Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 471 The Turmoil Of The Heart - Part 1

The Djinn sisters were moved into the church and Erika was handed the responsibility to look after them while the rest of the party camped outside. But Raven and the others werenʼt free of duty either as the demi-human fox was finally coming to her senses and so was the young frost drake.

However, to her surprise instead of being tortured for information or simply killed to be gotten rid of, Choux was being allowed to sit beside the girls and her drake was getting scratches and a bit of love.

”There~ There~ Big guy,” caressing the young drake with her hands, Mino had been talking to him like a person and somehow even the drake appeared to understand her every word. Sitting down with his head low to the ground, Daema cooed with his eyes closed while Mino continued to rub his scales and scratch its back.

”Here, we only have a handful so try not to drop any,” hearing Liliyanaʼs voice beside her, Choux turned her attention away from her dragon cub and shifted it to the fae devil. Looking into her eyes for a moment, she was almost in a state of shock. Having seen how the party had annihilated the Aranuvian ships with cunning, she expected to be killed but was instead being handed a hot cup of chocolate milk.

”T-thanks…” She said as she took the cup off of Liliyanaʼs hands.

Smiling back at the ʼyoung-lookingʼ girl, Liliyana began to retreat back to her seat. However, fluttering out of her cleavage as a wisp, Will-O circled around Choux. The fox followed the bulb of light with her gaze, but as it harmlessly rested on her shoulder she figured it meant her no harm. Even so, glancing at everyone gathered around the fire, she shortlisted everyone holding a cup of chocolate milk and waited until they took a sip before taking a sip of her cup as well.

”It isnʼt poisoned,” the look of suspicion in her eyes was far too familiar to Maria, sheʼd seen that same doubt in her dead husbandʼs gaze far too many times.

”I didnʼt…”

”You can have my cup, Iʼll drink yours if you want,” Maria offered, but shaking her head, Choux decided to take a sip first after all.

The rich odor of cinnamon and the soothing warmth of the liquid helped loosen her nerves. It helped more than sheʼd expected and the rhythmic jingle of the wisp beside her, made her feel welcomed.

”Are we gonna ask her what her deal is or not?” A bit bitter still about what had happened before on that very day, Amedith jumped in and tried to rush the situation. However, with a stern glance by Raven to Liliyana, he was taken away from the fire.

Following the fae-devil as she helped Amedith into the church, every orphan around that camp sympathized with him. To know how your parents died trying to save you, wasnʼt something they wished to know. Mel and Aria both knew a similar fate mustʼve been the case for their parents given the fact that a massacre from the dark elf had just happened. As for Erika and Raven, the two had little interest in knowing about their parentage, however, if there was a way they could find out more about them, then why wouldnʼt they?

ʼMel, you should talk to him later. I donʼt want him to only confide in Liliyana, if he feels distant from the group, who knows maybe heʼll quit, after all?ʼ

Relaying those words to the elf through telepathy, Raven watched as Melʼs head turned to him with slight doubts. Her doubts however didnʼt last long and giving him a nod she agreed to what he had to say.

”Hey, girlie!” The tension of the group was suddenly broken by Minoʼs cheery voice. Gathering everyoneʼs attention on her, they found her sitting on top of the drake with a transparent magic leash and a saddle on Daema. ”Do you mind if we fly for a bit?”

Leaning against the nape of the bubbly drake enthusiastically stomping its feet, Mino brushed him on the sides while looking wide-eyed at the fox girl. Visibly surprised that the drake was being so friendly with a stranger, Choux didnʼt exactly know how she was supposed to respond.

”If heʼs okay with it…you can, I guess?” Straightening her back the moment she was given permission, Mino didnʼt waste a second in pulling on the leash and the drake didnʼt waste a second in soaring into the skies either.

A gust of cold wind blew from the drakeʼs wings, snuffed the campfire, froze the chocolate in the mug and even got everyone shivering–except for of course the fox-girl.

”Oeee geez!” Popping into her real fairy form, even Will-O grabbed her sides and began rubbing her arms to get some heat.

The sudden appearance of the fairy made Chouxʼs eyes widen even more than they already had. She had never seen a fairy, only heard of them and to see one so up close felt surreal.

”A fairy, h-how?” Turning her head to Regalia as she was the only other monster girl present, Chouxʼs eyes glimmered for an answer, but with a shrug, the wolf-girl passed the question onto Raven.

As her eyes were brought onto him, Raven leaned forward, rubbed his hands together and started the coaxing.

”Iʼll tell you everything, but then youʼll have to tell us everything about your king Aran and his kingdom,” sharing a long uncertain glance at each other, the two slowly grew comfortable and let down the mask of hostility. Although still unsure if it was a good idea to do so, Raven reached behind the log he was sitting on and grabbed Chouxʼs rifle. ”Here, your weapon.”

Tossing it at the girl, he watched her juggle it for a bit before she finally managed to hug it tight. Discover stories at empire

”Keep it if it makes you feel more secure while we talk things through,” Choux stared at him again, unsure just who exactly she was trying to fight. Turning to the witch, she still felt the draw to kill her, but after being treated equally or at least not as a freak, she couldnʼt bring herself to reach for the trigger and fire that rifle.

ʼNobody has weapons…ʼ

Looking around, she was further surprised that none of them had their weapons and yet she was allowed to have hers.

”I…” Slowly turning her head back to Raven, whom she now recognized as the groupʼs leader, she took a momentary pause to rest her doubt before speaking up. ”What do you wanna know exactly, mister?”

A smile took over everyoneʼs face as things were finally going in the right direction.