After returning home I found Lilith… it had been quite a while since I saw her. She was busy most of the time after our relationship with Stein was fixed, we exchanged many adventurers between our countries, Stein wasn't really filled with monsters so there were not that many strong adventurers there, but there still were monster and animals not to mention behemoths, so exchanging personnel and fixing problems were very much on going, not to say, Stein was very adept at growing crops and greenery so we were also receiving large amount of produce and Treastein was more lively than ever. Still for some reason, I felt that I should run from meeting her. I was laying low now okay?
"It's good that you are leading a carefree life and all but you do know that you made my work double don't you?"
Since she was sitting on the couch having tea. She actually looked like a Mafia boss in that flashy outfit. And since I was like an underling of her, I had to stand in front of her while she lectured me on how I made her life difficult.
I really did get her in a lot of trouble, after destroying the empire, many refugees came from all over the empire, some were innocent civilians and more were crooked criminals, even though I was going around the whole Treastein and Stein kingdom everyday to deal with large parties of those crooks.
Many low level thugs were a hassle to find. Not to mention the refugees numbered quite a lot, so getting them accustomed was a hard job which can't be solved any time soon. it was known throughout the human lands that Treastein was currently the most stable country so the refugees flocked here more.
The empire was still a hell hole where different thugs had established small territories and turf wars had become daily affairs there too… So for the time being, Treastein and Stein were looking at the situation from faraway which meant that people were dying in the empire everyday.
Although there I left a seed that could come in handy in the future… I think I will keep it to myself for the time being, I am not resolved to actually become something to that degree… at least not until I know how strong I am.
"Sorry…." since I had nothing else to say, I only apologized. but looking at Lilith it seemed that she was not gonna back out only because I gave her an apology.
Leila looked depressed since Lilith was being hard on me…. Alice looked normal though.. Since their mother had come, only Alice and Leila were here and me, since I was here to get lectured.
"Haaah… it was long overdue I knew that… but the situation… now is bad…"
"Can't we just let them kill each other until it all dies down?" Alice said a harsh opinion but at this point we are doing just that.
"Leaving them alone for now is the best approach." Leila agreed.
"That is also what the council of lords desire, King Claude had the same opinion, still there is a catch." Lilith said, then looked at me.
"It is still vague that you Rekka Wolford was the reason for the emperor's demise…. Since the Saint of the empire is here with you, many people have ought to believe it. If we are to leave them alone then, I suggest that not only a portion but the whole human race believes that Rekka Wolford was the one behind the Empire's demise."
"But why?" I asked since it didn't make sense to do this forcefully, since many already knew and didn't doubt that I was the one who did it.
The way I mercilessly slaughtered the army from hell had been seen by thousands of people. I did leave them there… The news about the empire's army being slaughtered was an all time high in the human lands. At this point other races were sending scouts to even see the wreckage, guess there's another page in the history books of Amanori.
"It is important, so that even if someone rises to power or gathers people with power, they don't make rash decisions like waging war with Treastein and Stein, it will be a futile battle and only get us dragged in their affairs. If Rekka is established as a symbol of power, those rash decisions will shirk away by fearing him. right about now.... we need that protection from you."
"Just like the former heroes…." Leila, who agreed with Lilith, nodded.
"So, in that sense go and do something irregular." Lilith who looked at me with a peaceful face was all smiles… but I think I should have something like that ready.
I didn't tell them about it because I thought it would be a hassle but I think this is the right time. My Grandparents already knew so it shouldn't be a problem not them being here.
"Soooo….. Say, do people eat dragon meat here?"
"What? That's absurd." Lilith brushed me off with a laugh.
"What would you say if I told you it was delicious." hearing me now Lilith looked a bit pale…
"When I was at the empire.. I found the one behind its power… it was a dragon… so I uh…. Sort of beat it and then took his tail as a prize…."
"And then you ate the tail?" Alice asked, looking interested.
"Well it was a large chunk of meat I only cooked and ate a bit."
"And the dragon's tail that you ate is still alive?" Lilith asked, looking like she was rejecting reality. of course if a dragon had died in the human lands, it would have been a international incidents, so I didn't kill it, but I still wanted to eat it's meat, so I only took a tail, it's not like lizards can't regenerate their tails no?
"Yeah. but that lizard wouldn't ever fight me, I can guarantee you, I broke him so thoroughly, he would be lucky if he could speak of the one who beat him to a pulp."
"Rekka, you speak about breaking a dragon's pride and mind like it was a stick." Leila said, sighing. she did hear about the fight from Iliya but someone who never saw the fight could certainly not imagine how that fight went down.
After all, trying to eat that dragon meat was the cause of me and Leila having a huge dispute. Man… Leila really had a huge fight over it with me. Thus the reason nobody knew about it.
"Hmm, it was quite easy to break him... maybe because I had Amanori, she can eat the soul of her opponent or so she says."
"Hooo! That information is really valuable!" Leila the researcher wrote it down in a notebook… I always wondered where she put that thing. Even while we did the nightly activities she had noted down my recovery speed in that notebook. there were some lines that said need to have more contact for proper analyzing. it seems she would do it more with me until she can be satisfied with her research.
"It only works for me, since Amanori can't eat my soul, she started to eat the souls of it's enemies." it would be hard to explain that I knew now how to harvest souls myself too. Not to mention… attacks like that were unheard of...
"Wait… .hold those nature's law breaking statements and tell me… you ate dragon meat?" Lilith came back to point.
"Yes, I did and there is a lot left."
"I want to eat it too!" Alice said looking excited.
"Alice, you already had some, remember that meat skewer? You said it was super delicious."
Yes, since I had nothing else on hand when Alice and I were on a quest, I had given her some skewers. "I even told you it was dragon meat, I guess you didn't believe me."
"So… I ate a dragon huh… That sounds really cool, Alice the dragon eater!" Alice looked like she was proud of what she ate…
"Wait…. You gave my daughter dragon meat….?" Lilith on the other hand looked at me like I was a villain.
"What if those dragons come and complain! What would you do if they declared war!" Lilith said while looking in despair.
"Listen Lilith, the dragons are not like the humans, they only have one leader, if they want a war, then I can just challenge their leader and beat em up, so any dragon wanting for war would back step without a word." I said looking at her with absolute confidence.
"I would like to believe your story but in hundreds of years, only Master Merlin and Melinda have fought with a dragon, and they tied with that dragon too… so the dragons didn't say anything… but if you gave it a humiliating defeat... even I wonder what their reaction would be."
"Well… they have already been observing me since a few days ago."
"What? But I don't feel anything… what about their aura?" Lilith asked with surprise. It can't be helped… I heard from my gramps that Lilith came into position when the human lands really had stopped interacting with dragons. She knew very little about them, her real talent lies with things she already knew, she can't be called out for this then.
"They are intelligent… and they can easily blend in with humans… the intelligent ones are able to suppress their aura pretty easily…. And the strong ones are so strong, that normal people can't even feel their aura…. That is why I am also releasing my power… it is like a threat…. Like don't interfere or you die."
Things are sensitive now after all, I need to stay on my toes until I find their representative. of course I am not releasing a aura that threatens them, it just shows how strong I am. there is no need to send a passive aggressive signal just because I nearly killed one of them.
"I know I asked you to do something irregular but threatening dragons are….absurd." Lilith said looking in distress…
"Lilith…. Humans are strong in their own right… we don't have to think this as absurd… by the way, Alice should be able to take down an average dragon or 2…. And Systy can keep one at bay or even exhaust it… not to say both are improving daily, so soon they can hold their own quite well." my assessment was on point. Dragons waste a lot of their energy but humans mainly rely on technique.
And after facing off against that waste of a dragon, I have to say that I had gotten an idea of how strong their leader could be. And how all the dragons' average strength might be.
"What have you been doing to my daughter!?" Lilith looked like she couldn't believe me at all. Strength is achieved through time and hard training for sure. There are no alternatives to it. but it's not like me to just work hard, I have to work smart, that's where our rapid growth began.
"Alice, can you please relax? Let your body relax please." I came from a world where hiding overwhelming power looked badass, yeah from outside you would look like a weakling, but inside there would be something unimaginable. Hearing me, Alice closed her eyes for a moment then opened her eyes...
"What!?... i-is this!" Both Lilith and Leila looked like they were ready to turn over and die. It was just the pressure from Alice. The gravity in the room had drastically increased. Lilith, who couldn't stand the pressure anymore, looked like she was in pain. I used a barrier to cover the space around us. The pressure would be bad for others. I also covered Leila and Lilith.
Now then, Alice gets this strong… in a short amount of time like only 3 years… What can you make of this situation? What I say is training like a pro. I won't say that the others don't know how to train.. I just want to say that there is a way to train more efficiently.
What my grandparents follow is this same rule. Although I inherited their training regime quite thoroughly, the System is even more thorough than that.
"Even after the barrier, I feel like the pressure is hitting me like a rock." Leila, who was in the same state said.
"... you guys really surpassed common sense…. How can you even reach these heights?"
This is what you call achievement of training. As I looked at the both with a smug face, the ones seeing this could only nod with appreciation.
After a while the pressure went off. Currently Alice was like a huge meteor from outer space. If she hit hard enough, even the earth would be blown away…. Of Course that would not happen…
"Mom…. If you think this is absurd then, Rekka there would be a god… when our training was done he really did the same thing and I had puked because of the pressure from him…. I am glad that I chose him to marry…. I get the chills of our fight even now!" Alice recounted our training from hell… and shivered a bit…
"No wonder you have gone around the country and beat every strong lord and adventurer in a duel…." Leila let out surprising news. I never knew Alice was doing that. But I did ask her to gain experience.
"Yeah, she even said that her man Rekka was even stronger… so I guess she really boosted your image." Lilith said even more surprising info.
"Heh! Those weaklings don't hold a candle to me so if they came to challenge Rekka, it would only be a waste of his time! Moreover this way his humble go happy image would change to a little more aggressive one. But looking at what he did at the empire… well… I didn't think this through..." Alice looked like she was proud saying that. It was true that she wanted to see me arrogant, so after all her doing.. I turned out to do something even more drastic... in the end all that did make her claim stand even stronger.
"So Lilith, with that said, don't think about the outside force, I will take care of that, you only manage the country, if anything, I am planning to go to the dragon races territories. Their invitation should come in a few days…. Or even months their sense of time is much lax then us." As I said so, Lilith looked like she had finally calmed down.
"Your grandparents said the same thing to me when I stepped up to be the overlord…."
"Ha ha ha… I guess I am proud that I could say the same thing to you too." I said, feeling slight pride… My grandparents were.. Really something else…
"So I heard that you finally popped the cherry?"
"Th-!"
"A mother-in-law shouldn't ask such a vulgar question!" Damn that Lilith, she completely ruined my cool moment. Leaving me and Leila flustered she teleported away to the capital.
"Damn! I gotta find some of her embarrassing history!" As I was like that, dinner time came and we had a feast… of course 2 new people joined.
They were Genny and Jara. And of course everyone Noticed Genny, they looked at me like I was trash. But I seriously helped them out of the goodness of my heart not for other gains….. But still I felt that I was lucky to be able to help those girls… at least for more reasons than one