We tried to go through our morning routine that involved Cellestra eating some breakfast, but the bit of bread that she still had was stale and tough. I could see from her facial expression that she didn’t like it after a single bite so I told her to just toss it out. We’d get something proper at my parents’ place.

However…

First, there was the issue involving certain spiders.

I had no idea how to get them to the farm. Sure, there was the method that I’d used in my dream, and while it seemed like a viable option, it would just look weird to onlookers.

Then again, was there any way five gargantuan spiders would not look weird, or even suspicious?

I simply shrugged it away, seeing as no matter what I did, it wouldn’t change things. I’d just have them follow me, and in the time we had before leaving I made it very clear to them that they were not to interact with anyone until we reached our destination. There would be no threatening anyone, nor would there be any hugging.

Elle and Amarys were the ones I was most concerned about, which is why I specifically mentioned these things. To make things a bit clearer for Amarys, I told her that anyone I interacted with was not a threat or to be attacked. That was, unless I specifically asked her to.

I couldn’t believe how many things there were that I had to explain and clear up, just so that we wouldn’t run into any misunderstandings, or worse, retaliation. Finally, after making sure to go through everything, and praying to Elysa that I didn’t miss anything, we set out to see my parents.

Even though my talk took a while, it was still early enough that I was confident that Elira was still home. It might even be breakfast time, which would surely make our visit less convenient.

I wondered how Elira felt about us not visiting yesterday.

“Hey, Cel,” I said towards my rear with a soft voice. “Is it weird that even if I don’t want to see these as my children, I still do in a way? I mean, you’ve seen them. I can’t help but feel this odd feeling very similar to how I feel about you.”

“I don’t think that’s weird at all,” She whispered back. “You have a big heart, even if you try to hide it at times.”

“Thank you,” I replied, smiling as we started crossing the fields, my spiderlings walking in a line behind me… like ducklings.

I chuckled and shook my head when I thought about it.

A few farmers were out and about in the surrounding fields, as per usual so they were used to my presence, and it was their reaction that I had feared the most. However, despite their stares, I couldn’t find disdain in their looks. I did see one man shake his head, but I didn’t know for what reason.

Likewise, there was little reaction from the spiders. Myria was the closest behind me, and used my rear as some sort of massive shield, but other than that, they just kept moving like I’d instructed them to.

I supposed I wasn’t doing too bad of a job regarding their upbringing.

Yet, my heart started racing faster and faster as we got closer to the farmhouse. There was nobody outside yet, which led me to believe they weren’t done with breakfast yet, but this also meant that they couldn’t see me coming, thus resulting in possibly greater shock.

At the same time, I loved my parents, and they me, and I felt there was little that could undo that, even after we’d been apart for so many years.

Yet there was always that little spark of doubt in my mind, and I couldn’t tell if that was me, or the dark, sinister influence that was always clawing at the back of my mind.

I heaved a deep sigh, steeled my resolve, walked up to the window, and knocked.

I didn’t even look inside, but I heard the sound of a chair scraping across a wooden floor within a fraction of a second, and I smiled knowing exactly what it meant.

“Sis!” I could already hear Elira call out before the door even opened. When it did, it was swung wide open as the elven girl hurried down the steps, but before she could charge at me, she suddenly halted, her eyes traveling to where I expected them to be.

“Woah!” She called out. “More spiders! How did that happen?”

“It’s… a skill of mine. I summoned them to help out.”

“Woah, that’s so cool!” She exclaimed as she carefully walked over towards me.

Before she even got close, Elle reacted and charged at her.

There was only a brief moment of shock on Elira’s face for that was all the time she got before the massive spider reached her… and took her in for a hug.

I covered my face with my palm and couldn’t help but snicker at the sight. For a moment, I was scared of her reaction, but the girl giggled and petted her assailant.

“That’s Elle,” I said. “She’s… the affectionate one.”

“She’s so big and fluffy, just like you!”

“Kealyna?” My mother asked from the doorway, clearly confused. “What’s this? What happened?”

“A skill of mine,” I said. “I summoned these to help out in our adventuring.”

“I… see,” She said slowly. She looked to be in disbelief, perhaps even shock, and I felt compelled to elaborate further.

“And I can finally get some sleep at night with them guarding. Not only that, but they are smart as well. I’m trying to teach them how to make clothes, too.”

“That sounds… interesting.”

It was evident she had no idea what to say, and neither did my father. He’d walked up behind her and was also left staring at the scene before him.

“And they listen to you?” She asked, still with the same hesitancy in her voice.

“They listen to me,” I confirmed. “And they listen well. Maybe a bit too well. You see, Elle here has the tendency to hug, and I told her there would be none of that until we reached our destination, and lo and behold, we’re here and she just can’t help herself.”

“She?”

“Ask Cellestra. I don’t know how that works, but they’re all female according to her.”

I sighed deeply. “I know it looks weird, and I’ve been breaking my head over it for a while, but I’m happy I did it. They are very intelligent, and they possess some great combat abilities that I can’t wait to see in the dungeon.”

The last part was partially a lie but not entirely. They didn’t possess many skills or abilities yet, but there was the devour skill that, when used often enough, would allow them to get quite strong. In that regard, that ability alone could be considered a great combat ability.

“And well, I think they’re kind of cute.”

“No need to explain everything,” My dad said calmly. “By the goddess, I can feel the stress just dripping off your words. You don’t have to worry about us, you know that.”

“Thanks, dad,” I said, feeling relief wash over me. “That means… a lot.”

As if she could feel what had just happened, Shalya came forward and skittered towards Elira, took a good look at her, received some headpats, before she skittered over to my parents, and just watched their faces.

“That’s Shalya,” I said. “She’s pretty curious about things.”

And with Shalya’s actions, or perhaps my own sense of relief, it seemed the other spiderlings suddenly felt at ease as well. Faerith suddenly darted off and started running around the building, while Myria remained mostly out of the commotion.

“And I don’t suppose I have to tell you about their personalities,” I said in reaction.

“They are cute!” Elira called, still hugging Elle.

From behind the building came Shadow. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he got spooked by Faerith’s wild running. Fortunately for him, the first spider he really ran into was Shalya, who saw him appear and very slowly and carefully made her way over to the cat.

I’d say it was the best-case scenario for these two to meet. I imagined that if Elle had suddenly jumped at the cat, as good as her intentions may be, he would have gotten the scare of his life.

Instead, some sort of very gentle introduction followed where they both curiously looked and seemingly sniffed each other.

Even my mom, whose emotions had been hard to read, seemed to finally lighten up and smirk at the sight of the spider and cat who were both curious about what the other was.

“Seems we can learn from Elira, no?” My father said with a wide smile, his hands on my mom’s shoulders. “They do look kind of cute.”