"Eiko!"
"Ma!"
Before Sophie could even step onto the shore, Eiko jumped off from the White Hippopotamus' head and used her Air Strider [EX] skill to fly in the direction of the beautiful young lady who was waiting for her on the shore.
Vera chuckled as she watched this scene, while Lux only smiled. With a glance, he could tell that Eiko really missed Iris, so he just happily looked at them as the Mama and daughter pair kissed each other after their reunion.
Alicia who was standing beside Iris looked at the White Hippopotamus who was now making its way up the riverbank.
"Lady Vera, welcome back to Barbatos Academy," Alicia greeted.
"Alicia, I hope you are doing well," Vera replied. "Is my no-good-son giving you some trouble with your work?"
Alicia vehemently shook her head as she tried to protect the honor and dignity of her employer.
"Lord Alexander is the one that is working too hard, Lady Vera," Alicia replied. "He sometimes works until midnight just to finish the paperwork."
"Don't worry. Dealing with paperwork is not enough to kill a Saint," Vera commented as she dismounted from Sophie's back assisted by Lux. "How are the preparations for the tournament going?"
"They are going well. In fact, they are going too well. There have already been over six thousand applicants this month alone."
"Not bad. It seems that a lot of people want to become the champion."
Everytime a tournament was held, the rewards that could be gained from it were enormous. After all, it was sponsored by the six kingdoms that were supporting Barbatos Academy. The lowest number of participants that joined the tournament was usually around ten thousand, but this year, they were expecting more participants.
Alexander's whim of making the champion of the tournament Iris' fiance, was just icing on the cake that was already sought by so many.
"Are there many promising individuals this year?" Vera inquired as Lux went to have a chat with Iris, who was currently busy pampering Eiko.
Alicia nodded. "Yes. Famed geniuses and prodigies that hail from the six kingdoms are going to join this year's tournament. There are at least thirty notable individuals who are as strong as, and maybe even stronger than, the last tournament's champion."
"Oh? That sounds incredible."
"Yes, Lady Vera. I was even surprised when I got their information. This year's tournament is going to be the talk of the kingdoms for the next few years."
Vera smiled as Alicia and her followed Lux and Iris, who were already making their way towards the hidden path that led to Barbatos Academy.
"Alicia, there is a matter that I will need your help with in regards to the tournament," Vera said softly.
Alicia already had an idea on what Vera was going to say as she glanced at the handsome Half-Elf who was walking hand in hand with Iris in the distance.
"Lady Vera, can Lux really do it?" Alicia asked. "If he faints in the middle of the tournament, it might traumatize him for life."
"Don't worry. What you're thinking about will not happen. Also, I'm planning to have his identity be a secret, so you will have to become his guarantor when he enters the tournament.
Guarantors were part of the high-ranking staff of the tournament who were in charge of dealing with participants who refused to reveal their identity to anyone. These participants could wear masks, or any other form of disguise, to prevent anyone from knowing who they were.
However, since this rule could easily be taken advantage of, they were given strict guidelines by the guarantors who knew of their identity. This is to ensure that people wouldn't switch places with someone else for the duration of the tournament, which would lead to harsh consequences if discovered.
"If that is your wish, Lady Vera, I will personally handle this task," Alicia promised. "May I get permission to tell this to the Headmaster?"
Vera smirked as she thought of her no-good-son who was trying to get in the way of her granddaughter's happiness.
"You can tell him that Lux is joining, but don't tell him what kind of identity he will use in the tournament. Let him guess as much as he wants."
"Understood. I will handle the necessary preparations, and will register Lux before the sun sets. Is that acceptable, Lady Vera?"
Vera nodded. "Thank you, Alicia. You can now return to your duties. I'll look after my grandkids for the time being."
Alicia bowed respectfully before taking a left turn on the hidden path that they were traversing. Barbatos Academy had many hidden pathways and only a select number of people knew about them.
The reason for this was because Barbatos Academy could be used as a fortress during war time, so these secret passageways were made in order to let high-ranking nobles, as well as members of the royal family, escape if and when their lives were in danger.
The moment Lux, Vera, and Iris arrived at the young beauty's private residence, the bro-con little sister immediately hugged Lux tightly and the latter responded by patting her head.
Vera excused herself and left her grandkids alone to go and meet her son, who was buried under a lot of paperwork that was related to the upcoming tournament.
Also, Vera wanted to give Lux and Iris some private time together, since she knew that her granddaughter had plenty of questions to ask Lux. As a very understanding Grandma, she didn't want to become a third wheel.
Iris served Lux and Eiko some fruit juice, as well as sweets. She was dying to know what kind of adventures her brother and her baby slime had had in Elysium.
However, just before Iris could ask the Half-Elf her question, the baby slime, that was happily drinking her fruit juice, jumped off the table and glared at the Unicorn who was now walking towards Iris.
It was none other than Eiko's mortal enemy, Astra, who had given the baby slime a hard time when she was just born.
"Simp!" Eiko shouted towards the Unicorn, which made Lux almost spit out the fruit juice that he was drinking.
In truth, Eiko wanted to call Astra, f*cker, but since her mama was around, she refrained from using it and used the word that her Papa used to tease Matty back in Leaf Village.
The Unicorn scoffed as he looked down on the baby Slime in contempt. Clearly, he still didn't see Eiko as a threat to its existence.
Seeing that she got ignored, Eiko wanted to attack the arrogant Unicorn, but Iris immediately picked her up from the ground and patted her head.
"You and Astra can fight later, Eiko," Iris said as she tried to coax the baby Slime to not fight inside her living room. "For now, I want to hear about your adventures with your papa in Elysium."
Eiko looked up at her Mama and obediently nodded her head. She then gave the Unicorn a sidelong glance and stuck out her tongue towards the arrogant horse that she would be fighting later.
Astra scoffed at Eiko's petty attempts to taunt him and just walked towards Lux with an annoyed look on his face. He was giving the Half-Elf the "Bruh, what is wrong with your daughter?" look, which the Half-Elf replied with a helpless smile on his face.
"Astra, make sure to not underestimate Eiko later," Lux warned. "If you're not careful, you'll be in a world of pain."
Astra rolled his eyes at the red-headed teenager. Clearly, he didn't take Lux's words seriously. For him, Eiko was just a little baby who didn't know her place. As an elder, he was more than happy to teach her a thing or two about knowing her place.
Lux could only smirk at the Unicorn who served as one of Iris' guardians before drinking his fruit juice. He was already looking forward to the battle between the two Monsters, who held a grudge against each other.
'I guess both of them are now considered rivals for Iris' attention,' Lux mused. 'Still, this will be one interesting battle. I look forward to how Eiko will showcase her skills against a veteran like Astra in battle.'
Although he didn't know who would win between the two rivals, Lux still wanted to see how Astra would react after it realized that the baby slime he bullied in the past was no longer the weak monster that he could deal with in a casual manner.
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