“Are you sure it’s fine?”

Sitting on a chair in a spacious kitchen, Mystel kept worrying as she asked, again and again, the same question many times.

Under Mystel’s inquiry, Arsal simply nodded his head once again as if he didn’t care about her question and solely concentrated on cooking.

Stirring two large golden eggs while ignoring the few creatures silently crying aside, they watched him as he turned their descendant into scrambled eggs.

“What if something goes wrong?...”

Arsal once again simply nodded which confirmed her suspicions… He was completely ignoring her.

“Hey… Listen to me, asshole.”

After hearing Mystel swear at him, Arsal frowned and threw a fork at her. Under his skills, the fork became similar to a meteor which crumbled into pieces after colliding with Mystel’s forehead.

Leaving not even a bump behind, Mystel still caressed the spot where the fork hit her like she was in pain.

“What are you doing?!”

Throwing an intense glance at her, it wouldn’t have been surprising if lighting came out of his eyes and electrocuted Mystel.

“Mind your language in a kitchen… Especially when I am cooking her meal.”

Mystel wanted to say something but closed her mouth before returning to the previous subject.

“Are you sure she won’t be in danger?”

Having finished cooking, Arsal started setting the table and finally gave Mystel some attention.

“In danger? In a human town? The amount of human able to use magic in this city is extremely low… She is just going there to play, not to start slaughtering everyone like you’d do.”

Mystel knew she was probably overthinking it, but after what happened in the Darkened realm where Shina was put in danger due to her overconfidence, she couldn’t help but start worrying about leaving her alone.

“You never know what might happen! If she ends up wounded when she comes back, I definitely won’t forgive you.”

Arsal sneered as he finished setting up the table and walked away under Mystel’s menacing eyes. Once he left the room, her eyes fell on the two strange chicken-like creatures who started trembling.

They could feel that she was feeling angry and stressed out at the same time. Her deadly eyes were staring at them like she was going to skin them before roasting them with a few spices.

Surprisingly, Mystel didn’t do such things and simply sat at the table.

“Piss off!” She said in a hostile tone.

Since they had contributed today, she wouldn’t do much to them…

She simply returned to her activities while waiting for everyone to gather, thinking about how irresponsible she was and sighing a few times…

* * * * *

Walking through a corridor, Arsal arrived in front of a room with the label ‘Shina’ written on it. Gently knocking on it a few times, he slowly turned the handle and entered the room. The room was still very dark as the curtain was closed, it was the same room as always with weapons everywhere on the ground and lacking girlish features.

Arsal didn’t think much when he saw that, he knew that Shina wouldn’t be able to live like a normal girl. Whether it was her origin or sickness, she won’t be able to live like a regular person in the future.

Looking at the girl still sleeping peacefully in her bed, Arsal smiled while noiselessly chuckled. He very rarely explicitly showed emotions on his face, but the show this time made him unable to restrain his smile.

Shina was curled up while holding her blanket against her body like she was holding a pillow. She looked like a lazy cat who had found a paradisiac place and had started to take a nap.

Purring a few times while scratching her hairs, she was extremely adorable which made the idea of waking her up uncomfortable for Arsal. She was obviously pretty exhausted from her activities of yesterday.

The mana emanating from her body had also increased, showing that whatever Mystel did to save her was very helpful for her future growth. If it continued like that, then they might be able to start teaching her magic in a few months.

Arsal lightly touched her hairs before gently pitching her her cheeks, but as expected… she didn’t wake up at all but only made some purr.

Recalling that the food was just heated up, he opened the curtain, greatly illuminating the room and once again looked at Shina who made a strange expression for a moment before finally getting used to the light and once again enjoyed her slumber.

Sighing at this lazy daughter, Arsal once again pitched her cheeks but this time with much more strength.

“Wake up, it’s morning.”

“Nyuuat?”

As expected, this time Shina indeed woke up, but she still wasn’t aware of her surrounding or even of what was going on. Her first reaction while ignoring the fact that Arsal was still holding her cheeks was to scrub her eyes with her paws… hands.

“Dwaad?...”

Still somewhat dizzy, she looked at the figure in front of her with dazed eyes, yawning at the same time. As if she had confirmed something, her eyes suddenly closed and her corpse… body went limp.

“Five more minutes…”

Restraining his laugh, Arsal denied her request.

“Wake up, the breakfast is ready…”

“Three… No, one more minute…”

Hesitating for a moment whether or not it was alright, he dropped her on the bed.

“One minute… That’s all.”

“*Nyuu…* One hour… Promished…”

“... Wake up.”

Finally waking up under Arsal’s persistence, Shina reluctantly went to the bathroom next door and washed her head.

“It’s Sunday anyway… You could have let me sleep…”

“Sunday? This world doesn’t have the concept of naming days.”

As if she hadn’t heard anything, Shina shook her head in denial.

“That’s just a detail…”

Arsal just smiled and gave up. He definitely couldn’t win against his daughter when she started acting this shamelessly. It was definitely something that she had learned from Mystel… Or perhaps Mystel was actually learning from her as she had already surpassed her.

“Anyway, hurry and go eat before it cools down. You can go back to sleep after that if you want… If that’s what you wish.”

Hearing her father speak in a strange tone, a few interrogation marks appeared above her head while she tried to recall what kind of activities she had planned today.

Not able to recall anything, she simply ignored this matter and slowly walked toward the kitchen.

“Well… I’ll just eat and go back to sleep.” She said while yawning.

“That’s fine… Guess you don’t want to go back to the city to meet your friend.”

Shina’s eyes suddenly opened widely as she recalled what she had planned for the day. Making an angry expression, she glared at Arsal who simply thought that she was quite cute when angry.

“Why didn’t you tell me before? I need to hurry up!”

Suddenly starting to run, Shina charged at the kitchen with excitement while Arsal followed her with but a few steps while smiling…

“Darling… Will you be alright?”

With a worried expression, Mystel strongly hugged Shina’s frail body, unwilling to let her go. Shina understood that she was probably blaming herself for what happened yesterday and gave her back a few tapes before replying with a smile.

“I am only going to play around, nothing dangerous.”

Mystel weakly nodded and reluctantly released her.

Not saying a single word, Arsal simply nodded before staring at the wyrm that had transported them the first time. The meaning hidden deep inside his eyes was transmitted to the wyrm who tried to hid its massive body behind Shina.

‘I’ll kill you, your wife, your children, your father, your mother… I’ll exterminate any trace of bloodline similar to yours within ten thousand worlds if something happens to her.’

Not noticing anything, Shina started climbing on the wyrm’s back who hurriedly gave her a hand, making sure that she didn’t fall while climbing. A couch was installed on his back which had the function of preventing any kind of wind pressure to affect her, providing for Shina a safe a comfortable trip.

“See you soon!” She said as the wyrm started flying in the air.

Shina waved her hands until her parents became nothing but tiny points in the horizon before lying on the couch and taking another nap while enjoying the view. It was a very relaxing trip with a great scenery… A great place to sleep at…

“She’s gone…”

“Humu~”

“So, who is she?”

Arsal once again nodded but this time he didn’t look at her but at a tree close by. There was a guest that Shina hadn’t noticed. Mystel had a first wanted to take care of this unwanted guest, but she was stopped by Arsal.

It was a woman in her sixteen or seventeen dressed in a blue and white dress somewhat similar to what priestess wears. She was carrying a long staff in the form of a torch which was burning with a gray flame.

The red haired girl’s face was somewhat lacking emotions, she was simply standing here while intensely looking at Arsal. She didn’t harbor any trace of happiness and even lacked any kind of attachment to life, yet her stare carried some traces of hope.

Ignoring Mystel’s inquiry, Arsal looked at the girl with calculating eyes.

“That day, you gave up your body for your world…”

Not showing any kind of emotion, the girl merely acquiesced. A day filled with deceive, death and hope. Betrayal and friendship, a lost innocence and the rebirth of a world.

Two tears dropped from her eyes, she could hear voices and recall their smiles when they saved her… and deceived her.

“I did…”

“This time… Will you give up even your soul?”

The girl wiped her two tears and looked at him with a powerful stare, showing her determination.

“Can you save them?”

Arsal sneered, with a snap of his finger, nine white orbs came out of the girl’s gray flame. The orbs were slightly blackened as if they were burnt, they were actually souls.

Nine souls which had accompanied her and betrayed her…

The moment she saw the souls, the girl started crying while mentally apologizing, insulting yet also thanking them at the same time.

The souls were hovering peacefully in Arsal’s palm like he had in his hand the power to save them, yet also crush them. His action would depend on her answer… Their salvation and doom laid in her decision.

A decision that she had already made a long time ago.

“What do you want me to do?”

As if she could see through the girl, Mystel had an idea of what Arsal intended to do and as such didn’t do anything. He was trying to lay down foundations for the future…

“Swear… That you will serve my daughter once she ascends as her priestess. That you will give her everything that you hold, your body, your power, and even your soul.”

“I swear…” She replied without an ounce of hesitation.

Opening his other hand, a small flask filled with a red liquid appeared in Arsal’s hand.

As if she understood what he was waiting for, the girl took the flash and drank it without hesitation behind once again making the oath.

It was an oath made with Shina’s blood, something that Arsal had secretly prepared years ago without her knowing.

Priestesses are people who swear to serve and dedicate their lives to their god, people who share their power to accomplish their will. The more powerful a god became, the harder it was to find such servant.

By complete luck, Arsal had managed to come upon this girl after answering someone’s summoning out of curiosity.

Satisfied with her answer, Arsal nodded. She didn’t know anything about Arsal, Mystel or even Shina, and it was better this way.

Until the day when Shina manage to ascend, she won’t show herself as agreed in the oath. It was also a sign of Arsal kindness who allowed her to remain with her friends until that day.

Dismissing her until then, Arsal stared at the direction where Shina went and started flying.

“Hey, where are you going?”

Mystel looked at him with a surprised expression as she followed him from behind.

“Where do you think I am going?”

“Didn’t you say that we shouldn’t follow her?!”

“When did I say that?...”

Mystel sighed after realizing that Arsal had from the beginning planned on following Shina. Of course she wouldn’t be in danger…

‘No wonder that girl can act so shamelessly at certain times… Look at her father…’

None of them ever realized… That both of them were equally shameless people that Shina took example on...