Chapter 1525 A Slow Morning
"Papa I'm hungry! I want some big pieces of meat! Roasted and with sauce on top!"
"I'm hungry too, belly empty."
Benladra and Kate protested for food as they woke up around the same time as I did. It feels like my whole family is somehow connected to me on a more intrinsic level than I imagined.
They slept the same amount of time I did and finally woke up once I did. Perhaps they shared my exhaustion or something. Well, we did fight together as one with everything we had, so it makes sense, perhaps.
The two had slept in the same bed too, it was big, so they were cuddling with me and their mother and aunts. Although the girls were hungry, they looked as refreshed as we were.
"Alright, alright, don't be so rude with your parents now." Benladann laughed a bit. "You have to say "please" first, remember the magic word, girls. Also, do not demand things, it is not good. Once you grow up, your parents won't be there for everything, right? So you shouldn't be demanding things."
"Awww…" Benladra sighed. "Okay, sorry… Can we have breakfast, please?"
"Sorry…" Kate said. "Breakfast please."
They were so cute we couldn't bring ourselves to be harsh with these sweeties. I laughed and patted their heads, before giving them kisses on their foreheads.
"Alright, alright. Let's cook something then! I feel much more refreshed now, but I'm starving. I could eat a whole mountain." I joked around. "Let's go out, I believe everyone back in the Lizardman Alliance Village should be awake by now."
"Oh right, they asked to go back to their homes, so Ruby let them out of her Divine Realm." Benladann nodded. "It was a bit reckless of them, and just after such a huge battle."
"Well, it just clearly shows how much they care and love their home," I explained. "These are people we won't be able to invite into our Divine Realm no matter how hard we ever try, haha."
"With the harshness of Muspelheim, that jungle is quite a paradise in comparison." Said Miranda, stretching her body. "Anyways! Let's go, I'm starving too, you know?"
"Alright, alright." We quickly changed into some casual clothes after a quick family bath where we all washed together. And then walked out of the Divine Realm.
A lot of our friends were already outside, there seemed to be a large celebratory feast going on, and many of the people of the village were cooking countless dishes, roasting meat from freshly hunted game, laughing, and drinking.
As the sun rose from the horizon, it illuminated the beautiful and rustic jungle village, the laughter of the people, their smiles, and the atmosphere made up for all the efforts we went through.
Scenes like these, even if a bit corny to admit, were what I truly strove for when fighting and growing stronger. It's not like I don't enjoy fighting or growing, but this… It makes all the strength I've harnessed worth it.
And of course, the strength of all my friends. If I hadn't helped them reach the point they are right now, they would have been unable to protect the village until we came back.
"Oh, you're back, Drake and family!" Tyrannus greeted me while spreading his arms and giving me a big hug, he was quite jolly.
"Tyrannus, good morning. You seem a bit drunk, have you guys been drinking all night?" I sighed.
"Eh? Hahaha! No! We just started like three hours ago! We did have a nice rest." Laughed the chief of the village, much more carefree than my two other lizardmen friends Kraxka and Larzak. They were all lizardmen chiefs, but their personalities and cultures differed from one another.
"Alright, you better do." I sighed, patting his huge shoulders. "Tyrannus, how's your family?"
"Oh? They're alright! Wife's been chatting with her friends, they're so happy we rescued them." Laughed Tyrannus. "My daughter is… Well, she's been talking with the sacred beast for a while now."
"Emerald?" I wondered, looking in the distance to find him crouched on the ground while enjoying a pile of colorful fruits, chatting with Amehia, Tyrannus' daughter, who was enjoying meat skewers.
"You were so amazing, Amehia! I never thought your magic could have reached such levels- Even now, there's a barrier around the village constantly protecting it!" Emerald was amazed.
"Hehehe, is that so?" Amehia was very flattered. "You were also really incredible, Emerald. Thank you so much for taking care of Dad and all the warriors! Everyone treated you so badly because they thought you were the one who stole the food, but even after that, you tried to save everyone no matter what… I'm really sorry on their behalf."
"It's fine, I don't mind that. They were just confused!" Emerald smiled. "They treat me nicely now, and that's all that matters."
"Hey Emerald, do you have a girlfriend or something? Like a dragon mate?" Amehia suddenly spoke that out of nowhere.
Damn, this girl's not good at getting to things, huh? Going directly for the straight answer. Emerald is a rather young dragon so I would assume he doesn't have any of that yet.
"Guh…?!" Emerald almost choked due to that weird question, coughing the fruit he was just eating. "N-No, I don't- Cough, I don't have any mate yet… I'm still considered a teen in my dragon years; nobody has really approached me either… I'm kind of a loser, so I doubt anybody would ever be interested in me, haha…"
"E-Eh?! You're not a loser at all!" Amehia quickly refuted his words. "How can you say that?! Y-You're an amazing man, Emerald- I mean, amazing dragon man!"
"H-Huh? Thanks, Amehia…" Emerald felt a bit confused but accepted the praise with a cute smile.
He's very clueless! It makes me frustrated he can't tell she's head-over-heels for him. It would usually be seen as weird for non-dragon people to be attracted to dragons, but my Benladann was, and lizardmen look a lot like dragons superficially.
Even if he had a beak, he was still very reptilian in appearance. He also has this sort of regal atmosphere around him, his colorful feathers make him attractive to the eyes of many too.
"Geez…" Amehia sighed. "That's it…?"
"Eh? What's wrong? Amehia?" Emerald was really confused.
"N-Nothing!" Amehia said flustered. "A-Anyways, look! Drake is over there!" She pointed at me.
"Huh?! MASTER!" Emerald flew towards me as fast as he could.
<nulli>BAM!
And landed over me, almost crushing my entire body in the process. This kid really needs to learn how to better moderate his strength. Also that he doesn't know of a way to transform into a humanoid form is a bit embarrassing.
"Ugh, good morning Emerald!" I dragged him away from me. "Did you have to ruin it like that with her?!"
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Emerald asked me with a confused look in his eyes.
Tyrannus shook his head as if disappointed but didn't say a word.
"We'll talk about this later! You have to stop being so clueless about romance, man." I shrugged. "Anyways, first things first. I'll be teaching you how to take a humanoid form."
"What? Why? I don't need one!" Emerald said proudly.
"You do! If you enter a town of people, you'll stand out a lot if you're just a giant dragon!" I sighed, crossing my arms. "Anyways, just copy this magic circle…"
