Bab 52: Volume 1 Epilogue
"What's that?"
"Some meat from the Razorback Hog I killed today for the guild. I sold the rest at the market. I thought we might have it for dinner."
"...Give it here. Mother let's go start dinner! Follow me!"
"...."
It had been 1 month since that night, and this was still the most Fiona was willing to talk to me. Surprisingly our conversations were the opposite of what I had with most people, and I was the chatty one. She said the bare minimum when interacting with me, but I count that as progress since she said absolutely nothing to me during the first two weeks.
I had ordered Taleena to follow her orders and protect her as a way of making amends. Fiona talked with Taleena as if she was still around, and had changed her words to subtly ensure that orders sounded more like suggestions. I had tried to end this awkward relationship they had, but it ended with her crying and screaming at me.....and eventually I caved.
"I KNOW SHE IS DEAD! I KNOW! I SAW IT WITH MY OWN EYES! YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME! I SAW YOU ENJOYING YOUR MASSACRE WHILE SHE FOUGHT FOR HER LIFE! YOU ARE THE REASON SHE DIED! .....please.....can't you just let me have this?"
She knew very well what the situation was, this was just her way of coping with having to live in a world where her mother was replaced with me. I was worried at first that her mother would finally timeout, but after the battle in the Crimson Grotto I gained a new passive called [𝐄𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞]. If I had to guess it was the reason my minions were still around. I hoped that its name was literal, and that they would never return back to being dead for Fiona's sake.
I had not told Fiona that there was a chance that her mother would just stick around forever though. I didn't want to give her false hope in case I was wrong.
"Mother, please cut those vegetables into slices! This dinner is going to be so good!"
"...."
We had moved into their old house outside of town since coming back. At first I had wanted us to stay in town, where it was safer, but being here seemed to put Fiona at ease. At this point I was just trying to mend the fence between us as best I could, and this was a small concession. Plus with Taleena and "that" guarding her, she was probably safer than being in town.
I glanced out the window toward a heavily shrubbed area. I couldn't see anything, but I could sense it was there staring at the cottage, guarding it. After ensuring Fiona was safe, I had returned to the Crimson Grotto alone and claimed the one corpse that was left there, the Demon. I thought I'd gone mad from mana exhaustion after casting [𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞], but I came prepared this time and was somehow able to down the mana potion I had brought with me.
It was strong in life, but after my reanimation it felt unstoppable. I had taken it on a few quests with me to test out its strength, and it was like a calamity. Nothing in the forest stood a chance against it, really its only downside was that I couldn't take it anywhere due to it being a Demon.
"Mmmmm this smells good. Good job mother!"
"..."
After returning I had considered telling the Adventurer's Guild about everything that happened, but I changed my mind after realizing all the questions they would ask me. Questions that I definitely couldn't answer if I wanted to keep Fiona safe. Anonymity was her friend.
I had started picking up quests regularly from the guild and selling the meat I had hunted to the markets. The meat had not made as much as I had hoped, for some reason there had been an influx of meat in the market as of late, apparently someone brought in a massive amount in one go. Thus the meat that I brought was bought at 1/5 the normal price. If I ever run into this hot shot hunter I'm definitely going to complain until the sun goes down.
"Hmmmm I think the meat needs a little more salt."
"..."
Days like this weren't so bad. While Fiona still barely spoke to me, she was slowly warming up to me....probably.....I hope. However, I was starting to think we couldn't stay here. Based on what the masked woman said there were more like her, which means eventually someone would come looking for Fiona again. With my current strength I did not believe I could protect her. We had fought the scrubs this time, and it nearly killed us all.
I needed to get stronger. After speaking with Brianna, there are apparently labyrinths in large cities, the cities themselves were actually built around them. This was done to contain monsters and harvest the resources. No one knew exactly how they were created, but to destroy one you had to reach the bottom and destroy the core.
The older the labyrinth the stronger it was, and while it was possible to destroy a younger one the legacy ones seemed to be impossible. Even if it were possible, Brianna said no one was willing to do it since the resources from it fed the wealth of a city. I wonder what their plan was for the day the labyrinth became too powerful. Well I guess that isn't my problem anyways.
I looked over at the two who were cooking dinner. I didn't want to put us into any more danger, but to guarantee our safety I needed power. We could hide like hermits, but that didn't guarantee safety. Taleena and Fiona were essentially living alone in the wild, but were still found somehow. I had promised to keep her safe, and the only way I could truly do that was having enough power to sweep away all threats.
I needed power, the only way I knew to obtain power for me was to kill, and kill a lot. The labyrinths apparently spawned monsters endlessly and would drop resources we could sell for our living expenses. Not only that, the guild would issue quests related to the labyrinth that would pay fairly well. The more I thought about it, the more going to a city to farm a labyrinth sounded like a good idea. Afterall, isn't that how most RPGs work?
"...Now there is only one problem."
"Dinner is ready."
"...How do I convince her to leave this place."
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
slm5189
slm5189 Thanks to whoever is reading my story (I honestly expected no one to stick with it for this long). I hope it has been enjoyable. This wraps up Volume 1. I plan on writing ~2 intermissions after this to fill in some blanks and close a few loops, then it is off to the next arc!
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone