novelraw Chapter 231
Chapter 231
Chapter 231
"Fine, hug me if you want—but what’s with lifting both legs to wrap around my waist? Are we grappling now? Is this a fight?!"
Sitting side by side in the corner of the tent were the two bystanders—one human, one dragon.
The two of them had made several attempts to get up, clearly tempted to intervene, but each time ended with a glance at one another, a bitter smile, and a quiet return to their seats.
"Miss Timani, do you also want to join the... fight?"
"No... Do you really think that’s a fight?"
"Of course not. I meant, it’s great that everyone likes Miss Shaya so much."
"Harmony is a good thing, but I’ve been meaning to say... Whether it’s familial or friendly, don’t you think they sometimes go a bit too far?"
"Hmm? Too far? What do you mean, Miss Timani? I don’t understand. Can you be more specific?"
"Aren’t you supposed to be smart? How come you suddenly don’t get it now? If I explain too clearly, it’s a bit... uh... well, kind of that."
Timani hugged her knees with her arms.
Her scarlet vertical pupils reflected the three people goofing around in the center of the tent. A faint blush, matching her hair color, slowly surfaced on her cheeks beneath the red locks.
"You know... don’t you feel like sometimes, instead of acting like friends or family, they seem more like lovers in a passionate romance...? Like that kind of flowery, dramatic stuff... getting jealous and possessive? Is that normal?"
"Eh? Miss Timani, you sure know a lot! Ugh... I don’t really understand love. The only things I’ve read are those love anthologies by bards from Aurus, but those books are way too hard to understand. Like, ‘Your face made my heart flutter’—why would looking at a face make your heart flutter? Hearts already beat on their own, right? If it doesn’t beat, you die."
"I don’t get it either...! I only know this stuff because I lived among the Fire Dragon Clan! Their courtship rituals are just like that! Come spring, they’d gather around the lakes, hugging and clinging to each other, even kissing... ahhh, they didn’t even care about the place or time for things like kissing—so shameless!"
"K-Kissing? The final process?"
"Isn’t it? What’s that look on your face?"
"No, no, I just meant to say... never mind, Miss Timani, you’re absolutely right."
"Right? I think I’m actually quite well-read."
Livra gave her an awkward smile and chose silence, offering no further comment.
Well... the bards’ verses may be obscure and hard to decipher, but at least when it came to general knowledge like what exactly the 'final process' was, Livra had managed to read up on that.
In this regard, even though Princess Livra didn’t really understand anything about romance either, at the very least she was aware of what most people were supposed to know.
Miss Timani was huge in stature, and yet her understanding of this subject was still as pure as unblemished jade.
So, Livra didn’t have the heart to say more.
Let’s just leave it at that.
Still...
"Maybe, Miss Shaya really does have... rather complicated relationships with everyone..."
"What did you say?"
"It’s nothing, Miss Timani. I have an anthology of bard poems—would you like to read it?"
"No thanks. I can’t read the writing of your Kingdom of Aurus."
"Alright, I’ll find you a translated copy from the Northern Territories later."
"Hey, Princess Livra, didn’t expect you to actually be pretty nice, huh?"
"Hehe... I’ve always been this kind! It’s just that everyone usually judges me unfairly and scolds me all the time!"
"Got it. I’ll scold you a little less from now on."
"Thanks a bunch!"
On Sheffy’s side, she had only just recovered from the “tag-team battle” put up by Belith and Xiarette.
Her silver hair a mess, Sheffy shook herself awake, glanced left and right, and asked in confusion:
"Where’s that pervert? I didn’t see her when I came back. Don’t tell me she died in action during the mission?"
"Unlikely," Xiarette replied, reluctantly letting go of Sheffy’s arm before returning to the wall and glancing at the holy sword leaning there. "Sister Sylatrella shared some of her magic power with Princess Livra when she broke the barrier. She’s entered a temporary slumber."
"Ugh, she used her magic? That golden shell was sturdier than I thought, huh? How long is she going to sleep?"
"About a day, maybe? Before falling asleep, Sister Sylatrella said she was supposed to sleep for a whole week, but thanks to Her Highness Livra's quick thinking—using Word Spirit Magic to control the giant fish—it saved a lot of effort."
"Hehe, see? Having Livra tag along did come in handy!"
"Right. Sometimes brains really are more useful than brute strength... I really learned that this time."
"Ho? Then use your brain more often from now on—good luck."
"Isn’t that a bit much to ask..."
"At least you're self-aware."
"Sheffy...?"
"I... I won’t talk anymore. I was wrong."
Sheffy wisely shut her big mouth, slipped away, and quietly looked back at Livra, who was sitting in the corner chatting and laughing with Timani, showing no sign of bragging even after returning from her achievement.
In her heart, Sheffy silently offered a word of thanks.
She didn’t really think of Sylatrella as her daughter...! It’s just that sometimes, when that girl didn’t pop out and raise a little ruckus for too long, it felt a bit... unsettling.
Thankfully, she wouldn’t be asleep for too long.
Oh right, speaking of taking credit, when Xiarette and the others attacked the 【Firmament】, the biggest contributor...
Was probably that fish!
After hearing the full details of their plan, Sheffy couldn’t help but sigh—at the critical moment, the giant fish had put in the most work!
So then, where was that most valuable contributor now?
Smelling the scent of grilled fish, Sheffy looked toward the temporary grill set up on a stone platform in the center of the tent.
Mm-hmm, there it was—our MVP. The fish would be cooked and plated soon!
Shiny and crisp.
Just as she wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth in anticipation, she heard Belith’s voice whispering right behind her ear, far too close.
Ugh, sister... it’s fine to speak, but could you not first try to prove to me that you do, in fact, have some curvature up front?
I already know, alright? After all, I saw you just the other day—without clothes in the way.
You’ve grown a lot since you were a kid. And don’t feel sad—your royal sister here is the truly pitiful one.
"Royal Sister~ Didn’t you go to arrest Murof just now? What took you so long? Did you go off chasing some two-timing cat... ahem, I mean, did you go take care of something else?"
"Ugh, don’t you trust me at all? It’s nothing serious—I just had a fight with Lady Aimeris."
"Ohhh~ that’s fine then, as long as it wasn’t chasing two-ti—wait, what?!"
"What?"
"Royal Sister, you said... you just went and fought that Human God?! Are you okay?! Are you hurt anywhere?!"
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61. Intelligence
"It’s fine, really! My body’s still sturdy—hey! Is this how you check someone for injuries?! Let go already!"
"Uuu... if I don’t check Royal Sister’s body, how will I know if you’re hurt? What if you’re pretending to be okay? No, this won’t do. Royal Sister, let’s find a quiet spot, and I’ll give you a thorough licking—I mean, a thorough examination from head to toe!"
"Did you just say the word lick?!"
"Not at all. Royal Sister knows I’ve always been well-mannered."
"Well... that’s true... so let go already!"
Seriously now.
Sheffy had just been honest about meeting with Aimeris, and Belith, upon hearing that, suddenly lunged forward and grabbed at Sheffy’s clothes for a “detailed investigation.”
Maybe at first, Belith was genuinely concerned about checking Sheffy’s condition, but the moment she realized Sheffy still had the appetite to eat grilled fish—and therefore couldn’t be hurt—yet still kept trying to peel her clothes away... the intent became questionable.
In the end, it was the circumstances and atmosphere that saved Sheffy. A crucial point.
At least it wasn’t just the two of them here—Timani, Livra, and Xiarette were all present too.
Under this kind of pressure, even Belith had to restrain herself. She certainly didn’t want to let these sneaky little cats sneak a peek at Sheffy’s pristine, flawless body.
Now freed, Sheffy frantically straightened out her slightly disheveled clothes, tugged by Belith, and let out a sigh of relief—while silently swallowing her frustration.
Damn it. According to Demon Clan law, this sort of presumptuous behavior actually had clear penalties! Behave yourself! You can’t just do whatever you want!
But even if Sheffy were to storm into the Demon Clan’s highest Tribunal and angrily accuse Belith of constantly laying hands on her, even the judges would probably just laugh and shake their heads at such a “joke.”
Absolutely infuriating!
Mm... but just now, it really felt like there were three strange gazes around her?
When Sheffy finished adjusting her clothes and suddenly turned her head, Timani and Livra had already resumed chatting. Their conversation felt oddly disjointed, as if it had been interrupted for some reason and never properly reconnected, their bitter smiles making the atmosphere look rather awkward.
Xiarette really was the best—she even came over to help her straighten her clothes.
"Stop messing around... sigh, Sheffy, you’re just way too indulgent toward Sister Belith. Normally speaking, how could something like this be acceptable... although, nothing about this is normal to begin with... Anyway, putting that aside—you said you went to fight Aimeris?"
"Huh? It wasn’t me who went looking for Aimeris. Aimeris came looking for me."
"Does it really matter who went looking for whom? Don’t do such dangerous things, Sheffy. Even you shouldn’t face an unknown existence like that alone without solid intelligence... Even if you absolutely insist on going, bring me with you. Can you promise your sister that?"
"Oh... I guess that’s fine... I know it’s not ideal either, but Xiarette... there’s something I don’t know whether I should say or not."
"Hm?"
Well, that thing—you caring about me really did move me, and I understand the logic of not taking risks alone.
But...
Are you sure that ‘I went looking for Aimeris’ and ‘Aimeris came looking for me’ are the same in nature?!
If she suddenly popped out on her own, it wasn’t exactly my decision whether I wanted to see her or not!
After hesitating, Sheffy decided to swallow the complaint and keep it to herself, leaving a bit of breathing room for Xiarette’s intelligence.
As Sheffy recounted the encounter with Aimeris, Livra and Timani also stopped their discussion and pricked up their ears to listen.
"...That’s basically how it went. She admitted quite straightforwardly that she was the one behind it all, but we were prepared in advance, so she didn’t gain much from the situation. On the contrary, whether the higher races believe it or not, their impression of the Holy Theocracy of Coreia is definitely going to take a serious hit."
"Sheffy?" After hearing this, Timani looked utterly shocked. "You just said... you sealed the authority of the 【Human God】?"
"That’s true... but it was only one, though. I was hoping to bait out two of her authorities. Unfortunately, she was very cautious—she clearly wasn’t there to fight. It felt more like... she came to complain to me? I can’t really explain it. Anyway, it was all very strange."
"......"
Timani fell silent, not knowing how to respond to such a slightly regretful statement.
Gods—weren’t they supposed to be vague, illusory beings whose very existence was uncertain? And even if they did exist, shouldn’t they be incomparably powerful?
According to the mythic epics of the Fire Dragon Clan, Dragon God Sanolade governed 【Strength and Dominion】 capable of overturning the world itself. If the myths were real, then a Human God standing alongside a Dragon God should be an existence of the same level—something utterly beyond conventional limits.
Even if, as Sheffy said, the other party had not fully recovered her strength, stripping a god of divine authority in a single encounter was far beyond common sense.
What shattered common sense the most was Belith’s dismissive counter-question when Timani pressed further.
"What’s there to doubt? Isn’t this completely normal? You Fire Dragon Clan folks really are impossible to reason with."
"Huh? You thinking this is normal is what’s really abnormal!"
"As long as it’s Royal Sister, there’s no such thing as normal or abnormal."
"That’s true... Sheffy always does things that go beyond reason," Xiarette nodded repeatedly in agreement.
With the two of them echoing each other like that, Timani had absolutely no room left to argue.
"What the heck... sure, Sheffy is indeed amazing—at least stronger than me—but this is just too... Princess Livra, you should be able to understand how I feel, right?"
"Teacher Shaya is the strongest."
"You should be able to—"
"Teacher Shaya is the strongest, you know?"
"......"
Forget it.
This princess had long since gone off the deep end as well.