The voice that I have just heard behind doesn't convey any specific emotion—it sounds bland and empty. The pressure the owner of the voice is exuding, however, makes think that she is angry.
It seems to that she can't express her emotion well, so she uses her Mana pressure to represent her emotion. I am not sure whether she is angry at Paulina or and Vibiane, but her pressure is starting to annoy .
Turning my body so I can look at the owner of the voice, I find a beautiful woman with a long, white hair; a pair of slightly curved, pointy horns on her forehead; an unblemished, bright skin; and emotionless green eyes.
With a height of 6"3', she has a lean but fit body. I can faintly see the toned muscles that are hidden under her tight clothing, but my attention is occupied by the necklace around her neck.
It is the sa as mine, but it has eight more wings than mine. That ans, she is a part of the Conquest Troop, who I have only seen now—I can't recall I have even seen her at the Barrack.
I don't know her at all, but judging by her Rank, I can sohow guess who she is: Eliseus, the strongest warrior in the troop, who Velucan talked about before we departed.
"Eliseus. I didn't expect you to be Paulina's mother." Vibiane faces Eliseus with surprise evident in her eyes.
I am a little bit surprised too. Not because of my correct guess however; because of Vibiane's daring guess. Paulina has indeed said her mother is a Demon, but assuming Eliseus is the one just because she knows Paulina is kind of stupid.
"So what if I am?"
"Mother!"
... Or maybe not.
I slightly blink my eyes in surprise when Paulina runs to Eliseus and jumps at her when she is already in front of her. Eliseus also returns the gesture in kind—although there is nothing changes from her expression, her pressure lessens quite significantly.
I can tell that she has a soft spot for Paulina, and that makes wonder—why does a killer show that much care toward her victim's daughter?
It might just be my speculation that Eliseus was the one who killed Paulina's biological mother, but considering our relationship with Beastn, that is highly likely to be the case.
Why else would a Beastman mother entrust her daughter to a Demon?
I have heard many stories about Demons from Valeria, but none of them is about the friendship between a Demon and soone from a pro-God race. There might be so of them out there, but they make up less than a percent of the whole population.
"Why are you here?"
"Oh, I was taking sister Vibiane and that grumpy Demon over there around the city. You know, I failed to ste—collect that grumpy Demon's money, so he enslaved as a punishnt."
"He enslaved you as a punishnt?"
Eliseus turns her empty eyes to , and for the first ti, I see sothing in them. It is not very apparent, but I can see the rage they contain.
I slightly frown when I feel the pressure she is violently sending at , then take out Rexorem when it is getting unbearable. Stabbing Rexorem in the ground, I channel my Mana into the Magic Stone on Rexorem's blade.
A thin barrier of Mana imdiately surrounds . Unlike what it did to Velucan's pressure, it greatly lessens Eliseus' botherso pressure.
Eliseus slightly widens her eyes in surprise at my display—at this point, many people walking on the street have stopped to observe the situation. I honestly don't know what will happen next, but I feel slightly excited at the thought of fighting her.
"Enough, the two of you!" Just when the situation is about to get serious, Vibiane steps in. "We are in the middle of the city—we'll be punished heavily if we fight here. Losing our heads because of that is humiliating, don't you think so?"
As soon as Vibiane finished uttering those words, Eliseus imdiately retracts her pressure. I, too, deactivate the Mana barrier Rexorem has produced and take Rexorem back to my Spatial Storage at the sa ti.
The place turns completely silent as we stare at each other, but the atmosphere remains unchanged—it is as tense as before. Vibiane is worried because of this—she is fidgeting uncomfortably—and Paulina looks like she knows she has fucked up.
"Mother!" She pulls on Eliseus' coat to attract her attention. "Although that grumpy Demon is irritating, he has treated well. He is just too shy to admit that I am cute, so he has always given the cold shoulder."
"He is?" Eliseus frowns lightly. "What a weirdo."
Eliseus relaxes her expression, and Paulina sighs in relief at that. I appreciate Paulina's effort to save my ass, but the way she has overestimated herself genuinely irks .
Also, the way Eliseus called weirdo as if she she is not one herself really stimulates my fist. I want to throw it at her quite badly, but I know it will only escalate the situation; I hold myself back in the end.
"Hmph! I will let the fact that you have enslaved my daughter slide just because you have treated her well."
"I have actually rely TEMPORARILY enslaved that midget over there as a PUNISHNT for trying to steal from ," I emphasize. "I get that you love your daughter, but please, educate her well."
Scoffing lightly, Eliseus says, "I don't think I have educated her poorly. She already knows many things kids her age don't know about—what else should I teach her?"
"Manners. She doesn't have any respect toward other people. She takes things that aren't her, and that is not sothing a kid of her age should do. She acts the way she wants—that's the complete opposite of being well-behaved."
Eliseus frowns briefly before saying, "Have you ever seen anyone other than you mind that?"
I unconsciously scoff in ridicule as soon as I get what she is trying to say: the privilege of having a strong mother. She knows no one other than has ever protested about what Paulina has done, and she is using that to justify it.
"What can a bunch of helpless Monsters, who have been saved by you, can do when your dearest daughter steals from them? They are too grateful for what you have done and too fearful of what you can do."
Eliseus frowns and I imdiately put my hand up the mont she is about to say sothing.
"My point is, and many others are not the people you have saved. The mont that midget steps her foot outside of this city, there will be many people like , who are willing to take her head off for what she has done."
"... What is your purpose of telling this?"
"To justify what I have done to her, and make you realize what kind of a failure you are as a mother."
Eliseus slightly recoils in surprise at my words and imdiately frowns in thought. I genuinely think that she is going to co up with an argunt to rebuke , but she surprises by bowing politely at .
"You have made realize sothing." Eliseus raises her head then looks at neutrally. "You are right—I need to teach her better. I have spoiled her too much—I forgot that it is not good for her in the long run."
"As long as you got what I an." I wave my hand lightly.
"Since you can easily see my mistake on my way of raising her up, can I ask you for so advices about parenting?"
"Hoh?" I quirk my eyebrow at Eliseus' unexpected request, then smirk evilly the mont I notice the dread on Paulina's face. "Let us talk about it when we have a free ti."
"There is still so ti before General Velucan calls us, so let's have the talk now." Eliseus stares at quite adamantly. "I know a quiet place."
"... Okay."
I am a little bit baffled by Eliseus' enthusiasm about the way to fix her parenting thod, so it takes a few seconds to respond her. Vibiane and I imdiately follow her to the quiet place she has ntioned, and arrive at said place after a minute of walk.
The place is a beautiful garden near the city hall. There are not many people there—coupled by the colorful flowers and the heavenly scent, the place is really calming.
"Let's sit over there." Eliseus points her finger at one of the benches in the garden.
I nod my head silently and walk alongside her to the bench. I sit down comfortably when I reach it, anwhile the other two adult won sit themselves beside , filling up the entire space the bench has to offer.
Glancing at the two neutrally, I say, "There is literally another bench in front of us."
"I need to sit beside you to hear you better," Eliseus reasons.
"I don't want to feel left out," Vibiane mutters.
Since it's not that big of a deal, I shrug lightly and say nothing. Turning my head to the midget on Eliseus' lap, I can't help smiling when I find her as rigid as a porcelain doll.
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