"The prisoners have all admitted it, my lady, it's the Crest Family."
A man in armor reported solemnly.
"Hmm, alright. Keep it quiet for now, I will call you again later." Grace responded.
The knight bowed his head and left the room.
After the knight left the room, it was quite for a while before another person entered the room.
"Greetings My lady" He bowed.
"So, any news?" Grace asked without looking back.
"My lady, that person has left the town with his wives, there were food, mats and tents on the carts, I have inquired they may have gone for a picnic." The person replied.
"Picnic?" Grace asked bewildered.
"Yes, my lady." The person replied.
"Al… alright, keep an eye on them and keep me informed." Grace said.
"As you wish." The person left the room.
"Haaah… just how did he do this?" Grace really wanted to know.
How did a person save all the villagers in a week, without even lifting a single finger, or was it that her sources were not good enough to track his movements at all?
If that is true, then wouldn't that mean that mean he was really out of her league. Grace got really excited just thinking about it. It's not that she was not worried about him being an enemy, but judging from how he behaved until now, he was not a bad guy and their relationship has not got that bad either, making an ally out of him would make a lot of her problems disappear by themselves?
On the other hand, for some reason she was feeling very upset that he was able to do all this but did not tell her.
'Hmph… if you had the ability then shouldn't you at least keep me aware.' Grace pouted.
'Umm… you did not share your secrets with him either.' The voice in her head replied.
'So… so what… that was different? Whose side are you on?' Grace retorted.
'Hehe… well why don't you just go and ask?' the sweet voice suggested.
'…'
'You think I should? What about that fear you felt from him back then?' Grace asked seriously.
'Umm… that… for some reason I did not feel it when he met you the second time. Maybe because I was trying to attack him a little bit by mixing my aura with yours that he fought back the first time. But he did not do anything last time because we behaved ourselves.' The sweet voice gave her opinion.
'So… are you afraid of him?' Grace asked again.
'… n… no… of course not… hmph… how can I be afraid… I am the mighty Star' The voice in her head tried to keep her dignity but failed miserably.'
'… un… a little bit.'
'Hehe… Star is afraid of him.' Grace made fun of her.
'You… you don't make fun of me… I won't talk to you, hmph.' Star pouted.
'Okay okay, I am sorry Star, how about this, I will bring you to the market for shopping?' Grace tried to woo her.
'Hmph, I am still mad.' Star did not budge.
'Okay then, I guess I will have to eat the tasty kulfi myself!' Grace made a sad expression.
'Gulp… I… I can think about it if you give me two.' Star bargained.
'What if I bought you three?' Grace asked.
'Three! Grace is the best.' Star became cheerful at once.
'Hehe… it's so easy to bribe her.' Grace thought to herself, feeling proud of her tactics.
…
Meanwhile Hira, who didn't even know that he had badly scared a cute little Star, was currently standing in an open area with his wives, their eyes full of excitement.
This was the first time, the three of them had gone out of the town, and the first thing that they wanted to do was to test their strengths.
All three of them were in high spirits.
Even though his two wives had become strong earlier than him, they never tried to use their powers. They did not want to make Hira feel sadder that he was just a mortal, while they were becoming stronger. Although when he was not around, they would still try to see their progress, now that he could become a part of it as well, this would be much more fun.
They could all freely use their powers and happily keep becoming stronger.
"Alright girls… let's see who can pick that boulder?" Hira excitedly ran to a boulder near them.
"Heeeyaaa" his face contorted as he tried to lift the boulder.
"Eeeeeeeee" finally after struggling hard, he was finally able to lift the boulder which was roughly 50 tons.
"Hahaha… you see that?" Hira was really happy right now. What does a man want the most? Power. Power to protect those around him. Power to fight against those who do them wrong. Power to show off… cough, cough… never mind.
"Come on, you try it as well." Hira invited his wives to lift the boulder.
"Mm let me try first" Rose ran towards the boulder before trying to lift it.
"Hiiiiya" She was able to lift the boulder as well, but could not keep it up for long.
She jumped in joy and hugged Hira.
"Hira, did you see, I can lift a big boulder, I am so powerful now." They both jumped in joy.
Misty who was standing there could not help but shake her head. Would these two ever grow up? You are adults you know.
A few moments later…
"See see, I am so strong hahaaha." Misty, Rose and Hira laughed and jumped in circles with their hands holding each other.
Do you know what having such power in this world means?
It means license. License to have freedom. License to raise one's head. With such power, they do not have to worry about ending up crossing some arrogant cultivator and have their life ruined. They were also strong now, and what more, they will continue to become much, much stronger. Just thinking about it filled the three of them with so much joy that they could not help but dance and laugh with each other.
They continued with their training cum games for another 6 hours before their excitement finally died.
…
"Man, that was so much fun." Hira said as the cart moved towards the town.
They had gone out of town to make use of the large open space as well as enjoy themselves for once. The employees they had bought with them, set up the tents and prepared the food.
It was currently night and stars were already high up in the sky.
Hira slept on the grass with Misty on one side and Rose on the other.
'The beauty of a clear night sky? Those anime and movies can never compare to this.' He mused.
He looked to his left where Rose was also lost in the stars then he looked to his right where Misty's eyes were moving up and down looking for constellations.
"I am so glad I met the two of you." He said suddenly.
Misty and Rose who were enjoying the night breeze while counting stars felt their hearts flutter when they heard his words.
"Me… me too." Misty said shyly.
"Umm… me too." Rose added.
The three of them held their hands and did not talk. There was so many words to talk, but right now, was not the time, right now, they just wanted to feel each other's company. To be with each other.
That was enough.