[Volume 4.5: Interlude – Verdilith]
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Chapter 147 – Welcome Home!
In a humble room, two small figures were tightly snuggled together.
The sun was rising, and the air was clean.
Luna woke up with a quiet mumble, her eyes fluttering open to the dim golden glow that seeped through the curtains. Her sister slept beside her, curled up like a small cat. Luna slipped out from under the blankets with a practiced twist, careful not to disturb her sister.
Her bare feet touched the wooden floor, pressing into its cool and smooth surface. She dressed quickly, tying her short hair with a blue ribbon before carefully cracking open the bedroom door.
She slipped into the hall.
While walking—
A beautiful girl, tall and elegant, passed by. The deer maid, already awake, walked over with a small basket in her hand. She caught sight of Luna and bowed gracefully. "Good morning, Lady Luna."
Luna returned a small nod. "Mm."
She continued on her way…
Her morning routine was always the same.
She stopped by the laundry room, picked up a freshly washed robe, and threw it over her shoulder before heading deeper into the mansion.
Ascending a floor, Luna entered the library.
The library was quiet, except for three early birds who didn't seem to ever get enough sleep.
Dorthy was already sorting through the new books with the intensity of a scholar, while Bell had a feather pen tucked behind her ear while she copied books, and Noah, still adjusting to his, er… her new life, was half-buried in a pile of dictionaries, looking miserable after being woken up early just to study.
Luna paused.
Seeing her, Noah greeted her with a distorted smile, "Good morning..."
Two more heads shot up at the sudden noise.
"M-Morning, Lady Luna!" Bell greeted as well, followed by a nod from Dorthy.
Luna returned the nod and continued.
Next came the laboratory.
The moment she entered, chaos greeted her…
Jillian, one of the three new servants, was going insane. Dark circles marked the areas under her eyes like makeup as she leaned over a desk, pulling at her hair, muttering about 'inconsistencies,' 'wrong ratios,' and 'why is the circulation doing that,' while a dozen glass containers hissed, bubbled, and trembled violently for no reason. Judging from her appearance, she hadn't slept for days.
Luna was unsure about 'this one', but since Petra trusted her, she greeted her as well.
The room stank of herbs, smoke, and the series of questionable projects that Petra had thrown away to her new assistant, because she herself was too lazy. Luna walked through it calmly, stepping over tangled masses of magic wires and passing bubbling vats of unknown creatures without blinking.
A few experiments attempted to 'roll' towards her feet, so she nudged them back with a pre-prepared indifference.
At the far end of the room, she reached the staircase that spiraled up towards Petra's room.
Climbing those steps always felt like entering a different world.
She ascended…
When Luna opened the bedroom door, a wave of chilling air rushed past her, and she sighed immediately…
The room was enormous, and yet barely any of it was visible…
Mountains of books, piled taller than little Luna, filled the majority of the space. Some stacks reached the ceiling, while others buried the furniture. Some leaned dangerously to the side and were ready to fall over with one wrong move, while others had already collapsed and were strewn across the ground. It looked like a library had exploded here.
All the windows were blocked, leaving the curtains useless and out of a job.
But even if they weren't, all the curtains were still closed tightly, keeping the room dark!
Sunlight struggled to get in, releasing only the occasional ray of light with the shifting air that brushed the outermost layers of the mess.
Luna rubbed her forehead tiredly before stepping in…
She weaved through the mess, stepping around a stack of encyclopedias and squeezing past a leaning tower of rune manuals before finally reaching the middle of the room.
There, on a giant bed excluded from the chaos, lay the derpy little green-haired devil.
Flat on her stomach—
Drooling…
Her long emerald hair was spread out like a waterfall, contrasting against the white of the bed. She was hugging her blanket like a hostage, tightly curling herself up within the fortress of comfort she had formed around her childish body while sleeping, forming something like a shell.
Luna stared for a long time.
She sighed at her master's 'laziness', then stepped closer…
Petra had been training her willpower through a method that required her to constantly monitor her surroundings, even when asleep. Unfortunately, these lessons had recently ended. What was worse, Petra immediately went back to her lazy ways, choosing to sleep completely defenseless and throwing those protective methods out the window immediately.
Really, Luna couldn't believe how lazy her little master was sometimes…
Whoosh!
Her hand, like the claw of a snake tamer, shot out like lightning.
Petra's eyes snapped open, quick as a cat, only to realize that it was too late.
"Mm?"
Her groggy black eyes spun around, eventually finding their way to her petite ankle. Luna had already grabbed her foot, tightening her grip like a vicious vice.
In her mind, after her situation clicked into place—
Petra trembled violently, her whole body stiffening.
Woosh!
"Nyaaaaaaaaaa—!" Wooosh—Bang!
She was violently yanked out of bed and flung across the room, tossed into a pile of books by the malicious maid. Paper exploded around her like confetti, and a few alchemy notes drifted down from the ceiling like snowflakes.
Petra's little head spun.
Her small head poked out of the pile of books, dizzy, and collapsed back a moment later…
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As her body sank deeper into the books, she thought back to the beginning of this week—
* * *
Returning to the Northern Region—
After returning to the northern region, Petra and the girls began settling in the new servants. When they left, they were only nine, but when they returned, they had forty-five fully grown people!
Petra's family had grown very large!
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Passing through the barrier…
"Whaaaa–!"
Lira stood frozen in place, her little mouth agape. Her underdeveloped mind couldn't comprehend what she was seeing, so she stood there, unmoving, immersed in the majesty of the Emerald Ghost Tree and the massive territory that surrounded it.
Was this really her new home?
Amazing!
From behind, Rose snorted proudly.
She had been one of the first to 'arrive', so naturally, she took it upon herself to show her little sister around the mansion. She crossed her arms smugly, as if saying, "See? See! I told you so!"
It wasn't only her, all the new maids had shocked expressions…
The beast girls failed to hide their animalistic reactions, tails and ears, and all that stuff, no matter how hard they tried, while the human girls mumbled to each other in youthful excitement, glancing back and forth through the field.
The busty bunnies brightened, their ears shooting up in delight.
The Purple Elves were the most extreme, shocked beyond belief. Their pupils trembled as they tried to understand what was unfolding before them. One of them sniffled, overwhelmed completely by her nature as an Elf, clearly affected by their race's innate attachment to nature. It would seem that the existence of the Emerald Ghost Tree had a much larger impact than Petra had predicted. That was to say, they couldn't control their bodies at all!
The two dwarven sisters were on the verge of exploding, barely able to contain their excitement and stop themselves from running towards the spirit stone mine. They couldn't see it, but they could feel it! They were like that annoying relative that always knew where the snacks were.
Even the Avian Alchemist's red cheeks seemed to have become even redder. In her mind, she secretly thought that this place wasn't so bad.
Perhaps she, as a noble from 'that place', could live with it for a little while longer…
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The girls had been crammed into the tower of the Tower Spider for far too long. The narrow halls, the constant movement, and the lack of personal space… it was a safe place, but it wasn't home. At least, not a true home. But now, standing before the mansion under the Emerald Ghost Tree…
They were finally home!
They all felt that way.
It was a strange feeling that went beyond mere greed, no no, it was hard to put into words…
Some of the girls couldn't hold themselves back and began walking forward with a quickened pace. They followed the 'main path' that split through the territory and led directly towards the mansion.
Four straight paths stretched from the outer rim of the territory toward the central mansion, aligned with the four cardinal directions.
These were the 'four main pathways', each broad enough for three carriages to travel side by side.
Their feet sank slightly in the mud as they walked through the layered farmland, empty yet brimming with potential, patiently waiting for their return.
Petra followed from behind.
To her side, Levy couldn't help but comment with a strange expression. "No wonder I couldn't find you." Her voice was light and carefree, concealing a hidden bitterness. "This is, truly incredible…" She lifted her hand, sensing the spiritual energy as it wrapped around her finger like an ethereal thread.
Even for Levy, this place was a top treasure land.
'Those guys' from back home would definitely be jealous of its potential!
She could feel the 'secrets' hidden within this domain, things that Petra had yet to imagine, much less understand. And… it would probably be a while before she could even discover them…
Levy paused, stepping to the side.
She crouched down and picked up one of the little critters that lurked in the grass. A small snail slinked along her finger, its eye stalks blinking with a cute and innocent expression.
Levy grinned, put it down, and jogged back to catch up with Petra.
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The wind blew, welcoming them back…
Bell and Soryn relaxed, while Dorthy felt warm inside and looked around. Lira was led by the hand, taken around by Rose. Lilly and Luna followed behind Petra like her personal maids, and Nebula continued her duty as a shadow.
Meanwhile, Noah's brain was melting from the inside out.
He had taken a risk by agreeing to leave with Petra. Even after being taken in, he still wasn't sure that his decision was right, especially after his, er… 'transformation'.
Things were looking bad…
Although he had been captured long before the Heroes were announced, he still knew Arthur's identity from the new 'slaves' that would arrive from time to time.
That meant he knew that Arthur was a big shot with an endless future…
At the time, he felt as if he were insane, agreeing to go with Petra instead.
Even after returning with her, he often found himself confused at night, wondering why he said yes…
Thinking back—
It was her eyes, no, it was whatever was 'hidden within them'. It was something that transcended the vessel and reached towards him from the unseen world, a new path forward that only she could offer…
When he thought back to that time, he felt like an idiot.
Why would he ever think that?
Was he an idiot?
What nonsense!
But now—
Swoosh!
The Ash Fire Fairy shot forward, flying overhead and scattering into flickering trails of light that danced like a flock of crimson birds before streaking towards the crown of the Emerald Ghost Tree. Below, the Ant Army dissolved in an instant, slipping into the nooks and crannies of the earth until they vanished completely, sinking into the spirit stone mine. The Emerald Ghost Tree towered over them, its vast canopy waving in the wind with a hidden brilliance. The entire domain trembled softly beneath the weight of the spiritual energy that leaked from the ground, creating a dense atmosphere that could fuel even a high-level practitioner.
Noah lowered his head, concealing his red face.
To the side, Petra stood before the mansion with her hands on her hips, chin tilted up, and eyes shining.
- The terrace farms lay empty.
- The mansion's halls were dark and cold.
- For months, this place had been abandoned…
But now—
She smiled.
—They were back!
* * *
After the Second Calamity had ended, Petra and the girls had rushed back without resting. Time was short, and the world was already beginning to shift towards the next disaster.
The clock was ticking, and they had a lot to do…
Now that they were home… it was time to get started!
* * *
Petra stepped forward, pushing open the doors…