Novel Full Chapter 1942: Planning What To Do
Chapter 1942: Planning What To Do
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“Wow, you’ve truly changed, Aquarina,” my mother commented. “You’re not as reckless anymore, huh? Indeed, preparing before entering a dungeon is essential. You never know what might be waiting inside.”
“We’re very strong though, so there’s nothing much to fear,” I said.
Well, aside from the Evil God of Dungeons trying to pull something on us. Is he working with another third party again, like before? It’s clear he has deals with the True Demons. But he definitely cannot appear in person; he only sends enemies. If he tries to manifest, it’s merely some kind of Divine Avatar at best.
Honestly, part of me wants him to try. I want him to ambush me and attack, so I can beat him again and perhaps gain something valuable from the fight, like I did last time. Back then I was unprepared, and things spiraled out of control.
But this time it would be different.
…
Still, it’s better not to wish for such things, so I kept my mouth shut.
“Strength won’t save you from every situation,” my father pointed out. “Always remember that, Sylphy. Anyway, your friends are outside, and Aquarina, your parents and little sister went to the city for groceries.”
“Ah, I know,” Aquarina nodded. “They asked if I wanted to join, but I decided to stay for Sylphy… Now that I think about it, maybe I should have gone with them.”
“How long have they been gone?” I asked.
“Ah, just a minute before you came to eat,” my mother said.
“Let’s join them, Aquarina,” I suggested. “Why not?”
“Oh, I guess so!” she nodded. “Yeah.”
“Mom, Dad, don’t you want to come?” I asked.
“Oh no, we’re fine here,” my father replied.
“We have a lot of catching up to do,” my mother smiled, taking his hand. “So go ahead, dear. Have fun.”
“Okay~!” I nodded. “Let’s go!”
We ran outside and met the rest of our friends. They were practicing magic and alchemy in the snow—or mostly just passing time. They all looked a little bored.
“Hey girls, want to come to the city?” I asked.
“Oh, the city?!” Lara exclaimed. “We haven’t visited yet!”
“Yeah!” Mist nodded. “Right, we could go there.”
“Sure,” Celeste shrugged. “What about Celica?”
“Ah, she’s really busy with my brother,” I said. “Soooo… I don’t know if she’d want to come. I just left her there. Both were completely lost in their own little world.”
“Heh, is that so? Well, I’m happy for Celica,” Celeste smiled, her long blue hair swaying in the wind. “It was about time your brother returned to claim her heart. You don’t know, but she always told me she missed Zephyrus.”
“Oh really?!” I gasped. “I guess she always liked him, huh?”
“Yeah, but because he was so young she didn’t know what to think…” Celeste said. “Welp, all those worries vanished the moment he showed up six years older. He’s now only a year younger than her, haha.”
“It’s nice,” I nodded. “So anyway, let’s go to the capital. I think I should get you girls registered at the Adventurer Guild while we’re there… Wait, where’s Ruby?”
“Ruby’s in her forge,” Celeste answered. “She’s been obsessively working on her Cauldron prototypes. She said she wanted something powerful to bond with—something that could let her talent blossom even further.”
“I see…” I nodded. “I wonder if I should ask her to join us… Worth a try. I think it would benefit her to go out with us. Sometimes she reminds me of Master Felicia—always locked in her room working on something. We’ve spent over a year with her and grown closer… but it still feels like she holds back from fully opening up to us.”
“Yeah… I agree,” Celeste nodded, crossing her arms. “Let me go with you. Aquarina, Mist, and Lara, stay here and wait for us, please.”
“Sure…” Aquarina nodded, staying with the girls. “So! Should we catch up a little more? Ah, wanna see my familiars? I’ve got a lot!”
“Oh! I would love to!” Lara said happily.
“Me too, let me see them!” Mist added.
Celeste and I walked back into the house and headed upstairs. My parents had already left the dining room and were… somewhere. As we climbed the stairs, my sharp ears caught sounds I would rather not have heard.
“Ahhh! I missed this, dear…! Please go harder…!”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course… Come, give me all the love you saved all these years… I want a third baby.”
“R-Really?!”
“Yes… so let’s do it a lot, alright?”
“Of course! Leave it to me!”
“Aaahhhh~! Allan!”
Wow, my mother is… certainly eager.
A third child, huh? I never thought she would be so enthusiastic about having more children.
Then again, there’s something special about my father if he’s managed to father two children with an elf—whose kind is known for very low conception rates, especially with humans.
Whatever the case, let’s not dwell on it right now!
…
Knock, knock.
Celeste knocked on Ruby’s door and pressed her ear against it, trying to listen inside.
CLANK!
CLANK!
CLANK!
The steady sound of a hammer striking metal was all we could hear. Ruby was once again completely immersed in her craft. We felt bad for interrupting her.
“Maybe we should leave? I don’t want to disturb her,” I said.
“No, no, she has to come out,” Celeste insisted. “Rubyyy! Wanna come hang out? We’re going to the city! Wanna come?”
There was no real response. Ruby was too absorbed in her work to notice us—or perhaps she simply wasn’t listening.
Or maybe she didn’t want to?
“Ruby!” Celeste kept calling. “Come on… Sylphy, help me out.”
“Fine…” I sighed. “RUBYYYY!”
I called even louder until my voice cut through the clanks. Ruby finally stopped working.
“Oof… Yes? What… What’s wrong?”
She slowly walked to the door and opened it. She was sweating profusely, wearing only a shirt that covered her chest. Her abs looked impressively defined.
“I’m sorry, I was so busy I didn’t hear you…” she apologized. She looked stunning with her long blonde hair, her makeup, and even her long painted nails—she always managed to look stylish, even while forging.
“Ah, that’s fine. Wanna come to the city with us, girl?” Celeste asked. “We’re going with Aquarina’s parents to shop and stuff. We were planning to introduce the girls to the Adventurer Guild.”
“Oh, well…” Ruby looked a little shy. “I… well…”
“You don’t want to?” I asked. “Are you too busy? But don’t we need materials to make the cauldrons?”
“I think with what I have, the cauldron should be SS Rank,” Ruby said. “So that’s why I kind of want to finish my exam…”
“But why so fast? We have three whole months for that,” Celeste shrugged. “Come on, are you really going to choose making something you have plenty of time for over hanging out with your friends?”
“I… of course not, no… I’m sorry,” Ruby said with a bitter smile. “I don’t know why I thought that was a good idea… sorry.”
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