Chapter 174 The Dark Demon Clan and the Cook Patrol Officer Visit
Ananna, of course, still had to come to the dungeon to cook. She and Lilia were in charge of the dungeon's food service, but these past few days, Sansaka had been having a fever, so the two of them would leave the dungeon after cooking to take care of the children.
Sanshanka is the daughter of Lilia and Ananka, and is now a little over two months old. She inherited her father's talent for refined magic and received the name Sanshanka from the Tree of Life.
The baby's magical energy fluctuations were strong and stable, and she had always been healthy. However, as the harvest month approached, the temperature rose sharply along with the concentration of magical energy. Not being able to adapt to the drastic changes in the magical environment, Sansaka developed a fever.
Although she frequently gets fevers, Sansaka's appetite has always been good. She eats everything from steamed egg custard to thick soup with gusto, so Lilia and Anana aren't particularly worried.
When Sansaka turns three months old, she will start teething and will be able to eat more foods. Lilia wants to make more food suitable for babies, and recently she has been working with Ananna and the two cooks from Flower Castle to research this.
When Blackfoot asked him about Ananna's flower fairy also having a baby a few months old, he and his wife offered some suggestions to the cooks who were developing infant recipes. Although he wasn't quite sure why the large demon wanted cooks, he explained and kindly said:
"Is something the matter? I can pass it on to Ananna for you. If you're in a hurry, you can also look for her on the ground. If she's not in the medical room, she's definitely in the kitchen of the Flower Castle."
Blackfoot immediately waved his hand, stammering, "No, no, no! It's nothing important! It's fine as long as she comes to the dungeon to cook!"
Watching the demon's hurried departure, the flower fairy was somewhat puzzled, but these big guys were always strange. He shook his head and left as well.
Blackfoot returned to his cave, burrowed into the soft sand, closed his eyes, and tried to sleep, but he couldn't fall asleep no matter what he did.
His first impression of the flower fairies was that they were fragile and fragile. Blackfoot had no idea that there were such delicate and tiny lives in the world, as if they would die if he blew a breath of poison on them.
As he gradually got to know them, Blackfoot, though still hesitant to get too close to these tiny creatures, realized that the flower fairies were not as weak as he had imagined. In particular, the two flower fairies who came to the dungeon to cook soup and meals for the demons possessed amazing abilities, able to cook any kind of food into incredibly delicious dishes!
After the Flower Fairy gave him the magic-suppressing ring, Blackfoot asked for a complete set to wear before daring to talk to the two Flower Fairy cooks. He really liked these two Flower Fairies who could make a lot of delicious food, but they always seemed very busy. Unlike Bluehorn, he had no idea what to say to them.
Blackfoot didn't realize at first that blood ties were such a close relationship under normal circumstances. It was only after the flower fairies who came to the dungeon showed him what family and relatives were through their words and actions that Blackfoot gradually came to understand.
Then Blackfoot keenly realized that his love for Lilia was for a mother and an elder like her, while his love for Ananna was for a lover and a partner like her.
This greatly troubled Blackfoot, because hybrids do not have the ability to reproduce. Flower fairies without blood ties can establish blood relations by forming families and having offspring, but as a hybrid demon, he cannot do this. So how can he form a family with Ananna?
After arriving in the Land of Sin, many demons chose to transform into women because the environment became safer. However, they were more interested in fighting than mating. Demon women were stronger than men, and hybrids were unable to reproduce. So, over such a long time, no demons formed couples. Even if Blackfoot wanted to ask his fellow demons for advice, he didn't know who to ask.
...Wait, the prince and the flower fairy are a couple.
Blackfoot sat up abruptly.
"Anna!"
Ananna and Lilia stood together in the medical room, gazing worriedly at the baby in the alternate dimension. Soft magical light enveloped the tiny elf, and the vibrant blush on Sanssanka's cheeks, caused by the high fever, was slowly fading.
Hearing the call, Ananna stepped out of the large medical room specially built for elves and saw the flower fairy flying in the air. She smiled and said, "Good evening, Totok. Is there something going on in the dungeon?"
Totok shrugged. "It should be fine, but I thought it would be better to let you know. There's one of those big guys who's the darkest, with white hair. Do you remember him?"
Ananna nodded. "Is it Blackfoot? He looks a bit like a magical cat. I remember him. Why?"
A magical cat? That thing doesn't look like a cute magical cat at all. Is it because it's all black? Totok didn't quite understand. He scratched his head and continued:
"Nothing much, he just asked me about you today, asking if you would still go to the dungeon. I asked him if something was wrong, but he wouldn't say. He just said that it was good that you would still go to the dungeon, and then he ran away in a hurry, as if there were monsters from another continent chasing him."
Totok remarked, "It's so strange, so I thought I'd come and tell you. You can ask him what happened when you have time."
Ananna nodded again: "It is indeed a bit strange. I'll ask him next time I see him."
Waving goodbye to Totok, Ananna walked towards the medical room, lost in thought—
Blackfoot used to enjoy sitting by the stove watching her and Lilia cook soup. Among that group of big guys who were always fighting, Blackfoot was the quietest one. He also had pure black skin and eyes, which always reminded Ananna of the Flower Fairy's pure black magical cat. Speaking of which, is he craving some fruit soup?
The weather is getting hotter and hotter.
The patrol to the land of sin made Sissis wish he could hide under the wings of a white-feathered bird. Even though his magical cloak blocked the scorching sunlight, he still felt like he was being roasted alive by the sun.
Seeing the snow-white city walls appear in the distance, Sissis breathed a sigh of relief. They were finally almost there!
Although he didn't quite understand His Majesty's decree, nor did he quite understand why he had to arrive in the Land of Sin before the harvest month, Sissis still set off immediately after receiving the order.
The Land of Sin is located in the northernmost part of the Kingdom of Garnar. It is a desolate place used to exile criminals and is extremely barren of magic. Although he was sent to collect magic tax, Sissis did not think that taxes could be collected from a territory where even the magic trees had withered. He actually thought that His Majesty the King had sent him here to wipe out the alien monsters in the vicinity.
Sissis hadn't expected that he wouldn't encounter a single escaped alien monster along the way. Seeing the pure white high wall in the distance, materialized from a high-level defensive barrier, Sissis belatedly realized that the magic concentration here was actually quite normal.
...So His Majesty really sent him to collect magic tax?
Passing through the white city wall from the southeast, Sissis entered the border area between the agricultural and commercial districts. On one side were fields that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see, and on the other side was a bustling construction site. He looked left and right, wondering if he was hallucinating from some kind of mental magic.
The crops in the royal territory didn't grow this well! Is this really a land of sin? His patrol route didn't include this territory, but he had heard about the conditions in the land of sin—was he really not hallucinating?!
After hesitating for a moment, Sissis cast a sobering spell on herself, but the scene before her did not change. The harvest month was approaching, and the wheat fields were rippling in waves, like a golden ocean.
Besides the wheat, Sissis also saw vast meadows and orchards. In the distance, many civilians flew overhead, seemingly harvesting the crops. In the nearby orchards, every tree was laden with unripe fruit, and the gentle breeze carried a fresh scent of fruit and grass.
Jumping off the back of the white-feathered bird, Sissis flew towards the group of civilians who were busy in the air not far away.
The patrol made the crimson uniforms stand out vividly in the sunlight. Sissis was not surprised to find that the smiles on the civilians' faces vanished quickly after they saw him. This actually calmed Sissis down, and it seemed that everything in front of her was real.
Despite the cold, disgusted, or hateful gazes of the common people, Sissis remained unfazed: "Good afternoon, everyone. I have been ordered to collect the magic tax from the land of sin."
Suddenly sensing an overwhelming aura of magic, Sissis drew his magic staff and looked up to see a demon with three deep blue horns flying towards him. He was somewhat astonished: "How come there's a demon here?!"
The magic staff was pointed at the tall, strong female demon, and a dazzling magical light shone from the tip of the staff. Sissis said imposingly, "What have you done to them?! Even if the goddess of flowers has fallen, the Kingdom of Garnar is not a place where demons can lay their hands!"
The blue-skinned female demon glanced at Sissis with interest, but instead of answering his question, she turned to her back and said, "I didn't expect that you flower fairies would have such a capable fighter."
Peng Peng An ignored her, flew over the blue corner to the patrolman, and bowed: "Good afternoon, patrolman. The flower fairy has been waiting for you at the flower castle for a long time. Please come with me."
Sissis gripped her staff, scrutinizing the incredibly tall tax collector with suspicion. Only after confirming that the tax collector was indeed a river elf and not a demon in disguise did the magical glow at the tip of her staff slowly dissipate.
But who did he just mention? The Flower Fairy?!
Suppressing the thoughts surging within him, the patrolman returned the salute: "Thank you for your trouble, tax officer."
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Author's note: ...I think I've fallen back into my old ways. Oh no, I have to update on time tomorrow!
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