Victoria

"You… you are my mother?"

"Yes. My essence did create you if that's what you mean."

The tall, wispy woman smiled. A smile that was so warm and welcoming that Victoria's eyes began to water on her own.

She couldn't resist. She had to leap forward and give her a big hug.

-----

I… I remember!

Mother's words! Our meeting together!

As she trained her fairy powers with Selene, she began to remember her encounter with Titania. The stronger she became, the weaker the effect of her Veil grew.

She had been fighting against the archfey for days, without sleeping or eating or even going to the bathroom. Her fairy half had overwritten her human half, erasing her human needs entirely.

The way she fought had slowly evolved as well. At the start, she only used her rapier as a weapon, trying over and over to land a stab on Selene. Of course, it was not effective at all, as Selene fought like a fairy would, using all the strange magic she had at her disposal.

But now…

"Flower Blitz! One Million Blades!"

She dispersed into a tornado of flowers, each having the same cyan color as her wings. And then, said tornado flew straight towards the archfey, cutting through all the thorns and brambles in the way.

Yes, it was a technique she invented after seeing Selene dissipating into leaves over and over. Originality was never her strong suit.

The archfey smiled, before snapping her finger, igniting all the flowers in an instant.

"Aahhhh!"

Victoria screamed as she popped back between the flames. Her wounds weren't that severe, however, only some singed hair here and there.

"E-eh? It… it doesn't hurt?" She looked all over her body.

"Of course not." The archfey replied. "A mere flame like that will never injure a daughter of Titania."

… Mother…

----------

"I see. You have suffered much in the world of mortals." She released Victoria from her hug.

"H-huh? How can you tell, Mother? I haven't even told you anything!"

Resting her hands on her shoulders, she replied, "I can read your mind. And the mind of every fairy in the world."

The Queen Fairy then took off her hands before straightening herself. Face to face, Victoria's head only reached up to her stomach.

She truly was tiny compared to her.

"What do you think? Should I give them my punishment?"

"Eh?"

"If you wish, I can put a terrible, awful curse on all of them. Like, how about… turning them to donkeys?! That’s a classic!” She clasped her hands together.

“N-no, you can’t! They’re… they aren’t the ones in the wrong…” Victoria yelled.

She proceeded to lower her gaze, staring at her feet. “It was me… I was the one that was worthless… useless… My sister… She’s an amazing mage. And she can lead the city’s army too… While I can… I can only… be here… and marry…”

The moment Titania saw those drops of tears escaping her eyes, she knew what to do.

She would torture that family over and over for all eternity, and forevermore. No mercy shall be given to them.

But, she had to be patient. She had to wait until that Demon Lord was out of the way.

And until the day her Demon God rose to his rightful throne.

—----

Some more days passed for Victoria. Or perhaps it was weeks. She couldn’t tell.

She knew this was reality yet more and more she felt it was all a dream. Just like when she projected herself to save Hugo.

A dream of endless fighting, of dancing in the air, of flashes of blades crossing against decayed plants.

And speaking of that, she remembered that she had yet to tell his fairies about the bad news, about how his sister was in dire need for his help. She was knocked out from her trance thanks to Balthazar barging into her room.

She gritted her teeth. Why was she such an idiot?! She should’ve told them right away! And now, she couldn’t have the peace and quiet she needed to go back there!

…Wait. Didn’t her mother say that, for a powerful fairy like her, distance no longer mattered? That one could pop in and out of existence wherever one wished? And that she should be able to do the same once she grew strong enough?

“Where are you looking?!”

Before she could react, giant thorns had pierced her body from every side.

She vanished, reforming herself on the ground, kneeling on one foot, panting.

Selene hovered down with a sigh and a concerned look, landing right in front of her.

"Tired? Then draw more power from this room. This is my dominion, you know, part of the Great Fairy Forest. Don't ask how I did it. You wouldn't understand."

Wait, this is part of the Great Forest? Then I can just—

"Oh no, don't you think of running away." She wagged her finger with a smile. "You won't be able to. Ever since Titania's underling sneaked in, I had enhanced my trapping field. I daresay that even Titania herself wouldn't be able to trespass into this castle now."

Victoria didn't listen. She focused her mind and tried to perform what the other fairies called a "jump". She would let the chaotic mana of the Forest carry her to her destination in a blink of an eye.

Only to find that she only jumped a few meters away from where she had knelt before.

"See?" Selene covered her mouth and giggled. "This magic—it wasn't just me who created it. I had a lot of help from a certain friend~"

"I am not your friend."

The air shimmered and shifted, before a loud pop put a stop to Victoria and Selene's conversation.

The two looked up and saw a woman dressed in a grey dress, leering at them with a haughty, bored look.

The first thing Victoria noticed was her long, sharp ears. An elf? But she looks so pale… It's like she's sick…

The second thing was that she was riding barefooted on a large book.

"Ah! Adele! To what do I owe this visit?" Selene clapped her hands together, facing the elf.

The woman flew down to their level but she didn't dismount from her ride. She remained sitting inside her open book, with her back slouched backwards and her hands supporting her posture.

"I am here to see your specimen."

Her sight locked on at Victoria, causing the half-fairy to take a step backwards.

She flicked her index finger.

A giant hand popped out from her shadow, grabbing Victoria in an instant.

"Kyaahh!"

Pulling the half-fairy right in front her.

"Hmm…" Her eyes wandered, up and down to her thighs and breasts. "Such a provocative body. I wonder where you inherit it from. Titania never has such a body."

"You… villain! Release me… at once!"

"Oh please. All you need to do is ask."

She flicked her finger again. The giant hand reacted by releasing its grip on her, making her fall butt-first to the grass below.

The woman’s eyes traveled down between her legs, seemingly staring at her exposed panties.

"...This imbecile—" She looked at Selene. "—will not be useful at all in our upcoming fight."

"Oh come now~" Selene smiled. "Don't be such a bummer like that, Adele! You know she's the daughter of Titania, right? And not only that, but her father is the Great Hero Arthur himself! Surely she inherits some of their strength!"

Victoria froze.

What? What did she just hear?

Adele's eyes narrowed as she folded her arms near her chest. "You do know that Arthur's strength came from the fate given to him by the Heavenly Dragon, right? Bloodline has nothing to do with it."

"That's quite presumptuous, don't you think?" Selene replied, still smiling. "Some of his human descendants have become great swordsmen like him. Surely, that talent didn't come out of thin air?"

"But none ever reached the peak of his strength. And this sorry excuse of a specimen—" She glanced back at Victoria. "—is exactly in that category."

She… she was the daughter of the Legendary Hero Arthur himself? But… that can't be! He lived a thousand years ago! How could she—

A flash of memory lit up in her mind.

She remembered once more—a portion of her conversation with her mother, Titania.

"My real father… is the Legendary Hero?!"

"Yes." Titania giggled. "It's a long story. But I suppose we have the time."

That story… she…

...still could not recall.

"I suppose she doesn't possess the unique presence her mother has?" Adele asked.

"No." Selene answered, shaking her head. "I don't believe it's something inheritable."

"True. It comes with the seat of Titania after all."

Adele glanced back at Victoria who now had stood back up.

"I'll be back. And I expect you to be a lot stronger when I return."

"Balthazar… he deserves only your very best effort."

She took out her wand from her pocket and began chanting. The space around her shimmered and distorted, until she was seemingly sucked into it, disappearing in a flash.

Leaving Victoria to her training once again.

--------

"Not fair not fair not fair!"

Meanwhile, somewhere else inside the floating castle, a certain prince was fuming at the seams.

"I am her husband! She's supposed to sleep with me!"

Zilge Naturia. One of the many sons of the Wisdom Demon Lord.

And Victoria's betrothed.

"You imbecile!"

A resounding slap echoed across the room. He was sent crashing into the nearest wardrobe, his head making a hole on the wooden door. His pudgy buttocks then shook back and forth as he tried to free his head from the hole he had made.

"This is why she doesn't like you! You're a spoiled, rotten little brat! Nothing like your father or how an orc should be!”

The one who just slapped him was naturally his mother, Ulum Naturia. She was a tall and towering green-skinned woman with a pair of giant fangs jutting out from her mouth. She wore a dark half-armor that exposed a generous amount of cleavage and her navel. And below her waist, a form-fitting black leather accentuated her curves.

Seeing her son stuck in such a humiliating fashion, she could only shake her head. Where did she go wrong? She used to be such a cute kid too...

The son, finally freeing himself from his entrapment, quickly ran back to his mother and resumed his teary-eyed complaints.

"Shut your mouth!" She yelled, silencing him in an instant. "A weak orc like you has no right to bed a girl as fertile as her!"

Such was the philosophy of the orcs. The strongest amongst them have the right to bed the most "fertile" woman, that is, young, slim girls with big breasts and hips. Though as orcs, monogamy was only a thing for their chieftains, where if he didn't want to share, his woman would be off-limits to the other, lesser orcs. The rest, however, would be shared for the good of the tribe.

The prince broke down into tears. Like a child, he fell down to the floor and flailed his arms and legs.

"Uwaahhh! No fair no fair no fair! You promised me a wife, Mother! I don't wanna sleep with those ugly maids again!"

As a prince, he of course had his own maids. It didn't take long until he slept with all of them. The moment he hit puberty, the very first thing he commanded was for them to perform fellatio on him.

Thanks to that, he was now utterly bored with them.

Unlike she, of course. Her thick hips, her humongous chest, and her sharp elven ears — it fit his taste perfectly.

"Enough of this!" The orc woman lifted him up at his collar. "If you wish to bed her that much then go to that fairy's place. Conquer her with your own strength. Don't you make me or your father fight your own battles."

She threw him to the floor before leaving the room, slamming the door behind her.

He could only sob even harder.

----------

Hugo

When I came to, I was already back in the house. Inside the bedroom, to be exact.

"Idiot! Imbecile! You think apologizing will be enough?! You could've killed him with that uppercut!"

Sherry was now standing with her eyes looking downwards, fidgeting nervously with her hands clasped together. She was being scolded by Felicia, after what she just did to me.

Yes, it was her tsundere punch. Her explanation? She didn't expect me to grab her butt out of the blue like that. So she was taken by surprise and she reacted the only way she knew to.

Which was to punch me to the stratosphere.

I climbed off the bed. "I think that's enough, Felicia." I placed a hand on the redhead's shoulder, giving her my smile. "She knew what she did was wrong. No need to—"

"You're too soft on her, Milord!" She glared at me. "She broke your jaw with that punch! You're lucky I still had my healing potion with me!"

"Yeah but I really shouldn't have grabbed her butt out of nowhere like that. Sorry Sherry. Should've known you don't like that kind of stuff out in the open."

"Hmph!" Felicia crossed her arms under her breasts. "You’re well within your right to do that as his husband, Milord! But if she doesn’t want to—” She swiftly pulled my hand and placed it on their behind. “—you can do it all to me, Darling~” She gave me her trademarked seductive smile.

Sherry could only reply with a silent glare to that.

—-----

After that whole mess, finally, we made our way back to where the others were, which was inside the house just down the hill. We were greeted first by the fairies, who had been waiting impatiently for me to come all this time. They led us inside, where the others were already sitting around a low table with their legs folded.

I guess this is how Izurds normally eat.

We took our spots there and began eating as well, with the fairies eagerly fulfilling their newfound roles by putting every single thing on that table onto my plate.

"H-hey, that's too much!"

"Eh? Really, Master?" Kiri paused with a shocked expression. "Oh, I'm sorry! I'll fix it immediately!"

I could only watch nervously as the clumsy fairy did her work.

There was one more maid there however. Shining brilliantly in her green-white short outfit (the skirt only going halfway up her thighs) was Tira, bending over to give Myrilla her apples, said skirt scandalously riding up in the process.

Oh right, she's supposed to be my maid too.

...Damn. I can't see her panties from here.

Theo could though. The little rascal was stretching his head to take a peek. Hey, that's your own (adoptive) mother, you know. Thankfully, the girlfriend was busy stuffing herself with fish to notice.

Myrilla stayed silent for the entire breakfast, eating her vegan menu without a single word. Heh, guess she'll just pretend I didn't just see her naked.

Fran was the chatty one, asking me, Sherry, and Felicia all sorts of things about our first night together. Stuff that we certainly couldn't answer in a place like this.

"So, how long did he hold up?" She smirked at Sherry.

"W-what?" Sherry reddened.

"How large was his blade? Describe it in detail!"

"I-I can't do that!"

All the while pressing those giant knockers of hers to the table. It took an elbow from Felicia for me to stop leering at her.

Oh, and there was also one other person. He was so unremarkable I almost forgot he was even there, sitting beside her. Fran's husband, Graha. Black hair, eyes seemingly closed, has an extremely thin presence. He remained silent like Myrilla.

After we finished, we decided to go out to take a fresh breath. The fairies stayed behind to wash the dishes or else they probably would’ve wanted to come along as well.

Sherry stayed behind as well. She had that gift from Fran waiting for her in her room.

And the next time we saw her…

"H-how do I look?"

She was dressed in an outfit that left me speechless.

No, it was not a maid outfit. In fact, it was a perfectly respectable adventuring outfit.

Only, it was quite… revealing.

She wore a V-neck long-sleeved light blue shirt with large collars. Over that was some leather protecting the region from her breasts to her navel. And below that was a pair of dark blue short shorts, kept from sagging down by the leather belt she wore.

The short shorts, naturally, were the problem. It exposed a generous amount of her firm thighs, to the point that they almost looked like they were only slightly bigger than the usual size of panties. Hell, I could even see cameltoe on the crotch.

She had one hand on her waist while the other loosely hung to the side. She tried to hide it but I knew she was embarrassed by it, thanks to that cute blush she had on her face.

“You look great, Sherry!” I gave her my biggest grin and a thumbs up. “I assume that’s your aunt’s gift?”

“Yeah.” She began fiddling with her hair, averting her gaze. “This is an adventurer’s outfit, she said.”

“Yep. It’s an adventuring outfit, alright.” I wasn’t lying! A lot of female adventurers wear skimpy clothes like that!

Felicia, seeing that her place as Ms. Fanservice was being threatened, quickly grabbed my arm and pressed her boobs into it. “A bit revealing. But it suits you, I guess.” She huffed.

Sherry, not wanting to be beaten, went after my other arm. Pouting, she then said to me in a low whisper, “Stop staring so much. Pervert.”

You have no idea how adorable she was when she said that.

That dreamlike atmosphere was quickly broken, however, when a wave of familiar aura suddenly filled the air, shaking all the trees around us.

"Huh? What was that?"

"This feeling…" Sherry promptly released her grip on me and took on a combat stance, forming a sword out of her hair. “It’s grandmother’s!”

She was right. This aura was definitely Quania’s. Which meant she was now fighting someone or something!

Exchanging a swift glance with her, we departed with haste.

Leaving Felicia behind.

“H-hey! Where are you two going?!” She yelled.

Sorry Felicia, but we have to get there right away. Whatever this is, I don’t like it at all.

Using Wind Step, I raced Sherry to where the wave of aura had originated. I flew over the trees while Sherry jumped from treetops to treetops with incredible speed.

It didn't take long until we found the culprit, for Quania herself was standing on top of the trees. Or to be exact, she was standing on top of the tallest tree on the other side of the village.

Her long, dark hair was blowing in the wind. She was staring to the distance, with her cursed sword lifted above her head.

And then, she slashed.

What happened next took my breath away.

A dark wave sliced through the forest below her, disintegrating all the trees with a single move. When the darkness dissipated, there was only a barren wasteland.

She raised her sword once more. And performed another slash, destroying the section of the forest even further away from her.

That's… that's her true power?

Before she could do the third slice, she noticed our arrival.

"Oh. You've come."

She lowered her sword and turned around, focusing her intense gaze on me. She then gestured at me to take a seat beside her on the nearby branch.

"And you too, my granddaughter." She looked down at Sherry who just jumped up from below, landing right beside her. “I assume you had a pleasant night with your beloved.”

Sherry blushed as she nodded.

“Very good. Such things are important in a husband and wife relationship. I’m glad you are not lacking in that department, human.” Her gaze switched back to me.

“Yeah, I’d say I did a pretty good job,” I replied with a confident smile.

My gaze quickly rested on her stump, however. I knew I took her arm legitimately for self-defense back then but I still couldn’t help feeling a pang of guilt the moment I saw it. If only my Boom Cannon hadn't completely obliterated the arm, she probably could just reconnect it like I did with my arm, knowing her regenerative capabilities.

She then seemingly stared at me for a few moments, quite uncomfortably so if I might add, before she resumed to speak.

“Hugo Greenwood. You remind me of my late husband.”

Huh?

“Your smile. It reminds me of him. Your smile is quite the same.”

What happened next nearly made me fall off the branch.

The scary woman with disheveled hair… began to smile.

And, before I could say anything, she rested her hand on top of my head.

“Please. Take care of Sherry.”

“O-of course! You don’t have to ask that!”

“If you ever hurt her… or ignore her in favor of that other woman…”

She didn’t need to finish her sentence. The void looking back from her eye sockets was enough to tell me the hell that would wait for me if I ever betrayed my promise.

Releasing her grip from my head, she returned her gaze back to Sherry. Sherry was sitting to her left while I sat to her right.

“Don’t let up your training. You can still improve. Until one day, you will be stronger than me.”

Sherry nodded, her expression fully serious.

“As for your sword, you’ll need to forge it. Do not rush. Seek out a master blacksmith that can truly handle our kind’s hair.”

Hearing that, I couldn’t help but chime in.

“Oh yeah. Sherry, what happened to the sword Father gave you?”

“It broke. Thanks to her.” She grumpily glanced at Quania.

“Ah.” Yeah, I can just imagine that happening. She broke my sword too after all and that was mithril. That was a gift from Fiora too.

…Oh crap, I haven’t brought her up to Sherry.

“As for you, Hugo Greenwood,” Quania glanced back at me. “You need to get stronger as well. Particularly in your defense. It is still lacking, especially if you’re going to fight opponents around my level.”

“You got a point.” I wryly smiled, remembering how I almost lost an arm. “Thankfully, I now have a familiar that can transform into an armor.”

“That won’t be enough.” She shook her head, giving me a concerned glare. “You’re too squishy. A weakness that all humans share. Especially mages like you.”

She then looked back at Sherry. “It will be your duty to be his shield. Take all blows meant for him into your body. All that training I had given to you, it is for that purpose.”

Sherry replied with a silent nod, looking at me with determination. Just what kind of training has she been put through?

Suddenly, Quania stood up, perfectly balancing herself on the branch we were sitting on.

“As for us…”

She raised her sword once again. A burst of energy gathered around her before focusing itself on the blade of her sword. The air shook as it shimmered with darkness.

“We will create our own nation.”

She brought her blade downwards in a diagonal motion. A massive sword wave appeared for a split second before it crashed into the faraway forest down below, creating another gash where no greenery remained.

“Free from the machinery of the feys. Once again standing on our own two feet.”

She raised her sword once more, charged another slice, and performed another grand erasure that brought chills all over my body.

“We begin by taking over their territory. As repayment for the humiliation they had brought on us.”

Seeing this scene, all I could think about was the legends of the Izurds, and how true they all were.

“Do not worry.” She looked down at Sherry. “We can survive on our own. Your aid will be unnecessary.”