Chapter 196

Nick softly exhaled when he spotted Floria’s silhouette appear in the distance. They were really back.All things considered, the entire adventure took them just under the required month. They could have pushed harder in the final stretch, but knowing their self-imposed mission was complete—that no more demons were hiding within the beastmen temples—was enough to eliminate any sense of urgency.

Nick suspected the next few days would be quite busy, especially with Elia’s crowning as miko and the resulting changes to the local politics; however, for a moment, he allowed himself to feel satisfaction.

He had experienced some personal growth himself, chief among them being his new spiritual affinity and the related spells. That alone would have made the trip worth it, but seeing more of the world had been enjoyable, and he was already planning his next steps.

“How long will you stay?” Rhea asked casually, pulling Nick from his musings. Elia’s ears slowly rose, but she kept looking in the distance, as if she didn’t care.

That they were able to immediately pinpoint his desire to leave again just showed how close they had grown.

“As long as is needed,” he replied cheekily, earning an eye roll.

“You know what I mean,” Rhea grumped.

“I know what you mean,” he agreed, not elaborating any further.

“Oh, come on!” Elia finally gave up on her nonchalance and turned around.

Suppressing a cheeky grin, he finally answered, “I want to see this thing through. We set out to make you miko, yes, but that was just a step to ensure peace in Floria. I want to make sure that is handled before I make plans. Then there is the matter of Sashara’s domain… I’ll have to investigate the situation to get a better idea, but if I had to estimate, I might stay for a few weeks. Maybe more, maybe less.”

That was all he could say. Nick also wanted to snoop around and see whether the situation with these noble agents was as dire as Arthur had made it seem. Helping his father cross the boundary to Prestige was also a priority.

But checking whether Marthas had made any more moves was at the top of the list, even though he doubted anything big had happened. There was too much attention on their little town at the moment. The Prelate was a patient man; he would bide his time before striking again.

“Should I just drag out the negotiations with your father, then?” Elia asked with a smirk, jumping back ten feet when he tried to pinch her cheeks for her insolence.

“After all we’ve done for you?!” he wailed theatrically, leaping after her.

The serious discussion soon devolved into a childish game of tag, just as he’d planned. He could see the deep sadness in both girls at the thought of him leaving, but he wasn’t going to commit to staying any longer than he already had.

Life wasn’t exactly the unique opportunity he’d once believed, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to make the best of it. By going into the grassland and handling all its dangers so well, he’d proven he could be trusted to leave.

The sun was still high by the time they joined the main road to Floria once again, and Nick was curious whether the repairs he’d made to the bridge had held up, but not curious enough to turn back and check.

He’d probably take that same road again, not too far in the future, and if he really wanted to, he could just spend a couple of hours getting there on his own at full speed.

The town gradually entered ’s range, allowing him to observe it through a fresh perspective.

When he left, Floria was a constantly moving mass of shapes and pressures, mostly seen through the effects people had on the surrounding air.

From his house, he had been able to sense only the first few homes. Despite still being half a mile away, Nick’s range now reached all the way to the market district.

His spiritual senses worked overtime, providing him insights about everything, from the old grudges that still persisted between households to the lighter emotions, the joy of a successful business deal, and the satisfaction of a good meal.

It all began to blur together after a while, especially since he wasn’t familiar with all the emotional signatures. However, he was confident that with time, he’d be able to discern even more.

Stolen novel; please report.

There were even a few more intense bursts of passion, but he avoided peeking into those. He did not want to know people’s business like that.

Finally, there came the people he did recognize.

Even without prior experience with before leaving, he had become familiar with a few mana signatures, allowing him to recognize them in a crowd.

At the town’s entrance, Ogden waited, leaning against the same tree from which he had seen Marthas parade into town. A complex mix of pride, amusement, tiredness, and hunger churned within him, murky enough that Nick couldn’t quite discern the edges.

There was also power, a lot of it, but it was shrouded by something, constrained. Nick had the feeling that he could push through whatever was blocking his sight, but doing so would be noticeable and possibly very offensive.

And if what he suspected about Ogden had any truth to it… he did not want to do that.

A little further back, hurrying through the market, was his mother. She appeared fine, though concerned about something, but also very happy, probably having just learned of his return.

A second look revealed the answer to that question. Several people were coming in from the northern path, while a few were rejoining them from the town’s center.

Now, Nick was no more familiar with them than he would be with other townsfolk, but given the giddy excitement they were feeling and the almost reverent way they approached, he quickly figured out that these must be beastmen.

Why they would inform his mother of their arrival remained an open question, but he suspected they could sense Elia’s warm scent drawing closer with their keen noses, aided by the breeze blowing in from behind them.

A further look around town didn’t show his father’s presence, but he was still too far away to sense the barracks, where Eugene spent most of his time, so he wasn’t concerned.

“Master!” Rhea shouted in excitement as soon as they got close enough for Ogden’s figure to become recognizable.

The elderly alchemist grunted, pushing away from the tree and patiently waiting for his apprentice to catch up.

Rhea stopped in front of him, almost vibrating with all the things she wanted to tell him and ask, but she patiently waited for him to examine her.

“Hm, I suppose you did well coming back in one piece. I hope you’ve harvested enough ingredients since you took your time. I haven’t forgotten about that debt, you know?”

Grinning at how grouchy her mentor was being, Rhea quickly reassured him, “We’ve made more than enough to pay you back. I’ve even managed to preserve an entire Emerald Gale Eagle to sell. It has no damage!”

Ogden hummed, “What level?”

“Fifty-nine!” she replied, smiling. The alchemist showed no sign of surprise that they had managed to defeat such a powerful enemy, let alone without causing any damage in the process.

“I see, yes, I have some contacts I can reach out to. I’ll handle the sale myself, so you won’t be taken advantage of. I’ll take a cut, of course, but that’s the cost of doing business.”

That felt a lot like the exploitation he was meant to protect them from, but Nick just shook his head and smiled.

“Miko! There she is!” came a shout from farther away, and the group of beastmen Nick had sensed rushing closer finally reached them.

They focused solely on Elia, yet they flowed around Ogden respectfully, avoiding stepping too close to him.

“You’ve done it,” an elderly foxkin, whose tail had gone gray with age and whose extraordinarily long eyebrows concealed his eyes, murmured in disbelief as he extended a trembling hand toward Elia.

She was unbothered by the display of reverence and instead fanned out her three tails, allowing some of the heat Nick knew she always kept within her to expand. “I have received Inari-okami’s blessing.”

Her announcement was met with a moment of silence, as if the beastmen couldn’t believe it. But the evidence was clear before their very eyes, and soon, they all hurried to bow, treating the teenage girl as if she were an idol of worship.

In the distance, Nick noticed two familiar figures lingering at the back. Wulla and Teo, Elia’s parents, were also present, although they had taken a different route.

They looked at their only daughter with pride shining in their eyes, though Nick could see a swirl of conflicting emotions fill them, ranging from shame to surprise and deep love.

His attention was soon diverted, however, when he finally spotted his mother, and he decided he had more important matters to address, crossing the distance to slam into her with a hug.

“Welcome back, love.”

“I’m home.”

Nick would have liked to take the day off. He had even planned it out. He’d go home and spend some time talking with his parents, after greeting Talbot properly, of course.

He’d pet the spirit cat, catch up on all the recent news, take a bath, and then sleep off the road tiredness for the next twelve hours.

Unfortunately, it seemed that fate had other plans. Soon after saying goodbye to the girls and promising to meet up again at Ogden the next day to assess their earnings from the trip, his mother whisked him away.

Not toward their home, as he had expected, but through the town, not explaining anything until they reached the Town Hall.

From there, Nick could sense his way through the entirety of Floria, and it didn’t take long to notice that there was one glaring absence.

To the northwest, the temple stood as a beacon of fire and warmth, with Sashara’s domain hanging over much of the town like a heated blanket. Inside sat Marthas, whose emotions were either too distant for him to sense or, more likely, shielded well enough that he couldn’t pick them up passively.

To the south, Arthur’s crackling presence lingered around the fields. It was difficult to describe exactly what he was feeling, but if Nick had to pinpoint it, he’d say he felt a mix of expectation and worry, as if something significant was about to happen.

And that might very well be true, because the one presence he couldn’t find, no matter where he looked, was his father’s.

Elena hurriedly entered Eugene’s office, gently closing the door behind Nick after he had entered.

Within sat Darien, his father’s lieutenant, who was staring intensely at a map of the surrounding areas, focusing on the northern grassland.

“Alright, what is going on?” Nick asked. He had already gleaned that something unexpected had happened from their emotions, but there was only so much he could discern. And a mind mage, he was not.

“It’s your father,” Elena sighed, taking a seat. The office was nearly spotless, and given that Eugene rarely used it, preferring his smaller one at the barracks, that might actually be true.

“Yeah, I got that much. What happened?”

Darien finally looked up, while Elena pursed her lips. She clearly felt regretful about pulling him into this mess so soon, but Nick would much rather just get it over with.

“He’s been given a royal mission to defeat a monster,” Darien finally said.

Nick tilted his head. “Well, that’s surprising, but not as bad as you made it seem. Is it a particularly dangerous one?”

“It’s a Prestige monster. Your father was sent to hunt a Prestige monster.”