Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 865: A Gathering Of Disparates – Part 1

Rarely did Gallaria leave her station, but when she did, she tried to enjoy her outings. Unfortunately for her, being seated with Mercedes and Mono’s twin was far from relaxing. One would never shut up, and the other was too lost in her musings to keep the other company, forcing her to nod along and listen to the merchant’s naggings.

“They should sell that inn to me already!” Despite the hustle and bustle of the banquet with people, lights, and the pleasant smell of the sweet and savory, Mercedes was still stuck on her old issue of not yet owning the nameless inn by Lululalia. “The rebels don’t need it anymore. What are they even rebelling against now anyway? They run the town more than the duke does anyway!”

“That place has a duke?” Gallaria muttered, simply to keep the illusion of her attention going.

“Yeah, stupid bastard letting those guys walk all over him.” The merchant replied with no regard for her action and what she’d done.

“Hmm…” Gallaria’s eyes trailed off into the distance, though her head kept nodding and her lips tred Mercedes along. The merchant, however, simply would not shut up and kept complaining, so much so, that the dragoness slowly turned her attention back to her and finally complained. “I came here for some fresh air and mingling, will you shut up with your complaints?”

“What?!” Closing her eyes, Gallaria picked up her glass of wine and got up.

Leaving her seat, she walked away from Mercedes without saying another word. There were many more interesting and less annoying folks to mingle with in the banquet, some dragons like her as well, and one such group caught her attention. Helga’s daughters, both as cute as buttons, though growing in their own ways.

With a smile, she approached them, but a step before she was about to call out to them, Helga, who’d been standing beside them, turned with a curious expression. Narrowing her eyes, the valkyrie, dressed in her golden one-piece dress, much like at the last party, swirled the wine glass in her hand.

“Gallaria, right?” She asked, taking a quick sip from her glass.

Her dress shifted around her breasts, and her sideboobs grew a tad bit more visible. Her dress was lecherous, but with her daughters now being in the ending years of their teens, as well as a few other realizations, she didn’t want to coddle them.

“And you are Helga Andre Valkaria…” Flashing her a smile, Gallaria turned her gaze to the daughters once again. They peered right back at her, however, not knowing who she was, the two grew slightly tense around her. “Stella and Tatiyana, such a fine pair of apples you have. Half-dragons, half-valkarian, if there were ever a future in a child, these two would be the ideals.”

“I’m not sure what you’re trying to buy, but I ain’t selling anything dragoness…” Helga’s eyes narrowed, and she stretched her left arm for her daughters to get behind. Instead of doing as they were suggested, however, the girls hung on the word–

“Dragoness?” Blinking their eyes, they stared at the pure-blooded steel dragon. The woman smiled right back and leaned forward to meet their slightly lesser height.

“I heard your father was a dragon, too.” Pressing on their noses, she chuckled and added another flair of surprise. “But I am as pure as they get. A steel dragon through and through, and I bet there’s plenty for me to teach you.”

Lifting her head, Gallaria looked into Helga’s eyes.

“Of course you’d need your mum’s permission. Aside from that, I bet there’s at least a few tricks about being a dragon that even the mighty valkarian can’t teach you.”

“Stop with that name,” stepping forward, Helga stretched her arm over her daughters to force them back. “I serve no god and have no use for that name. All I am now is just another human.”

“And that is why you might need the help of a dragon to help them reach their full potential,” standing straight again, Gallaria neatly folded her hands and subtly bowed. “I mean no offense, but a wolf may raise a human child to good health, but the child’s potential remains greater amongst his own kind.”

“That does sound fun…” Tatiyana’s whisper rose one of Helga’s brows.

At first, she felt angry, but taking another sip from her glass and considering the offer, she couldn’t come up with any legitimate reason to decline the dragoness. Shifting between her twin daughters and Gallaria, she drew a deep breath and wondered to herself.

’This woman survived the extinction of her folks; maybe she can pull the lottery twice with my daughters in her care if this war does go sideways.’ Despite each of them having a lifegiving necklace made from Athenia’s divine nail, Helga was ever anxious about her daughters’ death, thus if she had to leave them in someone’s care besides their dog Cerberus, then…

“Alright, but I’ll arrange some teleportation rings for you girls. You still have to be home by dinner.” A smile quickly took over the twins, but Helga didn’t dwell on them for long. Setting her eyes on their soon-to-be tutor, she narrowed her already sharp gaze. “If anything happens–”

“I understand,” looking at the girls–smiling–Gallaria placed her hand on their heads and playfully ruffled their hair. The twin shrieked and recoiled and began setting their hair again, but that only led the dragoness to laugh some more. “I think I can take care of them. I’ve always wanted some daughters back when I still could. So don’t you worry, I will treat them as such, and if the need arises, I will fall before any harm comes to them.”

While their discussion came to a close, many others were busy making connections with each other as well. Some folks were obviously more prominent than the others, but that didn’t stop them from being approached and approaching others. So many new faces, so many people that everyone had heard about but hadn’t yet met. Thankfully, with Raven’s announcement being set for much later in the night, there was plenty of time to have some food, gossip, and toss wine.