Fumiko’s Lordship (4) (Revised) – Rising Up Arc (15)

The 3 of us are at King Wieka's castle, waiting to get Alma, we managed to talk to King Wieka in some sort of mental space that Sia helped us access. It's sad to see that old man in such a state

"Hana, do you think that we will get her now? Or we will get her a little bit later. I think you heard what Sia said, didn't you?"- Hana was humming something in her mind, I interrupted her with this.

"Ohhhh, it will be more beneficial to get her now rather than later. I did hear what Sia said, but there is another problem looming over us right now. At our current level, we can be taken down easily, even by our classmates. Some of them are looking at us now, use Sia to scan them for their stats, they look pretty strong to me"- I turned my head and I could see Hanako, she seems to recongnize me, she nodded and smiled.

"Sia, appraisal"

!The individual Hanako Kitamura seems to be level 10, her stats are 1/4 away from matching yours, evolution is recommended if you want to stand a chance. Welcia Academy is training them day in and day out. Once Fumiko becomes Lord ask her to dish out monster extermination quests to you 2. The stronger the monster the more exp the 2 of you will gain!

"Understood. So, Sia, how am I supposed to gain levels, I gain them so slowly and Hikaru is levels above me"

!The answer is simple, Orcs and their evolution lines gain exp much slower but they increase in stats much faster. The anomaly is that you and Hikaru have almost equal stat increases!

"So, you are saying that me and Hikaru are growing at a steady and almost equal pace?"

!Yes, do I need to repeat that?!

"No, sorry."

When we finished talking over the telepathic network we were already in the waiting room. I can't really focus on other things when I am using the telepathic link to talk with Hana. I guess it's more of a me issue more than anything

"You haven't left Miss Fumiko?"- King Wieka entered the room.

"I am taking a little break, my king. It was an honor to be here. I won't be able to throw a party or anything but I promise I will take good care of the lands that you gave to me."- King Wieka walked up to Fumiko, he looked down at her.

"My daughter will arrive there shortly, if you will want to wait for a few more hours then you 2 can leave with her. Another question about your guards, they seem strong, very strong with high levels of magical energy for humans. Maybe you can assign them some more dangerous missions. And you 2. Take good care of Fumiko. You have great potential" – King Wieka was back in his brainwashed state, I can't I just can't bear to see someone like him in this state.

We waited around 1 hour or so for the princess to come with us. I will skip over the plesentries and introductions.

"Well, where are we going? Where is your residence? Here in Welcia or Ikrel?"- Princess Alma looked at Fumiko and smiled

"Well, we will be staying in Welcia. I have some things to do there. These 2 are my guards. They are tasked with training and guardian me"- Fumiko pointed towards the 2 of us.

"Did you say training?"- Alma is confused, maybe she doesn't know what training is in the first place

"Yes, like fighting and skill usage. They are pretty good at fighting so why not."- Fumiko and Alma placed themselves between us as we exited the castle.

We walked back to Welcia where Fumiko's dad lived and got into the mansion. It's now clear since the incident with Rei, from what I could gather he was put as the main culprit and the case was closed and the mansion has been returned to Fumiko

"Alma, there is a secret I need to tell you. Well, not me, but the 2 of them you mustn't speak with anyone about it"- Alma got closer to Fumiko and she nodded her head, somewhat scared.

"What is it?"- She looked at the 2 of us.

"Well, we know that you are an ice demon, and about the whole thing going on with Goddess Ifrit and the brainwashing of people. We know that. I think we are on the same page. We must do something about Goddess Ifrit and soon."- She fell on her back when hearing this, her long hair getting messier and allowing us to see her horns

"Ohhhhh, sorry, I think we forgot to change form"- Hana giggled.

*Use skill: Lord Deceit and Lies Lucifer*- We changed before her into the people that we were before, Hikaru and Hana.

"Wait, you 2? You are a mix between shadow and ice demon and she is a Greater Orc. I am surprised to see an Orc look so human. But you need to answer 1 question, who exactly are the 2 of you? You look familiar, my dad, before falling into Ifrit's control told me to look after 2 people that are awfully familiar to you two."

"They are Hikaru and Hana"- Alma looks a little uneasy.

"Well, you don't have to worry about being a monster here. Fumiko is pretty welcoming of monsters. Plus we will teach you the same things that we taught her. Make yourself at home. We will go slay some monsters in a few hours, we need to keep our level up"- Alma walked towards us after getting up from the ground, she looked nervous.

"Ok, but I am not sure if we will be able to make it. I know how the followers of Ifrit are, they are relentless. I am not sure if any of us, no matter how strong we are can make it. I just don't have the confidence."

"You can put your confidence in me if you would like….. I will protect all of you here if need be."- I can a familiar voice, wait, when did she enter here? The same woman with white hair that we saw, the Fenrir.

"Wait, you are White Fenrir. What are you doing here?"- Alma looked at her puzzled.

"Well, I wanted to say that Hikaru and Hana are strong and can deal with most Ifrit followers, they deserved the Demon Lord Seedlings to be given by me. Plus, I have nowhere to go, so I will stick around with all of you."- At this point, we were close to our house, right by the door close. She walked up to the door of the house

"I don't mind you staying here, more strong people will mean more chances to defend against goddess Ifrit."- Fumiko stopped her and sat on the ground near the house. Then, a bit after that we all entered the house.

"Ok, enough. Let's hear what Hikaru has to say about this"

"Well, I know the situation with your father is difficult right now, but we have no choice, the last pieces of his sane mind spoke to us and told Hana and I to take care of you. I want to honor his request. I have a lot of respect for your dad. Does it make sense to honor his wish and stay with us where it is safer?"- I tried to explain to the best of my ability.

"Yes, it does"- Alma looked at me and Hana and started getting even closer to us, shaking our hands.

"Well, good that we can understand each other. Nice to meet you, Alma, this time properly. Me and her will have to change form when going out with Fumiko, but we will look like this while here.

"I understand. Well, it will be nice if you can train me, in real combat. I need to know how to defend myself against the followers of Ifrit if they ever catch me."

"Tomorrow we will start. You and Fumiko will do the same training."