Honestly, I thought they’d bring an actual dragon—dragon at has a distinct flavor—but instead, they showed up with two massive beasts: Moon Bulls.
They’re dangerous creatures with two large, silver horns where their eyes should be, and a crescent moon-shaped mark on their heads.
Despite their herbivore-like appearance, they’ll bite your head off if you’re not careful.
They’re not quite on a Principality’s level, but even a low-level Principality would struggle against one. Their raw strength, size, and the energy blasts from their horns make them serious threats.
They used to exist in Gihon but went extinct ages ago. I’ve also heard they carry so kind of poisonous parasite... but hey, at is at.
This one was about five tis my size, but I still managed to tear it apart with well-placed, pressurized wind.
After dropping Flora off with her mother, I turned my attention back to the real task.
The Specter Wolves were already helping out, and to my surprise, Swanir and Jorō joined in the kitchen.
"My Lord, let assist you," Swanir offered. "I think I know a thing or two about preparing als."
’You do?!’ I scread inwardly.
Actually... don’t these summons know a little too much for newly born beings?
We started chopping at on a stone slab. From the corner of my eye, I watched Swanir. She was focused, slicing away with her short knife, and she looked—happy.
Since her last action, she’d been growing more confident. Normally, she was a little reserved.
Seeing that change made smile.
It had only been two days since we’ve known, but it felt like watching my own kid take a small step forward.
"Hm? My Lord," she said, noticing staring. "Is there sothing on my face?"
"Yeah," I said, stepping closer. "Let get it for you."
Then I kissed her cheek. "Thanks for helping out, okay?"
"Ah! Papa is cheating on Mama!"
"Shut up, Flora." I grinned at the little green pea. "We can’t let a misunderstanding spark the end of the world."
Swanir, anwhile, was frozen in place, her black-red eyes wide with shock.
"Y-Yes..." she squeaked, then quickly returned to chopping at.
Her blushing face was priceless.
But for so reason, everything went eerily silent. The only sound was the subtle tap of blades striking stone.
As I lifted my head toward the crowd, the noise returned—like soone had unpaused ti.
"Gracious, my Lord," Jorō said with a playful pout, casting a glance at the Mad Trio. "Don’t I deserve a reward as well? I, too, am offering my assistance."
I wasn’t sure what she ant exactly, but since she was quite a bit taller than , I stretched up and gave her a peck on the cheek as well—just to keep the peace.
Even though Bina had started playing so punishnt ga with Flora, the atmosphere thickened with a hint of dark emotion.
Whatever.
*
The crab shells we used earlier were still around, but there weren’t nearly enough to serve as plates for everyone.
{Master, I fail to see the purpose of your—}
(Silence! You bitter... thing! You’re just mad because you can’t taste my wonderful cooking from the ntal plane! Sucks. To. Be. You!)
I tuned out Platform’s whining and watched Jorō instead.
She was... making plates. Even a pot.
The way she did it;
The symbols on the ground... the Sulphur-like sll as the magic begin to rise—
"Alchemy?" I muttered.
"Yes, my Lord," she replied. "You don’t mind, do you?"
"No, no. I’m actually kind of interested."
She gave a brief explanation of her process, ntioning how Coastelle made alchemy easier here than it would have been in Pison.
That made pause. Jorō seed to have mories from before... but Tamayō and the others didn’t.
Which ant there were mories to be recovered?
Which ant... they were people before...?
Platform, what does this an?
{It took two full days for you to ask the obvious, Master?}
(Shut up and answer. Are you... doing sothing?)
{Such accusations! I have no idea what you are referring to.}
(Then explain this: why is Jorō, who I ate, now one of my summons? And I can swear I saw her holding an eerily familiar black silky sack!)
{Perhaps her soul got entangled with the others during the summoning process?}
(Why are you asking ? You’re supposed to be the smart one here.)
{The specifics of how summons are ford is a bit of a mystery to even . But after your Pact with Pluto and Bond, your summons started retaining souls—and with them, personalities.}
(So that ans... they were people before?)
{...It’s possible.}
Sigh.
Isn’t this THAT?
...Necromancy or sothing?
But my ability only summons Specter Wolves and so Special Summons. I’m not out here digging up souls and tampering with the dead.
Argh. My head hurts. Enough thinking—let’s get back to cooking.
"My Lord, are you listening?" Jorō’s voice cut in behind .
She was holding my hands to guide in drawing a summoning symbol on the ground—one to create my own cooking pot.
She was really close. I could sll her hair.
It was... nice. It slled like those pod plants... what were they again...?
Ah, Vanilla, or so. It was warm and pleasant.
And even though she was taller than , my heart was thumping like I was the flustered one.
She smiled at , friendly and soft.
And I rembered—
Just yesterday, we were trying to kill each other.
Fate, you’re such a bastard.
Are you seriously trying to teach so twisted moral lesson right now?
Cut it out! I almost never learn from my mistakes, you know?
Anyway, night rolled in before the food was fully ready.
This ti, I only grilled a bit of at. Jorō and Swanir handled the rest.
Apparently, they had better cooking skills than .
Not that I’m jealous or anything...
But I definitely don’t want either of them near the kitchen again.
Especially Swanir—who’s apparently "grown up" now and can talk back to —she even asked that I not serve the food. Then did it herself.
And the look on her face when everyone started eating—
That joy people get when others enjoy their cooking.
Yeah. I know that look.
I was so envious, my stomach hurt.
Still, the Mad Trio had been unusually quiet for a while. Should I take that as an ominous sign?
(Platform, max out defenses and surveillance!)
{Why?}
(What do you an, "why"?! Just do it because I said so!)
{I disagree, Master. I cannot allow you to misuse your power for lodrama and romantic cody antics.}
(Wh-what?! I just need you to keep watch in case Levi or the others—)
{I refuse.}
Honestly. Just because you can’t taste good food doesn’t an you get to take it out on !
*
Anyway, the food they made was incredible.
Swanir had gathered so vegetables from the talking forest, and they used unfamiliar seasonings that made my grilled at seem... basic.
Their cheerful "Mhm! Delicious!" felt more like a taunt than praise. I could only glare at them with a frozen smile and bloody eyes filled with quiet betrayal and contempt.
Lygari, for reasons still unknown to , instantly jumped into clearing the shell-plates, even roping Cetus into helping him with water creation—so he’d scrub them spotless.
Why does he relish the least honorable kind of labor?
Is it extre humility? Sheer laziness to do anything more challenging? I’ll ask him later.
anwhile, Bina was deep in animated conversation with a few Specter wolves, dramatically recounting her exploits.
"Then I spat at the evil sea serpent and charged head-on!" she declared. "That was my twentieth encounter with the vile creature, but I never backed down. No matter the pain, the smashing, the drowning—I fought on! Scars fade, but they tell the tale!"
I’m sure she was making so of it up. Her story barely held together, but the wolves seed enthralled anyway.
’Levi won’t like that story though.’
Eventually, I called the party to a close. I needed quiet. Space to think.
Specifically, to strategize how I’d outcook Swanir and Jorō in our next round.
Cetus and the Sea Demons took their leave soon after. They promised to return tomorrow.
As for the summons...
Of course they whined. But I banished them all back to the Shadow Realm without rcy.
And so, peace finally returned to the land.
I couldn’t find Alicia or the other violent one, but maybe they’d gone off to bathe or sothing.
I’d like to believe they’re getting along. Though... are they really?
Anyway, before they ca back, I decided to prepare their bed—with Bina’s help.
Then I moved a few feet away and raised another bed of grass for myself and cute little Flora.
We’d share that one tonight, though I was wary of sleep. Those dreams...
"Flora, are you ready?" I asked.
"Ready for more at? Yes!"
"No, no at for now. Not until tomorrow." I scooped her up and gently set her on the grassy bed, then lay beside her.
Her sparkling green, long hair spilled over the darker green grass, creating a wonderful, complinting contrast that made her stick out delightfully
So cute.
"Did you enjoy yourself today?" I asked, rubbing her tummy.
"Mhm! Little sister Jobina turned out to be funny!"
"Little sister?!" I yelped. "Don’t do that. She’s older than you... I think."
"Hm? She called Flora big sis, so Flora thought Flora was her elder."
Her speech was becoming clearer. She spoke in a tongue I didn’t understand, but it sounded familiar—probably one of the Pison dialects like Bina’s.
"Actually... how old are you?"
"Flora is three days old!"
"Then please, show Bina so respect! She’s definitely your elder!"
I kept talking to Flora for a while, teasing her, making her laugh—until she dozed off.
She’d eaten more at than her size should allow, so sleep ca easy.
Heh... I think I was enjoying myself too.
So much so, I began to suspect sothing awful was looming nearby.
’Back when I ruled in Gihon, I mostly stayed aloft, watching from above while agents and subordinates managed the world below.
Victory wasn’t celebrated. Only progress was allowed to matter.
But now... I think I was lying to myself.
Truth is—I believe I just wanted to be friends with those fragile, fleeting beings.
Just like that human child once told ; "You are obsessed with humans!"
And yet... sohow, things quickly spun out of control.
Before I realized it, I was biting heads off.
The war with them... it truly broke my heart.’
As I reminisced, I raised a hand at my face, and watched my black claws extend slowly.
’After countless rejections from humans—followed by my defeat at the hands of that con artist, Bond—I had ti to think.
Long and hard.
In the depths of his basent. In chains...
’Do I really want to rule humans?’
I don’t think so.
What I really wanted was sothing real. Sothing legit.
A family.
Friends outside the chaotic world of gods and their ssy, egotistical politics.
I just wanted sothing normal.
A simple relationship. A quiet bond.
And... I think I’ve finally found it.
Alicia. Levi. Bina. Trigger. The others...
Geez, I love those guys so much.’
As I thought about my new-found family, my eyes began to droop.
Sleep was pulling under...
Strange.
Even if I can sleep, it’s not sothing that forces itself on .
And I didn’t exactly exhaust myself today.
So why was I... feeling so—
"Papa!!"
What?!
A voice jolted , and the haze snapped for a second.
Turned out, I was sinking into a high-tier sleeping spell.
I clenched my will and tore through the magic fog with sheer force, willing myself back to clarity.
But then—I saw it.
I was being ambushed.
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