Chapter 144 Sense Of Ease?

"She's so cuteeeeeee!" Aisa exclaimed before bringing the little girl in for a suffocating hug.

…

After only one day, the entire army, which had been cut in half, finally came back, but due to the upbeat attitude, I realized they had actually won.

"Was it fun?" I asked the commander as his horse pulled up beside me.

"It was pretty satisfying, I guess… well, that's, to say the least," He muttered with a large smile, and as his toothy grin sent a shiver down my spine, I loosely sighed.

We all had a large celebration with some of the remaining high-ranking members in the opposing army, skewed to a stick.

Well, it was really just their chopped-off heads that had been skewered.

For the rest of the night and into the day, we partied until all of us had collapsed from exhaustion.

Early in the morning, though, we were greeted by a familiar face and noticed the Wony head had actually come in order to reap some of the rewards of the raid the army did yesterday.

"It seems you all partied hard…." The Wony head chuckled before placing his hand on my shoulder and proceeding to walk past me.

To be honest, I didn't even realize he was there as I was so hungover from last night.

"What's your father doing here?" I asked Bella after finally realizing what was happening.

"Probably to check up on us or something… Maybe have a private chat with the commander. I don't know, lemme just go back to sleep," She complained.

"That's a good idea," I muttered before slipping back into the tent and flopping onto Cy with my legs dangling over Aisa.

…

The very next morning, I found myself in my room with my spear right next to me, seemingly trying to wake me up from my hungover slumber.

"*sigh*... I need food,"

I quickly jumped out of bed and dashed down the hallway to the dining room, where I discovered my friends had already beat me to the sacred haven.

Some plates of greasy food were already set out, and as I began to devour plates and plates of this shit, my stomach slowly started to grumble.

"Ugh… I need to throw up," I muttered before, just barely managing to make it in front of a trash can and puke up everything in my stomach.

Today wasn't starting off very good.

Only did I start doing productive things until about three in the afternoon, when I hazily had a conversation with the head.

"You're going to need to cut down on the alcohol next time. We can't have you like this every time you go to a battlefield,"

"I just got a bit excited… that's all… Anyway, why'd you call me here?"

"To tell me how strong Bella really is. She's never displayed her full power in front of me or any of the other family members, so… what is she like?" The head asked, intently leaning forward in his already creaky office chair.

"She's strong, to say the least. As strong or maybe stronger than me… I don't know. It's hard to tell. She's good at area of effect attacks, while I'm more focused on singular enemies. We both are strong but in our own ways,"

"Did you manage to hear what any of her skills were called?"

"Nah, I was pretty far away when I saw her turn into a-"

Just before I could finish my sentence, I stopped myself and turned back to the Wony head, who was so intent on learning his granddaughter's powers that he practically drooled all over the desk and carpet.

"Turn into a what?"

"Turn into a battle-hardened warrior. She was very strong with her flaming skills," I replied and saw the excitement slowly dim down in the man.

He knows something… I should ask Bella about what was up with that.

"Well, maybe she hasn't unlocked it yet… Alright, well, I also have another question. Why is there a kid here?"

"Ohhh… That's right. We brought that thing with us… Well, Aisa and I found her running away from somebody on her side. I assume she's an enemy but was forced into becoming some type of soldier. Maybe a spy as she's pretty good at lying,"

"Though with any young kid, it's easy to manipulate them, right?"

"Indeed. She's warmed up to us, and that's why the commander made us bring that little shit with us… Isn't he going to retire? Why not just take a kid with him anyway?" I muttered before clicking my tongue.

"I see… We'll provide her housing for now, but since it looks like she is part of a large family, maybe from another city or continent, then we'll most likely have to return her,"

"*sigh*... This is so tiring… We'll try and get closer to her and try to break down the fucking fortress she's built up. Let me take a walk in your garden. I need some fresh air,"

"Go ahead,"

After hearing the words of confirmation, I quickly made my way to the large open garden and backyard this mansion had.

Of course, since everybody is always busy, nobody was here, but at least I got the entire place to myself.

The cold breeze swept through the bristles of my hair, and the sound of birds chirping echoed throughout the open space.

With my socks against the perfectly trimmed grass, I began to hum my favorite tune that always heard in my past life.

It was a light and breathy tune that you'd hear playing in the background of a peasant household.

"Hmmm… Hmmm… Hmmmmmmmm… *sigh*... That's nice," I muttered as I looked at the few panels floating in front of me.

.

[Processing Finished…]

[You have momentarily forgotten your thirst for blood and obtained a sense of ease]

.

[You have taken a step towards revealing the true nature of your system]

[Step 1: Acquire a Blade of Evolution]

[Step 2: Reach the Enlighting Ease After a Battle]

[Step 3: ???]

[Step 4: ???]

[Reward Granted]

.

The tattooed thorny vines soon spread across my hand with enough pain to make my legs wobble.

It spread to the rest of my fingers, wrapping around them like chains, trying to restrict them.

And once my other fingers had finished being wrapped in thorny tattoos, the tattooed bracelet on my wrist throbbed.

A red light traveled through the black tattoo, making it glow in tandem with the bottom of my left eye, which emitted a searing pain.

"Huff… Huff… Huff… What was the point of that?" I questioned myself, but with no context, I hadn't the slightest clue as to what was happening.

"That was an ugly tune,"

"Oh, shut the hell up," I responded while glancing back at Findir and Cy, who was playing with the little kid.

For somebody who was about twelve years old, she acted much younger than she really was, and there were two reasons as to why this was happening.

Either she's acting again, and she is doing this to let our guard down, or she is trying to relive an experience she didn't have.

"This is Orion… You can also call him big brother if you want," Cy said with an expression I had only seen a few other times.

"I don't like him! He is mean!" The little girl suddenly shouted, and as she let go of Findir's hand, she ran over to me and kicked me in the shin, stubbing her little toes in her shoes.

"I don't like you either, so the feeling is mutual," I muttered before ruffling her hair and continuing my walk down the garden.

…

That night, during dinner, everybody but Bella sat in my room… which included the little girl from before.

"Little girl, if you eat so fast, you're gonna choke to death. Dying an early death isn't very optimal," I muttered, and as I moved my eyes back to my plate, she glared at me with piercing eyes.

"I have a name, mister! My name is Adele! Also, I'm not so stupid that I would choke to death!" She shouted across the room, and as Aisa tried to calm her down, I just continued to eat my delicious meal.

"Why are you suddenly provoking her?" Findir asked as he slowly sat down next to me.

"In order to draw out information. The more she hates me, the more she'll cling to you guys… Think of me as a necessary evil-"

Bam

Findir suddenly slapped the back of my head before saying,

"Dude, just act nice, and you'll be able to extract information. Also, she is just a child so stop pulling such asshole moves that you'd normally use on a grown person… There is no manipulation needed with a child,"

I glanced at the little kid, then Findir, and then back to the little kid.

"Whatever you say," I muttered before exiting the room, my plate in hand.

"I hope you kill yourself!" She shouted, and as Aisa tried to scold her, I gave her the middle finger without turning back.

Call me petty, but I didn't like this kid in the slightest… she was way too suspicious.