59 Anikia Dress.

Meeting the Elder Dragons, Huh?

I wonder what they'll be like? I just don't wanna imagine them to be like him. What if they are…?

[Then you'll be like them too. peas in a pod.]

Why do you always say that? I'm pretty normal…

[Normal? I've never seen an anomaly like you in my long life.]

Out of which you have been sealed away for over a thousand years.

[I'm still older than you!]

Yeah, yeah.

After having that talk with Vejetar, we are now back at the dinner table. The sun is about to go down in some moments. I'm pretty sure I told one of them to call Lucy and Anikia for dinner.

Willis went back to prepare the fish Vejetar got us. It does look expensive and delicious. The box that came with it seems pretty expensive too. it has all sorts of magic circles on it. I do know them since I have all that knowledge crammed in my head. Most of those circles deal with space. It's portable spatial storage after all. I wonder if these things are normal here. I can't imagine ordinary people having this sort of equipment. It must cost a fortune, why did Vejetar have it though? Is this his box?

"Um… Vejetar. I wanted to ask something, where'd you get this box?"

"That? I bought the fish but the man gave me the box for free," he says.

For free? He didn't threaten him, did he?

"Oi. Don't tell me you forcefully took this."

"That hurts… I didn't. I just gave him a stone that's abundant in The Dragon Kingdom. It seems it was too much money for the fish so he gave me some extra fish and the box…" he says in disappointment.

He gave him a stone…?

"What was that stone? Was it something that valuable?" I ask.

Everyone directs their gaze towards him.

"He called it something like… Zephyria Edelstein or something… I didn't know what he was talking about but I just went with the flow and sold it." he says, free of any worries.

Everyone in the room flinches at the name of that stone. It looks like he's made a big blunder.

"What did he do Albart?"

"Um… You see Great Velkra… There are only two known Zephyria Edelstein, one of them is owned by the King of Brinis…" he says.

Wha-? Come on, Vejetar!

"Oi. Do something about this." I say to Vejetar.

"W-What did I do? I just exchanged something for fish!" he says.

"And that fish is going to get that man killed!"

This man is dumb too! If people knew that someone else has another one of those stones, The man will be killed!

"He has good influence over matters so he should be fine. Let him be." He speaks.

Who was the person he bought this from anyway?

"Who's the man you bought it from? Tell me." I ask.

Vejetar looks up at the ceiling for a moment with a hesitant expression then looks at me with a smile.

"He's the descendant of a man I knew a while back." He says.

No one will interrupt Vejetar and me right now. I wonder why they don't talk much in front of us…

"Explain 'While'" I say.

"I would say a god 600 years ago? His ancestor was a good man I met when I was quite… misguided let's say."

Misguided? What does he mean by that?

"What are you trying to say?" I ask.

"Well, I'll tell you about it sometime. I wouldn't want to open up my history in front of everyone, you see?" he says.

That is quite understandable. I shouldn't push him anymore.

"Ah, I thought that you could use his help as well. He's a merchant and a quite successful at that, you might want to do business with him. I can bring him here if you want." He says.

"Do business? You're saying that I should use his help for the resources I need to send in the demon realm?" I ask.

"Yeah. You can go to Youlias if you want but you could do it with his help too." he says.

I thought that having Youlias handle that matter would be more helpful but he's saying that I should use the merchant's help.

"Youlias can only order the people to send aid, but that doesn't change how those people will look at this matter. It's quite possible that the Nobles in this Kingdom might oppose the idea of aiding demons completely. So, I advise you to handle this personally, as gaining the mass's favor would take quite some time."

He's right. I didn't even think about that. If I just walked in and said that the demons need our help, even if Youlias could understand, the Nobles and the Citizens of this Kingdom wouldn't. This is the result of all the false image about Demons, spread by the Brinis Empire.

Dealing with the matter of aid personally will be better since it wouldn't pose any threats or hinderances. I guess I should take this chance to meet this merchant. But before that, I need to do something.

"Albart, after we finish our dinner, I want you to prepare yourself for some work." I say turning to Albart.

"As you wish. What will this work be, If I may inquire, Great Velkra?" he asks.

"You do know where the gate is, right?"

"I do, Great Velkra." He replies with confidence.

"Then I want you to go to the Demon Realm and make contact with Felia and Carmine. Calculate what supplies they need for the time being. I guess supplies for about. 10 days or so. I will settle the matter of their ending world within that time."

Albart stands up from his seat and kneels with a fist on the ground,

"Understood, Great Velkra. I will complete this task with utmost brilliance." He says.

Whoa… So bright. He's shining.

"And yes, Zanim. Go with him as support. I want you to help him in anything possible. And also, this, if you by any chance make contact with the hero, or his party, do not take a risk to engage. Make a run for the barrier and enter the Demon Realm. I'll handle it if it come to that."

"Understood." Zanim follows Albart and also Kneels down.

This gets one thing settled for now. What I have to do now is to go to Youlias, the meet this Merchant and then go to meet the Dragons.

"If I may. Great Velkra." Says Caryl.

Hey, you don't need my permission to speak, you know? I won't bite.

"Yeah?"

"How will they communicate from there? I suppose the Demons are in dire need of supplies and they need it immediately. Going into the demon realm and then coming out to report can certainly take time." She says.

[That can be solved with my help. You know the [Soul Bridge]? I can talk to them through it and give you the report]

That makes it easy. Thanks, Twixie.

[Hah.]

"Twixie can solve that issue. She will contact them once they are there."

"I see. It's reassuring then." She says.

Come to think of it, you never reported what Carmine and Felia are doing.

[There wasn't anything that needed to be reported. That's all. It looks like Carmine took a Spatial bag full of supplies. She's sharing that with the Demons there.]

Eh? How much food did she take with her…?

[Quite a lot. For about 10-day worth for 100 people.]

What?! How the hell did she do that? And I'm here thinking that they might starve to death!

[It's still not enough. They need the supplies anyway. The medication supplies have run out too. most of the people have been healed due to the evolution but they might require them eventually.]

I see. Better speed up our efforts then.

"Velkra-nee!"

I hear a voice. He voice is quite familiar. It's Lucy after all.

"Velkra-nee! [Bam]!" she opens the door with so much force that it unhinges and it falls to the ground.

Ehh…? What just happened?

"Oh. I guess I pushed too hard. Hehe." She says.

Pushed too hard…? What is she?

"Any way! Look at this!" she points to the person hiding behind her back.

As I look closer, I see that the face peeking out shyly is Anikia.

"My! You look adorable, Princess Anikia!" shouts Caryl as she walks up to her.

"You have to show Velkra-nee too!" says Lucy.

What is this uproar about? Let me know too…

I stand up from my seat and walk towards Anikia. Anikia also timidly walks out from Lucys back.

"Oh."

What I see is a girl in new clothes. Her hair done straight and adorned with a red rose. Her dress made of red. Along with black in its intricate designs. Black shoes with red socks. Her dress and accessories matching with her pale skin, Black hair and red eyes. A girl truly adorable in every sense.

I jump close and kneel down with my arms open.

"Come her you!"

I say that and hug her hardly. I don't intend to let go. Is this what they call maternal love? I want her to be my daughter. She is my daughter.

"Um… Mom? I can't breathe… and it's too embarrassing… everyone is watching…" she says.

Let them watch. I just want to hold my daughter in my arms and never let her go. When I look at you, I am reminded that I need to protect you at any cost. why is that? I do not understand. This is … I do not know.

"Mom?"

"Ah, there."

I let her go and she straightens her clothes once again and stands straight. She looks at me with a bright smile and says,

"How do I look?"

Ah. This is my daughter.

"You look wonderful, Anikia." I reply.

{Look at me Mom! How do I look?}

{hmm? You look wonderful, Fu.}

{Really?!}

{Yes. Your skating shoes look great.}

Eh? What was that? Eh?

[Master? What just happened?]

You saw that too…? What… was that?

[A flashback? But…]

What is happening? Something like this happened before too…

[wha-]

"Mom? What's wrong? Why are you crying…?"

I snap back to reality with those words. I touch my right cheek and see that I have tears flowing. I'm crying? Why?

"Velkra? What happened??" Vejetar stands up from his seat and runs to me.

What is happening? Was that a flashback? My memories?

"Velkra?" says Vejetar with a hand on my shoulder.

"No, No. It's nothing. I'm fine." I say as I stand up, wiping off the tears with my sleeves.

"Don't worry. I just… remembered something." I say.

I look around the room for a second and see that everyone has their eyes watered. Did they feel it too?

I look at Anikia and see that her eyes are watery too. So, this is what it was like when they felt me in pain. They feel my emotions too. I don't know what that feeling was or why I cried but… it surely resonated with everyone.

"Come one. I think the food should be here any moment. Let's sit down and enjoy it." I say as I change the topic and gesture everyone to the dining table.

"Anikia. Thank you." I say.

"Why Mom?" she asks.

"Dunno. But thank you anyway."