The night after the Semifinal Matches ended…
A foot-tall boar sneakily made its way to the infirmary where Lux was currently resting. So far, it had evaded
the detection of the Clerics who were busy treating the other contestants that got injured during the tournament.
'I'm sure that it is around here somewhere…,' Cai thought as it slowly wandered around the hallway. 'Oh, I guess I'll visit Little Swordy after I've paid My Daddy a visit.'
After their match, Keane was taken to the intensive care unit. His soul was a bit unstable to begin with, and his fight with Cai had caused what little internal energy he had left to disperse. Even so, his life was in no danger and the High-Cleric said that he would just need a week of rest before he regained his strength.
As the "Little Boar" made its way inside the infirmary, it came across an unusual creature standing in the middle of the hallway.
'What is this?' Cai thought as it approached the jelly-like creature that was looking back at it with an UwU expression on its face.
"Awwww! How adorable!" Cai said as it looked at the baby Slime who looked back up to it with a smile on its face. "Hello, little one."
"Hello!" Eiko returned Cai's greeting.
"What's your name?"
"Eiko!"
"That's a very cute name," Cai commented before lightly patting the baby Slime's head with its hoof, making the latter giggle.
Cai had seen many kinds of Slimes since it belonged to a Nomadic Tribe that migrated on a seasonal basis. At first look, Eiko looked like an ordinary blue slime, but Cai could tell that she wasn't like any of the Slimes it had met in the past.
"Um, do you happen to know where My Daddy's room is?" Cai asked.
"Pa?" Eiko tilted her head to the side.
"Not Pa. My Daddy."
"No." Eiko shook her head. "My Daddy!"
"Eh? We're not talking about Your Daddy," Cai replied. "We're talking about My Daddy."
"Pa!"
"Like I said, not Pa. My Daddy."
The Little Boar and the Baby Slime exchanged words for a bit, but after realizing that the conversation was going nowhere. Cai decided to check the room that Eiko seemed to be guarding.
Seeing that the Little Boar was planning to enter the room, Eiko moved to block its way with a disgruntled look on her face.
"No!" Eiko said as she stood between Cai and the door.
"Um, I'm just going to take a peek." Cai looked down on the baby Slime who seemed to be hell-bent to prevent anyone from entering the room.
"No."
"I'm just going to check who is resting inside. I told you didn't I? I'm looking for My Daddy."
"Not your Daddy!" Eiko stated. "My Daddy!"
"Right, I'm looking for My Daddy."
"No! My Daddy!"
"... Um, I believe we already had this discussion a while back," Cai said with a sigh as it looked at the unmoving baby Slime that was glaring at it. "Fine. I'll go check other rooms. See you later, Eiko."
"Bye bye," Eiko no longer glared at Cai as she watched it leave peacefully. She resumed her duty of guarding "Her Daddy's" room, preventing anyone from sneaking past her.
Inside the room, Iris and Vera were looking after the recovering Lux, who was in deep sleep. The side effects of the Black Lightning that held the power of the Abyss was no joking matter. Despite Lux's strong constitution, the damage he received during his fight with Nero had taken a toll on his body.
There was even a possibility that he wouldn't be able to wake up until a few days later, according to the High-Cleric's words.
"Grandma, tomorrow is the Final Match," Iris said as she caressed the side of Lux's face. "Will he wake up by then?"
Vera, who was looking at the door, didn't answer right away. She had sensed that someone had approached Eiko outside the door and was chatting with the baby Slime.
The room where they were at was a private room, and no one, other than the Clerics assigned to Lux, were allowed to enter this part of the Infirmary. After making sure that her great-granddaughter wasn't in any trouble, she shifted her attention back to the worried Iris, who was busy caressing the side of Lux's face.
"I don't know if he'll wake up tomorrow," Vera replied. "But, I'd like to believe that he will."
"Grandma, how about we turn Cai into pork stew? If we do it right now, no one will notice."
"Hahaha. That will be a bit troublesome. Aren't the two of you close friends? Besides, it will be too suspicious if the contestant that is going to fight in the Final Match suddenly disappears before the match starts."
Iris chuckled as she thought of the shameless Boar who had entered the Tournament without telling her.
In truth, the blue-haired beauty had a nagging feeling that Cai only joined the tournament because of the decree that her father had made. She had briefly mentioned this matter to Cai when she visited the Rowan Tribe to participate in their Annual Festival, where she danced one of their folk songs.
Clearly, the Boar wanted to help Iris and prevent her from getting married to someone she didn't like. This was why the Boar had traveled all the way from its Nomadic Tribe to Barbatos Academy to join the Lionheart Tournament.
"Now that I think about it, Gerhart might have been forced by Cai to join this tournament as well," Iris smiled because she knew what kind of attitude her close friend had.
Cai was the type of person who wouldn't hesitate to use foul means, whether it was bribery or blackmail to get what it wanted.
"The Rowan Tribe and the Elswyth Kingdom might have started a diplomatic dialogue with each other in regards to the incident in the tournament." Vera nodded her head in agreement. "I just hope they settled it peacefully in the end."
Iris sighed for the second time as she looked at her beloved step-brother who had gotten injured for her sake.
"Any news from Wildgarde Stronghold?" Iris asked after a few minutes had passed. "I'm sure that they are still reeling from the shock after discovering how strong Brother is."
This time, it was Vera's turn to chuckle.
After the tournament, Gilbert, Natasha, and Rainer came to find her to ask her what was going on. The only thing that Vera told them was that Lux was cured by a mysterious medicine man and had undergone physical therapy under his tutelage.
Although they were quite doubtful of her story, they didn't pry any further and just accepted the fact that the Half-Elf, who had repeatedly failed to enter Elysium for the past four years of his life, had now defeated Nero, who was the youngest prodigy that belonged to their faction.
"Go and rest, Iris," Vera said as she lightly brushed her granddaughter's hair. "I'll look after Lux to ensure that nothing will happen to him."
"...Un." Iris nodded before lowering her head to give Lux's left cheek a kiss.
A minute later, she left the room to rest. She knew that even if she were to stay, it wouldn't change anything, so, for the time being, she decided to follow her grandma's advice and rest.
"Ma!" Eiko greeted Iris as soon as the latter exited the door.
The young lady picked up the baby Slime and patted her head.
"Good Job in guarding your Papa's room," Iris said softly. "Did anyone suspicious appear?"
Eiko shook her head. For her, Cai wasn't someone suspicious because she had seen the Boar accompany her Papa throughout the duration of the tournament.
"Good." Iris smiled. "Grandma is going to watch over your Papa for a while. We will go back to our room to sleep and watch him fight in the tournament tomorrow."
"Pa!" Eiko nodded.
In truth, Eiko wanted to fight alongside Lux during the tournament, but because Lux had to hide his identity, she was told to stay with Iris in order to prevent anyone from discovering who My Daddy really was.
Five minutes after Iris and Eiko left the room, Cai once again returned to the hallway. It had already checked all the rooms in the infirmary except for the one that Eiko was guarding.
Because of this, the Boar was confident that My Daddy was resting in the last room that she still hadn't checked.
It had even visited Little Swordy's room earlier to check on his condition. The Boar was even kind enough to cover the skinny teenager with a blanket, tucking him properly, to ensure that he had a comfortable sleep before leaving.
When the Boar saw that the baby Slime was no longer guarding the door, it breathed a sigh of relief before sneakily making its way towards it.
When it arrived at its destination, it placed its hoof on the door, and activated an unlocking spell that allowed it to enter any place even though it was locked using Physical and Magical means.
The moment Cai opened the door, it came face to face with an old lady who was looking down on it with a calm expression on her face.
Vera had her hands behind her back, as she stared at the late-night-visitor that had decided to pay her grandson a visit.
Just a glance was enough to tell Cai that the person in front of it was a Ranker, making its baby fats tremble.
"Um… sorry, wrong room," Cai said as it gave the old lady a forced smile before making a hasty retreat with its tail tucked between its legs.
The Boar had a feeling that if it stayed a second longer inside the room, the old lady would slice it to pieces, and add it to the infirmary's menu when morning came.
