Chapter 31.5: The World Holds It’s Breath!

[Queen, we have a problem.] - Overprotective Father

[Well what could possibly be so important as to interrupt my meeting with the Joint Council?] - Queen

[Ma'am it's my father. He's contacted me.] - Overprotective Father

Quickly waving her hand to silence the display in front of her after her aide and brother-in-law interrupted such an important event she nearly fell out of her chair when he disclosed why he had done so. Shakily taking a sip from her hibiscus tea she tried bringing her nerves under control but failed miserably. The last time that old coot had attempted to return to this continent it had nearly caused a war and with the heightened tensions with the Church they would be lucky if they didn't immediately declare a Holy War as it is. Hopefully he was just calling for a father and son talk but she doubted it.

[D-Did he say what he wants?] - Queen

<gulp> [ H-He said that he's coming to pick my daughter up. Apparently he met her during a "training" session and decided that she needs to come to our homeland.] - Overprotective Father

[Shit, that's not good...] - Queen

Nodding slightly at the Queen's uncharacteristic profanity the man gulped again. He'd known that his daughter had been "picked up" by Manic Blade after getting lost during a excursion but he also knew of the man's reputation so he hadn't been too worried since he had left a clear timeline for her return. Of course as a father he'd still been nervous about being out of contact for so long and his wife had been inconsolable when she'd heard. At the time it had been all he could do to stop her from combing the forest herself despite the number of years it had been since she was an active adventurer. But this news from his father changed things in a major way.

Originally he'd held off on discussing his daughter's draconic heritage because he wasn't sure whether she'd actually exhibit any of their traits. Lamia gene's tended to be fairly dominant and on top of that her appearance wasn't any different from a normal one. To top it off her status as a reincarnated made it basically impossible to determine if she had inherited his blood, at least for someone of his level, but his father was a completely different story.

His father had never truly approved of him getting married and having a child so soon, especially when, according to Dragon society he wasn't even an adult yet. Going ahead with it regardless of his disappointment had been a point of contention for years and though they hadn't seen each other in person in years they still hadn't been able to overcome the disagreement. He hadn't been sure how his father would treat his daughter when they eventually met but from his brief conversation with him he'd been moderately surprised to find that he was actually quite fond of her already and they'd spent most of the first part of the call bragging about her back and forth.

Unfortunately that tone had shifted when his father had let him know, in no uncertain terms, that he was coming to get his granddaughter. He'd mentioned something about not being able to trust a whelp to raise such a powerful youngling. And after arguing with him for nearly an hour he'd been told to prepare for his arrival whether he liked it or not.

[I agree. Luckily our last report from my brother, your husband, had our father in the Cape of Broken Stones so we have nearly 3 years before he can make it all the way here. In fact he should be arriving right before our expected conflict with the Church so this may actually be a boon to our plans if we maneuver it correctly.] - Overprotective Father

[I see what you mean, if we are going to war regardless it would be better to remove the target before the conflict begins. How long till the Church gets wind of his return? You would know his power better than I.] - Queen

[Given the power difference they won't realize that he's even on his way until he's already nearly arrived, unless he decides to make a flashy entrance again... Big Brother told me that the last time he made his way to this continent his pressure caused 3 different volcanoes to erupt. The locals apparently thought it was the end of the world.] - Overprotective Father

[I... see? My husband unfortunately didn't talk very much about his past when he was still here and since this was all long before my time I'm glad that one of us has contact with him at least.] - Queen

[Y-Yeah... Do you want me to have him call you as well?] - Overprotective Father

Awkwardly squirming in the Queen's gaze as she stared at him with a mixture of jealousy and sadness he proposed having his brother contact her directly for what must have been the hundredth time only for her to shake her head like always. This topic always made him uncomfortable because of his brother leaving the Queen without even telling her why and he'd never been able to get a straight answer out of him any of the times he'd asked so eventually he stopped asking. What made it worse was that the Queen, despite logically knowing he wasn't planning on coming back, was still waiting on the off chance that he would return. They'd even made a excuse about him going on a long journey to placate the noble's and stop any attempt to approach her with marriage.

[Ahem! A-Anyways I believe that we can use this to our advantage if we play our cards right and my daughter will be safer with my father than with any other being on this planet. Even the god's hesitate to anger my father.] - Overprotective Father

Nodding absentmindedly as the Queen once more turned to the screen showing two Demi's, a lion and a fox, arguing with each other the man took the hint that she wanted to be left alone. Leaving the Queen to her meeting he quickly headed to meet with his wife and let her know of the news about their daughter. He'd gotten an update on her circumstances from his father and wanted to let her know as soon as possible.

It had been several hours since Gil's pupil had entered her subconscious realm with the rune and although he had expected her to be finished at this point it hadn't been long enough to be worrying yet. If all else failed he could force himself into her dream and find her but that was a last resort since his own Mental Palace wasn't strong enough to interact with other realms without damage. He wasn't sure how large her inner realm would be, if she had one, but it couldn't be that large since her power wasn't at the level that would grow such a world.

Granted he only knew a little about the world inside his mind and that had been learned through trial and error rather than actual instruction but from his own experience he knew that it wasn't truly dangerous inside that place no matter how much it looked to be. And if he could teach her to purposefully enter that mindscape on command she could use it for a massive boost in training time without consequence.

Pulling himself out of his introspection he began setting up a fire for their dinner, watching the meditating young lamia all the while.

[And you're sure she's under our control? I don't want her breaking free when we least expect it.] - Slimy Priest

[Oh I don't believe you have to worry about that, my curse only needs to be filled with mana every 3 days and she'll be like a puppet in your hands.] - Dark-Hooded Figure

Wringing his hands nervously the priest glared at the offensive man before him. While the Church often used the secretive merchant's services he'd never trusted anyone that refused to show their face. One never knew when they were dealing with hellspawn afterall. Nodding at the man's assurance that their control over the Hero wouldn't wane with time he smiled, he had been the one to propose using mind control on Summoned Heroes after their last incident and was more than pleased to see that his plan had worked.

They still needed to train their weapon before she could be useful but with her being their puppet it wouldn't take more than 2-3 years at the most before her power was ready to be unleashed against their enemies. Laughing slimily as he walked out of his office he didn't notice the Hooded Merchant watching him with a sadistic smile on his face before his form shifted into a rat and vanished into the wall.