Chapter 158

Xiarette could be said to have displayed all the etiquette and cultivation she had learned throughout her life.

“This aunt, you must have had a hard journey coming from afar. Please, do rest here. This is my residence. If you don’t mind, you can stay here for a while to recuperate. Of course, not for too long… ahem! The environment here is actually quite nice. In a moment, I’ll take you around nearby to see the scenery?”

Sheffy’s lips twitched, utterly dumbfounded.

Xiarette…! Your expression, mind your expression!

Since when did a proper face matter more than social tact?!

Ailellek was also somewhat stunned by the sudden change in the golden-haired girl before her, but her attention was not on that at all.

She could sense the remarkable strength and potential radiating from this girl.

“I say, you… do you want to have a match with me?”

“!”

Xiarette felt her heart skip a beat.

It was over, over!

This was their very first meeting, and already her initial impression with the elder had reached the level of “deserves a beating”?!

To fight her… the meaning behind those words, wasn’t it simply that she wanted to thrash her?!

Could it be—[Stay away from my little niece], that kind of scenario?!

Yesterday, Ailellek had not spent all of her battle intent and was now pressing her to issue another challenge.

But before she could get a second chance to speak, the back of her head had already been struck!

“Ouch…!”

“I say, aunt, can’t you cut it out already?! Can you not spend every single day only thinking about fighting and killing? If you had even the slightest sense outside of combat, you’d know the first thing you should be doing right now is fixing that door! Hurry up! Fix the door!”

“Ah, ah, I know…! Honestly, you’ve been this irritable since you were little… I really don’t know who you take after… couldn’t you be a bit more genteel like me?”

“Heh, ‘genteel’? That word would fit a wild boar better than it does you.”

“Not bad, niece. After just one year, your attacks have gotten even sharper!”

Seeing Sheffy had already dug out a hammer and nails and laid them neatly on the ground, Ailellek knew that today she was fated to fix the door no matter what.

Well… it didn’t matter. The one who broke the door repaired the door—she had experience. She couldn’t even count how many times she had fixed the doors of the Demon King’s Castle’s main hall.

Fixing the door was fine, but what she really wanted first was to know the identity of that silly golden-haired girl over there.

She asked, and the answer left her wide-eyed with realization.

“So after all this fuss, you’re that Hero?!”

“What fuss… I think you’re the only one making any fuss here…”

“No, no, no, listen to me. You know who I am, right? Hold on, let’s sort this out.”

Ailellek counted on her fingers, fumbling about as though she could never quite get it straight. It was clear her arithmetic wasn’t very good.

“I’m at least the former First Princess of the Demon Clan, and you’re the current Hero of the Kingdom of Aurus. Sitting here face-to-face like this… I feel like… maybe we really do need to have a fight?!”

“…!”

These words were not just for show.

Ailellek leaned her cheek against the hammer, the scarlet eyes she revealed exuding a suffocating pressure.

Sylatrella had already leapt down from the chair, ready to cut someone down.

Xiarette frowned slightly. From just this moment alone, she could already conclude that the person before her was stronger than Belith.

Most likely, a Six-Winged Demon.

Sheffy was once again slowly raising her little fist and standing up, wasn’t she?

Seeing her adorable little niece’s fist, Ailellek gave a bitter smile, reined in her battle intent, and casually waved her hand as she asked a question.

“Well, don’t be so tense. I only said we ‘might have a fight’, that’s all. I actually just want to ask you one thing. You just answer truthfully.”

“Y-you… please go ahead?”

“Although you are the Hero, you’ve been staying at Sheffy’s side without any malice, right?”

“Yes.” Xiarette’s answer came without the slightest delay.

Because never mind malice.

If it were possible, Xiarette wished to bring all the goodness of the world to Sheffy.

Perhaps it was in that instant of confirming the resolve within Xiarette’s eyes, but Ailellek chuckled twice, clapped her hands, and stated her conclusion.

“Alright~ I get it. Since you have no malice, then you’re our companion!”

“That fast?!”

“What else would it be?”

Ailellek’s gaze shifted toward Sheffy.

She still had her little fist raised, ready to strike at any moment.

This little one… aside from protecting Belith, she had never before shielded anyone like this since she was young.

That alone was enough to explain things, wasn’t it? Sheffy had always seen right through good and evil since childhood.

Ooh, the child had grown up.

She had already learned to throw a heavy punch at her aunt at any time for the sake of a woman!

Xiarette didn’t really understand how she had suddenly gained this trust, but to be accepted so easily… it was, after all, something to be happy about, wasn’t it?

While the others kept talking endlessly, only the Little Holy Sword was practical.

She picked up the hammer and nails lying on the ground and was already tiptoeing off to bang away at the door.

Lady Sheffy liked diligent children.

Then she had to be a diligent person~

“Hey, Sylatrella, if you’re fixing the door then fix the door. Don’t go hammering the wall. If the wall collapses too, it’ll be even more troublesome to repair.”

“Ow… sorry, Lady Sheffy, I forgot to bring the door with me…”

Damn it, forgetting to bring the door when repairing the door—what a genius.

Truly, not one of them was reliable.

No, no, no. There was still someone reliable.

“Aunt.”

“Hm…? What is it, Belith?”

“It’s nothing. I was just wondering… did you just go through a ‘fierce battle’? For someone to force you into a hard fight… I really can’t think of where you would have gone.”

“Oh-ho…? You can tell that too?! But… I wouldn’t call it a fierce battle. It wasn’t all that satisfying. Mainly, the other side’s ability was just too unfair!”

Belith sat there gracefully, gently holding her teacup, quietly observing the condition of her Aunt Ailellek.

Every now and then, as her cloak shifted, faint bloodstains could be seen beneath it.

Along the edges of her light armor were traces of burns.

Her aunt fought relying on physical strength. Under normal conditions, with her speed, such marks should never have appeared on her body.

In truth, even without Belith pointing it out, Sheffy had long since noticed Ailellek’s abnormal state.

If she had been in peak condition… upon seeing this room full of powerful figures, it would have been strange if she didn’t immediately start a fight as a greeting.

The fact that she hadn’t made a move meant her current state wasn’t very good.

“I say, aunt, it seems you didn’t come all this way just to mess around…? Did you bring some kind of information with you?”

“Sheffy, the way you care about intelligence but not about your aunt’s condition truly pains me.”

Care about you?

I already said, rather than caring about you, I might as well care about whether the big fish in the lake are getting enough oxygen to breathe!

Aunt Ailellek’s physique was practically immortal—cut her in half and she’d regenerate on the spot. What was there to worry about?

Ailellek blinked, took a small sip of tea, and then made a suggestion.

“But Sheffy, I still think you should call me ‘Sister Ailellek’ like you used to. Calling me aunt makes me sound so old.”

“Forget it. This isn’t about whether you sound young or not.”

Ever since the day Sheffy was born, Ailellek, who had rushed back to the Demon King’s Castle, had wanted to appear youthful and jokingly told Sheffy—“I’m your sister, you know?”

At that time, Sheffy had really believed it, calling her “Sister Ailellek” for quite a long while.

Then one day, her father suddenly mentioned that Ailellek was actually his younger sister. The young Sheffy suffered a huge psychological shock, only then realizing she had been calling the wrong generation all along.

If she were to call her sister, wouldn’t that make her father her brother?

Always quietly listening from the side, but knowing the matter didn’t concern her, Timani noticed that this great figure of the Demon Clan seemed about to discuss some secret. She patted her skirt, stood up, and gestured to excuse herself from the sitting room.

“You all continue talking. I should step out now, right?”

“No need, Fire Lizard, just sit here.” Sheffy tapped the table with her finger, signaling her to return.

Timani froze for a moment.

It seemed she hadn’t expected Sheffy to say that.

Soon, she felt a warmth rise in her heart…

A fleeting smile crept up onto her brows.

Mm… this feeling of being trusted really was quite nice. Ever since her parents had passed away, no one had told her they believed in her…

Yes, Demon Clan Princess, you really aren’t bad at all!

“You… tsk, fine, since you put it that way…”

“Mm-hm, sit there and peel me an orange. I just washed my hands, and I don’t want to touch the orange again. Thanks!”

“You hateful thing…! Give me back my moment of emotion!”

“Where did that emotion even come from?!”

68. Not bad at all! (4K)

Letting Timani sit in on this—of course Sheffy had her reasons.

It couldn’t be confirmed whether the stories from the mythic era were entirely as Lady Aimeris had said, but at the very least, there had been four deities during that era, each overseeing one direction. This was something recorded across many nations.

The records varied, but they were largely the same.

There was not just one deity in the world, which meant that deities must have influenced and restrained one another.

Timani’s lineage was very likely related to information concerning the Dragon God, so letting her listen to intelligence about the 【Human God】 Aimeris might just help her recall something connected to the Fire Dragon Clan of the Northern Territory.

Of course, there was also another, greater purpose in letting her sit in.

—That was to have her peel oranges.

During this time, Ailellek recounted the process and purpose of her journey to the Holy Theocracy of Coreia, and explained that her trip had been undertaken under the Demon King’s instruction.

“I just thought it was so interesting~ Even that fearless elder brother of mine, King Dielzner, specially told me to be cautious while investigating, which must mean the enemy is really powerful, right! That’s exactly what I like! As expected of my dear brother, he understands my nature perfectly!”

Ah yes, yes, yes—indeed, as expected of your dear brother. In the absence of intelligence, he even dared to have you face a god directly. Isn’t he afraid his little sister would never come back alive?!

And besides, didn’t he tell you to act cautiously? The moment you arrived, you went and kicked down their main gate, didn’t you?!

But in everything, someone had to go first.

It was precisely because of the lack of intelligence that Ailellek had to act.

When speaking of Aimeris’s ability, Ailellek’s expression finally grew tinged with solemnity.

This was an expression rarely seen within her battle-loving bloodline, which itself already explained the difficulty of her opponent.

“Her ability clashes with mine, Sheffy. I heard from your father that you also had a brief encounter with her? Then you should know, right? In her usual state of existence, she’s in a phase-shifted form—without a body, untouchable.”

“Yes.” Sheffy accepted the badly peeled, crooked orange Timani handed her and tossed the whole thing into her mouth. “Mmph… so sour!”

“Exactly! I also think it’s way too sour! That ability is just too much of a cheat! When I want to hit her, I can’t touch her, but when she wants to hit me, she can suddenly reveal her body and launch a sneak attack before I can even react. Isn’t that pure cheating?!”