Chương 210: Chapter 193. Nightmares and Questions

John Ericsson's Point Of View Where am I? I can't remember what I was doing... Why is it so dark? /RUMBLE! / A light is coming through the darkness. It's like that time I brought Sarah back from her deep sleep from that Curse... A red moon was shining down where I was, it was bathing the place with red and white light. It illuminated my surroundings, I waited for my eyes to adjust to the new light. Now that I could see clearly, I looked around. I'm in a.... Battlefield? Corpses are surrounding me.

It's worse than that time Scarlet summoned me to her inner world. Blood and mud were collecting and pooling all over the ground it started to almost consume the corpses that rested on the ground. Almost like it was a swamp from a messed up horror movie or something... I could swear some of them were sinking deeper into the muddy blood... Or bloody mud? However someone would call it? Bodies missing arms and legs as well. Torsos slashed open on either side. Some were missing heads even.

All of them slowly sank into the dark reddish-brown liquid all the same. The smell was awful and all consuming. /CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! / Metal weapons were clashing with each other in the distance. I'm drawn to it for some reason? I walk towards the sound. Mountains of corpses under the red moon joined me on my journey, all the while... Almost acting like sign posts for somewhere I shouldn't be going. /CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

/ The sounds of the metals clashing together became more intense, I picked up my pace as well to see what it was, why am I drawn to it? What is this place? Why am I here? Where are Sarah and Anna? /CLANGCLANGCLANGCLANG! / The sound was overwhelming. The smell somehow became more and more fowl, how is this happening? My heartbeat is increasing as I run towards the direction I originally heard the sound. /CLANGCLANGCLANGCLANGCLANGCLANG! / I can finally see the origin of the sound. It's a battle.

100s of people all fighting each other. The people were fighting with Magic and melee weapons from swords to war-hammers, it was a cacophony of violence. Wait, these people, one half were Paladins? I can feel it... Holy Mana was being used by one side... But if they're Paladins, Who are they fighting? /RUMBLE! /"!" A sound came from behind me! I turn to look and hear a harsh voice." To think one of you were cowards! Makes sense! Those cowards picked more of their own! Hahahaha! But your time has run out, craven!"

A Monster!? What is this guy? It's like a living shadow! It's size easily dwarfed me... It was almost like he was the size of a small home. It had multiple little red eyes and multiple black tendrils that held what looked like a lance. Only it was... Malignant? It didn't have a solid shape, it kept morphing, like someone making a shadow puppet with their hands, only instead of a dog or cat, it kept changing between squares, triangles, circles and anything in between the 3.

I could feel something similar to a Curse was inside of it as well. I don't know how, but I was certain it had a Curse inside of it." DIE!" It thrusted the lance at me." NO! BROTHER!" /CLANG! / A Knight in shining white armor stepped in front of me and riposted the lance with a thin sword that was glowing white like my own Mana Blade. This Knight must be a Paladin, like me!" Brother! Strike him down now!" The Paladin called for me, but I had no weapons. I couldn't feel Scarlet or even my Contracted Spirits.

I moved at the command, nonetheless. I looked down and noticed that now I had a great sword in my hands, I launch myself at the enemy with vigor." GOT YOU!" / SCREECH! / Only for the shadow to launch a black ball that felt like death as it screamed with vicious hate towards me and the other Paladin." Brother! No!" The Paladin's anguished scream reached me, but in a flash as the black ball came near us, I returned to the darkness from the beginning.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. soft... warm... But this time was different, I felt something warm and soft on my lips. It was something familiar. /Chu. / wiggle... And this familiar opportunistic entry of a tongue meant Sarah was the culprit." Wow, in broad daylight, maybe you've changed more than I thought, Big Sis?" open..." You have no idea, Princess Alice." Anna was speaking to Princess Alice.

That's right, I brought her to Paradise and I fainted from Mana Exhaustion. I opened my eyes and I saw Sarah looking down at me... I think I'm on a couch?" My Love, what's wrong?" Sarah could tell from my face that I was disturbed from that dream... What the hell was that? Sarah waited for an answer to her question. Since I don't want to alarm the others, there was only 1 real answer I could give her. I whispered to her since she was still so close to my face."

It's nothing for now, I'll talk to you and Anna about it tonight, please." Sarah agreed to hold off till tonight. I looked at Anna and she seemed to have read my lips with her eyes. Seems she agreed with my request as well... What the hell do I do now? What was I going to do in the first place? I looked around the room as I sat up. grip. grip. Sarah and Anna sat next to me, they both held one of my hands. I was starting to calm down as I felt their warmth. Everyone was quite quiet in the room. Why was that?

Emily, Ruby, Charlotte and... Delcan? What a strange line-up I thought. Regardless, the girls were staring at me with a weird look on their faces... Are they warm? they're faces looked a little flush? Princess Alice was just standing there awkwardly. Along with Delcan. I guess we should just prepare the other products for Princess Alice to try? Delcan hasn't tried anything besides the ice cream as well... So I guess he should too? Everyone was waiting for me to speak it seems."

How about we have Princess Alice and Delcan try out the other dairy products? Would that work for you both?"" Well, I just finished sparring, so sure! I'm a bit hungry after all."" That sounds fine by me, Marquess Matthew." With Delcan and Princess Alice's agreement, I knew what to do ne... stare... stare..." What is it?" Charlotte and Ruby were both looking at me like they wanted to say something. I looked at them and asked what they wanted." Well... We all just finished sparring so...

Would it be too much to ask to taste test some food as well?" Charlotte spoke up first, it seems like everyone except for Emily were in agreement. Well, I guess I could use some impressions?" Sure. You'll also be trying out some new ideas that Jim has been able to make a reality after we workshopped a bunch of different ideas."" How many new dishes will be tried, Darling?"" I'll stick to 4 for now."" Only 4? Why do you make it sound like you have even more waiting to be tried?""

Because I do, I just don't want to flood the market with them. Too much choice and the consumer will freeze upon selection, and they can grow to be confused. I want to avoid that and have the consumer associate my products with positive feelings. That's when I'll start to slowly introduce other items. And hopefully, even more once Jim and I figure out the correct recipes for here in Gaia."" Yes, my Aunt mentioned a similar idea before. How did you stumble upon that idea, Marquess Matthew?"

"..." Princess Alice was just full of questions for me. It'd be hard to explain that I only figured that out from using streaming services with Laura. Grip! Grip! Huh? Why are Sarah and Anna gripping my hands harder now? Why are you looking at me like that? How can you even tell I thought that?" Marquess Matthew?" grip... grip... With Princess Alice's voice, my Wives' grips released somewhat. I could think again. And I thought up an okay lie." It's from going to different restaurants.

I've noticed that when the menu has a certain number of dishes, people tend to look around at the menu, get confused and ask for something they're comfortable with, like a sandwich or something. I've done it before myself, Princess Alice."" I see." She seems to have bought the lie, that was good for me. I have no real idea how to start describing a streaming service in a way that would make sense. Well... Maybe if I had a chalkboard or something to visualize it for everyone..." Uhm... Lord Matthew."" Relax, Emily.

You can just call me Matthew, Charlotte and Delcan are Royalty as well. I doubt Princess Alice will have too much of an issue with you calling me by name in the privacy of my own house... Or... Mansion, I guess?" Emily acted like a scared animal for a moment before I explained the situation. Princess Alice turned to Emily and spoke after I finished speaking." Ms.

Emily, I assure you, as long as you're not doing anything that would bother Big Sis Sarah, I'm perfectly fine with you doing something like call Marquess Matthew by name. As long as you have permission of course."" She does, Alice." With 3 words from Sarah, Alice turned back to facing us as Emily began to take a deep breath and began to speak after calming down." Regarding your work, Matthew. I've been able to organize it, but there are some things that do require your signature.""

I understand, I'll start back at working on all of the paperwork tomorrow. For now, I'll handle the taste test and try to get a good night's sleep. Sorry to put unnecessary pressure on you, Emily. You and Ruby have gone above and beyond in these past 6 weeks." Emily smiled as I praised her. And even though she tried to hide it, I could see that Ruby was also somewhat happy with my words. It's good that they were happy, they really did do a lot in the time they had.

From organizing the office and paperwork so that it's not nearly as chaotic in here, to working out a deal with the Dwarves. Honestly, I don't know what kind of reward they'll ask for, but they'll definitely get it if it's within my power. It's the least they deserve for all that they've done for this place." Make sure you both think about the reward you want." With my words, Emily and Ruby nodded their heads with bigger smiles on their faces." Rewards?" Princess Alice had another question. I nodded to her word."

Yes, rewards. For the job they've done over the past 6 weeks while we were gone, I plan on rewarding them. As long as it's in my power of course. Though, Sarah and Anna are actually in charge of helping them pick a realistic reward." Princess Alice didn't have another question for me this time, instead she just looked perplexed? Well, with all of that done, I felt the time had come for us to move out of the office." With that, how about we all head to the dining room so we can start the taste test?"

With my words, we all got up and left the room. /SCREECH! / I really need to fix that door.