Chương 381: Chapter 354. The Moris Arrive In Paradise

/Rumble... / The tall Gate made of a metal interior and wood on top of it, was lifted into the air by the strong steel chains that were attached to it. The Gates themselves are the same Gates as when we first arrived here, however, pretty much everything else is new, I thought that the rusted chains needed to be changed out almost immediately when I first saw them.

With that and the strong walls that Gil and I had made to replace the old walls of Paradise, it gave the feeling of an almost impenetrable city surrounded by tall, thick, strong walls. A completely different impression than what Sarah, Anna and I originally had. Add onto that the bustling town full of commerce and tourists, and the transformation of only about a year ago is staggering.

All of this was confirmed to me by the look on Liz's face as she peaked her head out of the carriage that her parents had brought her here in. It was like the look a kid gives when they're entering an amusement park for the first time." She's so big now!" Anna couldn't believe her eyes as she saw just how much taller Liz had become as she stepped out of the carriage. Before, she was only around my waist in terms of height, however, now, after 2 years, she's probably already at my neck now in terms of height.

Seriously, these Demons and their height are ridiculous. Liz is only 9 years old after all. It wasn't too long until Liz made it in front of us." Anna!"" Liz!" With both of them calling each other's names, Anna and Liz gave each other a hug. Mr. and Mrs. Mori were both looking over at their daughters hugging happily.

I can't blame them, I was looking as well, very few things make Anna come out of her somewhat stoic shell, my presence being one of them, but Liz definitely makes that cool demeanor of hers melt the quickest... And, even though she tries to keep it a secret, I know that she can't help but let her demeanor melt when I bring her new flavors of ice cream and other desserts. So far, the biggest reactions were from strawberry cheesecake and cookie dough ice cream.

For the record, Sarah is a fan of red velvet cake, which was an absolute puzzle to make until both Jim and I were able to make something like cake flour from my world. Thankfully, Jim already knew how to make corn starch and I remember Victoria, Laura's Mother, telling me that a quick way to make cake flour is to sift regular flour and corns starch one or two times. We did that and we tried baking cakes and found that it worked. Red velvet cake was only a few steps away from that.

As for ice cream, she's really shown no favorites, the only thing that she's been consistent on is having whipped cream with it when it's available. To the point where she doesn't even share the reserve whipped cream when we give out samples to people." All 3 of you look so much more like adults since the last time I've seen you all."" Thank you, Mrs. Mori."" Please, you've already Married My Daughter, you can call me Maria, Matthew.

If you're so formal all of the time, it'll make visiting more difficult in the future."" Right... Okay, Maria." I then took a glance at Mr. Mori." Just call me "Les", it'll be weird to call My Wife by her name and calling me "Mr. Mori"..." Wow, Anna wasn't kidding when she said that her father had changed a bit.

Anna and Maria have been messaging each other through letters, Anna keeps me updated of course, Maria has stated that while Les hasn't returned to how he was when they were newlyweds, he's apparently become "softer" recently. From what I can tell, he does seem more relaxed in his face, but he still has the look of a Veteran Solider." Okay, Les. With that out of the way, what should I call her?"

There was another person along with the 3 members of Anna's Family that I recognize, but there was another Dodomeki, she looked like a younger version of Maria, so I assume this is the 4th sibling that I hadn't met yet. Her red eyes and long red hair matched Maria's perfectly." My name is Emma Mori, Marquess Matthew Drake. I'm Anna's older sister. I was busy with my work in the Military the last time you visited My Family, so I decided to tag along this time. I assume that'll be okay, right?"

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement." Of course. Any family of Anna's is more than welcome to visit."" Great!." She was happy with my answer. I think that's the best I can hope for on a first meeting. With Anna greeting her parents and sister after Liz let her go, Sarah followed suit after her. Sarah's greeting with the Mori Family was somewhat awkward.

From one end of the conversation, she's basically interacting with In-Laws and in the other end, you have them speaking to Royalty as well as my Top Wife. It's a somewhat delicate balancing act and I could appreciate both sides." Welcome to Paradise, Maria, Les, Liz and Emma. I hope this time around, I'll be able to get to know you all better since last time ended so... Strangely."" Ah..." And a bomb was detonated! Sarah must be more nervous than I thought she'd be. Les made a weird face as well as Liz."

Oh, don't worry about that, Prin... Sarah, it's long over and done with! More importantly, why not show us around town? I'd love to see the work you've all put into this town. From what I hear, you've all really turned this place around!" Maria, whether through her natural personality or perhaps, a planned excuse, was able to turn the conversation around. I thanked her in my mind and quickly sprang into action to try and move this meeting forward."

Well, with this all sorted out, let me welcome you all to our town, Paradise. Though I guess it's more of a city at this point?"" It looks busier than any of the towns we've seen on our way here, is it true that you made the road that leads here?" Maria asked the first question." Yes, Sarah, Anna and I spent 6 months traveling from here to Blackstone and I was able to make the road with my abilities."" Since when does a Paladin have the ability to make roads?" Now Emma had a question.

Thankfully, I had easy answers." I also am a Summoner, so one of my Contracted Spirits helped me. Along with Sarah and Anna, we had a pretty good time going from place to place."" I heard you even made some business deals with this "ice cream" product of yours?"" Yeah, we did. How did you hear about it?" I asked my own question, I mean I can understand knowing about the ice cream, but I was pretty sure the Contracts were pretty under wraps for now."

We have our ways, also what didn't help were the giant signs that said, "fresh from Paradise!", that made it kind of easy to tell."" Oh... Well... Yes, I guess it would be easy? Though to be fair, it's a bit more than just the ice cream. There's also cakes, pies, and savory dishes that I've created, but I decided not to release the savory stuff yet since it requires training people how to make it. That and..."" It lets you have a leg up on the competition and gives a reason to visit your town for others, right?""

Well, I would like to profit from my ideas after all." The Mori Family all nodded their heads to my words, except for Liz, who I could tell was just interested in what Anna was doing. I wonder if she even knows that we've planned an all-you-can-eat buffet of the different desserts on offer here in Paradise? I guess time will tell?" Say, Anna, what have you been up to since arriving back home?"

Emma asked a question to Anna, it was a simple answer, everyone looked at Anna as she began to describe what she and Sarah had been up to for the past week since arriving back in Paradise." Well Sarah and I are working in cooperation with Paradise's Beauty Committee to ready the town for the arrival of King Warrick, King Alan and King Leonard next month."" You're going to have 3 Kings visiting you soon!?" I could tell from Emma's voice that she was quite shocked by Anna's words...

Now that I think about it, a meeting of 3 Kings is something to be concerned about, shouldn't it? I guess since I've been so swamped with work, I haven't had time to think about it? Honestly, I think the only stressful part of this all is the Elves coming so close to Paradise, I know Emily isn't comfortable with the Elves coming, but it's out of my hands as a lowly Marquess." Why would 3 Kings be visiting your town, J- Matthew?" Les corrected himself from using my real name in public...

Now that I think about it, that's going to be an issue soon, won't it? Maybe I should reveal it to the Workers in the mansion? I mean... I trust them when it comes to discussing my plans for the most part, would it really be so bad to let them know my actual name? I just can't risk it getting out and that somehow making Warrick and Aqua a target... I'll need to think on this later, for now, I should answer Les's question." King Warrick and King Leonard have called for a Summit with King Maximus, the Elven King.""

Why?" I looked at him puzzled for a moment. Until I remembered that Warrick wanted to keep this whole thing under wraps for now, but it doesn't really matter since everyone in Paradise already knew, sure they won't mention it to the tourists, but I know they talk about it amongst themselves. My first explanation was quick, I whispered it since all of the Dodomeki could read my lips, but going into it deeper would risk revealing classified information to the public.

Sure, I shouldn't be telling anyone, but if I can't trust Anna's parents, who can I trust?" I can't speak about it here, but when we're in our house, I can explain it. For now, I think it's better if we enjoy the city." Les didn't want to accept that answer, but it was the only one he was getting for now. Maria said something to him in his ear and that seemed to snap him out of the look he was giving me. Emma looked interested in the answer as well.

Regardless, we continued the tour until we made it home to the mansion and the first thing we all saw when we made it home, was Lucas looking quite happy to see his family.