"Although our stay has been very short, our Mistress wanted to tell you that she enjoyed every minute of it," Ari said with a smile. "Thank you for your hospitality and generosity."
"The pleasure is mine," Lux replied. "Tell Valencia that she is welcome to visit the Guild Headquarters anytime. Unfortunately, I am not always around, but I'll leave a message to the Kobolds and let them know to treat you as our VIP guests whenever you visit."
After doing a bit more small talk, Ari finally left to catch up with Ali and her Mistress, Valerie, who was determined to return to the capital city as soon as possible.
A few hours later, Lux went to his room to rest because when morning came, he would take Gerhart and Cethus to the Kingdom of Gweliven to meet his future Guild Secretary, Emma, as well as Collete and the others, whom he hadn't seen for quite some time.
He had delayed making contact with them for as long as he could, but since he was about to go visit another kingdom, he thought that now was the best time to see them again.
—-------
Morning the next day…
"Are the two of you ready to go?" Lux asked his two companions, who seemed very eager to embark on a journey alongside him.
"Although I don't know where we are going, I have a feeling that we'll find plenty of excitement along the way," Gerhart commented.
Cethus only nodded his head and didn't say anything.
After being beaten one-sidedly by Lux, the arrogant Dragon Born had no choice but to admit that the Half-Elf was stronger than him. Because of this, he decided to no longer act high and mighty in front of Lux, and simply nodded his head to affirm his intention of coming with him.
"Accept my invitation," Lux ordered as he looked at Cethus, whom he planned to add to his party.
Several rows of text appeared in front of Cethus, asking him if he wanted to join the "Ars Goetia Party", which he accepted without a second thought.
After confirming that the Dragon Born was a member of his party, Lux pressed his closed fist over his chest and shouted.
"Open! Heaven's Gate!"
A second later, Lux, Gerhart, and Cethus were bathed in white light before disappearing from the lands of Karhsvar Draconis.
High above the sky, a lone High Ranker hovered with her hands behind her back.
This was none other than Cethus' Grandmother, Faustina, who had stayed behind to see her grandson go with the Half-Elf whom she recognized as one of the elite members of the young generation.
Faustina smiled as she muttered a few words to bless her grandson, who had decided to leave their homeland to find his true self.
"May the friendships you make,
Be those which endure,
And all of your gray clouds
Be small ones for sure.
And trusting in Him
To Whom we all pray,
May a song fill your heart,
Every step of the way."
Faustina smiled before disappearing from the skies of the Outer Reaches. She hoped that the next time she saw her grandson, he would no longer be the arrogant Dragon Born, who knew nothing about the world he called the "Lower Realm".
When Lux, Gerhart, and Cethus opened their eyes, they found themselves in the plaza of Leaf Village.
"Dwarves?" Cethus frowned. "And… so many of them?"
Gerhart, who heard Cethus' words, looked at the "little people" with great interest.
"This is the first time I've seen Dwarves," Gerhart commented. "They're shorter than I thought."
Lux could only chuckle after hearing Gerhart's comments. However, he didn't forget to remind the green-haired Half-Elf to not call the Dwarves short to their faces.
"They're so weak," Cethus stated. "What kind of place is this? The strongest I can see in this town are Grade-A Apostles. The majority of people living here aren't even Apostles. Are you sure you didn't come to the wrong place?"
Cethus originally thought that Lux was going to go to a very dangerous place in order to become stronger. However, after seeing that the inhabitants of the town were people that could drop dead if he punched them, the Dragon Born felt cheated.
"This is called a Beginner's Village," Lux replied. "It is the place where those who are aspiring to become Apostles gather."
The Half-Elf then pointed to a group of Dwarves who were chatting happily as they walked. From what he could hear, they were talking about going to the Aspiration Plains to hunt some Horned Rabbits.
"As you can see, those are just Dwarf children," Lux explained. "Once they become Apostles, they will leave this place to move on to the next town."
Cethus, who listened to Lux's explanation from start to end, snorted.
"How primitive," Cethus replied. "But, then again, I wasn't expecting much from Low Landers anyway."
Just as the Half-Elf was about to retort to Cethus' overbearing remark, two little Dwarf girls called out to Lux and Eiko in the distance, which made the Half-Elf stop whatever he was planning to say.
"Laura, Livia," Lux said as soon as he saw Sid's two little sisters, who were learning the art of Alchemy under Grandma Annie.
"Big Brother Lux, have you been well since we last saw each other?" Laura asked as she approached the Half-Elf with a smile.
"Eiko! It has been a while," Livia greeted the Baby Slime who happily jumped into her hands. "How are you?"
"I'm fine!" Eiko replied with a smile.
Laura's and Livia's two Baby Slimes, Cora and Nora, waved at their Fairy Princess and greeted her excitedly.
"Eyah!"
"Eyah!"
Eiko giggled as she greeted them back as well.
"Eyah!"
While the three Slimes were having a nice chat with each other, Lux crouched down to look at the two girls at eye level.
"I've been too busy as of late and only found a bit of time to visit here before I leave again," Lux replied to Laura's question. "Tell me, has anything interesting happened in Leaf Village while I was away?"
Laura and Livia exchanged a glance before nodding their heads.
"The Village Chief has been constantly telling Grandma Annie that it was time to expand and build more houses," Laura answered. "He said that it is time to make Leaf Village a town, and he is asking everyone to help build more houses to accommodate more people."
"A town?" Lux rubbed his chin. 'I guess Sir Cedwyn is really determined to make Leaf Village an important hub for the future. The Old Dwarf had already told Lux about his plan, and the Half-Elf didn't find anything wrong with it.
The only thing that Lux had forbidden was the mention of his Guild's true name publicly because it might cause unwarranted attention, which was very dangerous for them at this point in time.
"What did Grandma Annie say about expanding Leaf Village and making it a town?" Lux inquired.
"Grandma Annie said that it's fine as long as Uncle Cedwyn can handle managing a town," Livia replied. "The other Elders of Leaf Village also like the idea, so they are planning to start building new houses at the end of this month."
Lux nodded his head in understanding. As long as the Village Head, as well as the Elders, all agreed to the expansion, it would mean that Leaf Village would turn into Leaf Town within a few months.
"How is Slime Paradise?" Lux asked again. "Are the Slimes doing well?"
"They are doing extremely well," Laura answered. "There are many new eggs as of late. They are all waiting for their future Masters to hatch them."
Lux smiled after hearing Laura's answer. One of the reasons why he had come to Leaf Village was to get a few eggs that he could bring to his Guild Headquarters in Karshvar Draconis.
Valencia had mentioned in passing that she wanted to have a Baby Slime like Eiko, so Lux decided to bring a few eggs and have her hatch one of them.
Although they hadn't been around each other for very long, Lux felt that Valencia was a good person. Eiko also got along with the plain-looking lady, which meant that she had gotten the Baby Slime's approval.
By now, Gerhart and Cethus had noticed that almost all of the Dwarfs around them were carrying Baby Slimes on their heads or shoulders.
Originally, they thought that Lux was weird for letting Eiko stay on top of his head. However, after seeing the Dwarves around them, they found that it might actually be a very normal thing in the Village they were currently in.
"Let's go to Slime Paradise," Lux stated. "I need to get a few eggs for my friends."
"Sounds like a good idea!" Laura clapped.
"Indeed!" Livia nodded. "Everyone needs a Baby Slime in their lives."
The two little Dwarves then grabbed one of Lux's hands and pulled him in the direction of the Nursery for the Slimes.
Naturally, the Half-Elf didn't resist and allowed the two little girls to pull him along.
Gerhart and Cethus followed behind the Half-Elf while shaking their heads. Clearly, they weren't too impressed with the Baby Slimes, which were very weak beasts in their eyes. For them, Slimes were just pets, who couldn't do anything without their owners.
Well, this kind of mentality toward one of the weakest Monsters in existence was a very normal thing. In fact, the Solaians Dwarves, who had appeared in Leaf Village, had been just like Gerhart and Cethus in the past.
However, after seeing that these Slimes were very different from the ones they knew, they decided to raise one of their own and always took them on their adventures.
If Gerhart and Cethus had seen Eiko in action, the two of them would certainly change their minds about Slimes. Unfortunately for them, the Baby Slime on Lux's head didn't participate in the Half-Elf's duel with the Dragon Born, preventing them from understanding how strong Eiko really was.
If only they knew, perhaps they would have taken this matter seriously and would also have started raising a Slime of their own, which had now become a tradition in Leaf Village.
