Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 823: A Last Rest

It has been a while since Hilma’s attempt to end her own life. Maria often stayed with her, and so did the rest of her group, to ensure that she would not hurt herself. At first, even Regalia wouldn’t leave her side; however, as the cost of Elenaria resumed commerce, she had to return to work with both Mercedes and The Twin following her along.

After everything she’d been through, her recovery had been slow, but sure enough, with each passing day, it felt like things were getting easier to bear. Alas, she could not help but accept that her nephew’s death was brought upon him by himself. The same went for Astra, and if anything, that woman was more to blame for what happened than Regalia.

Even so, the path to recovery was still a long one. Meanwhile, Maria wanted her to be moved from Aestonia–her home–to the kingdom of Athenia. Being in her hometown wasn’t helping Hilma. Hayley felt the same way, and so did the centaurians women looking after her. But her stubbornness had kept the woman trapped in place, and it would still be a while before she moved on to somewhere else, someplace that didn’t remind her of the tragedy that fate had inflicted.

In all of this, Hilma wasn’t the only one struggling. Far away from the nameless city, in the mansion of the queen of Elenaria, Grace too was having some troubles. Her new body, passed down from that Avarice to her in a sense, was not quite what she’d expected it to be. Its movement was much more fluid, and the hum of her engine was too quiet for her liking. The corrosion and the constant changing of oil were no longer required, but even so, her mind always screamed at her to do maintenance as she often did before, even though nothing of the sort was required anymore.

As for the truth about her heart. The heart of a child stuffed inside her chest, from a girl who thought she would be dead anyway. Her master’s attempt to bring her back had failed, but out on the other end, she came. A whole new person with no recollection of that little girl or ever being her. That thought had been keeping away, especially since her current body and her mind refused to cooperate.

’I’ll talk to Master in the morning.’ She thought to herself, letting the topic escape her, even though she knew that once in bed, her mind would wander yet again. But then she heard a subtle whisper. Her eyes opened, and she looked around her room. Dark as it can be, but nobody was there.

"Who was that?" She whispered, trying to focus on what she’d heard.

She could not remember the exact words, but the voice sounded familiar. However, even after focusing her mind for an hour straight, she wasn’t sure what that was, and the strain on her body and mind finally made her fall asleep.

While Grace slipped into slumber, Mono had just finished greasing the lost cog in the wheels of the flying ships. Built like a trident’s head, they had sharp edges all around with a rectangular midsection within which the control lay. Controlled by autonomous automatons who would only listen to her and a few others, the ship could now teleport anywhere as long as the terrain was known and some form of teleporting gem was implanted within that place.

Taking a step back, the queen withdrew her stretchy spring loaded arms and admired the machinery in her greasy, mechanic form. A deep crystal of blue set on its head in the form of an arrow pulsed with an electric hum, waiting for it to be used and teleport everything and everyone to wherever it was needed.

"First ship done..." Folding her hands, she admired the ship that cast a great deal of her kingdom into the shadow. "A few thousand people teleporting at once, gosh, that’s beautiful."

A vessel that could soar through the skies like a dragon and cast soldiers from above through the use of gravity-controlling mechanisms. What else could a warlord need? It was the perfect gift for Raven and his companions.

"Not to mention the enemies will probably shit themselves when they see soldiers raining on them from the skies," letting out a laugh, Mono reached to the back of her head and took off the sweaty bow that had kept her hair tied to the back. Wet as a towel, leaked water, not sweat. A coolant was required for the amount of mechanical work that Mono had done herself, and for the most part, it was her racking head that needed it the most. "Well, time to work on the rest. But..."

As soon as she turned, her body collapsed on the ground and went straight into hibernation. She’s been working tirelessly for weeks, not a wink, so much so that everyone else had left her to her task as she was too much of a hassle to keep up with. In the end, however, both Linkle and Shamisha would come looking for her. Carrying her to one of the rooms in the spire, the queen would sleep. All the while, the other two, as well as Lutz, would be left with the last few adjustments and the cleanup towards the first flying vessel.

While they did their work, plenty of others were busy with tasks to further the cause of the hero’s party. Working on trade, keeping an eye on the situation in Eclanor, as well as working in Athenia in preparation for the eventual war. Darius, Aelin, Moxy, Choux, even Riyanzah and Seraphim, along with their sister Elana and her lover, everyone had a task, and the way things have been moving, another war seemed to be just on the horizon. After all, the party was nearly halfway to the end of the world.

And that meant one and one thing alone, that the journey forward was about to get tougher. So much so that this may be the last time the heroes could ever head back home before having to face the doom of their world, the demon lord. The end of the world and the home kingdom of the god of time both awaited the arrival of the heroes, each with their own ploys, none of them good, much less welcoming to Raven or anyone he knows.