Chapter 284: Moon Store
Maya finally reached the home she had been staying in for her entire life. Once she returned to this home, she couldn’t help but feel a little nostalgic.
A lot of memories flooded in.
’People say you won’t realize what you truly have until you lose it.’ Maya raised her head.
After that incident, she had to be separated from her family. While she could live by herself, she realized the feeling was different.
Just knowing she could return to the family in the back of her head made her feel at ease.
But that travel ban had made her realize that not going back and not having the ability to go back were two different things.
In fact, Mathias might have figured it out from the beginning. That was why whenever he called her or visited her, he would joke around. It was fine if she was so embarrassed that she hung up. At least there would be no tears.
"To think there would come a day when I’d really say this, but I really miss this home..." Maya smiled.
"Hoho. You need to say that directly to Father, Maya darling."
"!!!" Maya abruptly turned to the right, seeing her mother. "M-Mother? W-Where did you..."
"What’s wrong? Sneaking up on my daughter is my favorite thing."
"You seriously messed up!" Maya gritted her teeth. As she expected, her family wasn’t normal.
"Jokes aside, since you are back, come in." Lunaria waved her hand, bringing her in.
"W-Wait!" Maya struggled, but Lunaria simply dragged her inside, not accepting any resistance.
In the end, both of them were standing in front of Mathias and Genetia. Lunaria was full of smiles, while Maya was just looking away, embarrassed.
"Come on, say it, darling." Lunaria hugged Maya’s arm while reassuring her.
"I-I’m back, Grandfather, Grandmother." Maya’s face was red.
Genetia smiled and stood up. "Look at you. You’ve become thinner. You need to eat. It’s perfect. I’ve been thinking about your favorite food, so I’ve already bought the ingredients. I’ll cook it for you."
"No, I already..." Maya tried to reach her. Since she went back by airplane, she had been eating nonstop.
Genetia casually walked away, not letting Maya stop her.
Mathias kept staring at Maya.
Maya’s embarrassment disappeared as shame started to creep into her heart. It was because of her that the Relesha family wasn’t in a good position.
"I’m sor—"
Before she could apologize, Mathias spoke. "The next time someone dares to do the same to you, don’t kill them. You first need to make them fall into despair. As a man myself, I will tell you how to traumatize a man before killing him.
"First, kick him in the balls, not too hard, but enough to make it so that all seven generations of men of that family feel that pain. Don’t do it just once, kick them multiple times without breaking them. Cut off his third leg and shove it into his mouth.
"Even in death, don’t let them rest in peace. Dismember him and put his remains on a pike right in front of their house."
"Isn’t that a bit too excessive, Father?" Lunaria smiled wryly. "We’re already civilized. If that kind of thing is surfacing, we will receive a greater backlash."
"You’re right. In that case, do it secretly. Send his family a case of his body parts, one part every day." Mathias agreed with Lunaria.
Lunaria just gave an ’OK’ sign.
"Tsk. Back in my day, you could see all the brutal things humans can do. There was practically no law since society collapsed.
"Some people couldn’t defeat beasts, so they lured other humans to the beasts so they would be eaten. Some people tried to make an example of the others by impaling the heads of the entire family on a single log." He sighed. "And I witnessed all that when I was a kid. Don’t you know that when I was born, a group of cannibal—"
"All right, all right. We got it already. What if she throws up later? Mother is preparing her favorite meal right now." Lunaria waved her hand, trying to stop him.
"Hmph." Mathias snorted.
Lunaria waved her hand, gesturing for Maya to get away while she held Mathias off.
Maya scratched the back of her head and walked away, but a smile appeared on her face. She knew that Mathias was just worried about her.
Although it felt awkward at first, she felt at ease. After all, she had finally returned home.
In the end, she went to her father’s office. Normally, he would be there, considering he was the one managing the family.
"Father?" Maya knocked on the door.
"Come in."
Maya opened the door slightly and took a peek first.
"Don’t hesitate. Just come in." Edward raised his head. "I thought you weren’t going home."
Maya’s head hung low as she felt apologetic for the situation. "I’m sorry."
"You shouldn’t apologize to me. You should apologize to your grandfather, though I doubt he will ever let you apologize.
"After killing those guys, he had to lower his head to a dozen people so that you could avoid a jail sentence. He ended up going back to the field again and had already eliminated seven more targets. However, that was what a family was all about.
"If you feel apologetic to your grandfather, don’t ever say sorry to him. Instead, make sure to remember this matter well and protect your family like your grandfather did.
"He never told anyone about it, but when I was a kid, I learned what happened in the past. Your great-grandfather managed to save your great-grandmother, your grandfather, and your grandfather’s sister. Because of your grandfather’s mistake, your great-grandfather sacrificed himself and your great-grandmother followed him to pay for his mistake.
"He swore to protect his sister, but he was powerless at that time and his sister died as well. That was why he swore to never lose his family again. That was the reason your grandfather didn’t mind committing atrocities at all levels for the sake of his family.
"He will never let you apologize or thank him. Instead, what you should do is thank him with your actions. Make sure to protect the family."
Maya clenched her fists. She recalled what happened after that incident. Her grandfather was so enraged by the situation that he exterminated the entire family, cutting down every single member in three generations so that no seed of hatred would remain.
As her father said, Mathias might not have any hesitation in committing even war crimes if that was for the sake of his family.
The best thing she could do to repay him was to protect this family.
With a solemn face, she finally looked her father in the eye. "Yes, I’ll protect my family."
Edward smiled. "All right. The lecture is now over. How are you doing?"
Maya was slightly startled by the sudden change of mood. "I... I’m doing fine."
"Speaking of family, what do you think of Auric?"
"Huh? What’s wrong with my student? Grandfather didn’t explain it to me. He kept telling me about Auric becoming a son-in-law or something. What have you been doing behind my back?" Maya tilted her head in confusion. "I’ve investigated it a bit, but I’m still confused. I know Auric has found ruins, but how does it lead to that topic?"
Edward paused for a moment. "Auric found new ruins near the Alps ruins. We’ve confirmed that the Mysterious Cave Ruins don’t have any beasts, which raises their value further. Combined with the fact that this place has an absolute earth element and a dark element with a rating of 4.4, this place is basically priceless.
"You can set up a research center there. There’s also the possibility of artifact farming. Basically, you don’t need any experts to stand by there.
"As you know, people who want to do artifact farming will need to mobilize so many experts to stop any beasts from entering. This place, on the other hand, can turn it into reality without any cost.
"He gave up that kind of place so that he could force the government to give you a fresh start.
"Besides, he also poured in another fifty artifacts, not to mention the fact that he gave a bunch of rank 3 and rank 4 artifacts to the Shadow Guards for helping him.
"When you encountered that kind of situation, what could we do other than offering your hand in marriage?" Edward shrugged.
"Seriously? I’ve investigated up to that point, but I feel like you’ve been doing things without my knowledge. I still don’t understand how it even reached that point. I will repay him, but he’s my student, you know?"
"So, what is your age?" Edward asked calmly.
"Age is just a number." Maya frowned.
"If age is just a number, taboo relationships are just two words. Besides, he’s talented and your grandfather has approved of his character. You are the only one who hasn’t married, so your grandfather is quite anxious."
"I’m still young..."
"Perfect. You’re still energetic enough to fulfill your duty."
"Why do I feel like you have become better at replying to me when it comes to my relationship?" Maya was rather speechless.
"Don’t worry. We have a plan. I’ve made sure that Auric gets so famous that he won’t feel inferior to you. You can lead a man anywhere as long as you make him think he’s steering the ship." He smiled. "Your mother used to say that to me."
"I still want to ask... Is there anyone normal in this family?"
"Yeah... You." He laughed out loud.
"It looks like you’ve gotten used to the SS Grade affinity," said Auric, noticing the improvement in her control.
"Yeah. Because I can feel the energy more, I can control my energy better." Katarina nodded.
"In that case, you can go back tomorrow." Auric smiled.
Katarina thought for a moment. "By the way, I’ve sent those people away right now, but they will surely come back to you. At that time, you need to be careful."
"I know. My teacher has told me about the potential threat and has removed it for the time being. But we have to deal with the ones entering this country legally. There are also forces from this country."
"With your looks, I believe some girls are going to kidnap you or something." Katarina chuckled.
Auric let out a long sigh.
"You’re not going to deny it?"
"I want to, but..." Auric just sighed as if he was recalling something. "In any case, I’ll take care of the rest."
"Okay then. In that case, I should aim for the student council president seat this time. With me reaching rank 4 in my third year, no one is going to fight me for that position. I can’t shame the Great Sun after all."
Auric put his hands on his hips, staring at her.
"Okay, okay. I will stop that." Katarina chuckled. "Anyway, do you have any plans right now?"
"I do intend to improve all my elements as quickly as possible. That’s all for now."
"I see. In that case, I can focus on seizing the student council then."
"Yeah. I don’t intend to ask you anything for the time being." Auric waved his hand. "Besides, my shop has been closed for a while, so I have to open it again. I’m an evolution master after all."
"That’s true." Katarina covered her mouth with her hand, stifling her small laugh. "I almost forgot about that because of your stores..."
"Well..." Auric suddenly stopped as his phone vibrated. He pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Excuse me."
Auric was startled when he saw the message he had received. He covered his mouth in disbelief before shaking his head. "This..."
"What’s wrong? You look happy." Katarina tilted her head in confusion.
"You might be my lucky charm. I just taught you the Artificial Heart Method, but now..." Auric showed his phone.
There was a notification on his phone. And that notification came from the platform he used to sell the Artificial Heart Method.
[Moon Store]
[Your "Lightning Heartbeat" has been sold.]
Vol. 2 End.