Chương 385: Chapter 358. Anna's Questioning Of Emma

Anna Ericsson's Point Of View" Haahhhh...." After the sparring matches were finished, we brought everyone to the hot springs to enjoy a nice dip. Here, in the women's bath, it was occupied by Sarah, my Mom, Liz, Emma, Emily, Ruby, Charlotte and myself. However, Emily, Ruby and Charlotte had decided to try and give one of the other baths a try, from what I could read from their lips, they simply wanted to give me some more private time with My Family. Sarah was also thinking about trying a different bath.

That was until Liz was able to win her over by asking Sarah to take a bath with her, since they were technically sisters now, through our Marriage to John." It's just like Mother and Queen Crystal... Is this just how all Mothers act in a hot spring?" Sarah mumbled to herself as she watched my Mom relax in the bath. Though I don't know if she truly has room to speak. As last I checked, the first time Sarah had stepped into the hot spring, she nearly fell asleep if not for John warning her.

She didn't even want to make love with John that night because she was so relaxed and sleepy. Granted, John and I were just like that as well, but I'm not the one stunned by people's reactions stepping into the spring. John had even begun to mumble about how he wondered how good his world's hot springs were because of how much he liked these hot springs. That reaction had lessened since we've been using the hot spring quite regularly since then.

As I watched not only my own Mom, but Emma and Liz's eyes all begin to wiggle all around their bodies as the tension in their bodies softly left their muscles until all that was left was the peaceful sigh they all released at the same time, it reminded me of the first time I stepped into this spring and why Sarah and I continue to visit... That and the fact that we both can tell that John really enjoys how smooth and supple our bodies are from the effects of the spring."

Anna, why didn't you tell me about this to begin with... Why did we even bother going around the town when we could've headed right here?" Emma acted pretty lackadaisical as she soaked in the spring. To be honest, I was somewhat upset with her at the moment. The sparring session she had with John had left me in quite the sour mood. Everyone there except for John could tell that Emma was attempting to make the fight a lot more serious than she needed to for a simple sparring match."

Perhaps it was because you were too busy staring daggers at My Husband, Emma?"

"!" Her eyes shot open at my words. Sarah's ears also wiggled at my words. She was of the same mind as me after all. My Mom also noticed, but I assume she didn't want to scold Emma and cause the mood to sour for the week that they'll be here. I'm of no mind for that. Quite frankly, if she's not willing to respect John, the person responsible for changing Paradise into the town that it is today, then she doesn't need to be here." Wait! I can explain!"" Oh? Is that so?

Please do explain why you decided to attack My Husband so roughly in what was supposed to be a light sparring match? I'm all ears..."" Anna... You're scaring me..."" I'm just politely smiling, Emma. I'm quite interested in your reasoning after all."" Mommy... Anna looks scary..."" It's all okay, Liz... Just sit back and enjoy the show, they're usually like this anyways." My Mom simply leaned back onto the wall of the tub and pat Liz on her head.

I switched my attention back to Emma, who seemed to have broken out into a cold sweat from my simple smile." It's because I didn't know him! Okay!? I wanted to test him really quick! And besides, I didn't really put everything into my attacks! If I did, I would've used my Skills!"" That still doesn't explain why you aimed exclusively for his head, now does it? Or the fact that you then protested the fight and wanted a rematch after he won, now does it?

Or your attitude during the day, you're usually much more open to people when you first meet them. Why are you acting like this?" I'm not giving up my questioning for her. Regardless of what she's said, she's acted very standoffish when it came to John. The only time that wasn't the case was when she tried our food, but even then, I saw her give a side eye to him as he was explaining the dish." Well... That's just because I felt like he didn't take me seriously in the fight..."

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience." Emma, I don't take kindly to someone entering my home and then trying to disrespect or hurt My Husband. On top of that, yes, he was holding back, because we all agreed to not use Magical Abilities as it wouldn't be fair to those without them, besides, it was supposed to be a simple light Sparring match for exercise, remember?" Sniff!" My baby's grown so much in 2 years..."" Mommy, that's gross!" /Splash!

/ Liz moved away from our Mom as she began to have tears and snot running down her face from watching me speak to Emma." Is it because he's Human, Emma?" Sarah interjected into my questioning with her own question. I felt my blood begin to boil, if not only Father, but Emma had an issue with John just because of some idiotic notion about him because of what others have done, I might just snap in these hot springs!" What!? No! Well...

Admittedly, I do think it's strange to marry a weak Human, but my sister's always had a good head on her shoulders, I was always the troublemaker while she would studiously attend classes in the village in the morning and train until dinner after school. I just wanted to see what he was all about.

You see, in the Army, when you spar with people, you can get a feel for what kind of person they are through their movements and attacks, it's easier for a Dodomeki, since our eyes capture a lot more information than a normal Demon. Our Father is pretty good at doing it as well, but when I asked him about it, he said that he couldn't get a read on him during their spar 2 years ago, so I thought I'd give it a try... And then he pissed me off!" /CRACK! SNAP!

/" Calm down, Anna, she hasn't really given anyone a reason to snap yet." Sarah tried to calm me down as I could feel the desire to fight My Sister begin to rise from my chest. My fists were making all manner of noises as I felt them tighten beside each other. Sarah looked back at Emma as she continued to speak to her... Why do I feel like our usual positions have shifted just now?

"So, you were testing Our Husband to see what he's like? What exactly did you find out, Emma?"" You see! That's the thing. I couldn't really tell anything from the first few strikes, so instead, I decided to exclusively aim for attacks that would be considered "bad manners", but again, he didn't show any reaction. It started to confuse me, until I realized it.

"" Realized what, Emma?"" He wasn't taking the match seriously at all! In fact, he was looking for the path to victory with the least amount of damage to me. Which angered me more, because I couldn't see it through his movements or his eyes, only after he had jabbed my arm a few times did I finally make sense of his strategy."" So, you were angry that he wasn't taking you seriously during the light sparring match? Why not just ask for him to take you seriously then!?"

I couldn't hold back from my Sister's selfishness. We agreed to take the sparring easy since it was only light exercise! She's always like this! So selfish!" Well... It was kind of too late, so I decided to play my little prank... But it didn't work anyways! And then he even healed me too!"" You..."" Fufufufu... HAhahahahaha!" Sarah began to laugh like a madwoman as I was preparing to grind my knuckles into my sister's temples." What? What's so funny, Sarah!?"

Emma asked Sarah the question before anyone else could." You don't seem to understand that Our Husband gave you the answer you were looking for already! It's just like him to not bother explaining it to anyone! In fact, he'd probably only bother explaining it to Anna and me later tonight if we asked him about it!"" Right, it's strange that she doesn't get it, isn't it?" Now my Mom was also in agreement with Sarah, I mean I can see the answer too, but it's not about John right now, it's about Emma being an idiot!"

What do you mean, Mommy?" Liz was lost from the conversation, she asked Mom to explain it to her... And it looks like Emma was also lost from Sarah's words as well." Well, you see, Liz. That boy is very kind. You remember back when he fought Daddy in that duel?"" Uh Huh..." Liz nodded her head to Mom's question." Well, even back then, he had an apologetic look in his eyes as he spoke to me about the duel. He even promised not to hurt Daddy for our Family's sake.

Then he even calmed you down, do you know why that is?"" No..."" It's because of Anna. He loves her so much that he was already treating us as Family. So, when he fought Daddy, it wasn't about actually winning the fight to him, it was about how he could help the Family. That's one of the reasons that Daddy's been so much more fun to be around lately. That's also why he made sure to make you that bouquet of flowers, so you had something pretty to look at during the sparring."

She's explaining it so matter-of-factly that I'm honestly surprised that Mom could tell all of this just from the few days that she knew John... Well to be fair, her eyes are the best eyes in the Family, so it makes sense that she could see more about a person than we can. She continued speaking, but instead of looking at Liz, she looked at Emma now."

In that same way, while he fought Emma, he noticed that she was aiming for his head a bunch, but he didn't want to hurt the sister of Anna, so he looked for the best way to win with the least amount of damage necessary. He didn't even mention the obvious of Emma being mean to him during the fight, for no reason that he could have known about. So instead, he just healed her and then promised to spar her again since she was dissatisfied with their fight. Even though he could've beaten Emma in many different ways.

Or at least, that's the way Mommy sees it." Sarah and I both looked back at Emma, who at this point was holding back tears. And all she could do was muster a few words." But... I just wanted to make sure that Anna was safe!!!" What am I going to do with this idiot!? Can't Mom and Father find her a Husband already!?" It would've been easier to do that, had she not turned down anyone that tried taking her out on a date, Anna." My Mom added one more comment after she saw what I was thinking...

I should really pick up how to do that with my own eyes at some point. I still need to use the Telepathy Spell that Aqua taught me to see what John's thinking when he sees a pretty girl.