Starting With an SSS-Rank Goddess Summon!

"Thank you," Brida whispered with tears welling up in her eyes and leaving clean tracks through the dark impurities on her cheeks. "Without you... without you... I wouldn’t be here with all these people I’ve come to love as my family and without you, I might have been somewhere else, wasting my life away in some forgotten corner of the world... You’re my most special person, so I’ll make sure that I protect you without fail. No one touches my Lord while I breathe."

Brida brought her face up, offering him a radiant tearful smile.

"I love you."

Silas smiled back at her with his voice sincere and full of warmth. "I love you too, Brida."

Brida stumbled slightly where she knelt with her face going redder than a hot forge. "Uh... can we..."

She puckered her lips, leaning forward across the desk for a kiss.

Silas sniffed the air as the pungent smell of purged impurities hit his nose, and held up a hand with a laugh.

"Uh, after you take a bath."

Brida paused mid-pucker. She blinked, caught a whiff of her own arms, and her eyes went wide as saucers.

"AH!" Brida shrieked, her face burning with pure embarrassment. "I-I’m so sorry! I’ll go right now!"

She scrambled up from her knees, stuttering uncontrollably as she turned and ran out of the office at top speed, slamming the heavy oak door behind her as her footsteps echoed down the stone corridor.

Silas let out a long sigh, shaking his head with a chuckle as he ran a calloused hand through his dark hair.

’This is good... They’re upgraded and they’re happy, still 500 UP per person is insanity... We need to slaughter more monsters so I can upgrade Aeli next and then Fenna. I’ll take this step by step and increase the others too, maybe I don’t need to increase them all to S-Rank at once though.

Suddenly, a pair of soft warm arms wrapped gently around his neck from behind.

Silas didn’t flinch. Instead he leaned his head back against Aeli’s chest as she rested her chin softly on top of his head.

The elven arcanist smiled down at him, her green eyes filled with quiet, affection.

"My Lord, we truly are blessed to have you."

Silas chuckled, a deep sound that vibrated against Aeliana’s arms as she gently held him from behind in the quiet firelit office.

"Well," Silas mused, a dry smirk touching his lips as he rested his head back against the soft fabric covering her chest. "It is the Blessed Land after all. It only makes sense that all of us end up blessed."

Aeli let out a soft laugh that echoed warmly in the quiet stone room.

"Hehehe~"

Her green eyes crinkled with genuine amusement with her hold on his shoulders relaxing slightly.

She leaned over his shoulder and her delicate nose twitched once then twice.

She pulled back a fraction of an inch, looking down at his collar with a raised eyebrow and a playful tilt of her head.

"My Lord..." Aeli asked, a teasing glint in her eyes. "Do you require cleaning?"

Silas paused, letting out a long sigh that made his shoulders slump.

He didn’t even need to look down at his clothes to know what she was talking about.

Tasmin had enthusiastically thrown her arms around him right after her class upgrade, hugging his chest and kissing his cheek while her body was still actively purging dark viscous impurities.

The foul, pungent odor of the shadow purification was still clinging stubbornly to his tunic and coat.

"Yeah," Silas grumbled, rubbing his temple with two fingers. "Tasmin was a bit overly enthusiastic about her new stats. I smell like an unwashed dungeon sewer right now."

"Do not worry, My Lord," Aeli assured him smoothly, a sweet radiant smile gracing her face as she stepped around the side of the mahogany desk. "I actually learned a specialized Cleansing spell from my aunt back during my time in the Royal Palace as a Royal Elf."

She raised her slender right hand, her long graceful fingers tracing a brief intricate pattern in the cool office air.

A soft shimmering orb of pristine, silver-white magic materialized over her open palm, humming with a quiet frequency. With a gentle flick of her wrist, she pushed the magic toward him.

FWOOSH!

A cool refreshing breeze swept over Silas’s entire body.

The silver light washed down from his broad shoulders all the way to his boots, completely vaporizing the dark, slimy residue and neutralizing the foul odor in a fraction of a second.

His tunic looked as crisp and fresh as if it had just been pulled from a linen chest, smelling like fresh morning dew.

Silas looked down at his clean shirt, thoroughly impressed by the utility of the spell.

He reached out and gave Aeli a gentle, affectionate pat on the head, scratching lightly behind her delicate elven ear.

"Thanks, Aeli. That saved me a trip to the bath," Silas said, resting his hand on her head for a moment before turning his gaze toward the heavy oak door. "By the way, do you know where Thora is right now? I have a bit of business to discuss with her regarding the territory’s projects."

Aeliana leaned into his palm, her green eyes closing briefly in pure satisfaction as her long ears twitched.

"Thora is still downstairs in the Culinary Haven, My Lord," Aeli reported, her tone crisp and informative as she opened her eyes. "She and Kaelia have been working continuously on brewing that new batch of alcohol using the spirit herbs harvested from Eluned."

"Alright, I’ll go check on them," Silas said, pushing his heavy leather chair back and preparing to stand up from his desk.

Before he could fully rise, Aeli stepped directly into his path, blocking his exit.

She looked up at him with an eager hopeful expression, her fingers fidgeting slightly with the hem of her robes.

"My Lord... if I may ask," Aeli began, her voice dropping into a soft hesitant whisper that caught his attention. "Could you perhaps spare a bit of time for something with me first?"

Silas paused, looking closely at her face.

He saw the genuine anticipation shining in her eyes, mixed with a nervous energy that was rare for his usually composed elf.

"Sure," Silas replied without hesitation, offering her a warm easy smile. "I’ve got time. What do you need, Aeli?"

Aeliana’s entire face lit up instantly. She extended her slender, pale hand toward him with her fingers reaching out expectantly in the soft light.

"It will take a bit of time," she told him softly, her voice brimming with quiet excitement.

Silas reached out and took her hand, wrapping his broad calloused fingers tight around her warm palm.

"I’m completely free," Silas grinned, standing up to his full height. "Carry me anywhere you want."

Aeli giggled, her silver eyes flashing with a sudden intense surge of spatial mana.

ZIP!

The spatial air around them warped instantly.

In a blinding flash of silver starlight and crackling spatial pressure, the stone office vanished from around them, replaced in an instant by the cool open night air of the territory.

A fraction of a second later, their boots settled onto the snow-dusted stone pavement right in front of the Keep’s grand Library.

Silas blinked, stabilizing his footing as he looked up at the massive magnificent building standing before them.

The library was a towering structure of carved marble and ancient timber, its tall arched windows glowing with warm yellow light from within.

Snowflakes drifted down softly from the dark night sky, dusting the arched roof and the carved pillars framing the main entrance.

’It’s still beautiful man...’

Even in the middle of a cold winter evening, Silas noticed something sitting along the covered stone porch that brought a warm satisfied smile to his face.

Arranged in neat, orderly rows along the raised wooden racks were dozens of pairs of boots, slippers, and combat footwear left behind by the territory’s girls.

It was clear proof that the combatants were actively taking advantage of the facility he had built for them.

They weren’t just training their muscles, swinging broadswords, and firing spells in the dirt... they were spending their precious free time reading, expanding their minds, learning history, and studying elemental theory!

’I really need to make time to read more in here myself,’ Silas thought, admiring the peaceful studious atmosphere radiating from the structure.

Following the established rules of the house, Silas and Aeli stepped onto the stone porch, slipped off their heavy footwear, and set them neatly beside the others before pushing open the heavy oak double doors.

Stepping inside, the warm, magic-heated air of the library wrapped around them like a comfortable blanket, carrying the comforting scent of old books, polished wood, leather bindings, and dried ink.

The main lobby was wide, grand, and brilliantly lit by floating mana lanterns that drifted lazily near the vaulted ceiling.

Several female combatants were seated around the long reading tables scattered across the ground floor lobby.

Near one of the tall stained-glass windows, an older girl clad in a simple linen shirt was sitting right beside a younger Scout, patiently teaching her how to read.

The older girl held her finger against a thick, leather-bound textbook, pointing directly at a word and pronouncing it clearly.

"S-O-V-E-R-E-I-G-N."

The younger girl stared intently at the page, carefully repeating the pronunciation out loud before jotting it down in her notebook with a small piece of charcoal.

Silas smiled genuinely at the sight, feeling a deep sense of pride settling into his chest.

’It’s like we’re all one big family... I love it.’ Silas thought.

As they walked past the quiet study area, Aeli leaned in close to him with her breath warm against his shoulder as she reported in a quiet whisper.

"During the time that we were away in the Secret Realm, My Lord, I left Reina in charge of managing the daily operations of the library."

The exact moment her name was spoken, a pair of sharp fluffy wolf ears twitched atop the main reception counter across the lobby.

"Wooh?~"

Reina perked up immediately, popping her head up from behind a stack of tall cataloging ledgers and leather logs.

Seeing her Lord and Aeli standing together in the lobby, her face gave a sudden involuntary blush behind her counter before she quickly caught herself.

Her face twitched slightly as she desperately tried to suppress her excitement and maintain her stern professional librarian demeanor.

Sitting right beside her on the polished wooden counter was one of the Blessed Wolf pups... Princess.

"Yip!"

The little wolf pup let out a tiny enthusiastic sound that echoed softly through the quiet hall.

It immediately sat up straight on its hind legs, waving its small front paw at Silas in an adorable energetic greeting.

Reina bowed respectfully from behind the desk.

"Welcome back, Lord Silas, Lady Aeliana."

Silas chuckled, waving his hand back at the energetic wolf pup.

"Hey there, girl." He looked over at Reina and gave her an approving, appreciative nod. "Great job keeping the place running while we were gone, Reina. Your hard work really shows. I’ll make sure to reward you properly later."

Reina’s ears perked up even higher at his words, a visible blush dusting her cheeks as she bowed deeply again behind the counter. "Thank you, My Lord! It is my honor and duty!"

Aeli smiled gently at the exchange, then took Silas’s hand again, guiding him past the ground floor study tables toward the grand, spiraling wooden staircase situated at the back of the central hall.

They ascended the steps smoothly with their socked feet making barely a sound against the polished timber, stepping onto the quiet elevated balcony level where the higher-tier texts, rare spell books, and historical archives were stored.

Aeli led him down a quiet secluded aisle between two towering bookshelves filled with ancient tomes.

She stopped at a cozy, private reading table set right beside an arched window overlooking the snow-covered courtyard below.

Sitting squarely in the center of the dark oak table were several thick, leather-bound journal books... the exact same high-quality journals that Silas had bought for her at the market when he was giving everyone gifts.

Silas looked down at the neatly stacked journals, then turned his golden eyes to Aeliana.

The elven arcanist nervously shifted her footing with her long fingers intertwining in front of her dress as she looked down at the table.

Her cheeks flushed a delicate lovely shade of pink.

"Ever since you gave me these books, My Lord..." Aeli confessed softly. "I have thought about what to write for so long... Back then, when I first told you that I wanted to write a story, it felt so simple and easy to just say the words out loud but once I actually sat down with the blank pages and picked up the quill, I realized just how difficult it truly is to weave a whole world together."