Chapter 157: Embers

  The opulent dining hall of the Kah-Kamun palace was a sanctuary of excess and celebration. Golden chandeliers cast a warm, inviting glow over tables groaning under the weight of an impossible feast. The air was thick and heavy with the mouth-watering aromas of roasted desert boar basted in honey, saffron-spiced rice, grilled river fish, and freshly baked flatbreads steaming in woven baskets.

  At the center of it all, Raito and Bob were locked in an absolute, unapologetic war against their own hunger.

  "More meat! Pass the mutton, kid!" Bob roared with a joyous, booming laugh, his colorful silk robes pushed back as he tore into a massive, glazed leg of poultry with his bare hands. Grease shone on his thick beard.

  "Mmph mff mm!" Raito mumbled in absolute agreement. His cheeks were puffed out like a hoarding squirrel, stuffed to the absolute bursting point with spiced rice and roasted vegetables. He swallowed hard, pounding his chest to force the massive bite down, before reaching across the table to drag a platter of sliced, seared meats closer to his plate.

  After surviving the crushing heat of the Living Mountain and the terrifying abyss of Silas's machinations, the simple act of eating felt like the greatest privilege in the world.

  The heavy wooden doors of the dining hall swung open, and Tanvir strolled in. The Quake Lord looked significantly more relaxed than he had in weeks. He had scrubbed the ash from his bald head and changed into a fresh, comfortable tunic, though he still carried the heavy, undeniable presence of a seasoned warrior.

  "Well, look at this," Tanvir chuckled, pulling up a heavy oak chair next to Bob. "Leave it to you two to find the bottom of the royal pantry before noon."

  "Tanvir! My friend!" Bob cheered, using the back of his hand to wipe his mouth. He grabbed a massive, frothing iron flagon from the center of the table and slammed it down in front of the Quake Lord. "let’s Drink! Eat! like old times."

  "I won't say no to that," Tanvir grinned, wrapping his large, calloused hand around the flagon. He raised it high, the amber ale sloshing over the rim. "To survival."

  Raito hastily grabbed his own goblet of sweet fruit nectar, raising it to meet Tanvir's. "To survival!"

  Raito tipped his head back, fully intending to drain the goblet in one glorious, refreshing gulp.

  But before the sweet liquid could even touch his lips, a blur of motion launched itself from the high rafters of the dining hall.

  THWUMP.

  Something small and surprisingly heavy slammed directly onto Raito's face.

  "Hmphhhh?!" Raito dropped his goblet, the nectar spilling across the pristine white tablecloth. He flailed wildly, his hands desperately clawing at the mass that had perfectly sealed over his nose and mouth. He tipped backward in his chair, his boots kicking the underside of the table in pure panic.

  Tanvir paused mid-drink, the flagon hovering near his lips. He slowly lowered his drink, his thick eyebrows knitting together in sheer, absolute bewilderment as he stared at the struggling boy.

  "What... what in the blazes is that?" Tanvir asked, pointing a thick finger at the mass currently trying to suffocate Raito.

  Meanwhile, far away from the chaotic feasting and suffocating blobs of the palace, a profound, peaceful silence reigned over the sunlit flower fields on the outskirts of the city.

  The gentle afternoon breeze rustled the leaves of the ancient Baobab tree, carrying the sweet, fragrant scent of blooming desert lilies.

  Underneath the sprawling shade, Yukari sat cross-legged in the grass.

  "Thank you."

  The words were simple, barely a whisper, yet they carried a richness and a weight that spanned four decades of sorrow, misunderstanding, and ultimately, overwhelming love.

  She slowly lowered her hands, wiping the last remaining tears from her striking silver eyes. She looked up, her gaze moving across her family. She looked at Harrison, her father, sitting in his wooden wheelchair, frail but smiling with a warmth that rivaled the sun. She looked at Zhu Lihua, her stoic, fiercely protective step-mother sitting in the grass. And in her heart, she felt the undeniable, lingering warmth of Lei, her birth mother who had sacrificed everything for her.

  "I never knew it," Yukari confessed, her voice trembling with a mixture of awe and residual grief. "I never knew about Mama's wild side. The girl who ran through the streets covered in mud, dreaming of the world outside her cage."

  She turned her silver eyes directly to Harrison, her expression softening. "I never knew about how protective you were, Papa. How you threw away your pride, your logic, and your safety, just to find a miracle for us."

  Finally, she looked at Zhu, the fearsome Blaze Lord who had awkwardly, stubbornly raised her. "And I never knew the truth about how you came to take me in. The absolute wager you made against the Azure Dragon lineage, betting your own eternal freedom just to ensure my parents could be together."

  Yukari placed a hand over her heart, feeling it beat steadily in her chest.

  "I am truly, deeply grateful," Yukari said, a beautiful, genuine smile breaking across her face. "To be loved by such incredibly wonderful people."

  Harrison’s brown eyes watered, the deep lines on his gaunt face softening. He reached out a trembling hand, gently resting it on top of Yukari's head.

  "You don't need to thank us, Linlin," Harrison said, his voice thick with emotion. "It is only natural."

  "You are our daughter," three voices said in perfect, overlapping sync.

  Harrison spoke the words aloud. Zhu Lihua echoed them softly from the grass. And for a fleeting, magical second, Yukari swore she saw the ghostly, translucent silhouette of Lei sitting right beside Harrison, her midnight-blue hair catching the sunlight as she mouthed the exact same words, a proud, motherly smile on her face.

  The phantom image faded as quickly as it had appeared, leaving only the warmth of the memory behind.

  "We may have made an absolute mountain of mistakes along the way," Harrison chuckled weakly, wiping a fresh tear from his own cheek. "I was foolish, headstrong, and I left you alone. But please believe me when I say... your happiness has always, always been our number one priority."

  "He is right," Zhu chimed in, leaning back against the thick trunk of the tree, a fond smirk breaking through her stoic facade. "No matter how obsessed he was with his relic hunting, he would always drop absolutely everything just to rush back and see you. No matter how far his expeditions took him into the unknown, if he heard you had a slight fever, he would run his horses into the ground to get home."

  Zhu crossed her arms, her fiery eyes gleaming with amusement. "In fact, you should have seen his blubbering, crying face the day you were actually born. He didn't stop crying for a week straight. I thought he was going to drown Jinlun with his tears."

  "Hey!" Harrison protested, his pale cheeks flushing a bright, embarrassed red. "They were tears of joy! And at least I didn't treat her like a captured fish!"

  Harrison turned to Yukari, pointing an accusing, bony finger at Zhu. "She was completely hopeless, Lin! She didn't know how to properly hold a baby at all! The first time Lei let her hold you, she literally picked you up completely upside down, dangling you by the ankles!"

  Yukari's jaw dropped, her eyes darting to her adoptive mother in absolute horror. "You held me by my ankles?!"

  Zhu coughed loudly into her fist, looking away toward the distant city walls, suddenly finding the architecture fascinating. "I was... checking your structural integrity as a mortal infant. It was purely observational."

  "Lei had to scream from the bed and scold us both," Harrison laughed, the joyous memory bringing a spark of vibrant life back into his exhausted frame. "You would cry so loud whenever we messed up. But... the moment Lei took you back, the moment she held you against her chest..."

  Harrison's smile softened into pure, unadulterated adoration. "You would always have the most peaceful, angelic face. The crying stopped instantly. I genuinely thought Lei was using some kind of ancient magic that day."

  "Maybe she was," Yukari said softly, looking down at her hands in her lap. "Mama always had this... presence. A feeling that no matter how bad things got, everything would be okay as long as she was there."

  "I cannot argue with that," Zhu agreed, the teasing tone dropping away, replaced by a profound, solemn respect. "Most of what I am today... I would not be this way if it wasn't for Lei."

  Zhu uncrossed her arms, resting her hands on her knees. "My human emotions, my chaotic personality, my fundamental understanding of mortal frailty and love... it is all entirely because of her patience with me. I owe her everything."

  Zhu looked down, her sharp eyes shadowed by a heavy, lingering guilt.

  "The absolute last thing I ever wanted to do was disappoint her," Zhu confessed to Yukari, her voice uncharacteristically quiet. "And when she passed... I almost did. I was terrified. I was wildly inexperienced with actual parenting. I thought the only way to keep you safe from the political vultures of Ruhong and the dangers of the world was to control your environment perfectly."

  Zhu met Yukari's gaze, offering no excuses for her past harshness. "And in doing so, I ended up putting you in a cage."

  Yukari held her adoptive mother's gaze. The silver in her eyes didn't freeze over with resentment as it once would have; instead, it reflected a calm, mature understanding.

  "That, you did," Yukari admitted honestly. "And I would be lying if I said I didn't completely hate you for that for a very long time. I resented the strict schedules, the forced engagements, training, and the absolute lack of freedom."

  Yukari took a deep breath, the cool air filling her lungs. "But... we made amends. We fought, we got closer, and you relentlessly taught me how to protect myself. And ironically... that cage you built around me also provided true protection. It gave me a secure place to live, food to eat, and an education when other orphans had nothing."

  A soft, slightly exasperated, but undeniably fond smile touched Yukari's lips as the image of a certain janitor popped into her mind.

  "And, with that exact same irony," Yukari added, "if it weren't for the pressure of that cage, I would never have ran away. And I never would have met him."

  "Lin is right," Harrison interjected gently, reaching out to pat Zhu's arm. "Don't beat yourself up too much over the past, Zhu. I'm absolutely sure Lei would rise from the grave just to scold you if you sit here being too negative."

  Harrison’s expression turned utterly sincere, the gaze of a father recognizing the savior of his child. "You did great. Even when the impossibly heavy burden of raising a half-Sacred child was suddenly, violently thrust upon you... I am so incredibly grateful that you took her in."

  Harrison bowed his head slightly toward the Blaze Lord. "If it weren't for your fierce protection, Lin would have been tossed to the wolves. She would have been swallowed up by those corrupted noble houses in Jinlun the second Lei died. I thank you, Zhu Lihua. From the bottom of my soul."

  Zhu blinked, clearly taken aback by the raw, unfiltered gratitude. A faint blush dusted her cheeks as she quickly crossed her arms again, reverting to her tough exterior to hide her flustered emotions.

  "Heh," Zhu scoffed lightly, though a warm smile betrayed her. "After all these years stuck in a dark cave, you finally got better at actually expressing your 'thank yous', Aster."

  "Well," Harrison chuckled, leaning back in his wheelchair, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he looked at the two most important women in his world. "I am the World's Greatest Adventurer. I have traveled the entire world, after all. I might just be a little more experienced now."

  The three of them shared a quiet, deeply comfortable laughter together under the Baobab tree, the heavy burdens of the past finally lifted from their shoulders.

  As the laughter subsided, Harrison leaned forward in his wheelchair, adjusting the woolen blanket over his lap. A mischievous, highly protective gleam suddenly sparked in his brown eyes. He had fulfilled his duties as an apologetic father; now, it was time to step into his role as the interrogator.

  "So..." Harrison began, resting his chin on his steepled fingers. "A janitor, eh?"

  Yukari flinched, her back suddenly going rigid.

  "How exactly did my lovely, untouchable daughter get wooed by that boy?" Harrison asked, raising an eyebrow. "Did he do something special? Like a grand romantic gesture? A serenade beneath your balcony? I almost can't see a pristine girl like you falling for a dull-looking boy who carries around a mop bucket, Lin."

  Instantly, a furious, burning flush crept up Yukari's neck and exploded across her cheeks, turning her entire face the color of a ripe tomato.

  "P-Papa!" Yukari stammered, frantically waving her hands to dispel the embarrassment. "It... it wasn't like that!"

  "Oh, you should have seen her when she fell for him," Zhu chimed in, thoroughly enjoying this opportunity for revenge after being teased about her parenting skills. "She fell so incredibly hard it shook the entire estate. She missed highly important political meetings. She completely ignored her aristocratic duties, and actively skipped her martial work just to go sneak over to his tiny, filthy room at the docks."

  Zhu shook her head, adopting a look of profound, dramatic horror. "It was like an absolute nightmare trying to govern her. You have no idea how drastically different she acted after she met him."

  "Hoooo..." Harrison dragged out the word, leaning back and stroking his chin like a wise sage examining a curious artifact. "Is that so? Then this Raito must be quite the smooth player for my daughter to throw her entire life off track for him. Now tell me, Linlin..."

  Harrison leaned in close, his voice dropping into a deadly serious, fatherly whisper. "How long did you two actually date before tying the knot?"

  Yukari opened her mouth, fully intending to answer. But suddenly, the words caught in her throat. Something began gnawing at the very back of her mind as she genuinely tried to calculate the timeline of their relationship.

  She blinked her silver eyes, looking down at the grass in absolute bewilderment.

  "Never... actually," Yukari answered, her voice small and bewildered.

  "Huh?" Harrison was violently taken aback, his jaw dropping open. "Never?! But you two got married! Even Lei and I dated properly before my confession! I mean, I have to admit it was completely in secret, but it still counted as dating!"

  "A secret purely because of her terrifying mother," Zhu added, nodding in agreement. She turned her sharp gaze to Yukari. "But Harrison is absolutely right. What do you mean you two never dated?"

  "Well... we kinda just... skipped that part entirely," Yukari admitted shyly, her fingers nervously picking at a blade of grass. "I think Rara was the actual one who had to point it out to me back when we were in Hanyuun. We... kinda have just been sleeping together, and then we got married. But we never actually went on a formal date. Nor did we ever even formally admit we were 'friends'. Things just... kinda happened."

  Harrison stared at her, completely dumbfounded. He raised a trembling hand to his forehead, rubbing his temples as a headache threatened to form.

  "Okay, now you are making your poor old man incredibly confused," Harrison said, his voice rising in panic. "When exactly did you two meet? How did you two fall for each other? And why on Calvenoor was there a 'no dating, straight to the bed' policy?! Is this what the youngsters are doing these days?!"

  Harrison aggressively bombarded her with questions, completely failing to process this modern evolution of romance.

  "Two years ago. During a rainstorm when I ran form a ball. The more time I spend with him the more I love him. And last probably not," Yukari quickly defended herself, her blush intensifying. "Based on Samira and Malik's relationship at least, normal people definitely date. Ours is just... way more unique, to say the least."

  She took a deep breath, trying to explain the absolute mess that was their romantic timeline.

  "We got along because he treated me like a normal person" Yukari explained, gesturing with her hands. "Then things just kinda happened, you know? I visited his room near the docks. His bed was horribly worn out. Actually, no, wait, he didn't even have a bed back then, he slept on the floor."

  "The floor?!" Harrison balked.

  "So, I bought him a brand new, massive bed!" Yukari said proudly. "It was incredibly comfy, so I just started sleeping in his place often because my room felt too stifling. Then, a year later later, he got arrested for treason, so I broke him out. Then we ran away from the city, then we get to hanyuun, started living together, became farmer, then assassin for a short period, then revolutionary, fought a machine serpent, and finally got married... it was a really weird, accelerated time for our relationship."

  "Arrested?!" Harrison shouted, nearly launching himself out of his wheelchair. "He was a criminal? Assassin? Serpents?!"

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  "No! He is not!" Yukari yelled back, aggressively waving her hands again. "You know what... just let me explain everything from the beginning."

  For the next twenty minutes, under the shade of the Baobab tree, Yukari began exhaustively retelling the true, incredibly chaotic story of her relationship with Raito. She detailed their accidental first meeting during a rainstorm after she had fled a suffocating royal ball. She explained how a simple room for a lowly janitor morphed into a quiet, secret sanctuary away from her grueling monotone days of being political tool.

  She recounted the sheer absurdity of the Jinlun nobility framing an innocent, oblivious dockworker for high treason, claiming he was some grand criminal mastermind. Because the perfect ‘Snow Flower’ had somehow fell in love with him. She told him about breaking Raito out of the dungeons, their desperate flight to Hanyuun, their peaceful stint as farmers, her being coerced to being assassins, joining a revolution, fighting a giant mechanical serpent, and finally, their deeply unconventional wedding. That’s not all obviously. Yukari also added her journey after they got married. their ‘fun’ in Spica, about Emile who helped and sacrifice himslef for them. Then zarateph to now.

  As she finished the wildly escalating tale, she braced herself, fully expecting her father's protective outrage.

  Instead, Harrison threw his head back and burst into loud, wheezing laughter.

  "Ahahaha! Oh, my word!" Harrison laughed, wiping tears from his eyes. "So that is what happened! Why didn't you just tell me from the start instead of leading with 'we skipped dating and slept together'?!"

  He shook his head, his laughter fading into a knowing, exasperated sigh.

  "The nobility of Jinlun... they are just as completely rotten as I remember them being," Harrison muttered, a dark edge briefly touching his voice. "For them to decide a random, innocent janitor should be framed as some kind of grand criminal mastermind just to execute him, because of love... it's sickening. It really is an absolute miracle that Lei turned out so fundamentally different from the rest of them."

  Harrison leaned forward, reaching out to gently pat Yukari on top of her head. The teasing father was gone, replaced by a man filled with profound empathy for his daughter's struggles.

  "You have been through an incredible amount of pain, kid," Harrison said softly, his thumb brushing her silver hair. "I am so sorry I wasn't there for you when you had to face the world. I should have been there to protect you."

  He offered her a warm, reassuring smile. "But... the fact that you two met amidst all that darkness? The fact that a completely normal boy with a mop bucket somehow managed to give you the exact freedom you so desperately wanted? I don't think that is a coincidence at all, Linlin. I think that is fate."

  Harrison withdrew his hand, his expression turning solemn and deeply sincere.

  "So... I have to ask you," Harrison said, his brown eyes locking onto hers. "Do you truly love him? That Raito boy?"

  Yukari didn't hesitate for a single microsecond. The blush on her cheeks remained, but her silver eyes were fiercely, unshakably resolute. She nodded.

  "With all my heart," Yukari answered simply.

  Harrison stared at her, seeing the exact same stubborn, beautiful devotion that Lei had shown him decades ago when she defied her family for a scrawny foreigner.

  "Then that is absolutely all I need to hear," Harrison declared, a massive, proud smile breaking across his gaunt face. "I have seen his actions from the inside of Tur'uga's mind. I've felt his protective fury. I definitely don't think he is a dangerous man. A bit chaotic, maybe, but a good man."

  He placed a hand over his heart. "I know this is incredibly late, and you are already legally wed... but you two have my full, unconditional blessings. And I know, without a shadow of a doubt, you have Lei's blessings too."

  "Thank you, Papa," Yukari whispered, tears of joy welling in her eyes as she leaned forward, wrapping her arms tightly around Harrison's frail shoulders in a warm, desperate hug.

  Harrison hugged her back, resting his chin on her shoulder. After a moment, he turned his head and shot a pointed look at Zhu Lihua, who was pretending to pick lint off her pants.

  "Come on," Harrison prompted, gesturing to her.

  "What?" Zhu asked, looking up defensively. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

  "You haven't given them your official blessing yet, right?" Harrison said, raising an eyebrow.

  "Do I really have to?" Zhu grumbled, crossing her arms stubbornly. "I'm just her step-mother. Her real father already did it. That should be more than enough ceremonial nonsense."

  "A step-mother who raised her, fed her, and taught her how to fight is still absolutely family in my books, Zhu," Harrison countered, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Do it."

  Zhu let out a long, heavy, suffering sigh. She avoided Yukari's hopeful gaze, her cheeks dusting with a faint pink hue.

  "Fine," Zhu awkwardly muttered, scratching her cheek. "Lin... I... give you my blessings. May your chaotic union be fruitful or whatever."

  Yukari's eyes lit up, a wide, teasing grin spreading across her face. "Does that mean you don't want to violently strangle Raito anymore?"

  Zhu's fiery eyes instantly narrowed into dangerous slits.

  "Oh, I absolutely still want to strangle him," Zhu promised coldly, her knuckles cracking. "He took my daughter away from me and made her cry. If he messes up even once, I will incinerate him where he stands."

  Harrison threw his head back and laughed again. "Daughter, eh? For someone who just desperately claimed she 'didn't want to be a step-mother', you are awfully protective of Lin."

  "Shut up, Aster," Zhu snapped, glaring at the man in the wheelchair. "You weren't there to govern them! These two... when they are paired together, they are an absolute disaster! They are unstoppable troublemakers!"

  "I mean," Harrison chuckled, leaning back and looking up at the broad, leafy canopy of the Baobab tree. "That dynamic certainly reminds me of a certain other trio I used to know."

  Zhu paused, the memory of Lei dragging the two of them through the markets of Jinlun flashing in her mind. A soft snort escaped her nose, quickly turning into a genuine chuckle.

  The three of them shared another hearty, echoing laugh, the sound carrying across the vibrant flower fields, finally washing away the ghosts of the past.

  "Alright, storytime is officially over," Zhu announced, pushing herself up from the grass and dusting off her pants. She walked around to grab the handles of Harrison's wheelchair. "Let's go back before Bob start sending search parties to wonder where we disappeared to."

  "Agreed," Yukari said, her stomach suddenly letting out a loud, embarrassing growl that matched her husband's. She clutched her midsection, her face flushing red again. "I am absolutely starving."

  "To the feast, then!" Harrison cheered, pointing a dramatic finger toward the distant city walls.

  With that, the Aster family, whole at last, turned their backs on the scorched wasteland and headed toward the golden gates of the Kah-Kamun palace.

  An hour later, the three of them were navigating the sprawling, gilded corridors of the Kah-Kamun palace. The opulent halls were usually filled with the gentle hum of servants and the soft rustle of silk, but right now, an eerie quiet seemed to hang in the air.

  "The grand dining hall should be just to the right of us, Papa," Yukari guided, walking a few steps ahead while Zhu steadily pushed Harrison's wooden wheelchair.

  "Excellent. I can already taste the roasted boar," Harrison smiled, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

  But as they rounded the final corner, the atmosphere shifted abruptly.

  Harrison paused, his nose twitching. "Do you guys smell that?"

  Zhu stopped the wheelchair, her sharp eyes instantly narrowing as she took a deep sniff of the corridor air. "Something is burning."

  "And it is definitely not food," Yukari added, her hand instinctively drifting toward the hilt of her weapon. The scent wasn't the savory aroma of a roasted feast; it was the acrid, harsh stench of charred fabric, smoldering wood, and spilled ale.

  "Something's wrong," Yukari said, her silver eyes sharpening.

  The three of them rushed the remaining distance. Yukari reached the massive, heavy oak double doors of the dining hall and didn't bother knocking. She planted her boot and kicked them wide open with a violent bang.

  The sight that greeted them was pure, unadulterated chaos.

  The opulent sanctuary of excess had been transformed into an absolute warzone. The pristine white tablecloths were ripped to shreds and stained with juices. Exquisite platters of saffron rice and honey-glazed poultry were completely overthrown, scattered across the marble floor like debris. Two of the grand, velvet curtains covering the massive windows were actively on fire, licking at the stone arches.

  Over to the far side of the room, half-buried under a pile of splintered oak chairs, lay Bob. The massive caravan leader was completely passed out, his colorful robes stained with gravy, snoring loudly through the destruction.

  And in the center of the room was Tanvir.

  The formidable Quake Lord—a man who commanded the very tectonic plates of the earth—was frantically running around wielding a wooden water bucket and a straw broom. He splashed water haphazardly onto the burning curtains, sweating profusely and swearing loudly under his breath.

  But amidst the destruction, one person was notably missing.

  "What happened in here?!" Zhu shouted, her voice cutting through the crackle of the flames.

  "Where is Raito?!" Yukari asked, her eyes frantically scanning the wrecked room, half-expecting to see Silas or an assassin hiding in the shadows.

  CRASH!

  Before Tanvir could answer, the swinging wooden doors leading to the royal kitchens burst open.

  Raito stumbled out, flailing blindly.

  "Get it off me! Get it off!" he screamed, his voice muffled and distorted.

  He was desperately clawing at his own face. Clamped perfectly over his nose and mouth, suffocating him entirely, was a dark green, squishy mass. It looked like a living suction cup, entirely unbothered by Raito's frantic attempts to rip it free.

  "Ow! Ow! Ow!" Raito shrieked in pain as the creature tightened its grip every time he pulled.

  "Raito!"

  Yukari didn't hesitate. She sprinted across the ruined dining hall, leaping over a spilled tray of roasted vegetables. She reached him in a heartbeat, her hands shooting out to grab the sides of the dark green mass.

  She planted her feet, braced her core, and pulled with all her strength.

  PLOP.

  With a sound like a giant cork being pulled from a bottle, the suction violently broke. The sudden release of tension sent both Yukari and Raito stumbling backward. Raito crashed hard onto his rear amidst a pile of broken plates, while Yukari managed to catch her balance, clutching the creature tightly in both hands.

  "HAAAH!" Raito gasped dramatically, taking in a massive, greedy lungful of air. He clutched his chest, his eyes wide with sheer terror. "I can breathe! Oh my god, I can breathe!"

  "Quick! Seal that thing in a steel pot or something!" Tanvir yelled, tossing his water bucket aside and pointing the straw broom accusingly at Yukari's hands. "It is an absolute demon spawn! It has been terrorizing us for the past hour!"

  Yukari blinked, thoroughly confused. She slowly opened her hands, looking down at the terrifying "demon spawn" that had single-handedly defeated a Lord and an abyss-wielding swordsman.

  Resting perfectly in the palm of her hand was a turtle.

  It was no bigger than a tea saucer. Its shell was a deep, lustrous emerald green, patterned with vibrant, glowing orange lines that pulsed faintly with a warm, comforting heat. Its tiny little flippers wiggled lazily in the air.

  Slowly, it extended its small head, blinking its large, shiny golden eyes up at her.

  "Kyuuu," the tiny turtle let out a soft, incredibly high-pitched squeak.

  All the battle tension instantly drained from Yukari's body. The hardened warrior melted away in a microsecond.

  "Cute!" Yukari shouted, her silver eyes sparkling with absolute delight. She lifted the tiny creature closer to her face. "Who are you, little guy?"

  "Kyuuu," it squeaked again, paddling its tiny front flippers as if trying to reach for her nose.

  "Get it away, Yukari!" Raito yelled, scrambling backward on his hands and feet until his back hit the wall. "That thing is dangerous! It's a face-hugger! It's an assassin!"

  Raito pushed himself up and lunged forward, trying to snatch the turtle away from her to throw it out the window.

  But Yukari was faster. With fluid martial grace, she effortlessly dodged Raito's desperate grab, pivoting on her heel and holding the turtle protectively against her chest.

  "Don't be mean to it!" Yukari scolded him, glaring at her husband. "It is literally just a baby! How dangerous can a tiny turtle possibly be? You are just being silly."

  She looked down at the creature, her expression softening instantly as she gently stroked the smooth, warm scales on top of its head with her thumb. "Isn't that right, little guy?"

  "Kyuui," the turtle chirped happily. It closed its golden eyes and actively nuzzled its warm head affectionately into the crook of Yukari's hand, looking entirely harmless and absolutely adorable.

  "See?" Yukari said triumphantly, showing the cuddling reptile to the terrified boys. "Nothing dangerous at all. He is an angel."

  She looked around the utterly destroyed dining hall, taking in the burning curtains, the passed-out caravan leader, the Quake Lord holding a broom, and her traumatized husband.

  She placed her hands on her hips, her tone shifting to one of strict authority.

  "Now," Yukari demanded, tapping her foot amidst the ruined feast. "Instead of violently blaming the baby turtle... can someone please explain to me what actually happened here?!"

  Raito rubbed his sore nose, glaring venomously at the tiny reptile resting happily in Yukari's hands.

  "That beast... it absolutely knows how to act nice," Raito huffed indignantly. "I swear to the Void, it did not act like that with me!"

  He slowly approached Yukari, stepping carefully over a crushed basket of flatbreads. With a sudden, swift motion, he reached out and snatched the tiny turtle directly from her palms.

  "Hey!" Yukari protested, reaching out to grab it back.

  "Talk, beast," Raito commanded, holding the turtle up to his eye level and squinting suspiciously at it. "What do you want?"

  The turtle blinked its large golden eyes. Then, those eyes narrowed into dangerous little slits. Its tiny mouth opened wide.

  FWOOSH!

  A concentrated stream of blistering, vibrant orange flame shot straight out of the turtle's mouth, aimed directly at the bridge of Raito's nose.

  "Gah!" Raito yelped, jerking his head back with supernatural speed just as the fire singed the tips of his bangs.

  In his panic, his hands loosened. The tiny turtle slipped from his grasp, but it didn't fall to the floor. With an elegant little twist in mid-air, it landed perfectly back into Yukari's instinctively cupped hands.

  The moment its belly touched her palms, the aggressive posture vanished completely. It tucked its head halfway into its shell, let out a soft, contented sigh, and promptly went right back to sleep.

  "See?!" Raito yelled, pointing an accusing, trembling finger at the snoring reptile. "Demon spawn!"

  Harrison, who had been watching the entire exchange with a mixture of amusement and profound curiosity, slowly rolled his wooden wheelchair closer to the center of the room. He leaned forward, his brown eyes locking onto the sleeping creature.

  "Tur'uga... is that you?" Harrison asked softly, a tremor of hope in his raspy voice.

  Hearing the name, the tiny turtle popped its head back out of its shell. It looked at the gaunt man in the wheelchair and tilted its head to the side in pure, innocent confusion.

  "Kyuu?"

  Harrison let out a quiet sigh, shaking his head. "Of course not," he murmured, the hope giving way to a gentle melancholy. "Your eyes are different."

  But... he didn't pull away. Harrison slowly hovered his bony, calloused hand just above the turtle's emerald shell.

  The small turtle reached its neck up, sniffing the air. Then, it pressed its warm, scaly head affectionately against Harrison's palm, nuzzling him exactly as it had done to Yukari.

  Harrison's breath hitched. A profound warmth radiated from the creature's touch, seeping deep into his tired bones.

  "It feels... familiar," Harrison whispered, a soft smile breaking across his weathered face.

  Zhu stepped over a burning curtain, extinguishing it effortlessly with a wave of her hand, and approached the wheelchair. She peered critically at the tiny reptile.

  "A spawn?" Zhu asked, raising a crimson eyebrow.

  "Maybe," Harrison nodded slowly, his mind piecing together the biological impossibilities. "Tur'uga wasn't a normal beast. He was an anomaly. A mutant... the lone volcanic turtle in existence. Maybe, when his physical form passed away in the ocean... his immense, residual elemental energy didn't just scatter to the winds. Maybe it coalesced. It gave birth to a completely original line."

  Harrison looked up at Zhu and Yukari, his eyes shining with the thrill of a new discovery. "A brand new breed of Calvenoorian animal. The very first of its kind."

  He turned his gaze back to Raito, who was still aggressively patting out the smoldering ends of his hair.

  "Tell me, Raito," Harrison asked, gesturing to the tiny creature. "How exactly did this kid get here?"

  Raito crossed his arms, leaning back against the wall with a heavy sigh.

  "Well... it started about two hours ago," Raito explained, sounding utterly exhausted. "Bob and I were just feasting. Minding our own business. Old man Tanvir here swung by and joined us. Then, randomly, I felt this really sharp, prickly feeling poking through the fabric of my pocket."

  Raito dug his hand into his pants pocket to demonstrate. "I searched around and pulled out this small, hard, dark green ball. It looked like a weird, oversized seed or a smooth rock from the wasteland. I honestly thought nothing of it. I figured it was just some debris from the fight. So, I just tossed it away over my shoulder."

  He pointed a thumb toward the kitchen doors. "Before I even knew what was happening... this thing was suddenly here. It burst out of the kitchen, launched itself through the air like a cannonball, clamped directly onto my face, and started spewing fire everywhere! I was suffocating!"

  "And apparently," Tanvir added, stepping forward and using his broom like a walking stick, "according to the terrified chefs hiding under the counters... that 'green ball' bounced right through the swinging doors, rolled perfectly across the kitchen floor, and ended up directly inside the main roasting oven."

  Tanvir glared down at the sleeping turtle. "That little demon hatched in the coals, immediately ate my entire plate of premium roasted pork, evaporated three flagons of ale, and killed Bob!"

  Yukari gasped, her hands flying up to cover her mouth. "It killed Bob?!"

  A loud, muffled groan echoed from the far side of the room.

  A thick, beefy hand slowly rose from the pile of splintered oak chairs, offering a weak, trembling thumbs-up.

  "Not dead..." Bob's muffled voice wheezed from beneath the wreckage. "I just... ate way too much... I can't move... hohoho... ugh..."

  Yukari let out a massive sigh of relief, dropping her hands.

  "I see," Harrison nodded sagely, stroking his chin. "That dark green ball must have been its egg. And the intense, ambient heat from the roasting oven must have acted as the perfect incubator, providing the exact necessary spark for its rapid awakening."

  "Kyuui," the baby volcanic turtle chirped softly in its sleep, still happily nuzzling against the warmth of Yukari's hand, completely oblivious to the sheer destruction it had just caused.

  Harrison looked back at Raito, his brow furrowing as a glaringly obvious question remained unanswered.

  "But... how did an unhatched volcanic turtle egg get inside your pants pocket in the first place, Raito?" Harrison asked.

  Raito stared back at him blankly. He patted his empty pockets, looking genuinely, profoundly confused.

  He offered the World's Greatest Adventurer a simple, helpless shrug.

  "No idea, mister."

  "He's an idiot," Yukari sighed, completely unfazed by his lack of awareness. "That is, surprisingly, a very common answer from him."

  Harrison chuckled, rubbing his chin as his sharp adventurer's mind pieced the puzzle together. "Let's see... we were all floating in the ocean waters after the explosion, right? And then we were rescued and hauled back to shore."

  Raito nodded slowly.

  "So, the only logical conclusion," Harrison deduced, "is that when Tur'uga's physical form broke down and dissolved into light, it didn't just vanish entirely. It left behind seeds for the next generation. Eggs. Maybe thousands, maybe tens of thousands of them, scattered directly into the ocean currents. And during the chaotic rescue, one of those tiny, unhatched eggs just happened to get swept right into your open pocket."

  "That... actually makes a lot of sense," Raito admitted, his eyes widening.

  "Then, what should we do with him?" Yukari asked, her silver eyes looking down softly at the sleeping reptile. "This thing is just a baby."

  "Why not bring it with you on your travels?" Harrison suggested with a warm smile. "It certainly seems to like you."

  "Kyuui!" the tiny turtle chirped happily in its sleep, as if affirming the suggestion.

  "No! No, nuh-uh, absolutely not!" Raito violently rejected the idea, waving his arms in an 'X' formation. "Did you not just see what it did to my face?! To my beautiful, flawless face?!"

  He pointed a frantic finger around the ruined dining hall. "And everything else in this room, for that matter! It's a walking hazard!"

  Yukari shot him a perfectly flat, unimpressed glare. "There is absolutely nothing beautiful about your face, idiot. It is exactly as dull and thoroughly average as it has always been. In fact, maybe having Emba permanently attached to your face will finally give you a few extra charisma points."

  "Who is Emba?" Raito asked, offended on multiple levels. "And rude!"

  "Emba is this little guy's name," Yukari declared proudly, gently stroking the turtle's shell. "I named it after 'ember'. Cute, right?"

  "Terrible naming sense, like always," Raito scoffed, rolling his eyes.

  "What was that?!" Yukari’s brow twitched. Without a single second of hesitation, her hand shot out, her fingers pinching down hard on Raito's right cheek.

  "Ow! Hey!" Raito yelped. In immediate retaliation, his hand shot out, pinching Yukari's left cheek right back.

  And just like that, the runaways were locked in a fierce, childish cheek-pinching contest amidst the smoldering ruins of the royal dining hall.

  "Luet gwo!" Raito mumbled, his speech distorted by his stretched cheek.

  "Yew let gwo firwst!" Yukari shot back, her silver eyes glaring daggers as she pulled harder.

  Harrison slowly wheeled his chair backward, distancing himself slightly from the chaotic squabble. He stared at his fierce, untouchable daughter—the cool, collected warrior who had just frozen a mountain's heart—now squabbling like a toddler.

  "Does Lin... act completely different to you, or...?" Harrison whispered out of the corner of his mouth to Zhu.

  Zhu let out a long, long sigh, aggressively rubbing her temples as a headache began to form. "Nope. This is exactly how she is when she is with that boy."

  "Hohoho!" Bob laughed, walking over to join the parents, his colorful robes rustling. He watched the two teenagers with a massive, fond smile. "That is their dynamic, Harrison! When they are with each other, they can be entirely honest. Not just to themselves, but to everyone else as well."

  Bob crossed his thick arms. "Though, they do have a terrible tendency to enter their own little world and completely ignore the rest of us."

  "Their combined brain cell count also drops significantly when paired together," Zhu added dryly.

  "Is that so..." Harrison murmured. He watched Yukari's flushed, genuinely happy face as she bickered with the boy she loved. A soft, profound sense of peace washed over the gaunt adventurer. He simply shrugged. "I really missed a lot, didn't I? Oh well. As long as she is happy."

  In the middle of the intense cheek-pinching standoff, the tiny turtle stirred.

  Emba popped its head out of its shell, blinking its large golden eyes. Seeing an opportunity for exploration, the tiny volcanic turtle began to crawl. It used Yukari's extended arm as a makeshift bridge, its little claws padding softly against her sleeve, until it successfully navigated across the gap and perched itself comfortably onto Raito's shoulder.

  Without missing a beat, Emba opened its tiny beak and started aggressively nibbling on Raito's earlobe.

  "Ow! Hey! That is not food! That is not food!" Raito yelled, trying to shake his shoulder while still maintaining his pinch on Yukari's cheek.

  Yukari let out a bright, unrestrained laugh. "Looks like someone is very eager to come with us!"

  "You took a beast actively trying to eat my flesh as a sign of affection?!" Raito shouted indignantly. "How dare you! You absolute adventure freak!"

  "Mystery idiot!" Yukari shouted back, her competitive spirit flaring.

  Their pinching grew noticeably stronger, their bickering echoing delightfully over the smell of charred curtains and ruined feasts, as the embers of a new, completely chaotic journey began to spark to life.