C61-Meet the Fam

〔 Aizel Kadashi 〕Level: 47Age: 19TitlePlatinum-rank Hunter (SU)Health Power570/570Soul Energy0KinCrimson Were-Dragon〔 3 Bonded Souls 〕+〔 1 Bonded Servants 〕+

Ledvira's Southern Wilds – Dirt road.

「 Morning, his 45th day on Geas. 」

They did not deviate from the formation. Flying faster than before as a team. It took them no more than 15 minutes to find the 'city,' if that shithole could even be called that. They could have found it faster if it was an actual city. And not an extra-large Redvelia with cobbled roads. Thicker walls. More towers and a larger 'fancy' center.

At least that place had extensive farmlands outside the main walls. They were growing a lot of wheat and the other purple variety of a similar grain. Lisa had already told this to him. But he expected more.

It had two rivers going into it. Then joining as one as it continued south. It even had small canoes flowing out of the city. Following the river. But none were coming from upriver at that moment.

They landed on the outskirts of the city because there was little cover. The landscape was becoming flatter and devoid of forest. From what he could see, it was because of deforestation. Not because they were anywhere near the plains.

"All right. Good job. How do you feel?" He asked as he placed Neine on the ground as if she was a delicate sculpture; since she lacked wings, she might as well be.

"That we could have gone a little faster?" Valerie said

"Same." Vanessa agreed.

"Yeah. But only if it's for travels like this one. Not to battle. My mana fell, even with that new cold air making it easier. So Val and Nessa lost more." Lisa said as she slowed her breathing and released Misty from her skill's hold.

"~I liked it. Now I want to go to Redvelia and back for fun. He-he." Neine said with a cute laugh at the end.

"Once the three of you learn (Telekinesis) and more skills, we can push for more. (Infuse) will use less mana with more skills helping it… So. Lis, do we enter town or go straight to Pops?"

"We can always go to the city later. Even have an easier time after asking Dad if the good stuff is still where I remember. Since I haven't been here in a while."

"Sure. Lead the way."

Aizel created the Pogo-like construct for Misty to take the load from Lisa. She might not be tired. But Lisa did not have practice keeping her active skills… active. So he took over. Since he did not require that much concentration to pull that off. And the girl had behaved so far.

Misty took hold of the construct. Not needing much instruction to find out how to ride it.

"Thanks. My Lord." She did a little curtsy.

'I did not expect her to be so well-behaved and have good manners. It's natural for her. She must have been a proper noble for a while.'

Lisa got in front of him as she lifted off. Vanessa followed behind, and Valerie turned herself into a backpack. Using the excuse that Lisa had given them about losing mana, because they could see that she could fly for a good while longer.

The place Pops had chosen for his residence was on a hill that oversaw the city of Dranelida. Aizel could not blame the man. Angel's senses were acute. Not as much as his, but close enough for the obnoxiousness of the city to become overwhelming, more so for a permanent residence.

A dirty road extended from the city walls to the southeast. Climbed up the hill. And turned around towards the north after hugging the small hill, entering the main property from the south on the flat at its summit.

Pops' home was a mansion. Far larger than any building or residence Aizel had seen up to this point in Geas. It had an 'H' shape. With two gardens flanked by the wings of the building, windows on all sides, and flat blue tiles covering the roof.

The body had three floors with a nice beige color. The front garden was the main entrance to the southeast with nice trimmed grass. And the back one faced northwest. Giving it a wide view of the landscape and the city even through the gates surrounding the main area of the property.

'This thing would be expensive on Earth before the heat wars. In Geas… No wonder the guy tried to kill me on sight. Fucking backwater Hunter steals his favorite daughter… Hell. I would've killed me.'

As they closed in on the property, he could see how Lisa's nervous system was going wild. She started to accelerate, and before he could tell her to be mindful of the snail population, she was already doing their signature landing. Valerie wanted to do it, so she dropped off his back, with Vanessa joining her as the two followed Lisa's lead.

Thump! — Thump! Thump!

The three angels landed in front of the south entrance of the mansion. Right where wagons and carriages would leave their passengers.

A gardener was tending to his plants at the base of the mansion and fell backwards into the bushes. Even before the other two landed.

'I hope those were not the thorny kind.' Aizel grimaced, with Neine chuckling at their antics.

Aizel landed after them. Sneaking a kiss on Neine's lips before letting her go. She reciprocated the gesture. Staying a little longer. He did not dare to go further and try to taste her magnificent tongue yet. But she was being assertive after last night, so that was in their horizon.

Misty didn't say anything. Choosing to walk behind Lisa without being disruptive. How she had been picked as the leader wife was a mystery. But seeing how the other two were also following Lisa's lead, it was not that hard a conclusion to arrive at. She gawked and looked around. Her body language told Aizel that this level of luxury was not the norm. Even for high nobles, just a step below royalty.

"You scared that gardener to death, woman. And these two were only following your lead," Aizel said with a chuckle.

They all ignored him and were waiting to see how Lisa would proceed. The angels dematerialized their wings. He followed their lead and removed his manifestations.

The doors of the mansion opened inwards, and four guards got outside while pointing them with large lances.

'Those things look like they're worth like five muskets. Each.'

Aizel could feel how the world's aura moved on them, similar to a (Mana Bullet). He could kill the four before they could even shoot. But this was Pops' property. So he did not move and waited for Lisa to take care of it.

"All it takes is two winters for you lot to forget me?" Lisa crossed her arms. Throwing her hip to the side while looking amazing.

'Holy shit! Hard to believe I'm married to this beauty.'

"Lady Lisa!" "The young Lady is back!" "The Sun smiles on us!"

The guards pointed their lances to the sky and stopped charging them even before she had finished speaking.

'Are they also Lisa's cultists? Can't really blame them.'

"I'll tell the Mistress!" One of the guards said and bolted inside.

'And that answers the question of why she loves that handle.' He snorted.

The guards opened up for them to enter, and Lisa began walking inside like the queen she was. The crew followed after her. The guards did not even dare to look at her. Their eyes were stuck to the floor.

"Welcome to the home I grew up in, guys!" Lisa said and turned to them while showing off the place.

It was a nice 'home,' with white ceramic floors that had little marble-like patterns. Beige walls and roof. With crystal lights in every possible place that would need illuminating. Like the ones they used for camping.

"Gee, woman. And you settled for this vagabond." Aizel turned to look at the place and pointed at his face.

"Shut up, ~silly Dragon." She gave him a tight hug.

The girls looked around with dazed expressions. None of them had ever stepped into a noble's home before. Much less this level of luxury, which he assumed was not something even a normal noble could afford, only high nobility. And that was pushing it, given Misty's stunned expression as she looked around. Plus the prices of everything so far.

For Aizel. It was bittersweet. He had been to fancy places that would put even this mansion to shame back on Earth. He could not deny the amount of wealth needed to have a place like this on Geas, but ever since coming to this world. All he craved was nature.

"Oh. Look who decided to at last come visit her ever-aging mother." The voice of a woman resounded from the second floor.

She must be aware of the insane senses of immortal races. Because if she had not spoken. He would not have noticed her. It was a combination of the carpet that must be on the second floor, based on the one on the stairs to the side. Plus the use of dense materials on the mansion walls. And how she walked. He could only now hear someone approaching them. Even his lightning sense was not capable of sensing her through the thick floors and walls.

A blonde woman with fair skin who looked like Lisa's older sister came walking down the stairs. Followed by the guard who had run inside the mansion before, and a small army of women dressed similarly to Victorian maids.

'Damn.'

She was the embodiment of the word 'refined.' And the first person besides Lisa that he would even associate that word with in the first place.

'Where the fuck did Pops find this woman?'

"Mom!" Lisa started running as soon as the shock of seeing her mother again washed away.

They embraced each in the base of the stairs. They were the same height and breast size. Lisa's mom did not even look that much older than her daughter. The constant use of (Restore) would keep her looking young until the end of her natural lifespan.

"And I only went away for two winters! I was going to come back after the next winter anyway."

"I was only messing with you, dear."

"Is Dad home?"

"He will be, after he notices the emergency ring. Don't worry, he has one that is to let him know that I want him here. But it is not a deadly emergency."

Even the tone of her voice was similar to Lisa's. Aizel did not doubt that Pops had only given her the Seraph's traits and contributed close to nothing else to Lisa's beauty. Even if he was handsome.

"And this is your husband, I assume." Lisa's mom said, and looked at Aizel up and down. He was about to step forward and introduce himself, but Lisa cut him off, even before he even finished the thought.

"This is Misty Valentine. Our servant. This is Vanessa Kadashi, my wife. Valerie Kadashi, my wife. And this is Huntress Dame Neine; she's still in denial about marrying us, but will sooner or later come around." Lisa started to introduce the girls, and poor Neine was red. Something hard to accomplish given her skin tone.

"And this. Is Hunter Lord Aizel Kadashi, my first true love and husband," Lisa said with so much love and pride in her eyes that made Aizel feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

"Hello, Ma'am, it is a pleasure to meet you at last." Aizel took a step forward, extended his hand, and gave the woman a short bow.

Lisa's mom extended her hand in a refined manner that implied that he needed to kiss it. So he took the base of her hand in his own with a lot of care, and gave it a small kiss. Raising his head and only made eye contact with her after she had retrieved her hand.

"Oh my. Where did you even find this one, Lis? It's a pleasure to meet the man that stole my daughter's heart. And gave my husband a small heart attack… before kicking his ass. You can call me Ms. Diane."

"He walked one day through the doors of the Hunter's guild I was helping out, and well…" Lisa said.

"She stole my heart." He completed her sentence with a loving smile as he looked to his side at Lisa. 'Or is it, stole my hearts?'

"You are nothing like my husband described you, young man."

"Oh? And what did Pops say about little old me?"

"Ha-h. Little, he says. There will be time for that. I haven't introduced myself to the rest of your family, ~Hunter Lord Aizel Kadashi."

"Please, call me Aizel," He said while taking a step to the side for her to meet the rest of the crew.

Lisa walked to his side and took his arm into hers and was all smiles as Ms. Diane went around to meet the others.

"A real humble origin you have, Lis," Aizel said.

"Shut up, ~Stupid Dragon. You are one to talk, with such refined manners after all the crazy behavior you have shown up until now." Lisa said as she tightened her hold.

"Oh, that's right, you met an actual ~Were-Dragon, Lis," Ms. Diane teased her daughter, the same way Lisa teased him when they were at the Joint store for the first time.

'So that's where she got it from. I will find a way to make this woman immortal; I don't care what semi-god I have to kill.'

At that thought, Valerie turned to him and gave him a shy smile while squeezing her nose all cute like.

'So you've been ignoring me, little Shinigami,' Aizel thought, making Valerie turn away with her long ears wiggling. Reddening and suppressing a chuckle.

"Yes! We found each other. And—"

"Diane! What happened!" Pops entered the house screaming like the madman he was.

"Hey Pops, short time no see. Zup."

"Oh… Hello everyone. Sorry I… ha-ha." Pops said as he calmed down.

"You need an emergency ring that is to call him for food, Ms. Diane. He's going to be the first Angel to die from heart failure at this rate."

"It's fine, Aizel. I love it when he does that."

Pops got closer to them and gave Lisa a deep hug. Ms. Diane a kiss. Turned around and nodded at the girls, with his eyes staying a little longer over Neine and Misty, before turning back towards Aizel. Placing his hand on his shoulder and looked at him with a knowing smile.

"Huh. I should have asked you for Mithril, son." Pops said after he glanced at his tags.

"I don't even know how to get that one, Pops. This one had me annihilating a hoard of goblinoids while 'leading' an entire town."

"I've read letters. But come, let's go to the living room and summon the rest of the family. You arrived faster than I expected, but it's a welcome surprise." Pops said and slapped his shoulder as he waved to a room deeper in the mansion.

The crew followed Pops, Lisa glued herself to Aizel's arm. Ms. Diane and her army of maids followed close behind as pairs broke from the group in a trained formation. Going upstairs to summon the rest of the fam.

They walked to the west wing on the lowest level. The ceramic gave way, and fancy carpet lined the floor, so Aizel used (Purify) on his and the team's boots before they reached it.

"Oh my." Ms. Diane said while covering her mouth, but did not elaborate after a single glance and kept walking.

A living room worthy of a Renaissance palace welcomed them, with fancy couches with velvet upholstery and comfortable wool filling.

Ms. Diane took a seat at the front and Lisa at his side. The wives and Neine looked nervous and out of place, as if their butts were going to ignite the furniture on fire.

To no one's surprise, Misty showed off her refined manners. Standing behind their couch in the same pose as Pops' maids.

Aizel exhaled with an audible "Ah…" as his back and bottoms appreciated the first signs of civilization in Geas.

"Comfortable?" Pops asked as he took a seat on the couch at his side.

"You have no idea how much I've missed this…" Aizel said.

"Were you a noble back in your realm?" Ms. Diane asked. Aizel did not care that Pops had shared his 'secret.' These people were kin in his eyes. And he did not see any problems with that part of his life not being a secret among them. If anything, he found it reassuring.

Once Ms. Diane uttered the word 'realm.' Misty's lightning went wild. Her little maid act was close to breaking at that moment. Aizel paid her no mind. He wanted to congratulate her on her manners, but that was not the right moment. He chose to ignore her inner turmoil and reply to Ms. Diane.

"Nah. We killed a lot of them back in the day. But my people were capable of having this comfort on every civilized level of society at one point. I even had one that gave you massages, as if a (Mana Hand) army was embracing your body."

"True," The father-daughter angel duo replied. Making him snort while Valerie, Vanessa chuckled for a brief moment before tensing back up.

"I thought your realm did not have any mana, my love," Lisa said. Aizel could feel the rush of Lightning going across Ms. Diane's spine. She was happy for her daughter.

"Not to my knowledge." He shrugged. "It was only creativity and ingenuity in its purest form, like how our tents unfold with basic mechanisms. Imagine how a clock can count time with gears and motion… If… that is how they work here."

"It is. Oh, here they come. Aizel, Mistresses, this is my family… our family." Pops said as a large group of people entered the hall like a living room.

The girls stood up. Following his lead and started to introduce themselves. Lisa went around hugging everyone and dragging him along from time to time when she wanted to introduce him herself.

Pops' family was large. Even right now that there was less than a fourth of them present. The older ones were out making a name for themselves as hunters, or married and no longer lived with him. Only the outliers among them chose a path different from hunting.

There were two other wives that lived with him. The oldest one was in her eighties, and the one after her was in her sixties. Even then. They did not look older than thirty. There was wisdom in their eyes that he had only seen back on Earth, or in Pops from time to time until that point.

"Hi Lily, this is Aizel, my husband. This is Lily, Love. One of my younger sisters." Lisa went around, filled with happiness and lust. But managing to control herself. She had already told him that if it was up to her, he would be fucking every single one of her adult sisters. All night long.

Aizel did not share that desire, even if a lot of her human sisters, older or younger, were close to Lisa's beauty. He considered them family and even felt a little weirded out by the thought. Is not like there wasn't a tanned Blondie with a raspy tongue waiting her turn.

A tall man with gold hunter tags approached the couple while extending his hand. He was a couple of inches shorter than Aizel and taller than Pops. "Hunter Aizel. Dad told us much about you. In a short time, you did an impression of the old angel." Aizel shook his hand before Lisa dragged him away to meet more of her family. Making the tall hunter chuckle and smile at his sister's behavior.

Soon the maids started to bring refreshments and fruits as the family began to get to know each other. The rest of the girls started to relax little by little. The male side of Pops' family was decent and well-behaved, even treating his girls as if they were princesses, and giving them space.

The maids took Misty with them after Lisa whispered something to them. The room was so loud that Aizel could not hear what she said.

"What was that about?" He asked Lisa. She shrugged and smiled at him with mischief-filled eyes.

"Whatever you are planning. Don't coerce her into anything; she might be our—" She cut him off by placing a finger over his lips.

"I know, love. I'm not mistreating her, nor am I trying to make her do anything she does not want to do."

He took a deep breath to calm down. At least Pops' family extended the same respect towards their murder maid. And even if she escaped. She would not get far because of his (Monitor) keeping him informed of her location.

The small talk took a couple of hours, due to the number of people and servants present. Pops addressed Aizel, and the room started to quiet down. From the treatment he was receiving and the body language of everyone around him. It felt as if they saw him in the same light as Pops. Their patriarch. It made him uncomfortable at first, but Lisa was hugging his arm, and it made him remember that this was for her. So he stepped up to the role.

"Aizel, son. I have read letters about your raid. They are calling it Goblinpurge, and they said it's the stuff of legends. If I had not known you before the hawks came, I would think it was people talking with their bottoms."

"I don't like the name that much; if it was the main raid that we were planning, I would love it. But that one you read about was not the big one. We only planned it as a simple training exercise."

"So it wasn't the one we talked about. Figures. They wrote about the wilds around Redvelia. Not The Death Valley."

"The Guild postponed the one we talked about because of the number of Hunters that got word of it. They kept flooding the town and needed training. The second raid would have taken place shortly after that. But that was before…" Aizel was controlling his tongue to not use his more comfortable vocabulary in front of Ms. Diane.

"An airship arrived after Aizel discovered the dungeon that is on the border of The Death Valley and The Death Plains, Dad. It was carrying the son and daughter of the Duke," Lisa said.

"And the id— the young nobles chose the morning after the raid to land. So everyone and they grandmother's boarded a wagon and ran south, with the loot and silver," Vanessa added.

"Yeah, and Aizel did not want to give away his tactics. Or have the nobles pulling him into their things… Affairs," Valerie joined in.

Neine looked like she wanted to also jump in and say something. But could not find anything to add since that is when she joined them. So she looked nervous. Valerie came to the rescue. Leaning on her and calming her down.

"Smart. The Hunter's Guild also got a troubling report that they were trying to fly above the shield and heading for the dungeon." Pops said.

"There is a high chance they don't make it out, Pops. I don't know if my report about the state of the dungeon has reached you. But that… place had at least seventeen Oni that can resist the dungeon call when I left. They can also (Teleport) on top of the musketeers' range. If they use larger weapons, they will wake the giant snakes and… wake the rest of the horde."

Murmuring started to fill the hall as the others discussed the issue. Since a large part of the family were hunters and mages of Silver and Gold rank. With a couple of Platinum thrown in, impressing Aizel.

"He killed three of them, and it cost him three-fourths of his HP, Dad. You know how strong Aizel is. So. They are pretty fucked," Lisa said with a smile.

The entire hall went silent and stared at her.

"Oh my… He really got to you. ~Lis." Ms. Diane teased.

Pops was in deep thought for a moment. Then he shrugged and spoke his mind. "Hmm. That is indeed worrying news… For them. Suicidal, even. I can fight one or two Oni, and it's impressive that you defeated three of them, son. But that is not the worst of it."

"Yōkai," Aizel said with a huff.

"Yōkai," Pops confirmed with a nod. "The dungeon has not finished its call. At the speed the Airship travels, it would have arrived in the past days. That is enough time for a Goblinoid king to make himself known and join it.

– Monster Kings are to Adamant like myself what Aetherium is. Imagine the difference between a Bronze Hunter and a Mithril; the strength difference between the two last ranks is that high.

– I would need to lead an Adamant party with at least all of its members being high Mithril. To even try to engage one in the wild, and even then, it would be extremely dangerous, if not deadly."

"Why would they push it? Aizel's report was among the best scouting work I've seen, Dad."

"Pride. One of Duke's wives is with child; the Arch healers say that it's a girl. And well… The Duke exiled his current daughter to Redvelia after she had a lot of affairs; she is still a maiden. But that only because she can afford to have it restored. No one cares or even judges her for it; it would not be a problem if it wasn't because of her father's pocket growing short due to her actions."

"I got half a royal for using (Restore) on a sub-human a while back. With how deep the pockets of a Duke are. … I will not make any more comments on the matter out of respect for the ladies in the room, Pops."

"You are among family, Aizel. Don't worry about that. I can see how hard it is for you to restrain yourself. Your lightning is going to fry your tongue at this rate."

"…"

"What angers me is the Duke. That asshole knew what would happen; he knew that her arrival would fuck Redvelia. And used the lives and livelihoods of people to teach his little whore a lesson. And the idiot of her brother is going to have them both killed, or worse for her. Who knows, they could be in to that. And that is why the little bitch is going in.

– What's worse is that Pastorvil is even more fucked; because of both Redvelia and the monsters' migrations. Good for me, since we will make a fortune feeding them, but still, fuck them."

Pops smiled. "And there he is. Welcome home. Son."

"A Lord indeed. A fine man, no ~Dragon, you found, Lis-a." Ms. Diane said. Making Lisa cutely laugh and hug his arm even tighter.

Aizel was happy they were so far south. Or the temptation of going there and beating the shit out of the leech-lings for fucking everything up would drive him mad.

Besides, had he know how happy their little visit would make Lisa, he would had come much sooner. She was squeezing his arm with so much love that he wanted to find a bedroom and just cuddle with her while showering her in kisses.

It was a nice change of pace to see the psychotic weirdo he had fallen in love with act all cute like. And her smile was contagious, every time a member of her family—and even some of the staff—looked at her, they could not help but be happy for her.

Pops' smile grew, but it was not the same loving smile he had a moment ago. So, Aizel already knew what was going through the crazy Angel's mind before he even opened his mouth. It did not take a Shinigami to read the man.

"So, are you up for a spar, son?" Pops said.

'Called it,' Aizel thought as he chuckled.

Ms. Diane sighed and motioned to the non-hunters in the room. Lisa gave Aizel a kiss on his cheek and took the others with her.

"Sure, pops," Aizel said.

"Hunters, come with us, and maybe you will learn something today."

Pops led the way, and all the Hunters and Huntresses that were in the house followed them, except for his girls that did not really care about a simple spar. Neine looked like she wanted to watch. But all it took was Lisa whispering something in a way that Aizel did not hear for her to simile and turn before following after Ms. Diane.

'They didn't ask for the rings, so I suppose it's time for girl talk with some sweets. Valerie! Save me some!' The Shinigami made a dramatic turn and ignored his plea.