle Chapter 461 - 461: Trouble in Estel part 16 [Seo Ah point of view] Morning light come and greet us all. With adequate rest and preparation done, all of us that are involve in the plan to liberate Estel''s castle from the silver barrier (and Estel in entirety) start walking toward the castle. Seeing a big group of people walking like they''re trying to wage war upon the castle do put the citizen restless, but ex guild master Ram and Gizzere explanation regarding the situation manage to reduce the tension and anxiety up in the air. They''re also eyes that watches us with hope, to end this madness of quarantine, cut from outside world once and for all "Alright, get into your position!" [Ram] "Those who will charge through the castle back, follow me! Those Valkyrie and Vampire that will lead the rescue operation, get ready with your pegasi!" [Bladel] "Yes!" [All] Once the barrier is just in front of us, all the participants start to mobilize to their respective location, with Mr Ram leading the charge (once the barrier is there no more) from the front "I''ll go to my check point now" [Filvisar] "Kucin, make sure to protect her" [Anjin] "You too Birdie" [Jacks] ~Nod~ ~Screech~ The female black cat simply nod her head to her brother word, while Birdie who''s been with us since the Malsia''s orphanage was founded answer with a confident screech. Mrs Khamishah will be charging from the castle back "We are all in position now" [Bladel] "Copy that" [Ram] After around fifteen minutes pass, the two leader confirm that each and everyone are in their respective position through their phone. Hearing this, I call Mr Jacks, Mr Filvisar and Mr Anjin to tell them that we will start the prayer. I didn''t call Mrs Khamishah since I can see her image through Mr Ram''s phone just now, and she looks ready to barge in moment notice The situation suddenly become, as I couldn''t even heard a single sound. Not even a random stray cat meowing nor a bark from a dog, not even the sound of breath from my colleagues. It''s like the whole world anticipate this, and watch in silence. (Just like the usual morning prayer...) [Seo Ah] As one of the favourite daughter of the goddess, this technique, prayer to the goddess feel just like my daily routine. Though the environment is obviously different, I feel calm as usual, maybe a lot calmer despite knowing that the unknown threat that will try their best to harm us once inside will definitely do their best to prevent us from achieving our goal. I wonder, maybe because I know the Goddess will guide us all. She already gather us all here after all, an old heroes, one SS rank adventure and three S rank adventures "Look!" [Male elf adventure] "Those three, they started to glow!" [Syah] "This... Isn''t this..." [Ray] "The goddess..." [Mile] "No doubt about it" [Liyana] "That''s Goddess Achalasia mana..." [Lily] "So warm." [Kadeus] Like they rightly mentioned, this is without doubt, the Goddess mana, something which I will never forget. I can feel it clearly enveloping me myself, Mrs Kucin and Birdie as the three of us chant the prayer "Let''s go" [Kucin] ~Nod~ ~Screech~ Sensing that we will soon enter the castle, Mrs Kucin give us the signal, and we quickly ride the trusty steel bird golem. Of course, the two of us still continue our prayer. I do wonder a bit, since Birdie also glow with the same mana, does that mean Birdie also chant it own version of prayer? Only Birdie and the Goddess know for sure Soon enough, not only us, but those behind us that pray together ever since the start start glowing just like us. It''s a bit faint, but they all can feel it, the mana of the goddess, like that of a mother hug. The mana start forming small bubble, as it gather around at the top center of the castle, and quickly, it become larger as second pass. All of us can hear it, the collective thought and consciousness of each and every one of us involved in this process. Even the orphans who are not here, I can hear their thoughts as well. They must be praying hard at the orphanage currently. Even Mahsuri thought can be heard clearly by all of us Just like what Mr Filvisar mentioned, the three of us started to unconsciously enter the barrier. This process will happen simultaneously to all seven of us involved. It feels like a hand, navigating us safely through the barrier, which feels like passing through a thick cloth at this point. I can tell that there will be no fake doppelgangers emerge from us touching this barrier Once inside "You!" "How can you enter the barrier!" "The barrier? Is it faulty?" "It doesn''t even react to them!" "This isn''t the time to panic! Just capture them!" "YES SIR!" They must been the fake doppelgangers, as they try their best to capture us. Spell after spell, with rain of arrow started to pour down upon us, but ~SCREECH~ With it wind magic, Birdie created a powerful wind barrier that not only stop the spell and arrow on their track, but also amplify it and send them back with double the force. Truly, a powerful skill. "Dark and Mirage Mana Zone: Suicidal Kittens" [Kucin] Mrs Kucin will usually fight together with her summon inside her mana zone, but this time around, she stay close with me, thus, only throwing spell from a far The fake doppelgangers that are trap inside the blackish-silver mana zone have their five sense diminish, all the while trying their hardest to block and attack the numerous kittens made out of mana that not only bites and scratch them, but also occasionally explode on contact (This technique of her become even deadlier with the blessing from Fairy Queen Titania) [Seo Ah] I have only seen it once or twice, but I can tell the blessing did tremendously improve the spell "That was quick" [Anjin] "How was it on your side?" [Jacks] "Not much of an issue" [Filvisar] "Same. In all honesty, I feel like charging alone with how little resistance they offer" [Khamishah] And the other also didn''t take long to gather around here. With this, we started our mission Chapter 462 - 462: Going to Lyrue, Inside Mountain Kingdom part 11 [Diana point of view] With Linda and Singa quick thinking, all of us (including the royal and noble that we save) that were surrounded by horde of lesser dragon (which were duplicated by the doppelganger flower) escape the castle unharmed. That horde of lesser dragon do pose a problem, especially since they''re all united under a single leader (Fawan). Aries did mentioned that she and the other can take care of it, but given how there will be casualties on both side, running away is the safer between two option, at least for now while we are trying to regroup with the other "Dragon, breath your fire upon those hideous creatures!" [Fawan] Fawan and the other lesser dragon he commanded breakthrough the castle glasses, and with it, a horde of dragon start sniffing us, from using their keen sense of smell, sharp eyesight, good hearing and even through mana detection. It didn''t take long for them to locate us all and start firing down it magic upon us "Behe! Use light laser!" [Elise] ~Roar~ Seeing the sight, Behe quickly transform to his a.d.u.l.t size and start firing his light magic as the empress behemoth. One of the lesser dragon didn''t expect a retaliation from an S rank monster, so it take a direct hit, and get obliterate from the attack. Alas "It''s a lesser dragon, but a dragon nonetheless.. " [Qis] "Even Behe can regenerate it fatal wound to some extend, so I''m not surprised seeing this" [Elise] Escaping the castle, Elise and Behe was the one among all of the other that we first that saw. As the Vice Captain of the Valkyrie, her quick judgement really save us ample of time from usual long explanation "Look! There they are!" "Capture them! "Don''t let a single one of them escape!" "But wait! Aren''t those..." "HEROES!?" "Hoi! What should we do!?" "Idiot, if we didn''t catch them now, who knows what Prince Fawan will say!" "But you know damn well they''re all the heroes!" "Khh..." Look like we have been discovered, and surrounded that is. "Finish them all!" [Fawan] Fawan, not caring about his subjects, order his fleet of lesser dragon to fire off projectile of magic. The citizen, as expected, panic and start causing a stampede "SHIELD!" [Aries] Aries uses her shield technique to shield us all. Taking wave after wave of magical damage. It''s impressive how she doesn''t falter one bit, as her shield strengthen by the mana from Holy Beast of Earth get the job done splendidly "Plant magic: Forest carnival" [Farhah] "Farhah, Elise, keep shooting the target! I''ll use my puppet magic: Clay army to guide the citizen to safety" [Karon] "Karon, bring us with you! I''ll convince the authority figure what''s happening and get their cooperation!" [Muse] "Right!" [Karon] Farhah and Karon join in, with Farhah keep using her giant wood arrow to shoot down target that''s freely roaming in the sky. As for Karon, he unleashes his Puppet magic to keep the situation under control, together with Muse and some of the royalty that we saved from the castle "Why don''t you keep quiet! Plant magic: Giant wood!" [Farhah] Using her Avery power, a giant wooden pillar emerge from the ground, hitting a lesser dragon directly while also cause the lesser dragons near the structure to lose focus, something which she quickly take advantage of as "Right at the heart!" [Farhah] "Tchh! Guess I am the one underestimating the heroes after all." (No problem, I can just do this) [Fawan] Judging from his reaction (even though he''s up in the sky, I can somehow sense what he''s currently thinking) and it feels like "All of you, he''s hiding something, so be extra careful" [Diana] "RIGHT!" [All] That''s true for all the enemies they fought thus far, but a reminder wouldn''t hurt As the battle intensify, more and more soldiers and knights join the battle, to capture us for the matter. Sachmis, Singa, Savel, Linda, Qis, Alaric and the other try their best to protect us all, as we are dealing both assault from the sky and from them. I keep casting support spell one after another, from boosting their parameters, increasing their magical defense, and healing magic. It didn''t take long for "Dark and mirage mana zone: Zone of abyssal bullets barrage" [Zerolith] "Wind magic: Tornado" [Rean] Rean and Zerolith come and help support us, as Rean use his wind magic to push those knights and soldiers far away from us while Zerolith finish them off with his dark mana zone magic. As usual, his rapid firing of magic is a feat many couldn''t achieve "Where is Muse?" [Rean] "She''s currently with Karon, trying to prevent any further chaos among the citizen" [Diana] "I see. That''s a relief" [Rean] Of course the newly wed husband will ask for his wife safety first, and it''s actually kinds cute seeing Rean like this "Oh, so seeing us doesn''t make you feel relieve?" [Singa] "Singa, that''s not what..." [Rean] "Touche" [Savel] "Two of you, don''t joke about that kind of thing" [Zerolith] "Boo... The old Zerolith will definitely join them to tease Rean" [Farhah] "Boo..." [Diana] "Princess... Not you too" [Rean] While we are joking with each other "I must said, both of your daughters really are something" [Sachmis] "I feel proud hearing that from you" [Aries] Kara and Mara, with their mini rampaging garuda spell, start attacking the fleet of dragon. Thunder ensure with each flap from the garuda, a fierce some sky battle that both of them have the upper hand in. Alas, even when the number of lesser dragon diminish, there are still quite a few of them and "Guess I must thank that witch sister of yours. Time to test this one out" [Fawan] ""That mana... Sis Rafiah!?"" [Kara, Mara] Fawan bring out a strange orb, and before we know it, the lesser dragon mutate to become something far stronger, especially true for the one that''s carrying Fawan. It become twice as large and it become even more fierce. No doubt about it "Now, how will you react to this, a bonafide great dragon, as powerful as Ice Dragon, Reshir!" [Fawan] A dragon... "Pfft... Oh please. Sure, it''s a dragon but..." [Ash] ""Soul pierce"" [Lara, Nara] A powerful dark spear attack the great dragon. Not only that, Lara and Nara soul pierce also come raining down toward the dragons "Holy Beast of Water, Ice Dragon Reshir is far more powerful than that dragon of yours" [Charlotte] A fleet of water golem appear with her cute master "And if it''s a dragon, a dragonewt like me will definitely feel some shivering" [Savel] Savel, after using his dragonewt transformation, join Ash, Lara, Nara and Charlotte to take down the great dragon "Tchh, you again, Behemoth Slayer..." [Fawan] "Oh boy, I guess our feeling are mutual after all" [Ash] Chapter 463 - 463: Going to Lyrue inside Mountain Kingdom part 12 A great dragon, that''s indeed a bad news, but to proclaim it as strong as the Holy Beast of Water, Ice Dragon Reshir is something that make me laugh loudly and unconsciously. I''m not going to lie, that dragon that he is currently riding is a strong one, but not as strong as the true dragon like Reshir is Heck, I''m sure Lara, Nara, Savel and Charlotte are more than enough to defeat them. Maybe even a pair like Lara and Nara or Savel and Charlotte can take it down. They''re after all, blessed with the goddess blessing and will soon fight an even more terrifying opponent (But indeed... Now that I have a clear understanding of what a witch really is... It''s starting to make...) [Ash] "Burn to ash!" [Fawan] I dodge the fiery attack of the great dragon. ""Is he making a pun??"" [Lara, Nara] "Who knows" [Charlotte] Lara, Nara and Charlotte who dodges the opposite direction from Savel and I commented on that one. I guess the fact that they can still have a calm chat even when facing a powerful monster show how much they have grown, again, something that I am proud of "Don''t get careless the three of you. Moment of carelessness can lead to a lifetime of regret" [Savel] "As Savel rightly mentioned" [Ash] Now that''s a cool line. Better add it to my ever growing list of dictionary of cool line to be used in the future As we keep trying to bring Fawan down, the flock of dragon keep getting in our way, as we keep slicing, throwing spell after spell to ward them off. They might be a product of fake doppelgangers, but damn they''re still a dragon, and a dragon is a creature that earn everyone fear and respect just from hearing the name alone. "Dragonewt technique: Roar of the Ice Mirage Dragon" [Savel] Savel''s roar echoes throughout the battlefield, strengthen the allies while damaging the opponent. A motivational roar to our ears while a trumpet from hell for the dragon, as they are obviously negatively affected by the roar, which keep getting stronger and stronger by a minute "Krakeny 2.0! Squeeze them!" [Charlotte] Charlotte bring out her giant kraken golem, with each tentacle ever growing in size after being supplied by her enormous amount of water mana, wrapping the dragon in every direction and squeeze them like some kind of sponge. The dragon started to bleed from their orifice before getting squashed. Eye being popped out, teeth shattered and the skull protuding out. A stuff of nightmare "Damn you. Each and every dragon! Form a wall and crush them all!" [Fawan] The Dragons, who has been scattered around, start lining up in the sky, before forming a wall of mana. Be it from fire wall mana to space mana, they all line up perfectly and create a strong wall of mana from all elements. It didn''t take a genius to know this is definitely a bad situation for us all "CHARGE!" [Fawan] Fawan, with a single shout, make the dragon fly toward our direction. The wall Infront of the dragons keep destroying everything in it path, from his own soldiers to the houses and buildings nearby. Nothing being left out. Not even the skeletal remain nor a brick ""Absorb"" [Lara, Nara] Our two homunculus pair however, bravely charge through, and touch the wall of mana, absorbing it quickly before dispersing it as a magical attack towards the dragon. They''re doing a fine job but "This is a heard of dragon you''re facing, of course you will have trouble" [Ash] Those dragons can simply made a new wall of mana, as simple as that, and they can create the wall faster than those two can absorb it "Instead of absorbing it, use it against them!" [Ash] As I touch the wall of mana, I analyze the elemental properties of it, and use it to my advantage "This earth wall mana, how about this!" [Ash] I simply made a chain of reaction to the earth wall mana, turning it into a diamond. Using their own mana while keeping my mana usage to minimum, the earth wall materialize and the earth dragon, the poor earth dragon hit the wall of diamond at full speed and force. Of course, being a dragon, it didn''t take as much damage as all of us hope it does, but this does leave an opening for us to """Soul scythe!!!""" [Ash, Lara, Nara] A moment of carelessness can lead to lifetime of regret. We simply use the soul technique from God of Death and end the life of the dragon. Of course, it take much much more as our opponents, is after all, a dragon, once that I couldn''t emphasize enough "How about this one then?" [Ash] Then there is a wall made out of fire and wind mana. It simple enough for me to play around with it and tinker it to use one of my favourite spell "Change! Become a wall of EXPLOSION!" [Ash] The explosive power coming from the dragon mana is no joke. I think it might be as strong or even stronger than the explosion spell that I used during my fight with the fallen god. I''m just glad Rean, Karon, Farhah and Charlotte keep the damage to the surrounding to a minimum by their quick protective spell. The damage to the dragons? This time around, it''s much better than what I expected, taking a number of dragon along it path of destruction "I''ll cover the right" [Lara] "I''ll go left" [Nara] Seeing this, Lara and Nara figure out that they can replicate my method and achieve a faster results. To maximize it, they decided to split the job, with me covering the middle ground "Savel, Charlotte, support them will you" [Ash] ""Right!!"" [Savel, Charlotte] "The other as well. Just finish whatever you''re doing and start supporting them!" [Ash] "Yes!" [All] I thought of ending this fight by straight away defeating Fawan, but, he does prove to be a force to be reckoned with this time around, unlike the impression I get from him the last time we face off during the fight in Kiserre''s castle Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #%!d(string=14756838605525405)/chapter-463-going-to-lyrue-inside-mountain-kingdom-part-12_%!d(string=51507781391402119) for visiting. Chapter 464 - 464: Trouble in Estel part 17 [Inside Estel''s castle] [Samurai Jacks point of view] Countless opponents are currently facing us all, as we keep pushing forward, toward what we feel as the source of this barrier. Neither of us know what form will the source of this barrier looks like, but regardless, the stem of the barrier, can be clearly felt as we keep pushing inside (Copy how Mrs Aries and Saintess Rumia will usually do) "Goddess, protect and invigorate us all! Holy invigorating Shield!" [Seo Ah] Seo Ah spell keep our defense and our stamina at it peak, with technique that all of us clearly grasp being a combination of the current guild master Aries and Saintess Rumia technique. She blend the two techniques quite well, protecting us from incoming steel weapon and spell of various level from reaching us. Of course, there are exception "Die!" [Fake doppelgangers: Rude Captain] Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #%!d(string=14756838605525405)/chapter-464-trouble-in-estel-part-17_%!d(string=51670001232431856) for visiting. "The head captain of Estel?" [Khamishah] Or as Ash would love to call, Rude Captain. Even when Ash keep mocking and belittling him, saying that his title is handed down just because of his family lineage (and in a way, it is the truth), his spell and sword technique is something that the holy shield from Seo Ah can block, as a single mighty swing shatter the holy shield into floating mana "Slow him down! Fluffy light" [Seo Ah] Those holy shield that were destroyed, remain of the mana start clinging into the fake doppelgangers legs, slowing them down "Nicely done" [Jacks] That''s quite a spell. I reckon Ash''s creativity in his way of handling spell and his teaching really did rub hard on the orphans "Light sword technique: Golden retriever slash" [Anjin] A fast yellow light coming from the Golden retriever beastman, Anjin, quickly get the job done, slicing not only the sword neatly in half, but also the armor and flesh of the fake doppelgangers, not only the fake doppelgangers of the Rude Captain, but also those beside him "There are simply endless..." [Seo Ah] Even as we cut one, another one or two will simply replace them, slowing down our progress "True, they''re rather endless" [Khamishah] "And they aren''t to be taken lightly" [Filvisar] "But so are we" [Jacks] (Evolve. Splinter cat) "That''s right" [Kucin] ~Screech~ "Even the steel bird golem agree" [Anjin] Seeing as how calm we are, Seo Ah''s worries face slowly change into that of a confident one. She was involved heavily during Saintess Angela assault on the new headquarters, and she carries herself splendidly during the chaos, even when she''s a non combatants. Again, she carries herself splendidly this time around, and with us on her side, I''m sure nothing will happen to her, not because we are c.o.c.ky of our strength, but rather, because we won''t let any harm touch even a single hair of the goddess favourite daughter "Crap! Isn''t this!" [Khamishah] "I recognize this mana..." [Jacks] "I''ll be senile and demented, but I would never fail to recognise dear Charlotte''s mana" [Filvisar] "She was employed as a court magician after all, which mean..." [Anjin] "Logical" [Kucin] One of the job of the court magician is to fortify and maintain the Fortress Defense Magic of the castle. Charlotte, having learn from the very best user of this technique (Ash of course), would surely be responsible for upgrading and maintaining the Fortress Defense Magic of the castle, as countless wave of water come pouring down at us "They''re retreating!" [Anjin] "Which mean something big is coming" [Khamishah] "Get ready everyone" [Filvisar] "Right!" [Seo Ah] Seo Ah whose been riding Birdie all this while isn''t affected nearly as much as us on the ground, but she suddenly shout "Goddess! Protect us!" [Seo Ah] "Birdie, together with me!" [Jacks] ~Screech~ Sensing that a wave of strong acid on our way, Birdie and I gather around a strong burst of wind mana, and together "Wind mana zone: Redirection" [Jacks] I can feel the very weight of water being push outside by our collective effort. Of course, the fake doppelgangers that were hiding behind the barrier of the Fortress Defense Magic were surprised by the sudden gushing of acidic wave that comes and greet them. I just hope that "First Zerolith, and now both you and Birdie. I feel like I should patent my mana zone technique" [Kucin] "Now now. Knowledge are meant to be shared" [Filvisar] "True" [Seo Ah] "I just hope that the normal people weren''t getting wash away by the acid just now" [Jacks] "Speaking of them, did anyone notice something strange" [Khamishah] "I do. All I can see and smell all this while are nothing but fake doppelgangers. I can''t even find anyone that wasn''t a fake doppelganger. Not even a person" [Anjin] "That''s rather worrying" [Khamishah] "Not only that. There aren''t copies of any of the royalties at all" [Filvisar] "Now that you mentioned it..." [Seo Ah] So what I observed was indeed correct, and is further verified by Mr Filvisar and Anjin. All I saw right now are the countless number of fake doppelgangers, ranging from maids and butlers to the stronger and deadlier knights. Of course, they gave us all trouble after trouble of moving forward, but by this point, I would have expected to see a copy or two from the royalty. In fact, not seeing a copy of them makes me anxious. I can''t help but to get worried about King Estel, Fourth Queen and Fourth Prince Zaidi. They''re the one that I hope nothing bad will happen to them "Mirage mana: Hand of Giant" [Khamishah] Using her spell couple with her proficiency of neutral mana, she strengthen her right arm and with it, project a powerful blow to this steel door and rip open the door. The Final barricade that is on our way, and here "Just... What is that thing!?" [Anjin] "People... Somehow... I can feel someone inside!" [Seo Ah] "Coming from one of the goddess favourite daughter, that''s indeed worrying" [Filvisar] A flower of sort, that is made out of flesh and organ. Fake doppelgangers keep coming out from there. It wouldn''t be a stretch to call it a Doppelganger flowe Chapter 465 - 465: Trouble in Estel part 18 _________________________________________________ [At Estel''s Orphanage] [Mahsuri point of view] Those kids... They''re noisy as usual. "You can''t catch me!" "Wait for me!" "Run!" Hyperactive, playing without a care for the world around them, all day long. It''s almost an enviable sight from an a.d.u.l.t point of view "I will become the next Avery! Like Sis Farhah did!" "I''ll become the next youngest court magician!" "I''ll become a priest just like Bro Zerolith!" "I want to open an orphanage like Brother Ash and Sis Diana did!" Dreaming about what to come even when most likely, this awakening of the fallen god will be... No. I''ll make sure the worst won''t happen. After all, Goddess Achalasia herself had told me (and Ash) that she herself will... "Now now, it''s time for your homework" [Claude] "EEH..." "YES!!!" The split reaction of them getting their homework will almost always entertain me. They''re after all, still a fledgling, so I''ll let their behaviour slide. Just like how Vincent and Maria asked me to look after Ash and soon to be born Charlotte... Estel and Kiara as well... "Mahsuri, just like Ash, can you look after my daughter Diana as well... I get this feeling, you''re actually a reliable baby sitter" [Kiara] "Kahkahakah, I should agree with that statement!" [Traveler King - Kronbir] Unlike the Traveler king, I am well aware I am not suited to bore such responsibility. After all, a homunculus like me, who slain the God of Water itself, wouldn''t be fit with this kind of lifestyle. "!" [Claude] "..." (This is...) [Mahsuri] Claude suddenly felt a sharp sensation, and straight away look at the castle direction. A ghost do have a godly sixth sense after all. I must said, I''m impressed with how he is able to detect what''s actually happening inside the castle "She get up!" "Can we go! Can we go with you!" "Pretty please!" "We want to see the great Mahsuri fight and demolish her opponent!" "Show us your powerful water sword technique!" "Next time" [Mahsuri] "EEEHH..." Unlike their reaction when getting a homework, their reaction in this one aren''t split apart "Just what is being "summoned" there?" [Claude] Claude Isn''t exactly wrong when he said that those two are summoned "An old friend..." [Mahsuri] For now, that answer is sufficient. After all, those two after all, are a mere fake doppelgangers, not the real one. I will not hesitate to kill them _________________________________________________ [A little bit earlier] [Inside Estel''s castle] [Samurai Jacks point of view] A field of doppelganger flower greet us all, inside this once magnificent hall now turn into a flower field of carcass and viscera. "Oh god..." [Seo Ah] I won''t blame her... This sight make even us, an old hero as well as S rank and SS rank adventure turn their stomach inside out. It''s churning enough that I won''t even be surprised that this image will be printed as a nightmare fuel on their dream The Doppelganger flowers, which is a flower shape "thing" that''s really, just made out of carcass and viscera of group of human mix and blend together, from their arms to their eyes, form a flowery budding structure, which emit a smell much worse than that of a Raflesia. One of them is gruesome enough, and yet, there are... "The one on the centre, it feel strange" [Anjin] "It''s bigger..." [Kucin] "A pod" [Filvisar] "A what?" [Khamishah] "That''s exactly right, sharp as always, old hero" [First Prince] "!" [All] A sudden appearance of the first prince of Estel "Am I speaking to the real first prince of Estel or is this one of his fake doppelgangers" [Jacks] Ray and Mile did informed us after all, about how his fake doppelgangers killed Sir Ceanu Reaves "It is I, real and flesh dear S rank adventure, Galiant Wind Samurai Jacks. You seem awfully angry, perhaps because I killed one of my biggest concern on this whole operation, Sir Ceanu Reaves" [First Prince] "And that''s exactly right" [Jacks] If I am Ash, I will definitely beat his ass right here and now itself, and truthfully, my patience is walking on a thin thread "He is the true face of a noble, the very image of what a typical noble should be. Dignify, responsible, and all the charisma that he hold, but alas, our path is a different one, as he continue to support my younger sister, Princess Diana after all. A regrettably heavy price to pay, but for a better future after all" [First Prince] I can tell from his expression and his words that he meant every last word of it, down to the fact that he lament the fact that Sir Ceanu Reaves supported Princess Diana instead of himself "And what are your trying to accomplish with all of this doppelgangers? Surely, every army has it purpose" [Jacks] "Their purpose? To kill the fallen god" [First Prince] "!" [All] "That''s impossible!" [Seo Ah] All of us are bewildered by his simple one sentence explanation. So all of this sacrifices, is to kill the fallen god "Of course, I''m sure the Old Demon King and the meddling third party has a different purpose, but as far as I am concerned, even when our methodologies of producing an army is almost the same, our end goal are different. Alas, shall they have the nerve to even touch Estel, they will know the wrath of the truthful king" [First Prince] "Truthful king... You... What did you do to Your Highness!" [Jacks] "But you see, I am the King of Estel right now" [First Prince] "YOU BASTARD!" [Jacks] As Birdie about to lend me it mana so that I can create a powerful wind vortex slash, the big doppelganger flower in the middle started to shine, and two figure, of a man and a woman appear before us, and I swear I heard the voice of the first prince saying "Welcome, dear ancestor" [First Prince] "!!!" [Filvisar] Judging by their aura, and how Mr Filvisar reacted, all of us can tell who the two figures are... Chapter 466 - 466: Going to Lyrue inside Mountain Kingdom part 13 [Diana point of view] A horde of dragons, it is a disaster no matter how you slice it. If it wasn''t for Ash and those twelve, this country will be gone reduce to ashes in a literal minute. With Fawan not bothering about the citizen, and some of the fake doppelgangers doesn''t even mind getting caught in the middle of the fight of two powerful forces, we find ourselves stuck between 1. Direct attack from Fawan and his army of dragons 2. The fake doppelgangers trying to caught us all 3. Saving those who want nothing but a peaceful life Currently, our forces are divided into two major groups 1. Us twenty (minus Muse) dealing with the aforementioned number (1) and (2) and 2. Muse, the other orphans, the Resistance member as well as some royalty that we saved, trying to save as many people as possible We are without a doubt, the centre of this whole commotion, so it make sense that Muse and the other will move the opposite direction from us, and knowing this "There!" [Fawan] "Tchh!" [Ash] Fawan deliberately redirect his army toward Muse''s group, causing us, to shift our attention there as well. Of course, Ash and the other are trying their best to prevent that from happening, but they need more help to make it possible. No... Not more help, but rather... "Farhah, Karon. Do you hear me?" [Diana] Taking my phone out, I immediately call those two, and thank goodness they are just beside each other when they''re replying with their own phone "Karon. Automate Farhah''s forest carnival attack with your Puppet magic, and Farhah, place as many as your Forest carnival magic opposite the direction the horde of dragon is moving" [Diana] Farhah special attack, making a bunch of tree pops out and releasing a series of wooden arrows attack of various size and power. It''s a powerful tool if combined with Karon''s puppet magic "Why is that?" [Farhah] "I see. Make sense. Brother Ash and the other are facing them on the front line, and with us barely stopping them, it''s better for us to thin their number from the back" [Karon] "If that''s the case, I''ll trust your judgement" [Farhah] Next will be "Rean. Elise. Behe. Answer me this instant" [Diana] ""Yes, your highness"" [Rean, Elise] "While Ash, Lara, Nara, Savel and Charlotte are trying their best to slow down the horde of rampaging dragon, I want both of you to sneak your way into Fawan, and blow the finishing blow in one instant. Alaric, Linda, join those three" [Diana] ""Understood!!"" [Alaric, Linda] Rean, Elise, Alaric and Linda begin devising their own strategy. How they will achieve it is entirely up to them, and to maximize their chances of success "The rest of us will thin the number of the dragon by making them spread as far away as possible. It goes without saying, form at least a pair in each group and don''t try anything reckless" [Diana] "Right!" [All] The horde of dragon with their mana wall are giving Trouble, so we need to split them up. Not to mention, they''re making sure the centre of their formation, the great dragon being rode by Fawan, are well protected. Of course, their main forces are trying to devour Ash, Lara, Nara, Savel and Charlotte, but I can tell one thing, those five, even without me telling anything, instinctively understand what I am trying to achieve, through the movement of other, as such "Mirage magic: Roar of the ancient dragon!" (Attract as much attention as possible) [Savel] "Water Golem magic... Combine and create yourself a powerful entity. Water Ichneumon!" [Charlotte] "I guess I''ll just be flashy in my own way, by ripping through everything with this... (High concentration air. High concentration nitric oxide. High concentration fire) Extreme Explosion!" [Ash] Savel and Charlotte try their best to distract the dragons. Savel by intimating himself as a powerful dragon, which causes the pride of the dragon to be challenged, while Charlotte, create a powerful water golem of a natural nemesis of a dragon, an Ichneumon (a ferret like monster that will relentlessly attack a dragon whenever it sees one). Ash, flashy in his own way, create a powerful explosion magic to destroy the wall of mana erected by the dragon, triggering a chain of mana reaction which Lara and Nara quickly take advantage of ""Neutral magic: Mana Redirection" [Lara, Nara] The two uses the fact that they''re a homunculi, absorb the chain of mana reaction and quickly redirect it back to the dragon weak spot, causing them to break their formation. Charlotte''s water golem, Savel''s roar, Farhah and Karon attacking from behind. "Mother, support our golem" [Kara] "I will. Mara, keep focusing on your attack" [Aries] "Yes!" [Mara] Mrs Aries, Kara and Mara attack from above by their steel garuda golem. "Singa, teleport us there!" [Sachmis] "Right" [Singa] "Mrs Sachmis, together with me!" [Zerolith] "Right! Combination attack: Dark mana zone: Fiery hell abyssal bullets" [Sachmis] Mrs Sachmis, Zerolith and Singa relentless run and hit tactic. Finally ""Now!!"" [Qis, Diana] Qis, who is always loyal by my side, protecting me as I gave my order to command the entire battlefield. This all lead to a chance, a chance that those five grab in an instance "ROAR!" [Behe] A distraction from all of us, ensuring those five able to land a direct strike to the dragon in the center, with Behe powerful claw attack, slicing the throat of the great dragon, in one smooth motion "WHAT!?" [Fawan] Fawan, who is taken aback by the slip that was created by us all, command a dragon to save him, but "Space magic: Cube of entrapment" [Linda] "You won''t get away" [Alaric] Linda trap Fawan inside her space magic, together with Alaric who apprehend Fawan in a matter of a second, and as for Rean and Elise ""Hell fire wall!!"" [Rean, Elise] The two create a defensive barrier, and try their best not to let the dragons reach their commande Chapter 467 - 467: Going to Lyrue inside Mountain Kingdom part 14 [Muse point of view] They did it! They stop the great dragon, or that''s what I would like to scream from the bottom of my heart, seeing the elegant and dashing husband of mine from afar, I can barely make out a figure of three, with my husband Rean pointing his katana onto Fawan, while Elise with her staff and mana card ready at any moment to threaten and immobilise the fallen prince of the Kiserre Kingdom. "The dragons, they''re still after us...? Why!?" One of the citizen, in a panic, shout at us, demanding an explanation, and the only possible explanation that I can give him at this moment is "They''re dragon after all. Even without their leader they can act independently given their intellect... Which is a contradiction in itself. I can''t see why those dragons, fake as they are, to continue their rampage..." [Muse] Given that they''re product of the doppelganger flower, I suppose they''re trying their best to destroy us all, whose been threatening the w.o.m.b from which they''re born with, but alas, I can''t just see that as the main reason. There are without a single doubt, a better way for those horde of dragons to do so, not just by reducing everything into ashes. Unless they are given order by the one with a higher level of hierarchy than them, they wouldn''t do so, and given how Fawan is currently being apprehended by my darling, there is only one more possible explanation that I can think of and that is... "You told me that Fawan came with the serial killer dwarf if I''m not mistaken, could it be, the serial killer dwarf, is out here, somewhere... giving order to the dragons..." [Muse] "No... But given the situation" [Doppelganger prince] "Anyway, I''ll contact the other orphans and let them know about it. If I''m not, the description of the serial killer dwarf should be..." [Long hair girl] The long hair girl quickly reach out her phone and tell the other regarding the possibility of Karon''s father, the serial killer dwarf is behind this. Just when I am about to do the same "I heard about it when I was just about to call the other orphans. Muse, could you guys please form a search group and look for him ASAP. Of course, it goes without saying none of you should engage with him given how powerful and dangerous he is" [Diana] Princess Diana is already one step ahead of me. Of course, by her order, I quickly gather around any remaining forces we could muster and look for our possible culprit, but alas... None of us found anything. It''s entirely possible that this hypothesis of mine be wrong, but given that there is no other plausible explanation, then can all of us safely assume the reason those dragons are on their rampage spree be, simply because they feels like it "GAAAH!" [Rean] "DEAR!" [Muse] From one of the watcher, I can see my dear husband getting slash by a crystal dragon, while Elise try her best with her evolved beastly transformation to cure the deep wound. They might heroes, but even they will have their own limit Come on now Muse! Pick up your pace! Pick up your pace! Rean, my dearest Rean, I don''t want anything bad to happen to him. He endure all kind of assault, be it fron physical one such as the threat of the devil, to political because of his status as the leader of the heroes marrying me, the daughter of a bastard to that of an emotional one like constant harassment "Rean! Hang in there! Space magic: Translocation!" [Ash] "Appreciate it!" [Linda] Mr Ash quickly use his translocation magic to bring Rean out from danger. Mrs Linda, who was just beside Rean, try to do the same to the rest but her spell Keep getting interrupted by the dragons "ROAR!" [Behe] Behe sacred roar agitate the dragon further, taunting them, basically saying to fight someone of their size, giving the other the much needed opportunity to fall back and retreat from horde of dragon surrounding them, and finally saving Behe itself from assault of two fire dragon and a wind dragon ganging up on him "Running out of mana..." [Kara] "Damn it, same here..." [Mara] "Retreat first and chug down any remaining portion you left" [Aries] ""Right!!"" [Kara, Mara] The other are also nearing their limit, but not all lose is hope as "The number of dragons also being thin out" [Long hair girl] "At this rate, we might make it out alive" [Lizard beastman] ''But that doesn''t mean we should stop searching for the true culprit. Even as we have destroy the flower, for all we know, the could easily place one at an unknown location and recreate all the disaster once more" [Muse] "That''s true. Meaning we are still in a race against time. I won''t be surprise if a horde of behemoths or giant worms will be next" [Resistance leader] "Dammit, if only that damn serial killer dwarf is a good hearted person like Karon or the traveler king, we wouldn''t be running around aimlessly like this!" [Elf orphan] Like the elf said, if only Karon''s father is on our side, he will definitely be a valuable ally like Mrs Aries herself or Mr Ash, but now, we are stuck in a loop of worrying about the others and the constant anxiety of searching for him to prevent any possible wave of incoming attack. "Can''t you think of somewhere as a fellow dwarf!?" [Merchant] "AS IF!" [Dwarf] Somehow, the joke that merchant make fall into my ear, and just somehow, just somehow, my eye focus solely on the ground underneath me... "Princess Diana... I think there''s one possible location that all of us miss" [Muse] "The ancient tunnel of this country..." [Diana] That''s the only possible location left. As Princess Diana word echoes through my surroundings, those besides me couldn''t help but to stare at the ground momentarily, and somehow, each one of us can tell in unison, that our highest chance of meeting the serial killer dwarf lies inside the tunnel Chapter 468 - 468: Trouble in Estel part 19 [Inside Estel''s castle] [Seo Ah point of view] Welcome dear ancestor. The words that came out from the first prince of Estel and the two fake doppelgangers in front of us... Given the one that built this country thousands of years ago were two of the original ten heroes, all of us can tell, that the beautiful long hair blonde lady, with face similar like that of Princess Diana and the black short hair with properly trim sideburns are none other than "So, this is the country that the one we are constructed upon call Estel..." [Kiara] "Given how almost perfect we are, I''m surprised the one that did this is not the Fallen Demon King, Iblis, but rather, one of our own flesh and blood" [Estel] "I''m surprised you can tell who I am in a single glance, and..." [First prince] Before the first prince of Estel can finish his sentence, The first Queen of Estel, Kiara, stare ever warmly at me... No, at Birdie "And that steel bird golem, it''s obviously wasn''t the same mana as Ash had when he was once a baby, but I could tell that was definitely his mana that created that unique looking golem" [Kiara] "Vincent and Maria''s son indeed possess a unique mana signature even as an infant. Even Charlotte''s whose still in Maria''s w.o.m.b possess the God of Water mana after all, but regrettably... Dear long hair girl riding the steel bird golem, may I know, where is the whereabouts of Vincent and Maria son currently is?" [Estel] The first King of Estel, with a warm smile, ask me the whereabouts of Brother Ash "Brother Ash is currently out there, helping his fellow siblings who awakened the blessing of the ten heroes" [Seo Ah] In an oddly yet calmly manner, I answer the two of them "DID GOD OF LIFE AWAKENED ONCE MORE!?" ((And Brother Ash?))[Estel, Kiara] "Indeed..." [Filvisar] Both of their face, clearly shows sign of fear and trauma, after learning the fact that the fallen god that they sealed away through blood, tear and life once again awakened. They even look closely upon Mr Filvisar, who awakened the same ten heroes blessing as them "And that''s why I call upon you two, my ancestor for help" [First Prince] The two heroes, or fake original heroes I should say look at the first prince "Explain yourself" [Estel] The First King of Estel, His Highness Estel himself ask with aura befitting of a king asking his concern subject, or in this case, descendent "We can''t keep relying on the ten heroes. Even long after your departure from this world, countless times, the ten heroes will be awakened, having to re-sealed back the fallen god, again and again and again, and moreover, the consequences for each successful awakening of the fallen god, the vile god will be ever more wicked, causing even further mayhem and destruction than the previous one, as such, as your heir, I''ll simply ask the two of you one thing" [First Prince] "And that is" [Kiara] The seven of us couldn''t help but to keep listening to this conversation "Tell me how to resurrect and clone the others. Tell me how to make this imperfect techniques that can create an army of immortal, from theory to reality. Tell me, what causes the first fallen demon king, Iblis, stop perfecting his bloodline technique of creating doppelganger, so that I can use it to beat the fallen god once and for all" [First Prince] "!" [All] The prince, ever so firmly ask the two heroes. His eyes brimming with motivation to end this one and for all. You will think that''s all there is to is, and yet, deep inside, our instinct tell us "And what would you do afterwards?" [Khamishah] The SS rank adventure, Mrs Saga ask the question that we all wanted to hear the answer, and we could tell the answer will be "And then, unifying all the humans, elves, dwarves, demons, beastmen and angels under my guidance. Under the supreme guidance of us royalties for the betterment of tomorrow" [First Prince] "And that is by sacrificing all the lower class people and those that didn''t comply with your ideology" [Jacks] "A small price to pay, for the betterment of Achalasia" [First Prince] Of course, that''s the answer from the current first prince of Estel, and hearing that, The S rank adventure, Mr Samurai Jacks quickly enhance his katana with his wind mana as well as the blessings from The Holy Beast of Wind and direct a powerful slice of air currents into the first prince. Even when consume by a rage, his blow Isn''t meant to deal a lethal injury, but more towards incapacitate the first prince ""!!"" [Estel, Kiara] Their bodies move on their own, blocking the powerful slash from Mr Jacks "I guess the seven of you will not be with me, creating a world of perfection" [First Prince] Cowardice... "That is to be expected" [Anjin] "True" [Kucin] "I guess we can''t really expect thing to go our way" [Khamishah] "Shame that I have to fight those two, fake as they are" [Filvisar] ~Screech~ "I''m sorry, dear first king and queen of Estel, even when you''re a doppelganger, your spirit is the sane as those two, and as such, I ask for you not to hold it against us" [Seo Ah] "Same here. If possible, none of us wish this to happen, but..." [Jacks] "It''s fine" [Estel] "Just stop us, the seven of you... As well as..." [Kiara] The castle suddenly feels like it''s being hit by a strong earthquake. For a moment, we can feel the silver barrier are being shattered, but that''s isn''t the most surprising thing. Instead... "Stopping the two of you? Too bad, I am just about to get attached to one of your current descendent, Diana" [Mahsuri] "Mahsuri..." [Estel] "And our descendent, Diana?" [Kiara] (Another nuisance) "How about I level the field" [First Prince] With this, the eight of us now will fight against those two, alongside numbers of fake doppelgangers being summon from the flowers Chapter 469 - 469: Trouble in Estel part 20 [Inside Estel''s castle] [Seo Ah point of view] It''s strange... Even when we all know that the two royals Infront of us, The First King Estel and his wife Queen Kiara are a product of a artificially created doppelganger (aka fake doppelgangers), the blessings they manifest is almost the same like Rean, Mr Filvisar and the other. In other words, it''s like they retain their original blessings. From Mahsuri to Mr Filvisar, all of us couldn''t help but to wonder why, but what''s surprising is that... (Even the First Prince... I get this feeling, he''s wondering the same thing as us) [Seo Ah] I''m not sure whether it''s by Goddess Achalasia will that they manifest the same blessings, pure coincidence or something totally unimaginable that all of us couldn''t help but to just see it uncover with our very own eyes "Halberd of Tigre Rhino" [Fake doppelgangers of Rude Captain] Taking advantage of our momentary absent mindedness, the doppelganger of whom Brother Ash love to call as Rude Captain attack us with a heavy halberd technique of him. It''s imbued with strong and heavy neutral mana, enough to shatter the ground below us in one heavy and yet fast swing. I''m sure other can take it well, but one swing from him will be the end of my life, as I am by no mean, a fighter after all, as such (Dear Goddess Achalasia, please, grant us your strength) "Attack up. Defense up. Holy Shield, barricade us all" [Seo Ah] And then "Birdie, please!" [Seo Ah] ~Screech~ Birdie, responding to my call, fly as high as the hall allow him to. I can''t be a burden to them, so I should maintain my distance from the main battle and support them from afar, not only that ~Screech~ Birdie is also capable of long range attack. As in copying Kara, Mara and Karon''s technique, Birdie manifest his earth magic and make multiple weapons such swords and spears and hurl it at the fake doppelgangers at high speed with it gust magic. To double it all, the weapons he created is conducting electricity discharge from Birdie''s own magic, and as such, will hit any nearby opponent. Of course, Birdie does this knowing full well that I will "Shield of friendship. Prevent any friendly fire!" [Seo Ah] "Appreciate it!" [Anjin] And you''re welcom... "So, you''re having the same blessings as Saint Louis and Saintess Maria" [Kiara] When did she ~Screech~ Even Birdie felt threaten by her sudden appearance just beside us. Could it be space magic combine with mirage magic to make sure we couldn''t detect and trace her "Steel bird, protect the girl! I''m going to attack! Try to get as far away as possible " [Kiara] ~Screech~ Birdie make a powerful wind sphere that protect us both and at the same time repelling all incoming attack, just that "Run!" [Kiara] The fake doppelganger warn us as she easily dissipate, no... simply erase Birdie''s magic. I''m sure it''s a kind of space magic technique, just that a different one from what Singa usually use "Water magic: Water ball cannons!" [Mahsuri] Since neither of us couldn''t dodge it in time, Mahsuri help us from a far by hitting Queen Kiara with her water ball magic, saving the two of us from incoming attack from Queen Kiara, just that "Thunder spear!" "Flowery flame" "Earth butterfly, petrify those two" Out from the tiger mouth and goes straight into the lion mouth. As danger keep popping up left and right, Birdie continue to maintain his distance with any approaching attack. Those fake doppelgangers that take forms as the court magician that can fly will be blasted away by Birdie''s powerful wind magic imbued with the power of Holy Beast of Wind while any attack from the ground will be repel with a strong wind barrier, or even better for us, get hurl right back at caster/attacker, with double the speed to ensure maximum damage "Wind. Gather around my blade" [Samurai Jacks] "Dark mana zone: Slash of suicidal giant kitten" [Kucin] I can sense that the two of them trying their best to destroy the doppelganger flower that id responsible for erecting the silver barrier surrounding both Estel and the castle, but "Earth wall!" "Earth wall!" "Earth wall" "I''m glad that the doppelgangers here have more brains than their original counterparts" [First Prince] "Tch!" [Kucin] If we wanted for things to go our way, we need to destroy the flower and let our allies awaiting outside to enter just like Mahsuri... (Wait... How come Mahsuri able to enter the barrier without activating any trap? Better question, was there no fake doppelganger version of her created after she enter the barrier through force?) [Seo Ah] "I will attack you once more!" [Kiara] That''s nice of her, but she suddenly appearing and shouting really does spook the two of us, so much so that Birdie accidentally discharging huge amount of wind mana, trying it best to repel Queen Kiara, but as back then, the wind magic simply disappear... Could it be "Queen Kiara, by any chance, are you the one that let Mahsuri enter the castle just now!?" [Seo Ah] "I can sense her beating the fake doppelganger version of her easily, as such, I use part of my magic to erase the barrier and let her enter" [Kiara] So it is as I suspected! It''s not that the barrier wasn''t activated, but rather, this is Mahsuri we are talking about. She must had defeat the fake doppelganger version of her easily (hence the tremor we felt before her grand entrance) before Queen Kiara let her enter... As such "Birdie! Can you spread the incoming attack from Queen Kiara! Queen Kiara, please, attack us with the same magic" [Seo Ah] ~Screech~ "I see now. May the Goddess protect her favourite daughter" [Kiara] I enhance myself, Birdie and even Queen Kiara with all my might and pray for extra strength from Goddess Achalasia, and when we are all ready "Just be careful!" [Kiara] "Goddess! Help us all!" [Seo Ah] (Good luck, all of you) [Goddess Achalasia] ~Screech~ The mysterious space magic of Queen Kiara, harmoniously blend in with Birdie''s magic and start to erase the surrounding barrier. I''m sure, 100% that Goddess Achalasia did in fact, play a huge role just now, and as such "The favourite daughter of the goddess... Just like Saintess Rumia, you''re a big threat" [First Prince] The barrier disappear and I can tell, our allies outside are storming in the castle Chapter 470 - 470: Going to Lyrue inside Mountain Kingdom part 15 [Somewhere in Lyrue] [Karon point of view] So... He''s here and without a doubt, controlling all these dragons here. That curses father of mine. Every single time I think of him, the blood all over my body will flow rapidly into my head, fueling my anger more and more. If it was me few years ago, I might just rush there alone and confront him, but thanks to Grandpa Filvisar guidance (Take a deep breath and calm down...) [Karon] Dodge any incoming attack from the dragons or simply block them. Of course, like Grandpa Filvisar said, emotions are indeed a powerful tools that if utilize correctly, will be a huge asset and bring multiple benefits, but it''s a double edge sword after all, and thus, no matter how furious or clouded my mind now is, and no matter how difficult it is for me to calm down, I have to... "Flower. Surround him" [Farhah] This is... Farhah''s technique. She created few flowers just beside me. Silver colour flowers like that of a mirage mana, no, it does actually contain mirage mana. It doesn''t smell that strongly, probably tailored to my liking, and most importantly "Are you still furious?" [Farhah] "No. I ain''t. Thank you" [Karon] "Still... I''ll try to find your father As fast as I can. In the meantime, you better call either Brother Ash, Lara or Nara for help. I''m sure they are the only one that can effectively bring down your father... The Serial killer dwarf" [Farhah] "Exactly what I am thinking right now" [Karon] Back then, six years ago, Mother Aries and all of us supported Lara and Nara during the fight against my father, and using the blessing from the God of Death, Lara and Nara manage to injured the soul of my father directly. I wasn''t so sure regarding it back then, but now, I''m certain. Using the lost racial magic of the dwarf, which Lara and Nara coined it as puppet magic during the said fight, he manipulated his own soul and body, making them into that of a doll or simply puppet that will keep going, no matter how broken he is. That''s why, no matter how severely injured he was, or no matter how many times he is about to be greeted by the God of Death, he survived. He survived because he manipulated his body and souls to stay here in this world, forever. A strange way to gain immortality, at least that''s what we came to understood. (And according to Saint Louis and Saintess Rumia, the only power capable of dealing with this kind of issues is the power from God of Life or God of Death) [Karon] Obviously I can''t and I won''t ask the help from the God of Life. She is after all, the fallen god itself now, seeking to destroy this world with her accursed devils. So now, my only options is "Understood. Then I shall go and..." [Ash] ""No!!"" [Lara, Nara] ""!!"" [Ash, Karon] A strong no coming from the twin echoes through my phone. Brother Ash wanted to go with me to support me in my fight against my father, instead "We will go..." [Lara] "To settle the unfinished business with him" [Nara] The two said, with confident and unwavering voices. I''m not exactly sure what motivates those two. Unlike me, who saw my own mother''s death by the hand of that damned Serial killer dwarf, Lara and Nara doesn''t really have a good reason to intervene. True, I appreciate their help as fellow siblings, but their motivation just now just doesn''t sit right with me. There is a sincere feeling, of fellow siblings helping each other out, yes, but more like, more like, more like what they said just now. They wanted to finish this once and for all "Found him!" [Farhah] Farhah shout loudly. "Really!" [Karon] ""Where!?"" [Lara, Nara] "It''s hard to describe. He is definitely here, inside the ancient tunnel that''s here in this country. Instead of telling you... Wood Fairies. Go and guide them!" [Farhah] A wise choice coming from her. Instead of haphazardly guiding us when she can''t really put it in word herself, she created three wood fairies, that is unlike Calypso. Instead, it resembles Housey floating magic core, in addition to some fairy like wings made out of vine. Still, I can clearly feels her power as the Avery, the Queen of Elves inside the three wood fairies. One of it stay here by my side while the other two make their way amidst the chaos caused by the fake doppelgangers dragons that are currently rampaging through this whole country ~ROAR~ "I won''t let you!" [Farhah] Farhah quickly create a small forest covering me, the dragons try their best to burn it down, and they succeed but the main reason why they succeeded is simply because "Now take this!" [Farhah] Farhah simply use the burning tree containing the mana of those dragons against them. The trees coils around them, inflicting damage upon damage against them. As for Lara and Nara "Go!" [Singa] "We will create a diversion for you!" [Savel] "Make sure to come back safely!" [Sachmis] ""Hmm!!"" [Lara, Nara] "Don''t. This is our fight. Your information just now is more than enough. Please, trust us" [Karon] "As Karon said" [Lara] "Leave the rest to us" [Nara] That''s our last line, before the communication suddenly being cut off, and "You''re late" [Serial killer dwarf] "Father..." [Karon] Before he suddenly appear, no... He''s been expecting us all along. Once again, my blood boil, but unlike last time, I''m sure I can control it better, and use it to "This is the end of your life, serial killer dwarf!" [Karon] I bring my hammer out and start coordinating with Lara and Nara for our next move Chapter 471 - 471: Going to Lyrue inside Mountain Kingdom part 16 [Karon point of view] Without even wasting a single precious second, I immediately use my earth magic to this tunnel, and start rampaging with my exploding earth needle directed directly at my father, who is now in control of the fake dragon (by manipulating a large doppelganger flower which beat just like a heart) Of course, as Lara, Nara and I expected, he easily repel all of it through his own earth magic, but that''s now what surprise us. What surprise is that he blended his mana perfectly with the mana flowing from the ancient tunnel, and thus, rather than saving himself by cancelling my attack with his own magic, he simply made my spell disappears before it can even reach him ""Puppet magic... Controlling the ancient tunnel..."" [Lara, Nara] "If anything, I''m surprised we can actually found you quite easily. You can easily conceal yourself if you''re capable of blending your puppet magic with the mana flowing inside this tunnel" [Karon] "That Avery sure is troublesome, revealing my location even after I concealed myself, but that''s to be expected of the one that received the blessing from Mother Earth" [Serial killer dwarf] Even he acknowledged the power granted to Farhah after her ascension to become Avery. True, with how perfectly blended his mana to the ancient tunnel, I wouldn''t even be surprised if none of us couldn''t find him, but luckily Farhah save the day, but now "Tsk..." [Karon] "His attack is powerful" [Nara] "CAREFUL!" [Lara] ~METALLIC BANG~ "Blood... NICE!" [Serial killer dwarf] ~Gulp~ His tenacity... It''s admirable even when I hated him with all my might. My hammer strike toward his forehead just now should be lethal, or at best, should knock a person unconscious, but instead, he retaliate back with his own slash of attack that almost cut my left wrist ""Soul pierce!!"" [Lara, Nara] "Tchh!" [Serial killer dwarf] As expected, he wouldn''t take the attack with the power from God of Death directly, and instead, dodge the attack as fast as he can, but "Lara! Nara! Use the gun I gave to you just now!" [Karon] (Gun?) [Serial killer dwarf] ""Right!!"" [Lara, Nara] I always have a spare weapon I created stored inside my item bag, and just before the fight, I gave two of the prototype gun imbued with my puppet magic to those two. Now, it will automatically track that damned Serial killer dwarf no matter hoe hard he try to dodge "Ready..." [Lara] "Try yout best kid!" [Serial killer dwarf] He instantly dash toward Lara, and slash Lara''s c.h.e.s.t with his sharp knife, causing Lara to scream in agony, and "Lara!!!" [Nara] The elder one, Lara scream and start shooting multiple soul pierce technique directed towards the serial killer dwarf. To retaliate back, the serial killer dwarf uses Lara as a shield, grabbing her long hair and purposely swing her toward the magic fired by the elder brother, which infuriates us both ""DAMN YOU!!"" [Nara, Karon] But he didn''t just stop there. Seeing our reactions, he become even delighted to continue tormenting Lara, and start slamming her to the ground, with spikes from his earth magic damaging and deeply wounding Lara''s back. "Thunder Spear!" [Nara] "Earth snake golem!" [Karon] Both of us attack him simultaneously, while also carefully controlling our mana as to not let that damn serial killer dwarf uses Lara as a meat shield. Thankfully for us, instead of using Lara as a shield, he decided to dodge the incoming attack, knowing full well that the thunder spear just now was imbued with the blessing from God of Death, but "Got you..." [Lara] Even when she''s in pain and was rendered incapable of using her spell by my father, she actually use the thunder spear by Nara, reabsorbing her elder brother attack and directed it directly towards the serial killer dwarf. A direct attack, piercing the right eye, with the exit mark of the thunder spear appearing right at the occipital region of the head. This, in turn, send the serial killer dwarf into an epileptic like state before he subconsciously release his grasp and (NOW!) "Giant needle!" [Karon] With Lara now out of danger, and his control over the ancient tunnel abruptly disconnected, I uses my spell and pierce him right from his left foot into his head, hanging him like a strange human flag in a pole. This causes him to somehow regain his consciousness, start back his counterattacks in that awkward position before "Tch..." [Karon] He launch the same attack back at me. I''m just glad that it misses the mark by few cm or else I will be dead. The price to pay... My left knee downward is there no more. "Karon! Heal!" [Lara] Lara quickly heal me and stop my bleeding. Unlike the usual healing magic, she done it haphazardly. Understandable, considering the situation we are in right now. With barrage of attack left and right, up and down constantly streaming down at us. From attack as sharp as sword to that of an attempt to squash us, no two attacks feel the same We will be meeting God of Death and Goddess Achalasia if we fail to stop him right now itself, which is why (Stop his puppet magic! Stop his puppet magic!) [Karon] I channel my own puppet magic into the ancient tunnel, and the two puppet magic started to collide, before suddenly, a mysterious puppet magic flow into my body... No... This is... (Vincent! Maria! All of you! Stop figjting those devil and get inside the tunnel!) [Traveler king] A surge of memory, from the Traveler King enter inside my mind, with how hard he work to make the ancient tunnel which connects countries all over Achalasia into one complex networks... ""Karon! Karon!"" [Lara, Nara] Before I can even grasp what''s happening, I can see Lara and Nara, with their worried face, and just behind them, the head of the serial killer dwarf, detcah from the body most likely from either of thejr scythes... lifeless... and yet still smiling creepily... As if smiling at me. A sight which will forever haunt me... Chapter 472 - 472: Trouble in Estel part 21 [Outside Estel''s castle] [Shortly before the silver barrier disappear] [Ex- Adventure Guild Master, Ram point of view] A fallen noble like me, becoming the adventure guild master after getting my status f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y removed by my family, just because I was deeply in love with my current wife, Gizzere. She is after all 15 years older than I am, and a commoner, something which will surely cause a stir in my family, and indeed it happen, but nonetheless, I knew it all along, as my romance was just an excuse, an excuse to kick me out from this status of mine King Estel, a splendid king, however, it pains for me to say it, he tend to act a little bit too late most of the time. Of course, carefully analyzing each and every opinions is a good thing for any leader, in fact, I''ll say it is one of the prerequisite to be throne as a king, but there are times when a swift action is indeed needed, which is why, as soon to be head of the family, I''ll always support him when those occasions presented as a dilemma to his highness With each successful intervention (that could spell disaster for Estel should prompt action was not taken from my side), King Estel grew to trust me more and more each coming that, but the same couldn''t be said for his three wives, which ended up scheming behind our back, and before you know it "She is strong..." [Ray] "Indeed" [Kadeus] Mahsuri, easily break the silver barrier that prevents us all from entering. Even the fake doppelganger that was created the moment she touched the barrier easily get destroy by her almighty power. "I wonder... If she just act from the beginning itself, thing wouldn''t escalate to this scale" [Swordman adventure] "But because of that, we get to see the leadership of a good noble like guild master himself!" [Hunter adventure] "Ex-noble" [Ram] "With this, we can finally rush inside the castle and save them all!" [Spearman adventure] "The rude captain, as Ash rightly call, is useless after all" [Axeman adventure] Even though it pain me to say it, that little brother of mine really is useless... Since there was no one else that can successfully fulfill my role after my status was removed, he was forced to fill in the spot, and things, as expected, ended up going downhill for him from there on. The head captain of the knight of Estel, basically the highest command for the military of Estel, even overriding the Minister of Defense should situation demand it, I can see why they let him, an incompetent person for the very important post. They just wanted the total control of the military, especially the first prince. (The court magician is a bit different...) [Ram] But at the end of the day, they also fail not to let the first prince from ruining their organisation. As hopeful as I am to the current situation... I can tell, King Estel will most likely be... "Is there something wrong, Guild Master?" [Syah] "You are concentrating like there is no tomorrow" [Borg] "That might be the case... No... Whatever happen, we need to rebuild this country as soon as this crisis is solve!" [Ram] "That is a bit... But I agree" [Lin] "We can''t just leave everything to Princess Diana! We as her proudful companion should also do something!" [Mimi] "Calling Princess Diana your companion is a bit..." [Lily] "True... But I get this feeling she will be more that happy to hear us saying that" [Female elf adventure] Looks like my wife and I will have our shoulder of responsibility lightened with them on our side. I''m sure whether King Estel survive or not, he would have some sort of plan left behind, at least, his daughter Princess Diana is currently alive. That''s a good news (No! Stop thinking negatively! Whatever happen, I hope for the best...) [Ram] Just why am I thinking about his death... Could it really be.... "The barrier!" [Bladel] From my phone, The Captain of Valkyrie shouted loudly. Indeed. The silver barrier that surrounds the castle started to disappear. As it started to disappear from the very top, the pegasi which carries the Valkyrie, spare no time to enter the castle. Seeing as how one by one, their number dwindle as they make their way into the castle, all of us let out a fierceful shout, that encourages each other. Soon "THIS IS OUR CHANCE! ALL OF YOU! CHARGE!" [Ram] "RIGHT!!!" "FOLLOW THE GUILD MASTER!" "For the sake of Estel!" "We will save his highness King Estel!" "Don''t forget about the other as well!" [Ram] "OF COURSE!" As we enter the castle, countless dead bodies of the fake doppelgangers greet us all. A horrible side, enough to deter some of us from moving forward. Indeed. A horrible sight, worth mentioning twice. The stench, the sight of countless look alike bodies, which further dampening the spirit (Even him huh... Guess I still feel some connection for my little brother... but...) "What are you standing there for! MOVE! Start searching for any survivor! Even one survivor will surely be good enough!" [Ram] "R... RIGHT!" "Follow the plan! Start splitting up!" [Syah] "Those that will go underground, follow my lead!" [Dward adventure] "The Valkyrie there! Keep watching from above and notify us should anything happen!" [Ram] "I will, believe in me Guild Master Ram!" [Valkyrie C] As we started to move according to plan, our number started to thin out. The kitchen, the maid and butler''s quarters. The training ground. The library, even the royal bedroom, we spare no place unturned, until "That is!" [Ray] "The first prince... Is he..." [Ram] "Indeed. We are no longer control by him" [Unknown male] "You guys!" [Samurai Jacks] "Does that mean!" [Vampire guard A] One of the vampire guard of Princess Diana, along with few Valkyries arrive at the scene "Indeed. It is all over, dear citizen of Estel" [Unknown lady] "Right..." [Ram] Who are those two... No... More importantly "Then start maximizing our effort to search for any survivor! Look for King Estel! We need each and every ounce of energy needed to rebuild Estel!" [Ram]