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A few hours after bringing Nidhogg and Ivy back to the Igni Kingdom, Veronica and Ervas assembled a meeting inside the castle with all of their family, which included the chiefs of each tribe present in the Kingdom, now with the new addition of the nervous Krakenusa, who could barely fit inside the castle, which was not made for such a huge sized being such as her that couldn't lower her size like Nidhogg, Ivy, and the others could.
?
"Ah… this place feels quite tight… hehe" she laughed nervously, as she barely fitted her large and spherical body inside the room.
Ervas and Veronica glanced at her struggle as they decided in expanding the castle, making it more comfortable for even bigger sized people to enter with more ease.
"We'll have to remodel the castle… let's make it more spacious, like a palace," said Ervas.
"Indeed, making it resemble the buildings at Earth might have been a bad idea, a more conventional and classic palace would do for those as big as Krakenusa-chan," said Veronica while nodding in agreement.
"Anyways, what did you two wanted to talk about today?" asked Ismene with a curious expression. Although she was in a lower position than Ervas and Veronica, she most of the time treated them casually when she was not in front of other people aside from the usual family members. And most of the family members did so as well, Ervas and Veronica did not mind at all, and often disliked formalities such as being called Lords.
"Well, it's an important issue, so we called all of you to discuss it in detail," said Ervas.
"Indeed, there are many topics we wanted to discuss, in fact. One of them was… about your family, Gaius-kun" said Veronica, pointing at the calm Gaius who was glancing at the conversations, startling him for a bit. He would usually join in but would remain silent most of the time, as he did not feel like he could bring much to the discussions and conversations. However, despite it all, he was considered as Ervas and Veronica's family and felt quite honored by that.
"Huh? I? Did I do something? I apologize on behalf-" asked Gaius with a bit of concern… he was worried if something he had said or done before might have offended someone.
"Wait! Do not apologize, you silly Bearman! You have not done anything bad, you are actually too calm sometimes. We wanted to ask you about your tribe, actually" said Veronica.
"Yeah, your tribe lives in the mountains near the Devil Forest, right? How is their living quality? Are there other tribes around them? Do you know anything else from those places such as dungeons? We have explored the areas with our Undead Bugs and some of Veronica's Clones, but the mountains are too many and are all filled with dense forests of similar quality to the Devil Forest, so they're packed with monsters, perhaps even stronger than these here," said Ervas.
"Oh, right! Were you considering coming to my tribe? I remember to have the promise to show it to you… well, the thing is that… err, I ran away from it and my relationship with the people there is… quite bad…" said Gaius while twitching his bear ears.
"Wait, what? Tell me the details! I did not know you had such past, Gaius" asked Alesia, the ghoul tribe chief.
"Would you mind if you could share what happened there?" asked Ervas.
"We'll keep it as a secret within our group," said Veronica with a reassuring and gentle smile.
Gaius could not simply resist the cuteness of Ervas polite words nor Veronica's charming smile, so he sighed as he decided to speak.
"Right… Well, it all started because I wanted to be a chef! Yes, I have always wanted to be a chef, it is my passion, the culinary path!" said Gaius as he suddenly changed his calm attitude, becoming passionate about the subject of most interest for him.
"I see, it makes sense, you're good at cooking after all," said Ervas.
"He's the best chef in the Kingdom, actually," said Jason while nodding, as he recalled the delicious dishes that Gaius prepares every day, which he did with great vigor since he acquired his new prosthetic limbs and managed to shape them better into smaller claws for the handle of ingredients.
"That is something we all agree!" said Leonidas while crossing his arms, he considered Gaius not only a good warrior but also a splendid chef.
"But then why would they expel you from the tribe, Uncle Gaius? You're so talented!" said Pekorina.
"That's… That is because my tribe is all about fighting, not cooking… We are the Bear Beast-kin, we take pride in fighting, in strengthening our bodies through exercise and trials, in hunting and sharping our senses and techniques… we are a tribe of warriors. Perhaps even more oriented at fighting than the Ghouls themselves" said Gaius.
"What?! Really? But you're so calm!" said Anna.
"I've never spoken with Bear-kin before aside from Gaius, so this is some information we didn't know about," said Ervas.
"Indeed, this world is truly filled with different cultures, it is a rich world in diversity," said Veronica.
"Well, as I said because the bear-kin is all about… well, fighting. When I told my father that I liked to cook, that I liked to hunt for better and tastier ingredients, and that I liked to bring happiness to people through what I prepared, he got all angry over it and decided to fight me, if I were to win, I could do whatever I wanted, and if I lost, I would have to go back to being a warrior while forgetting about cooking…" said Gaius.
"And what did happen?" asked Veronica.
"Nothing. I was not going to fight my father, he is a monster. He is the strongest bear-kin in the tribe, he would have surely won no matter how hard I tried. So what do you think I did? I just ran away, and I assume that everyone must be angry at me for being a coward. But I do not really care," said Gaius as he crossed his arms.
"Is that so?" asked Pekorina in a bit of disbelief over the shameless of Gaius acts… but they did make sense, it was better to simply run away anyways.
"Damn! You scammed me! I thought there would be some good fight scene or something…" said Veronica.
"It was a good decision, Gaius. I would have done the same… well, not really" said Ervas.
"What do you mean you would but not really, Ervas?!" asked Jason.
"Nothing… Nothing… Never mind, father…" said Ervas with a mild smile.
"Anyways, I am sure that Ervas-sama and Veronica-sama can get along with the old man and my brethren, just show them your strength and they will… most likely obey you without much trouble, to be honest. If Humans are really coming here, the mountains might be safer to an extent, but there are way too many monsters there, and bringing them here might increase their quality of life. Though, I am not meeting my father, no way" said Gaius while waving his head.
"Well, that's fine-" muttered Leonidas, as he was interrupted by Veronica.
"No, that's not fine! You gotta make up with your papa, Gaius!" said Veronica.
"What?! I will not! He is a stubborn old man! Veronica-sama, I respect you and I will be loyal to you until my very death… but I cannot do this…" said Gaius.
"Oh, yeah. Maybe it would be nice if you could try at least. You are not losing anything. We can also support you from the sides" said Ervas as he gave Gaius a thumbs up with his bony claws.
"Ervas-sama, why are you so confident?! You two have never met that old man! He is too stubborn! He is stubbornness incarnated! Its… It is impossible! Ever since mother died, he's been like an idiot obsessed with everyone in the tribe to grow strong no matter what!" said Gaius.
"Your mother…?" asked Veronica.
"Ah… Well yeah, eight years ago, my mother died while hunting for food… Since then, the father has been obsessed with everyone in the tribe to grow strong enough so we will never die to monsters again, quite stupid, isn't it? Why doesn't he just move away from such a dangerous place as the mountains?" asked Gaius.
"It must have been quite hard for you…" said Veronica.
"Hm? Ah, well, it happened many years ago, I have gotten over it already, I know that my mother is in a better place now looking over me. But my father has not gotten over it nor has attained peace of heart yet, so he's all crazy and stubborn" said Gaius.
"It must be very hard… I currently don't know how my wife is doing… but if I were to know… that something happened to her… I would… Well, I wouldn't be able to get over it easily…" said Jason.
"Yeah! Have you thought about just talking things out with him? Come on, we'll help you" said Veronica.
"Indeed, we can assist you with our nice jokes," said Ervas.
"Since when have you said jokes, Ervas-sama?" asked Gaius.
"I am planning some good ones. I am trying to change into a new leaf, so I do not want to give the impression that I am serious all the time… anyways, we are talking about you, don't change the topic, Gaius" said Ervas.
"Ah! Well… if you insist so much! Okay, fine! I will… try! Once! Only once!" said Gaius.
"Yay!" said Veronica while clapping.
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