Just as the burnt body of the bird was about to make contact with the street, a massive shadow streaked forward from the left.
A werewolf leapt upward in one clean, powerful motion and caught the falling carcass with both hands.
The sheer force of his jump cracked the stone beneath where he had pushed off, and he landed with a hard thud.
Even from a distance, Azel instantly recognized that familiar silhouette... the broad shoulders, the wild mane of fur and the confident posture.
"Vargan," Azel muttered with a small smile. The wolfman stood tall, still holding the half-incinerated bird as if it weighed nothing.
The beast’s charred feathers flaked off in patches.
"Wow..." Selene whispered beside him, her tail curling and uncurling with a flutter of curiosity.
She turned to Lillia with widened eyes. "You’re really strong."
Lillia brightened imdiately at the complint. Her pink eyes sparkled with the sa sort of innocent pride Edna always encouraged in her.
But then, as if a switch flipped, she suddenly rembered sothing important... sothing Edna had patiently drilled into her like an unbreakable rule:
’If soone ever gives you an honest complint, then you should give them an honest complint about their good features as well.’
With that in mind, Lillia turned to Selene and looked her over with a very serious, evaluating expression.
Selene waited as she was confused, her tail hovering behind her like a punctuation mark.
From Lillia’s perspective, Selene had soft mana but not enough to comnt on magically. She had excellent muscles but she had probably heard that kind of complint before.
She needed sothing true... sothing Edna would say was "from the heart." Her gaze rose... then dropped... then stopped at Selene’s chest.
"You’re really pretty," Lillia said sweetly. "I can see why Papa likes you. He only goes after pretty won."
Selene froze as her ears twitched.
"Not only that..." Lillia continued as she reached forward with both hands and cupped Selene’s breasts innocently, "...you’re big there too. Papa likes all sizes, but he loves big ones better."
Selene’s entire body jolted. Her face ignited red all the way up to the tips of her ears.
Even Feng looked away politely.
Alvinus simply choked on his own breath and covered his eyes.
"Li— Lillia!" Azel swooped in and lifted the little girl away from Selene’s chest in one smooth motion, placing her on his hip.
His face was caught between horror and disbelief. "What has she been teaching you...?"
He didn’t need to guess.
Edna had created a monster.
"Sorry, Sele—" Azel began, rubbing the bridge of his nose, but stopped mid-sentence when his eyes drifted back toward her.
Selene was staring straight at him, still pink, her tail wagging uncontrollably behind her. She nervously pressed her hands against her chest as if testing her own shape.
"Is it true...?" she whispered. "That you like big ones like... this?"
Both Feng and Alvinus visibly flinched, their cheeks burning red.
Azel blinked twice, then gave Selene a small smile.
"Totally."
Selene’s knees nearly buckled on the spot. A burst of steam practically shot out of her ears as she covered her face.
Azel gently set Lillia down. Almost imdiately, one of the Hunters passed by on the road.
Azel raised a hand. "Oi, Hatane!"
The tall werewolf stopped and turned.
"My lord... I..." He bowed reflexively.
"Lead them over to the front of the Evil Forest," Azel said, gesturing to Feng, Lillia, and Alvinus. "There’s enough space there for proper spell practice."
"Yes, my lord."
Azel added, "Oh... Alvinus."
The elf stiffened. "Yes, sir?"
"You’ll test Feng’s affinity as well. Teach him whatever magic he qualifies for."
"Yes sir!" Alvinus saluted so hard he nearly hit himself.
Azel crouched and patted Lillia’s head gently. "If you feel hungry, you can teleport to and I’ll feed you sothing, okay?"
She hugged his leg tightly. "Yes... father."
Azel felt his soul crack in half like glass.
’She switched from papa to father again... she’s really going to kill at this rate.’
With that, the werewolf Hatane led Feng, Lillia, and Alvinus down the road toward the direction of the Evil Forest, disappearing around the corner.
Azel exhaled. "Bad girl... she really likes ssing with my heart."
He turned to Selene, who had one hand resting on her waist as she tried to calm down her blushing face.
"She’s really your daughter, my lord," Selene said, still flustered. "I wonder how her mother looks."
Azel walked past her, hands in his pockets. "Her mother is beautiful beyond imagination."
In truth, the witch from Lillia’s original world was stunning... but even if she weren’t, he still would have said the sa thing.
Before Selene could ask more, sothing small and round sprinted toward Azel and leapt onto his shoulder.
The Dar Leader who was now much larger and plumper than before landed on him like a furry cannonball.
"Ah, you’re the Dar Leader?" Azel said with an amused smile.
"Dar!" the creature chirped proudly.
"You look fat. You must be enjoying a whole lot of food."
"Dar!!!" it squealed defensively.
Selene watched this with a small, wistful smile.
’When will my lord refer to my beauty like that...?’
She followed behind him as they stepped into the main hall of the mansion.
...
[Congratulations for using your Daily Reward Box for 30 days, you have received a Box Upgrade]
Azel paused mid-step.
"Oh? About ti."
The oversized reward chest in the corner began to glow. First a shimr... then a radiant bloom of energy that filled the room with streaks of rainbow light. Selene shielded her eyes.
"Master... what’s happening?" she asked, tail swishing in confusion.
The glow continued to intensify, swirling around the box until it began settling into place.
When the light finally dimd, the Daily Reward Box revealed itself fully.
Except...
"It looks... the sa," Selene muttered.
It did. Disappointingly so. The sa shape, sa size... only now the exterior was painted a deep crimson with constellations etched into the surface.
It was nothing dramatic.
"It’s kind of underwhelming," Azel admitted.
Then the interface appeared:
[Would you like to receive your daily reward?]
[Cost: 40 Fate Points]
[Y / N]
Azel shrugged. "Yeah, yeah... Y."
He didn’t even hesitate at the cost. He already knew that sothing like this would happen.
As soon as he pressed the option, the box began shaking.
The lid creaked open slowly, letting out a faint purple mist. Selene held her breath. The Dar Leader climbed onto the edge of the box with it’s tail wagging in anticipation.
"Go get it," Azel said.
The Dar dove in headfirst.
There was so rummaging... so squeaking... the sound of sothing rolling... and then the Dar leapt out proudly holding a skull between its teeth.
Azel caught it.
[You have received Special Item: Lich’s Head]
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