'What kind of monster did I offend?'
Not only Antony but even Elizabeth was also surprised by how the officer reacted. Although with her status, even the officer would have to give her face, she would never dare to talk to an Enactment Union officer like this.
"Do I know you?" Ace completely ignored everyone's expression and questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Elder Ace might not know me but I have heard your respected name a lot of time and was even present the day you were in the Enactment Union's Espade City branch, forcin-umm I mean, asking for compensation for the damage we did to you unknowingly…"
"Well, that was all in the past, let me introduce myself to Elder Ace, I am Sergeant Kane from the Enactment Union, I heard from Miss Celia here that Elder Ace was the one who defeated the beast that appeared in the Resnic Area 20 minutes ago and wanted to ask some questions about it" Sergeant Kane introduced himself and stated his reasons of coming here respectfully.
"I am not free rig-"
"Papa! You defeated a monster!?" just as Ace was about to shoo him away, Gracie suddenly questioned as she bent her body from the top to face Ace's face directly. (She's on his shoulder, so what Ace is seeing is her inverted face, full of questioning gaze)
"Umm… uhh…" of course, Ace was unable to answer that.
He told Gracie that he was just gone to buy a ball how could he say that he was fighting an unknown beast?
Out of options, Ace turned towards Maeve for help, but on the contrary to his expectations, Maeve had a smug smile on her face. It was clear that she had zero intention to save him right now.
'You…'
Seeing his last hope vanishing, Ace decided to face the situation honestly…
"I did… I know I-"
"Papa! So cool!" Gracie suddenly exclaimed and hugged his head excitedly, Ace quickly grabbed her body that was about to fall and adjusted her into his embrace.
"Papa Was it strong?" Gracie questioned with shiny eyes.
Seeing a good chance, Sergeant Kane jumped in, "It was, it was very strong, it hurt many people and everyone lost against it, if it weren't for your papa coming in at the right moment, it would have been very bad!"
"Wow! Papa! You are so cool!" Gracie's eyes shined even more when she heard Sergeant and she glanced at Ace with eyes full of adoration and idolization.
Ace, of course, lifted his chest in pride under that gaze before glancing at Maeve.
"Heh"
As their eyes met, an exactly similar smug smile appeared on Ace's face while Maeve clicked her tongue.
"That's why we are here, we wanted to hear how your papa heroically defeated the bad monster and saved everyone…"
As she heard that, Gracie's eyes shined even more as she exclaimed, "Really!? I want to hear it too! Papa! Tell us! Tell us!"
Maeve then glanced at Sergeant Kane and raised her eyebrows.
'Hmm? This guy got some brains, he found the most optimal way to hear everything from hubby's mouth… consider me impressed.'
And as she imagined, under Gracie's gaze, Ace, who initially never planned to say a word started narrating the story clearly and even adding some more details to make it as entertaining as possible.
Gracie kept making different faces throughout the story, from worried, to anticipation, to shock and finally overjoyed.
"Papa! You defeated the bad monster so quickly! You are so cool! Chuu~" Gracie clapped in delight as the story ended before kissing Ace on his cheeks.
Sergeant Kane kept noting everything Ace told and also made sure to glance at Cilia to confirm everything Ace said was true. Seeing her nod her head, Sergeant Kane bloomed even more before asking, "That's right, Elder Ace, do you have any tips for us for the future? I mean, if... if that monster attacked again, do you have a way by which we can defeat it, any weakness perhaps? We can't always depend on you to defeat a monster right?"
Ace then glanced at Sergeant Kane with a meaningful gaze before smiling.
"Well, initially I didn't plan to say anything about it, but now that I am in a good mood, I'll give you a piece of advice.
This will definitely not be the last attack by that monster.
There will be more, and they might be on a larger scale.
You should be prepared."
"Larger scale…?" Cilia muttered, dumbfounded. What did he mean by larger scale? More of those monsters at the same time? They couldn't even defeat a single one, how could anyone fight more than one?
"Elder Ace, did you identify any weakness of that creature?" Sergeant Kane, unlike others, kept his composure and questioned.
"Well, if I am being honest, I wasn't able to gauge its weakness, I think this girl here would be able to tell you more about it" Ace pointed towards Cilia.
Obviously, Ace just needed a single move to turn that thing into ashes. There was no way for him to find its weakness. Cilia, on the other hand, witnessed and even fought with that monster, though they weren't able to win against it, they should have more information than Ace.
"Mr. Ace, we wouldn't be here if I could answer that question. When we were fighting that monster, we hypothesized that no magic will work on it, but clearly, our hypothesis was wrong" Cilia smiled self-depressingly.
"Haah… well if that's the case, then the only thing I can tell you all is that magic works against that monster, at the very least, a Fire mage can fight against it. I don't know how strong the fire mage has to be but it's pretty simple.
If not 1 then use 10, if not 10 then use 100, increase the number until you burn that monster down" Ace answered.
Everyone then turned towards Sergeant Kane who had a solemn expression on his face, as if thinking about something, Moments later, he sighed and bowed, "Elder Ace, I thank you for your assistance, and I would also like to compensate you for your efforts in defeating that monster and saving the city. Please, follow me to the Enac-"
"I never did it for some kind of reward, if that is all, then you all can leave" Ace interjected.
Then without even waiting, Ace carried Gracie on his shoulder and walked towards the sea.
"Papa! You are so cool! Will Gracie be able to defeat that monster in the future?"
"Heh? Of course, you will! There is no way something as weak as that monster will be able to stand against my little girl! Hahaha!" Ace laughed confidently and as he did, Sergeant Kane's, who was listening to their conversation, mouth twitched.
'Weak my ass! That thing nearly destroyed the whole Resnic Area by itself!'