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Grandmother was enjoying the seafood feast. From fish sashimi to bread crumb-covered fried shrimp, to octopus balls, and grilled squid, alongside seafood rice, and many other preparations, it was a delicious, wonderful feast to please grandma the most.
"Oh my! So delicious and marvelous!" She said. "Jonathan, your cooking has only improved so far!"
Jonathan bowed his head.
"It is an honor to receive such a compliment, my queen."
As grandma was enjoying her feast, mother used this opportunity, with Aina's help, to finally begin a discussion about the funds.
"So, mother, I am glad you're enjoying everything." Said my mother. "I am so happy to have you here, I've missed you… quite a lot. Your happiness always brings a lot of brilliance to our lives."
"F-Faylen… My beautiful little angel! Mommy is happy to hear such words!" She said happily. "I remember back then when you closed yourself in that tower studying, I was so sad I couldn't see you in so many years! And when the Demon King came, I was so worried about you! I'm so happy everything is alright now and we can sit down and enjoy life's happiness."
"Well, not everything has been happiness here, mother." Aina said. "Do you remember what we talked before? Recently, monster activity has become rampart in the border. Also the Dungeons became dangerous."
"Oh really?" Grandma asked without paying much attention, eating a crunchy fried shrimp.
"Yeah Grandma, its really bad!" I said, suddenly interrupting her calmness. She set her eyes on me while panicking. "We went to that Dungeon, the one where we got all the yummy food you ate, and we ended fighting a servant of a Demon Lord named Arachne… Thankfully, we defeated it with all our efforts, but we learned that Arachne had arrived at this continent from the Demon Continent, I believe she might trying to hunt down the other heroes in the Wild Lands!"????????????????????????????????.????????????
"E-Eh?! Is that so?!" My grandmother finally seemed to pay attention, only because I was the one talking. "Maybe I should tell your grandfather about this…"
"That would help tremendously mother." My mom said. "However, we need more immediate help. We are the border country of the Kingdom, if we are suddenly attacked by too many forces at the same time, we might end up endangering the rest of the Kingdom if we fall."
"But you're the Heroes, you even defeated the Demon King, right?" Grandmother felt confused.
"Indeed, but we alone cannot simply protect the entire Kingdom in this countryside." My mother said.
"The frontier is too wide for everyone to be everywhere my queen." Said my father.
"So that's why, we would like to request an increase in the funds we receive to arm ourselves much better. Get better materials, armor, weapons, and more soldiers from nearby countries." Said my mother.
"O-Oh…" My grandmother seemed to have finally understood. "I will have to think about it a bit. But I think it should be within my power! If a Demon Lord is truly here then it might be really dangerous, especially for the children… Though if you children defeated a servant of a Demon Lord, wouldn't it be quite weak then?"
"W-We almost died, queen!" Said Aquarina.
"Y-Yeah!" Zack said.
"We almost died." Celica nodded.
"We were about to die, in fact, I had died and was barely revived." Celeste lied.
"I-I died too!" Mist said, lying.
"O-Oh my! Maybe it IS dangerous…" My grandmother's brain was trying to think as fast as she could but… she was still considering it deep down.
"W-Well, for now let's enjoy the lunch, we can talk more about this after going for dessert!" Aina said.
"Indeed!" My grandmother nodded. "Let us not worry ourselves so much and enjoy the present!"
Like that, we ate in between laughter and a bit of nervousness. Grandmother was not vile, she was just… ah, how to put it. Too stupid? Yeah that's the word.
After that, we gathered for yet another trip around the city. This time there was a big festival going on around town, my mother wanted to curry favor her with this beautiful event.I think you should take a look at
They were selling food on streets, delicious desserts mostly, to fancy grandmother's palette. And also there were all kinds of bright things. People were singing, music was being played, and even magic fireworks were happening across the skies.
Gosh, mother really put her everything on it. As grandmother was having fun, we decided to enjoy the festivity even if a little bit. I wandered around with Aquarina and my friends, and we tasted all sorts of sweets.
Grandmother wasn't going alone though, she had four strong guards following her around everywhere… all of them had stoic and expressionless faces, though one of them, a girl with pink hair, seemed expressive, and was always trying to stop the queen from doing something over the top.
I also noticed one black haired elf guard that looked at me with a really nasty frown. Maybe he disliked half-elves or something, racist prick. Well, not like I can do anything about him.
Seeing Aquarina stuff herself with crepe and getting her lips covered in cream needed my attention much more.
"Hmm! These crepes are so tasty!" She said.
"Yeah but you're getting cream all over you." I giggled, cleaning the cream from her lips and licking it.
"Here, have a bite!" She said, giving it to me. I quickly gave it a bite.
The delicious fruits were really sweet. I could at least sense strawberry, melon, and kiwi mixed in. The cream was fluffy and so relaxingly tasty, and the crunchy texture of the crepe combined everything together into a wonderful mix of flavors.
"It is really good." I said. "Been a while since I ate one of these…"
"Right? Now let's go eat one of those flans! And then some ice cream, and then some cupcakes!" Aquarina was dragging me everywhere to taste the sweets, and I was absolutely to her mercy.
Eventually, as the night drew closer, grandmother gathered in the middle of the street to give a small speech to everyone in the city.
"Everyone! Thank you so much for this warm welcome, I am so very happy to be received like this! I've enjoyed my day thoroughly, and I love Agartha and all of you very much!" She said with a motherly smile.
As grandma was giving her speech and we were watching, Aquarina held my hand and smiled back at me. She seemed hopeful that grandma would accept the funds increase and help our home.
Everyone was looking with high expectations, waiting for her to just say the words. We've done a lot for her, so that's the least we deserved…
"I've learned more of you people, about your hardships and also about your bravery to still continue living and striving forward in the border of our Kingdom." She said with a smile. "That's why, I have decided to-"
Crack… crack…
CRASH!
Space shattered behind grandma, as a Gate opened leading to a dark realm, where an enormous bug-like claw surged from within.
CRAAAAAAASSSHHH!!!
Everything turned black, as an explosion blew away the central area of the plaza.
The screams of people.
The blood.
And grandmother… unconscious over the ground.
"Gyahahaha! Elves! It is finally time for your retribution! We shall take your lands with our claws!!!"
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