Novels2Search

Ep. 520 Reward and Escape

Krenocia says "Ash, aren't you going to open a soulscape so that my sister and I can reward you for destroying the temple?"

"Oh, I thought the exp was the reward. Besides, Seronia is mad at me."

Krenocia says "Stop being a baby and open it!"

"Okay! Ekard, come over here."

Ekard says "Okay, mama!"

After having Ekard sit in my lap I explain to him what the soulscape is and that I will be inviting him into it. After hearing about it he seems to understand and is excited to try it out. I am hoping his cuteness will act as a distraction for Seronia so she doesn't hurt me.

'Create soulscape!'

Once the soulscape is open I invite Ekard in first and spend some time teaching him. When he understands how the place works and how to use his mind to do things I let him loose to play. Then I invite Krenocia and Seronia into the soulscape and wait for them to appear.

Krenocia appears first, but she ignores me and immediately runs after Ekard to pet him. That doesn't really surprise me, Ekard already wrapped her around his finger. When Seronia appears she gives me a cold look before she notices what Krenocia is doing.

Seronia says "Cute!!" and runs over to Krenocia.

As hoped, Ekard's cuteness prevails over Seronia's anger, meaning I am safe. Since Ekard is obviously enjoying the attention I don't interrupt and just let them spoil him. Between his cute little chirps and the way he purrs when petted, Seronia doesn't stand a chance.

"Oh, right. Do either of you know anything about the growth rate of drakes?"

Krenocia says "Not really, no. Why?"

"Because, despite eating his own body weight several times a day, Ekard isn't growing. Both Kechara and Asuna grew like weeds once I started feeding them properly."

Seronia says "So his name is Ekard? As a drake, he will need considerably more to grow than normal. After all, drakes are an evolved species."

"So him growing slowly is normal? I am not doing anything wrong?"

Seronia says "Yes, it is normal. I can sense from his life force that he is perfectly healthy and happy."

"That is a relief! Thank you!"

Ekard says "Mama!"

Ekard flies over and lands in my arms and starts rubbing against me. Seronia, hearing Ekard call me mama starts laughing, she is soon laughing so hard she is holding her sides. At this point I am getting used to being laughed at so I ignore Seronia and pet Ekard.

Krenocia says "So, I guess it's time to give you your reward."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"The quest gave me a hundred thousand experience, I figured that was the reward."

Krenocia says "While that may be the reward from the quest, that has nothing to do with us. We told you we would reward you for each temple destroyed."

Seronia says "As your reward for destroying the second temple we have made an item for you. It is a pouch, but unlike your current pouch it is not for holding things. Instead it creates things."

Krenocia says "In watching you during your travels we noticed how much space in your pouch you had to waste to carry enough food. So we have made you a pouch that creates food."

Seronia says "It has been programmed with all the dishes and drinks available in Yui's tower and Sarah's inn."

Krenocia says "We did that because we noticed you enjoyed the food in those two places the most."

"That sounds amazing! Thank you!"

Seronia says "Here you go!"

"Eh?"

Krenocia says "What's wrong?"

"What's with this appearance?"

Krenocia says "What do you mean?"

"My pouch is leather and rugged looking. It looks like something an adventurer would wear. This looks like a fanny-pack!"

Krenocia says "A what?"

"It's basically a woman's purse on a belt!"

Krenocia says "Ah, that." and looks at Seronia who is laughing.

"Oh, so this is my punishment?"

Seronia says "Yep!"

"Fair enough. I guess it could be worse. So, what's the limit on uses?"

Krenocia says "None. You can feed an army with it. It is a divine item, it will be recharged anytime you pray to one of us."

"Really? Wow! I wonder what would happen if I added sacred power?"

Seronia yells "Don't you dare!!!"

"Relax! I was only kidding!"

Seronia says "You!!" and disappears.

Krenocia says "You really should stop teasing her!"

"I can't help it, she is so cute when she's mad!"

Krenocia says "Aw, does that mean she is your favorite?"

"Nope! I don't have a favorite! I like you both equally!"

'Like I am going to fall for that trap!'

Krenocia says "Are you sure? You don't tease me like that!"

"Seronia is much easier to get a rise out of. You always see through my attempts."

Krenocia says "From how you said that I can't tell if it's a good or bad thing?"

"It's a good thing! It makes you more of a challenge!"

Krenocia says "And you like a challenge?"

"Of course! Without challenges life is too boring!"

Krenocia says "Is that why you are always finding trouble?"

"Yes, I get bored easily. When I get bored I look for interesting things to do."

Krenocia says "Like me?"

Seeing the smile on her face as she says that I feel my face turn beet red. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if blood gushed from my nose just like in an anime. I can't tell if she is teasing me or not and at this point I don't dare to ask.

At that moment as I am panicking and trying to think of something, Ekard proves his intelligence. He leaps from my arms and clumsily glides over into Krenocia's arms.

Ekard says "Aunty?"

Krenocia says "Aw! So cute!"

'I hope they programmed deserts into this pouch, because Ekard just earned a whole bunch!'

After letting Krenocia cuddle and pet Ekard for a few minutes I start telling her goodbye. I use the excuse of wanting to use the pouch to feed Ekard to keep her from objecting too much. In the end, it works and I am able to end the soulscape and return to the real world.

When I open my eyes, next to Ekard in my lap is the new pouch, so I pick it up. Taking a closer look at it I am relieved to find that the belt can be removed from the pouch. The belt is a fancily braided cord and looks far too girly for me to want to wear it.

However, since it is from the goddesses I don't want to just throw it away. So I tie it in a series of knots and then give it to Ekard to play with. Then I work on attaching the new pouch onto my existing belt on the opposite side from my old pouch.

To my intense relief and joy when the pouch attaches to the belt its appearance changes. It now looks like a normal pouch so I am not going to be a laughingstock when I leave here. Now that it is on my belt I stick my hand in to see how it works, as soon as I do a menu appears.

The menu looks just like a restaurant menu except it is floating in front of my eyes and has a ton of pages. Just like the goddesses said, every type of food and drink from the inn and tower is listed on the menu. I quickly find that I can flip pages and make selections just by thinking about them.