Following the explosion, the priestess' tent was turned to cinder. What's left were the cheap decorations, now burning on the side and melting like rubber. Surprisingly enough, however, everyone except Helga was mostly unscratched, though their clothes had also caught light fires. Left coughing out smoke clouds, they all rushed out of the flames, except for the barbarian and her attacker.
"AGHHH! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it Damn it!" More worried about her burnt tent than her own burning clothes, Kara dropped to her knees with tears welling up in her eyes. "My stuff! I-it all gone!"
Putting themselves out, the others simply watched Kara howling out her misery. But then came a scream that turned their attention back to the towering flames.
"FUCK YOU BITC–AHH!" The scream, however, was cut short by a sudden thumping sound, and what the party saw next was Helga walking out of the flames with Aria's body in her hand. Carrying the dark elf like a purse, she wore a grim look.
"Take her back," throwing Aria's unconscious body towards Erika, the barbarian woman stared at the priestess for a bit, but then an unexpected smirk took over her lips. "Heal that fucking dumbass."
Visibly amused by Aria's idiotic attempt, which only ended up giving her light burns–Helga's mood had changed completely. Her frown had dimmed down, and the look of anger from just a few seconds ago was slowly melting away like a candle.
Taking advantage of the change, Erika quickly rushed to Aria before she changed her mind or something. But as she got to her knees to heal Aria, she realized something that left her wide-eyed.
"Her wound..."
"They've healed, haven't they?" With a cackle, Helga covered her mouth and laughed. "That rat caused enough damage to heal her body on its own! Ahahaha! Oh, fuck me! AHHAHAH!"
Folding her arms around her belly, Helga leaned over laughing. Unable to stop, she was forced onto her knees with one hand on the ground as she kept cackling like a pack of hyenas.
Unsure what to do, the other remained frozen in place with their eyes awkwardly glancing at each other. It wasn't until she was finally done laughing that even Kara who was extremely pissed decided to speak up.
"Enough with amusements! Who's gonna pay for my stuff? My tent! I spent so long earning just enough to get everything I wanted!" Screaming in Helga's face, she glared at her. But being turned around to face Aria and the rest of the party, Kara quickly shifted her query. "YOU!
Instead of the hero himself, Raven placed his hand on her shoulder before pulling her out of the situation.
'Let's just see what he has to say.' Conveying the message with his eyes to the priestess, Raven squeezed her shoulder to comfort her. Though still unsure about the whole thing, Erika decided to step back and let Amedith continue with what he was doing.
"So, what do you want now?" Helga asked, looking down at the hero.
Calming his heart with a sigh, he lifted his head and announced.
"I want you to train us to fight horrors!" A moment of silence followed his words, and it was only broken when Helga rolled her eyes before speaking up.
"I told you already, none of you are ready to face such monsters," about to turn away again, Amedith pulled her attention back with his response.
"You wanted me to marry your daughter, right? Have you told them that you've changed your mind?" Freezing up in place, Helga slowly turned her attention back to Amedith. She wanted to be angry that he would even bring this up now, but what he said next made her reconsider. "You want someone strong to marry them, then train one!"
'Wait, this is going too fast!' Shocked by her lover offering himself in marriage in return for training, Mel wanted to speak up, but the abrupt nature of the event wouldn't let her open her mouth.
While she struggled with her thoughts, Helga's mind raced over the possibility. Amongst the soldiers, there were none competent enough for her daughters, and when it came to it, the hero's party was far ahead in terms of dealing with monsters. Thus, unable to find a flaw, she blinked her eyes and brought herself back into the moment.
"Fine, if you can handle being trained by me I'll think about letting you marry one of my daughters..." Turning her head to Raven, she added. "The same goes for you too, so don't disappoint me, and more importantly don't fucking die halfway through and waste my efforts."
Sated with the promise to let Amedith and Raven marry one of her daughters each, Helga though still reluctantly, decided to train men who can be worthy of her daughters.
Note: If you've made it this far into the book, all I have to say is I love you! (And that, I'll be praying for you to get a partner to bang while reading the smut parts! Kekeke!)