Chapter 126 Breakfast With The Valkyries

""W-w-w-what was that smug face meant!?!?!?!?"" (Emilia & Surena)

The voice of the two girls resounded loudly from inside the wagon, startling Lyan that is cooking a soup with a pot on top of a campfire.

"That surprised me. They sure are lively. I guess that means they've recovered well, huh," Lyan uttered as he put the chopped vegetables and gave some seasonings to the pot.

Lyan bought a large number of vegetables, spices, and seasonings that he could buy to make sure a decent amount of food could be made. One of the reasons for the large amount is...

(Hou... Your cooking skills are very high, aren't you, Lyan?) (Hestia)

"Not really, it's just that I travel alone for a long time back then, so I'm forced to make my own dishes most of the time," Lyan uttered as he remember the bland taste of the foods on the demon world's taverns.

(The food looks delicious!! I'm starving~) (Azelia)

"Wait a minute, Azelia. It'll finish soon," (Lyan)

When the food is finished, Lyan prepared eight bowls and distributed the soups and the meat from the magic beast they killed before evenly on the eight bowls and send them to the grimoire's spacious dining room.

(Whoa! Good food finally came!!) (Griselda)

(This is quite the taste... You're a fine cook, master!) (Arturia)

(D-delicious...) (Sylphia)

(Blessed hand of the hero. What a holy taste this is) (Cynthia)

"Yes, yes. Careful since it's still hot," Lyan proceed to take four other bowls and fill them with the soup and the meats as well.

"Um..." Surena appeared from the wagon hesitatingly with Emilia and Alice behind her.

"You came out at the perfect moment. Come here, the food is ready," Lyan points at the food on top of the table that he summoned from the grimoire's space.

""Y-Yes..."" Emilia and Surena replied while fidgeting, while on the other hand-

"Ooh~ It's another delicious-looking dish today. I'm digging in!" Alice unhesitatingly took her serving and sits before starting to eat and enjoy her food unreservedly.

But more importantly-

(S-She doesn't hesitate to sit right beside him...) (Emilia & Surena)

The two girls stared at their friend sitting so comfortably beside Lyan, occasionally resting her head on his shoulder when she was chewing.

"You two too, eat. Or do you want me to feed you like yesterday?" Lyan said with a mischievous grin.

The memories of them getting fed by him once again resurface, and then the scene when they got thoroughly washed by him also appeared inside their mind.

*Poof!*

The both of them got their face flushed because of embarrassment.

"P-Please spare me from that..." Surena replied shyly as she quickly took her share of food together with Emilia.

(Heh. Looks like they remember clearly about what happened yesterday) (Lyan)

"Don't think of anything unnecessary and eat. We're continuing our journey shortly," Lyan told them off before filling his mouth with a piece of meat and a spoon of soup.

Surena Emilia replied with a nod and started to eat, but not as vigorously as Alice. Trying to remove the awkward feeling inside her, Emilia tried to disregard what happened yesterday and started bringing on various kinds of topics in their meal talk.

She first talks about their mercenary days, about the pinches they experienced during their life as mercenaries, and then about their lives when they were at the military academy.

"Surena was an annoying lovebird back then. There was even a time that I got irritated whenever I saw her face since there is always that maiden-in-love smile plastered on her face," Alice said with great contempt.

"Hahaha! You're right! Looking at her made us feel frustrated, isn't it?" (Emilia)

"A-Alice! Emi! That was..." Surena squinted at Lyan, but stopped when she saw him also laughing.

"You're frustrated because she stole the march on you, no?" Lyan grins towards Emilia.

"Haha. You're right... Back then, they would say that I'm not their type because of my big and muscular body, and they say I look too rough for them and they prefer girls with a smaller build, cute, or the shy and polite type..." said Emilia depressingly.

"That was the story when we're students. You went quite wild in our early days as mercenaries, right?" (Alice)

"T-That was not something that you should be saying in front of other men, isn't it!?" (Emilia)

(This little girl... She's quite merciless, isn't she...?) (Lyan)

(But she's not doing it thoughtlessly. Those are completely planned aimed attacks in order to defeat her rivals) (Lilith)

(What are you saying...?) (Lyan)

The conversation continued, and the two finally get over what happened yesterday and started to converse normally with Lyan. But even so, Alice continue to slip one or two retorts that cornered them along the conversation.

(Alice you little devil... Continuing mentioning the past like it was nothing in front of him... But the most frustrating part is not that!) (Emilia)

(It's the fact that he doesn't seem to be bothered even the slightest when Alice mentioned about our past relationships...) (Surena)

(At least show a sign that you're bothered by it!! It's making me feel like a fool for getting worked alone!!) (Emilia)

As Emilia and Surena continue their inner struggling secretly, Lyan smiled as he wondered what the girls of the House of Roses are doing.

"Ah. You were thinking about other women just now, aren't you?" (Alice)

"Hm? Yeah. I was thinking about Belle and each other. I wonder what they're doing right now..." Lyan muttered with a smile as he stared at the sky.

The nostalgic feeling made him not realize the three girls grumping in front of him.

"Even though we're the ones that are currently in front of him..." (Emilia)

"Even though he saw our naked body..." (Surena)

"Guh! To answer it so calmly. S-So this is jealousy..." (Alice)

*****************************************

---In the City of Arkansas---

*Boom!!*

6 figures jumped in different directions as a wild attack came from a certain monster.

"So this is an adult variant Flaahgra... It's freaking huge!!" Alina uttered in surprise as she stared at the flaahgra with an abnormal size before her.

"It's not just big. There are about three or four flaahgra that merged into that giant one. That's why it got annoyingly more of those scythe-like tendrils, branches, and thick vines," (Ravia)

"The only thick thing I want is Lyan's!!" (Xena)

"Xena..." (Alina)

"Belle! How much longer will it takes for it to release its poison!?" (Josephine)

"It should be happening soon, Madam!!" (Belle)

The six girls, Belle, Alina, Xena, Ravia, Raine, and Josephine are fighting the huge flaahgra variant not without any reason. Yesterday, Lichia and Rea went to the House of Roses secretly to ask for the aid of the Deadly Bouquet and the Madam Fury to defeat the variant flaahgra.

Because of it becoming adult without being noticed, the variant flaahgra that has thicker and more leg-likes vines than the normal flaahgra could travel much easier from one place to another, resulting in more casualties from mercenaries, merchants, and tourists that came to the city.

Because of the high difficulty of the quest, the guildmaster instructed Rea and Lichia to ask for the Deadly Bouquet which has wonderful results in the goblin king's subjugation when they defend the city for help.

"Ah! It's emitting the poison!! Careful with your breathing!!" (Alina)

A large amount of poison started to get emitted by the flaahgra. The poison mist is so thick that the purple-colored mist got more visible than usual.

"Belle," (Ravia)

"Yeah. All evil in the air, hear the order of my command, [Control Poison]!" Belle gathered all of the emitted poison into a single floating ball above the flaahgra.

"Now!" (Belle)

"Okay~ Galia, lend me your mother your wind," Xena pulled the string of her bow, and Galia that had been resting on top of a tree's branch flaps her wings gently, making the arrow that Xena was about to shoot get covered by much more powerful wind mana combined by Galia's and hers.

"Take this!" (Xena)

*Whoosh!*

The speed of the arrow surprised not only the flaahgra and the others, but it surprised even Xena itself. Because of the high speed and power, the arrow pierced through the thick branches protecting the head and continue to make a hole in one of the flaahgra's heads.

*Shiiieeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!*

A shriek that is louder than any normal flaahgra appeared from it.

"Good job, Xena-chan!" Belle then made a gesture and moved the gathered poison to the big hole on its head, entering the poison into its body easily.

"It's done!" (Belle)

"Good," With her morningstar that now burns with her newly attained fire mana on her hand, Josephine boldly approached the flaahgra.

"It's time to finish this up, girls! It's almost time to open up our house!!" (Josephine)

"""Yes!!!"""

With Raine and Ravia's swift attacks, Madam's powerful strength, Alina's dark mana-covered slashes, Xena's consecutive powerful arrow shots, and the help of their magic beast children, the flaahgra variant got defeated very quickly.

"You did a good job, Magria," Josephine pats her magic beast child, the magma bear, Magria. She did a great job of burning the branches and the vines of the flaahgra. After the battle, she seems to get larger in size a little bit.

"I wonder what your father's doing right now... He must have already passed the border town, huh...?" Looking at the distance, Josephine thought about her man as her eyes softens.

"Well, he'll return in no time. Let's clean up and quickly return, girls. It's almost time to open up business!" (Josephine)

___________________________________________________________________________

Name: Lyan Arkanium Evocatore

Occupation: Mythril-ranked Mercenary

Money: 3,798,710,950 Elnes / 3798 gold 71 big silver 9 big coppers 5 coppers

Weapon: Magic Glaive, 1 (Decent) One-handed Sword, 2 (Good-Quality) One-handed swords, 1 (Decent) bow

Equipment: Black leather cloak, Leather Armor, Breastplate, 2 Health Potions, 2 Poison Vials

Grimoire's Companions: 8 High Spirits, 3 Valkyrie, Shadow Goblin Lord (Lv. 5), Papilio Slime (Lv. 45), Galewing Butterfly (Lv. 45), Rock Golem (Lv. 50), Deadlight (Lv. 63), Moonlight Butterfly (Lv. 45), Ice Golem (Lv. 50), Acid Ant Queen (Lv. 9), Magma Bear (Lv. 1)

Grimoire's Army: 6 Shadow Servants, 800 Skeleton Army