RD 5 Ch 52 - END

“Well, I, for one, am excited to eat Gloria’s cooking,” my mother said as I entered the room.

Since she’d recovered from her poisoning and my father had reentered our lives, she had been prickly at best. As much as she had done for me in my childhood, hiding me from those who would have killed me, my mother was still raised quite harshly amongst the clans, and it showed.

Not that my father was any better. Thorin towered next to her, quietly sitting with his hands folded in his lap as if he had recently been scolded. He was more norse giant than man and it was comical how domesticated my mother had made him.

“Hello, everyone,” I said, coming in and feeling chipper, even though I hadn’t been expecting either of them for the dinner.

“I’m almost done,” Gloria said, coming around the side with a red dutch oven and placing it on the table before walking back into the kitchen and coming out with a second, third, and even a fourth, my eyes growing wider with each one. “You eat like you are starved,” she said, watching my reaction. “If I’m going to cook you dinner, I need to cook plenty.”

“Well then, I’m excited for it,” I said, what I was sure was the correct answer. I gave her a big smile and earned one from Gloria in turn.

“So, Nyx was already telling me that you went out to find someone for inscriptions. Aren’t those your specialty?” my mother asked in a judgmental tone that only a mother could pull off.

“He’s got an insane skill from his class,” I explained waving her criticism away. “He can directly cheat many of the rules that the rest of us have to follow.”

“Cheating never works,” my father grumbled, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Well, in this case, he’s only cheating the system, so I guess he didn’t get the memo. Either way, with some work, hopefully we’ll get some teleportation up and running. I would love to be able to travel between our different groups much faster. Not to mention, we can tuck a few away elsewhere in the world, so that all of us can move around that much quicker.” I added.

My father nodded at that. “Transportation is important, especially if you’re going to fight a war.”

My mother pursed her lips but said nothing to his comment. “It smells wonderful. What is it?” she asked instead, glancing up at Gloria and very pointedly changing the subject.

Gloria excitedly pulled the lid off the pots. “Didn’t want to only have one option, so we’ve got a baked beef stroganoff in two of these, and then a chicken casserole with broccoli and cheese in the other.” She motioned to the pots with pride and a stained apron for her efforts. It was a very different look than she normally wore with spotless designer clothes.

I raised an eyebrow, silently asking Gloria when she became so domestic, only for the purple-haired woman to put her hands on her hips and stare back at me. “What, were you expecting something fancier?” She challenged when she misread my expression.

“Oh no, this is perfect.” I hurried with the correct answer. “Just a little surprise to see you wearing an apron.”

Gloria blushed. “I just wanted to try it from time to time. Besides, family is important, and making a good impression on family is just as important.”

Those words made the situation make far more sense to me. The mobster daughter had a clear reason to put an emphasis on family. That carried over into our relationship, it seemed.

“Well, thank you for dinner,” I said, as the rest of the group slowly moved in to join us. Circe and Merlin came in together, and my mother nodded along at both of them. Simone and Nyx were already there with me, and finally Princess Almeria slipped her way in at the very end. I thought the group was done, at least for a family dinner.

“I see the group grows larger,” my mother said judgmentally, only for Thorin to slap the table and laugh overtop her words.

“Our boy’s guaranteeing you a large number of grandchildren. What isn’t to be happy about, dear?” He asked.

“Children.” Almeria’s face went bright red. Sometimes I couldn’t tell if she was sheltered or a seasoned veteran. I suppose it changed with the topic easily enough.

“There won’t be children any time soon. Certainly not until we can finish the first Demon War.” I added the context for timing to help her relax a little bit.

“All right, back to the war.” My mother said it almost as if I were a child playing games that she found distasteful, though I didn’t need to rush forward and defend myself.

“It’ll come to a head soon. But once everyone gets dragged into the fight, perhaps we can end it far sooner than we did in my last life. We actually already have the recipe to end it far sooner than I expected.” I glanced at myself and the others sitting around the table that now had the monarch titles. In my last life it took three to defeat the Demon King, and we already had that, with two to spare.

“Yes, yes.” My mother waved my words away. “I care less about that and more about the new face.” She shifted to the princess with all of the direct attention that a predator would have when sighting its prey.

I looked to Simone for help, but the Saintess just lightly shook her head and smiled, happily ignoring what was happening. Apparently this was not her battle or she was leaving the princess to defend herself.

“Lovely to meet you, Almeria.” My mother skipped over any title and smiled at the woman before scooping out some of the casserole for her and, in the process, cornering her.

Meanwhile, I took a seat flanked by Nyx and Gloria. Of course, as the chef of the night, I felt some responsibility to give Gloria more attention than she might otherwise get in this crowd and no one denied Nyx a thing.

“I heard you had an eventful trip, and that Mr. and Mrs. Ducky have managed to be relocated back to the Citadel,” Gloria made idle conversation.

I almost did a double take at the name and that Kathy had adopted it too, but decided that was an issue for later.

“Yes. Before I can do much else, I need to feel more comfortable with our security. That’s where Ricky comes in, and I’ll spend some time with him improving this fortress and the other locations. Now that I’ve been forced to rank up my class, not to mention I’ve nearly leveled myself out of the tournament, I need to work on using the SS-grade blood ink to improve everything.”

Gloria nodded as if that statement was obvious, but then she paused. “At any point, will this slow down?”

I shrugged. “Slow is a relative term,” I offered noncommittally, earning a grimace from Gloria in turn.

I clearly needed to try that answer again. “It’s not that it’ll always be this hectic, but with everything in play at the moment, I don’t see anything slowing down in the near future, even if we win this fight. As soon as the world realizes demons are gone, people will turn on each other. 

“The human lust for power is, unfortunately, never ending. It really only takes one here and there to crave more power than they have to set in motion the next tragedy.” Gloria nodded along, familiar with power struggles in the mob.

“But that’s what we’re creating a bulwark against, is it not?” I smiled at her, and several others at the table that had listened in.

I quickly realized I was bringing down the mood and decided to raise it back up. “But enough of that. How’s everyone else’s day going? Mom, Dad, what are you up to?”

I asked the question as if I were just a boy coming home from his day and having a family conversation.

“Things are good.” Thorin smiled. “There are many people around the fortress that need the rust knocked off their weapons. But once I’ve gotten some of those old mobsters loosened up, they have very good instincts when it comes to fighting.”

Thorin rubbed his chin “makes me miss my clan a little.”

I grimaced at that. After Vidar’s move, I would have to make a move on the Borrson clan myself. Something like that couldn’t go unanswered.

“But if you are bringing home so many ladies, perhaps we’ll have a clan ourselves in no time. Don’t worry.” Thorin put his hand on my mother’s shoulder. “She’ll be around to help raise all of them, so just feel free to pump them out. If nothing else, it’ll keep her busy.”

The slow, dangerous turn of my mother’s head toward Thorin sent chills up my spine.

“Well, it was wonderful of you to offer, Mother,” I said, ignoring the daggers she was glaring at my father.

Nyx giggled while her serpents were looking every which way trying to soak in all of the conversations. “This feels like an actual family dinner.” Her words disarmed my mother, and she turned to flash a smile.

“Of course. We are a family after all, are we not?” She looked pointedly at me.

“Something like that. Though there’s not a whole lot of officiating that’s happened.” I cleared my throat as every woman in the room suddenly pivoted to me, the same thought in their head. Marriage was not something I had even thought about until I said that, it just wasn’t really done beyond trading of precious items as a way to solidify your feelings and giving them something to remember you by when you weren’t present.

Luckily I was saved as the door opened up and Winnie stepped through, nearly dragging Venthra behind her. “Sorry we’re late. I caught this one skulking in the hall and decided just to bring her in with me.” Winnie stepped in, and there was a different air about her. She was far more relaxed than the last time I saw her.

Though, I shot Simone a questioning glance as to why the two of them were here now, only for Simone to become very interested in a conversation with Merlin.

“The more the merrier. Isn’t that right, dear?” Thorin said quickly.

But to my surprise, my mother agreed. She didn’t say that directly, but she also moved on to a new topic. Which was as close to acceptance as anyone was going to get from her. “You are Winnie?” My mother said it like it was a question, but clearly she knew the woman before her.

“That would be correct, ma’am,” Winnie said.

My eyes nearly bugged out at how polite she was being. The Winnie I knew was far rougher around the edges than the one that stood in front of me now. She would ice out most people that tried to talk to her. I was wondering if I was going to start having to check for doppelgangers at this rate.

“Good,” my mother said after a moment of appraising her. “I’ve heard much about you.”

“Only good, I hope,” Winnie said with a nervous chuckle. “And this is Venthra. She was adopted into the Borrson clan before, well, before Thorin’s nephew tried to use her to kill some people and Bran didn’t like it.” She waved a hand at the overly brief summary that left out far more than it told.

“Wonderful to see you as well, Venthra. I wasn’t aware the numbers had boomed so high.” Elle stated.

“Only four of them are actually part of the harem,” Simone said quickly. “The others are more like bringing your girlfriend to meet the parents for the first time. They are here to get the Elle Heros seal of approval to see if they stick around or they need to go.” Simone’s very inaccurate comparison made my mother’s eyes light up.

“Ah, in that case, please join us, Winnie, Venthra.” She then did a quick head count of the rest. “Princess, it seems you’re relatively new.”

I knew exactly what my mother was doing. “Mother, we’re just here for dinner, please.”

“You’re playing your role perfectly,” Nyx whispered from my left, only for Gloria to whisper around me.

“I’m just happy that I seem to have gotten on the inside already. Hopefully I don’t have to cook again.”

My mother was then squinting between the ladies, trying to figure out who were the four already in, and which four were still waiting on her approval.

Circe cleared her throat, getting all our attention. “Mother, it is a pleasure to meet you again, though we’ve spent plenty of time together while Bran was in the vault,” Circe said. “However, during the Trial of Kings, my Bran and I found some solace in each other.”

I watched my mother, curious what her reaction would be. But a giant grin spread across her face. Apparently despite having some issues with her previous clan, which Circe was a leader within, my mother still held her in high regard. I wondered if growing up in the Heros clan had given my mother some level of deference for Circe.

“Of course, Circe. As always, it is a pleasure to have you join us.” My mother smiled and raised a glass in toast. “To new family.”

“To new family.” Everyone quickly raised their glasses and a few clinked before taking a drink.

Circe smiled in victory as my mother’s eyes then rested quickly on Almeria, then Merlin, followed by Winnie and Vyntra.

“Perfect, it all makes sense,” my mother said, smiling at all eight of them.

And my father just couldn’t seem to stay quiet. He let out a heavy chuckle that then caused the smile to slip from my mother’s face.

“And what is so funny, dear?” My mother turned.

“Nothing,” Thorin said quickly. “That was just a happy chuckle to be surrounded by so much family. Now you must be tired,” he said to Winnie. “Come sit, join the feast. I’ve heard of your sect before, and of course, now that I have your history, you came from the Heavenly Fist. Which is a solid commendation.”

Winnie nodded with a smug smile. “Yes, but that was long ago. I’ve refined myself and my sect for quite some time in its own specialties. Now Bran, would you pass some of that?” She pointed at the chicken casserole. “It smells wonderful. And while you’re at it, I’d love for you to regale us with your latest exploits.”

Winnie sat at the table smoothly, though with an air I would expect from someone joining a sticky diplomatic negotiation rather than a family dinner.

“Well, I wouldn’t say it was too dramatic, just picked up a valuable craftsman and killed a demonic beast horde that nearly wiped a town off the map. Oh and I got a few indications that demons were on the move around the area and in the nearby sect.” I summarized.

“Are we going to kill them next?” Thorin asked as if he was asking if I wanted another glass of water.

“No. I don’t want to set off waves before the tournament. It’s certain that they’ll try and use the tournament and the gathering of so many players in the global game for their own end. I would rather focus on hemming off those risks and ally humanity against the demons than get a quick win that might rile up the demons or worse cause the tournament to collapse after we attack one of the sects.” I explained my logic.

“Patience.” Almeria nodded along. “One bite now is not worth the whole fish later.” She intoned.

The rest of the room agreed with her dollop of wisdom.

“Then we need to be stronger. Which is why I was in the hallway, wondering if I could come in to speak to you about the map.” Venthra spoke up and shot a glare at Winnie.

“Oh? Map?” I asked.

The assassin handed Simone something out of her spatial ring, the second Simone unfurled it on the table people pitched in and used their plates to hold it down.

“I thought it was incredible, they have so many instances marked on it and the thing is we went and checked the closest.” She paused for dramatic effect. “The thing was completely untouched.”

Simone glanced up from the map to me. “Doesn’t this look like that map you found at the Free Player Alliance market?”

“It does. We had little to go on and then nearly 2 years and an apocalypse were between me and any lead. Where’d you get this Venthra?” I asked, turning to the woman.

“Traveling merchants, or that’s what they called themselves. They might still be here I got it today after I helped settle a dispute for them.” She looked up at me hopefully. “Did I do good?”

“You did great.” I grinned. “Simone, let’s get someone to make them comfortable in the citadel for the night and enjoy our family time. We’ll deal with them and everything else tomorrow.”

AN - Taking the weekend for editing on RD 5. Next chapter of Dungeon Diving will be on Tuesday morning!