Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 825: What Took You So Long?

The dark sandy beaches of Elenaris awaited his arrival. Quiet with but the voice of Helga’s daughters training with swords and shields, and a flick of their magic. It has been months since they’d begun, and already their valkyrian blood was showing. Keeping each other one misstep away from disarmament, their eyes dug into each other and followed every move, every flourish, and the twitch of their wings along with every draconic breath.

One could command fire, the other reigned over the element of ice. Only recently, the girls had broken through the mould of a sheltered life, and yet their bodies danced to the tune of war naturally. Helga was as proud as she was concerned. A flicker of her husband, she could see in their mannerism, the command of magic they’d gotten from him and through her, the fierce command of armaments.

"Seems like they will easily overthrow you as the strongest adventurer in town, huh?" Walking up to her, Regalia waved at the valkyrie.

Nodding back, Helga quickly turned her attention back to her daughters. Getting closer in the meantime, Regalia stood beside her and spoke in almost a whisper.

"You know, our kingdom isn’t that fond of dragons." Eyeing Helga’s daughters, the demi-wolf dug her nails into her sides. "Don’t take it personally, but our feud with them goes back centuries. I wouldn’t advise them to keep their wings out for everyone to see."

"Is that a threat, little wolf?"

"Just a word of advice."

The crack of their fingers as they balled into fists echoed amidst the silence. Neither was at fault, but that didn’t mean that they had to like it.

"How did their father even survive anyway?" Glancing sideways at Helga while the rest of her crew, including the twin and Mercedes, were taking cargo off the ships, Regalia pried further. "What kind of dragon was he? Can’t be a steel dragon, Mono turned them into automatons after all."

"Another word..." Turning her head, Helga pursed her lips in an attempt to hold herself back. "Another word and I’ll turn you to ash."

"Whatever..." Shrugging her shoulders, Regalia looked away.

Coincidentally, that’s exactly when a beam of bright blue light emerged beside them. As it quickly subsided, Raven and his party, along with two new faces, appeared in front of them. A spark of excitement burst in their heart, but upon noticing the new arrivals holding up an umbrella over the wheelchair bound girl, their curiosity took over instead.

"Took you long enough," Helga said, her eyes still focused on Ditsy.

"If only you knew what went on," Raven replied, his voice barely audible.

"Who are these two?" Walking up to the group, Regalia finally turned her eyes to Raven. "Picked up more girls? You promised me my pups so first so as long as you don’t forget that, I don’t mind who you bring."

"Wh-what is she talking about?" Garcia muttered to herself, not having a clue as to what was going on.

"I’ll show you, come here." Gesturing for the two to hold his hand, Raven beckoned them closer. Walking up to him, they took him up on the offer and saw everything that happened at Inktaus through his memories. Sparing them the terror of Nerva for now, he got them up to speed on where they stood in terms of progress. "That should answer your questions."

"A vampire?" Squinting her eyes, Helga glanced over to the vampiress in the chair. "Who would’ve known that even your kind can be innocent?"

"Haha~ I get that all the time. I’m used to being judged, you’re fine," Ditsy replied, laughing things off.

"Helga," calling her name, Raven got her attention again. "We’re gonna take these two to the dark castle. I want her to meet Mono, and I also have some business with Linkle. We will meet you guys in a bit if that’s okay."

"What’s the rush?" Squinting her eyes, Helga urged the group to follow her. "Come with me first. I’ll get you guys something warm to drink. Besides, I wanna talk to you in private."

"In private, huh?" Shooting a sideways glance at Helga, Regalia bumped her shoulder against hers. "You still have two daughters to make, don’t try to race me on that front, Miss Valkyrie."

"A valkyrie?" Once again confused by what was going on, especially the dark terrain on which they stood, Garcia was at a loss. And so was Ditsy, but she didn’t have the strength to talk too much. "What did you guys bring us to?"

Looking at Raven, she awaited an answer.

"It’s better than Inktaus, trust me, in fact..." Placing his hand on Ditsy’s shoulder, Raven added. "The city is cast in shadow by a sky-high plateau; you won’t need an umbrella to walk around during the day. How about that?"

A faint smile took over the vampiress’s lips. To walk freely any time of the day, it was almost the perfect city for her to live in. Making it seem even better was what Liliyana said next.

"There’s plenty of demi-humans and beasts living here, so even I don’t get stared at that much. You’re nearly identical to a human, so you don’t have to worry about any sort of discrimination either."

"That does remind me of something," glancing over at Raven’s back, Amedith joined the conversation as well. "Doesn’t Linkle have a vampire undead as a servant? Van–if I remember right, our first major fight against a monster."

"T-this is moving a little too fast for me," Garcia murmured, already feeling a little overwhelmed.

Ditsy, on the other hand, was just ready to enjoy the ride, whatever may come her way.

"Alright, enough talk, let’s get to my house before I drag your asses there." Snapping her fingers, Helga ordered everyone around. And although some eyes were rolled and others didn’t understand what was going on, once Raven began to follow her lead, everyone naturally followed.

In the meantime, her daughters were told to continue practicing. Left not just in Mercedes’ care but also that of Mono’s clone with a mana bomb in her chest, Helga wasn’t exactly confident about their safety, but it was a lesson she was trying to teach herself. Allowing them to be independent lest her overbearing nature cripple them.

Besides, with what she had planned with Raven, it was best that her daughters weren’t present in their house.