When Luke and Nathalia left the new residence, they saw two huge wagons with objects and furniture in front of the lawn. Some guards were helping to unload the last remaining belongings of the Vasconcelos Mansion, and among them were Oliver and Shiro, who looked much better than the night before.
Ayumi heard the door open and smiled when she saw her daughter and the half-wolf.
"Good afternoon!" She greeted them cheerfully. "Have you guys eaten anything yet? It's almost two o'clock in the afternoon already." She spoke while pointing with a finger upwards.
Unlike the typical summer days, there were a few clouds in the sky, which indicated that autumn was even closer. Soon the days would stop being longer, and the nights would persist for more time.
"Yes, we ate the food Martha prepared before you two disappeared together." Nathalia replied boldly.
The Matriarch immediately blushed, looked back, and realizing that no one had heard the girl; she approached the two adventurers with quick steps. "Luke, did you tell her? I was planning to do that at a planned dinner party." She questioned, a little irritated.
"She saw us..." He replied, a little clumsily.
Even more alarmed than before, Ayumi rolled her eyes to check the half-wolf's version with her own daughter.
"Mom, it's okay... I don't know any better person for you than Luke." The young girl nodded and whispered this time.
Tears pooled in the corners of Ayumi's eyes because she was afraid of revealing the relationship and, for some reason, being hated by Nathalia. Not holding back her own emotions, Ayumi hugged her daughter, emotional. Nathalia returned the hug and began to pet her mother's head.
"So, does that mean I'm Nathalia's stepfather now?" The half-wolf asked, while doing the characteristic thinker's pose with his right hand on his chin.
The two ladies just turned their heads and locked into Luke's eyes, but before they could say anything to him, they heard someone call out to them.
"Ayumi! Nathalia! How are you?" Ceroni Strogueher inquired, approaching from the nearby lawn.
The previous night, Nathalia had gone beyond everyone's expectations, so most of the Stroguehers believed it was finally time for her to be accepted by everyone, and Ceroni was one of those people. For this reason, she finally decided to visit the girl's home.
Luke didn't know this woman, so he preferred to go and help unload the objects from the wagons. He greeted the guards who passed by him carrying heavy objects with difficulty to put in front of the house, as well as Oliver and Shiro, who passed by him carrying boxes.
Then, just when the half-wolf approached the back of the second carriage, he heard whispering coming from the first, which had not yet begun to be unloaded.
"Rock, paper, scissors!" The voices murmured in unison.
Curious, Luke slowly approached and peeked in. There were two boys sitting inside the carriage while the guards sweated from working to unload the heavy furniture. Luke immediately recognized them, because these were the two boys, he saved from the Beherith Demon, Leo and Noah.
"What are you two doing here?" Luke inquired in a purposefully deeper voice to scare them.
"Ahhh! What a scare, bro!" The twins spoke together once again. "Whew... it's just you, Mister Luke."
"Didn't I make it clear that you two should have left?" The half-wolf continued to intimidate them.
Luke already knew that Martha convinced Ayumi to hire them because they were refugees from the big war of Flak Kingdom. However, he didn't expect them to be so lazy as to hide in the wagon that was supposed to be unloading.
"You know what it is... We were hired..." Noah spoke timidly.
The twin brother with the shaved sides of his head, Leo, turned his back to Luke and opened a chest while saying, "Of course, he knows that, Noah... Luke, we were actually playing a game to decide who would show it to you.
So, Leo took out of the chest the Black Egg that the half-wolf was so eager to see again. Interestingly enough, it looked exactly the same appearance as it had a few weeks ago.
"The cute little maid said this was important and told us to guard this Egg with our lives, otherwise we wanted you angry, but he got awkward halfway through..."
Luke picked up the Egg carefully and noticed that indeed externally, everything looked as before, but now a sound could clearly be heard inside the Egg. Luke didn't dare shake it, but he sensed something loose inside the Black Egg.
"Thanks, guys." The half-beast thanked him sincerely. "Now get up. You guys need to stretch those asses out and help unload!"
"Yes, sir!" The twins not only roared, but they also saluted.
With the help of so many people, all the furniture was placed inside the new residence, filling entire empty rooms. Among so many objects in wooden chests and boxes, it was easy to see that practically all of them were of great value, which is why it took almost a month to transport them safely from one city to another.
Just as in Vasconcelos' Mansion, the walls of the new residence were also filled with art paintings and some display weapons.
When all the heavy things had finished being carried, and only a few smaller trunks were left, Luke took the liberty of going to Manilyn's house. He was anxious to hear about the Egg, and if the old man didn't know anything, he would take it to some monster spoils merchant, who might be able to help him.
Once he arrived at the door of the old man's huge manor, he didn't dare go inside as he did when he was with Nathalia. First, he took the door knocker and knocked just one time with moderate force. A few seconds later, Manilyn answered the door.
"Hello half-beast, you can come in." The old man was courteous and opened the door for the half-wolf to enter.
Upon entering, Luke noticed that the house was the same as usual. The same faint musty smell hung over the room and, because of the closed curtains, everything was dimly lit.
"I have heard you have gone beyond what was expected and have been consecrated Champion of the Tournament of Legends." He spoke as he entered his office to the right of the entrance door.
"Thank you for that, but I don't know if I could beat Nebezial if we fought again."
"Maybe... Evolution in battles is most times a momentary thing, so remember to always be yourself, but don't be forever the same... In any case, to what do I owe your visit? Let me guess, you want me to examine that Egg?"
"Y-yes."
Luke was instantly reflexive at the old man's phrase, but he placed the Black Egg on the table in front of him.
Updat𝓮d from freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.co(m)