Chapter 121 What Happened

Shaman expected Clara to come to talk to her, so she was not surprised.

"Sure thing, but I'm so fucking hungry right now so do you mind me eating while I listen?" Shaman could feel herself starving and was desperate for food.

"Pffhahaha, it's okay, I don't mind at all." Clara found the rather small Shaman very cute, trying her best not to pat Shaman who was still adorably hugging her.

Shaman quickly released Clara from the hug and looked around for Elysia, who would usually prepare something for her. Seeing that Elysia was asleep next to her and that she didn't prepare any food, Shaman reached into her inventory and pulled out her favourite instant noodles. Shaman activated the magic circle on the bottom, cooking the noodles almost instantly. Wanting to try something new, she also added the small eggshell pieces to her noodles.

Clara looked at Shaman a bit weird for adding shells into her noodles but nonetheless, she ignored it.

"Alright, I'm ready." Shaman was ready to listen and sat patiently in front of Clara.

"I shall begin." Clara took a deep breath before starting her story. She still planned to withhold some details from Shaman till she knew she could 100% trust her but she did not plan to lie to her about anything.

"As you can see, I'm a demon which is no surprise but you're probably wondering why I am here in a place like this when I should be in the demon lands. Well, the story I told you back then about where I came from is mostly true but in an entirely different context. Me and my parents were on a small trip away from the demon capital. Although we were in a dangerous part of the demon lands, my parents were strong enough to protect me if anything happened."

"While on this trip a powerful demon beast appeared. This was not an uncommon occurrence, and normally my parents would have handled it without much difficulty, however, they ran into an unexpected development. While fighting the beast a stranger approached and came to their aid. It was Himeko, who for some reason made her way to the demon lands, even though that should not have been possible at the time."

"My parents were weak when compared to Himeko, and were shocked when she managed to kill the demon beast with a single blow. Having always been curious about the outside world, they saw it as an opportunity and tried to approach her. Mind you my memory of these events is quite vague. I was only in my early teenage years, and what followed all seemed to happen so quickly…" At this point, Clara started getting a bit emotional and Shaman who had been happily eating her noodles while listening had stopped to hear the next part.

"My parents went out to meet with Himeko, just to talk. I was left behind and could only watch from a distance. It looked like negotiations went well, they shook hands and at one point my father even went down on his knees to beg for something. I couldn't hear any of what was said, but it was clear they wanted something from Himeko." Clara's voice started to tremble a little.

"My parents came back waving goodbye to Himeko and lead me back inside the little cabin we were staying at to have a meal. While we were eating, Himeko was not talked about at all which was rather awkward, but after finishing my meal I felt myself getting dizzy and I could feel the air getting hot. My parents stared at me with a smile, until suddenly the house was engulfed by flames. The same flames Himeko used just a few minutes prior. T-the l-last I saw of m-my p-parents w-was of them b-burning….. A-a-alive. S-somehow I'd been transported outside the house, appearing in H-himeko's arms. I searched for the cabin, only to f-find it being ravaged by a pheonix. L-last thing I r-remember was seeing the s-silhouettes of my d-dying p-parents…. Before I was knocked out." Clara began to cry as the scene of her parents played on repeat in her mind.

Shaman had put down her noodles and Shell combo and hugged Clara, although a little awkward as she was now shorter but still brought her some relief.

"I have no idea what my parents talked about but I just know Himeko killed my parents and I don't know if I should just hate her or try to find out why." Clara seemed to finally break into a full-on cry and hugged Shaman back tightly.

'Clara still seemed to withhold some information, especially about her parents. It seems like she isn't ready to explain everything just yet.' Shaman picked up on how vaguely she described her parents and it seemed like Clara was not from just any random demon family.

*

Shaman let Clara cry it out and sadly the rest of her noodles got soggy becoming unpleasant to eat.

In the end, Clara broke away from the hug, wiping her eyes and nose.

'I can't believe I cried, I guess saying it out loud has a different effect than just remembering it.' Clara had not planned to cry but her emotions got the best of her.

"Sorry for that ugly display, there is also something else I wanted to talk about." Clara felt a little embarrassed and could not help but apologize.

"It's okay Clara, my ears will always be available so you can keep going." Shaman gave a genuine smile which caused Clara to feel reassured and warmed her heart.

"Thank you, but it looks like someone is finally waking up." Clara's face went a little cold seeing Elysia moving around and beginning to wake up.

"Wash your face." Shaman then sprayed some water with her finger on Clara's face.

Clara flinched back from the unexpected splash of water and pouted a little as it was uncalled for.

Shaman noticed Clara's cold glare and decided to break the tension by spraying some on Elysia as well, giving them both equal watery treatment.

'Seems like Clara has a distrust for Elysia, she also seemed like she wanted to talk about something else and I can only imagine it's about Elysia's attitude. Urrggg what a headache.' Shaman realised that Clara wanted to ask something about Elysia as the conversation had completely died when she woke up.

"Gosh, my head hurts, what the hell happened." Elysia sat up holding her head.

Clara felt relieved as Elysia did not wake up in a rage and had seemingly forgotten what happened when she went into a crazed state.

"Morning sweetie~ or evening, do we even know the time in this place?" Shaman looked around for any indicators but there was nothing.

"Pffhaha, good morning, evening or afternoon, whatever time it is." Elysia giggled and responded covering all phases of the day.

"Well it doesn't really matter anyway, all I know is that you should go evolve." Shaman figured that making Elysia evolve it would allow her and Clara to talk more.

"Oh yeah you're right, I guess I will do that since we have nothing better to do." Elysia blindly followed Shaman's suggestion and pressed yes to evolve.

"Goodnight." Elysia's voice trailed off as she laid back down and the egg started to form around her.

"Well, that was quick." Shaman didn't expect Elysia to instantly start evolving but now all she could think of is how hungry Elysia will be when she wakes up.

"What did Elysia press? She just pointed at the air and suddenly became like that." Clara was confused by Elysia's gesture.

'Ah shit.' Shaman expected Clara to find out sooner or later but she was still unsure how she would tell Clara.

'Maybe I can play it off.' Shaman figured she could act a little dumb or make up a reason for why Elysia would make a gesture.

"You can't fool me, you know exactly why she does it." Before Shaman could answer, Clara already guessed that Shaman knew and was thinking of a way to cover it up.

"Aha, well it would take a very long time to explain and it isn't something that I would say is normal in this world." Shaman was unsure how she would explain it as Clara would not understand any of the gaming terms she would use to explain it.

'What a situation I found myself in, at least with Elysia I was able to show her.' Shaman then realised something.

'Why don't I give Clara a system, am I still able to do that Rea?' Shaman had never seen the grant system in her status or inventory so she assumed it was a 1-time use.

[You still have it and lucky for you Clara is currently eligible for a system]

'So that means she is willing to follow me.' Seeing that Rea was giving the okay, it seemed Clara trusted Shaman enough to join the group.

"So Clara, instead of trying to use words to explain what is going on, I am going to show you." Shaman then told Rea to send a system prompt of the grant system to Clara so she could read over what it would entail if she accepted.

'The terms and conditions are a bit harsh, almost like a slave, I wonder if I could change it if Clara doesn't agree.' Shaman thought back to how it was a contract that enslaves the person

'This sounds like a slave contract and why do I like the sound of it.' Clara's imagination ran a little wild causing her to blush.

Shaman saw this and she could not believe her eyes.