After dinner ended, all of them went to the living room to drink some tea and relax.
Iris noticed that Eiko had grown more lively in the short time that the baby Slime had been in Elysium.
"Big Brother, can you let me see Eiko's stats?" Iris asked.
"Sure," Lux replied as he summoned his Soul Book. he then gave Iris permission to only check Eiko's Status Page, while preventing her from seeing the others.
Although he didn't mind sharing his full information to her brocon-stepsister, he wanted to wait until the tournament began.
Only Vera had full access to Lux's Soulbook, because for the Half-Elf, his grandmother who raised him was the most important person in his life.
"Wow! You managed to upgrade Eiko three times?!" Iris exclaimed after seeing Eiko's Personal Page. "Big Brother, thank you for loving our baby! You must have spent a lot of resources on her. I knew that you would be a good father, but I didn't know that you were going to be this good!"
"You exaggerate too much," Lux replied as he casually waved his hand. "This was all due to Eiko's effort. I didn't do much."
Lux didn't know if he should tell Iris that Eiko ranked up three times due to the reward she received from a Hidden Quest.
"Eiko, did you make many friends in Elysium?" Iris asked the baby Slime that was on her lap.
"Ma!" Eiko nodded her head.
"Can you tell me who they are?" Iris asked. She was using speech training on Eiko in order for her to be able to communicate properly after ranking up a few more times. This was something very basic, and all Monster Breeders, Beast Tamers, and similar professions did this to train their monsters at an early stage.
Iris was a Beast Tamer, and her subclass was a Monster Breeder. She specialized in raising monsters as well as taming them to fight for her in battle.
Eiko nodded as she attempted to name the friends she had made in Elysium.
"Sis Colette! Sis Helen! Bro Axel! Bro Andy! Simp Matty!"
Lux chuckled after hearing Eiko say Simp Matty. He gave his baby Slime two thumbs up in his heart for getting Matty's title right.
Iris giggled as she lightly patted the peppy Slime that was jumping up and down on her lap.
The scene was so endearing that Lux and Vera felt as though their hearts were melting.
'I'll ask Iris my questions later,' Lux thought as he picked the cup of tea on the table. 'Eiko is happy, so I'll let them bond for the time being.'
Iris thought that this was a good opportunity to learn more about what Eiko did in Elysium so she decided to ask her more questions.
"You're now very good at talking, Eiko." Iris praised the baby Slime whose smile became wider. "Did you learn many words in Elysium?"
"Ma!"
"You did? Then can you tell me what words you learned?"
Eiko nodded her head happily before opening her mouth to tell Iris what words he learned in Elysium.
"F*cker," Eiko said and looked up at Iris waiting for her praise.
"Pffft! Keho! Keho!"
Lux spat a mouthful of tea that he had just drank after listening to Eiko and coughed repeatedly, while pounding his chest.
Iris tilted her head to the side as she held up the baby Slime in her hands.
"Sorry, Eiko, can you repeat what you said earlier?" Iris inquired. "I didn't hear you properly."
"F*cker." Eiko repeated as she once again looked at Iris in anticipation. She wanted to be praised for learning new words.
The corner of Iris' lips twitched. She lightly squeezed Eiko's cheeks, making the baby Slime giggle.
"Eiko, don't say those words again, okay?" Iris said with a serious expression on her face. "They are bad words. Little girls shouldn't say them."
"Bad?"
"Yes. Bad words. Only bad girls say them. Eiko is a good girl, so she shouldn't say bad words, okay?"
Eiko nodded. "Eiko, good girl!"
"Yes, you are a good girl, so don't say that word again, okay?" Iris said as she patted Eiko's head.
"Un! No bad words!"
"That's right."
Iris then glanced at Lux's direction and gave her beloved stepbrother a glare that said "What have you been teaching our daughter in Elysium?!"
Lux could only raise his hands in surrender. Although he wasn't at fault, he should have made sure that Eiko understood that she shouldn't say such words because she was young.
Iris shifted her attention to the baby Slime in her hands and smiled.
"What are the things that Papa taught you in Elysium?" Iris asked. "He must have taught you a lot of things, right?"
"Un!" Eiko lightly jumped on top of Iris palms.
"Then what did he teach you?"
"Stealing!"
"Excuse me?" Iris blinked as she looked at Eiko in a dumbfounded manner. "Stealing?"
"Un! Stealing things!" Eiko replied. As if thinking that she didn't explain it properly, she added another word, which made Lux feel a strong urge to leave the room. "Steal many things! Steal Here! Steal there! Steal everywhere!"
Vera covered her lips and chuckled. Although she knew that Lux would never really teach Eiko these things, she found her grandson's reaction very funny, and decided to just observe from the side.
"Papa, I think you better start talking," Iris glanced at Lux with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "What are you teaching Eiko in Elysium?"
Lux knew that he needed to correct the misunderstanding so he decided to explain the entire mission to his step-sister.
Vera, who was also very curious about Lux's progress in Elysium, listened patiently to his explanation. She could tell that Lux had somehow gotten stronger, but she didn't know to what extent.
Although she could easily look at his Soul Book to check his stats, she wanted to give her grandson some privacy. She appreciated Lux's love for her, but she wanted to let him know that she trusted him completely.
When Lux's story ended, Iris had a dumbfounded expression on her face. Although she knew that Lux could now go to Elysium, she thought that he was somewhere in the Empire where the Barbatos Academy faction was located.
Since the territory that the Humans controlled was vast, she thought that Lux was just in one of the hundreds of Beginner Villages that could be found in the Human empires. She had no idea that Lux's starting point was in a Dwarven Kingdom, whose location she hadn't heard of.
Iris was very curious and asked more about Leaf Village.
Lux answered her questions, but made sure to omit Colette's intention of getting him to marry her Big Sister. The red-headed teenager knew that if Iris got wind of this, she would definitely want to meet the girl personally, which was currently impossible due to the vast distances that separated their Domains.
"I see, so that explains it," Iris nodded in understanding as she lightly patted Eiko's head. "The resources to raise Eiko to her current rank are enough to bring someone to the Apostle Rank. Since Big Brother still hasn't stepped into that stage, it is impossible for you to collect that many resources to upgrade Eiko three times."
"Right," Lux had no choice but to agree to Iris' deduction because it was true. Eiko's upgrade requirement was enough to bankrupt him three times over. So, he didn't really have the resources to raise her up to her current rank.
Just as Iris was about to ask more questions, a knock was heard on the door.
Vera stood up in order to see who it was, leaving Lux, Iris, and Eiko in the living room. A few minutes later, a beautiful lady entered the living room with an apologetic smile on her face.
When Iris saw the familiar face, she hurriedly stood up and sat beside Lux, burying her head in his chest, and pretended that she didn't see her father's secretary, Alicia.
"Lady Iris, it's time to go back," Alicia said with a sigh. "Your father promised that he would not scold you if you returned with me."
It was also at that moment when a handsome boy with light-brown hair and hazel eyes appeared beside Alicia.
Lux frowned as he gazed at Nero, who was looking at him with a calm expression on his face. The red-headed teenager knew that the handsome boy who liked Iris was doing his best to restrain himself from ridiculing him in front of Iris and Vera, who was Iris' grandmother.
Nero had always been well-behaved in their presence and hid his disdain for Lux, whom he hated to the core.
"Lady Iris, the Hundred-Men Dungeon that our guilds are targeting will open soon," Nero said. "If you don't return in time, the other guilds might take the first clear in Nightmare Mode. We can't allow that to happen. We need your power to ensure that no one will look down on our two guilds' positions in Elysium."
Iris didn't even bother to reply to Nero and only hugged Lux tighter.
The Half-Elf smiled and lightly patted Iris' head, while wrapping his arm around her.
"You can go back," Lux stated. "My Grandma and I will escort Iris back to Barbatos Academy. You can just wait for her in Elysium."
A flash of hatred passed through Nero's eyes, but it disappeared just as quickly. Over the years, he had learned to control his emotions better for the sake of his ambition. He knew that if he said anything to Lux, he would offend Iris and Vera.
In order to prevent that from happening, he decided to not move from where he stood and to keep his silence.
Alicia knew that Nero was aiming to become Iris' fiance and become one of the Top Contenders in the Grand Tournament that would be held in Barbatos Academy. All the eligible members of the young generation that were ages eighteen and below and from the six kingdoms that made up the Alliance would be participating.
So, it was not only Nero who was aiming to become Iris' fiance.
Alexander was one of the strongest human Saints in existence. More than anything else, forming a connection with him would ensure that their own kingdoms would prosper.
This meant that the tournament that was going to be held in Barbatos Academy would be the highlight of the year. It was a once in a lifetime chance for them to form a strong connection with Alexander through his daughter, Iris.
The funny thing was that the championship match would be held on the same day as Iris' birthday. It was the day where she would turn sixteen, and finally be eligible for marriage.
Alexander had planned this tournament very well, even going as far as to announce that Iris would become the fiance of the tournament's champion. Vera opposed this plan, but Alexander was firm in his decision.
This made Iris want to rebel, so she decided to run away from home and hide in her Grandma's house.
Unfortunately, her father didn't have to be a genius to know where she went. He could have gone personally, but since he didn't want to offend his daughter and his mother to the point of no return, he decided to send Alicia as a proxy to bring his daughter home.
Since Nero refused to budge, Lux decided to stand up, and carried Iris to his room in a princess carry.
Eiko felt that her Mama and Papa didn't like Nero, so she looked at him and mouthed the word "F*cker" without giving it any voice.
A crack resounded inside the living room, as Nero clenched his fist. Sparks of lightning pulsed around his fist, but he didn't do anything else. He simply stood and watched Lux take away Iris in his arms.
If looks could kill, the Half-Elf would have already died a thousand times over due to his bone-deep hatred towards the red-headed teenager, who had everything he ever wanted in this life.
