The mother and daughter, completely intimidated, looked towards the place where Vermillion was pointing, and saw the same small person that they saw before.

Although the daughter was shorter than the mother, she was still about 10m tall, so besides her physical features being that of a child, her wings, horns and tail were all small compared to everyone else. The mother looked like an older sister, but her horns were similar to Vermillion’s and not grown up like Celosia’s at all.

They were still nervous, and once the big piece of meat appeared inside her hand, the two looked at it and back to Vermillion’s face.

“Please do eat something while I ask Akira about the situation.”

At that moment, another giant person landed on the ground right in front of him, looking above, besides that usual pale blue skin, the mature features and 2 horns that were longer than Vermillion’s, although not as much as Celosia’s. She had short spiky red hair. Her build was overall average, and although she looked mature, there has the air of a youngster too, but right now she doesn’t look very receptive.

“Stop making problems to Milly! Who are you in the first place? You are just the enemy!”

“Auntie, please not you too, can you guys just stop for a moment…”

Vermillion’s face looked like she was surrounded by annoyances, she tried to ask for explanations, but people are ignoring her, and she is not used to it. She looked below at her aunt in a way that even she flinched, never having seen her niece like that. While her right hand was still down for the girls to eat, with her left hand, which is not her dominant one, she pressed her index finger in her own head, closed her eyes, and while in that pose, she asked.

“Please, just tell me what happened. You two continue eating until you are satisfied. Too many things are happening at the same time...”

Deciding that it’s best to let Vermillion understand the whole context first instead of trying to do anything himself, Akira explained the events: He found the 2 begging him for food, he wanted to help them, Celosia calling them trash, then as they tried to talk, the two were pushed into him as pets, and they are here now,

After the short explanation, there was a moment of silence. Vermilion then asked Akira.

“Akira, why did you do that?”

[Eh? … I thought it was normal…]

“I see… Rika, is that what humans usually do?”

Being suddenly asked out of nowhere, Ulrika trembles, a little unsure on how to respond, but decides on being honest.

[As a noble, I can’t say I ever saw a situation like this…]

“... Ana?”

[Although I’m a Knight, and my job is to secure peace in the Kingdom, in my case it was also work as the princess bodyguard, so I can’t say I ever saw such situation either.]

“... I see, then maybe it’s something from Akira’s world? We are ok in trying something different, to understand humans, so I don’t mind what you did, I just wanted to be sure of your reasons.”

Although some people certainly do help others on Earth, not everyone does that, and it’s usually just a small donation like some coins or some small food... Nobody is taken as pets or anything like that, at least he never heard of something like that on the news…

“Don’t mind me Akira, I just wanted to know, there shouldn’t be much impact on us, Mama said that we don’t need to hunt as much because that Artifact that makes ice that you made helped a lot in conserving the food. It’s fine.”

Vermillion had a very amiable face at this moment, he wasn’t expecting on being complimented at a time like this. It‘s a nice surprise. But a voice was heard from an unexpected side

“Oi! What did this human do?”

“Ah, auntie, Akira made some artifacts to ease food, now it’s easier to make food, and they can be stored for longer. Wanna try? I’m inviting you.”

“Eh? S-Sorry Milly, you know how is it between me and your mother, I have training tomorrow, the tribe preparations won’t stop so fast you know, we have been preparing and-”

“Auntie, you know, coleite tastes better when it’s cold~”

“Ok, I never had that, change of plans! I accept, let’s go! But tell your mother to stop picking on me, I hate her!!”

“Well, I was having my lunch right now, so if you want to eat something, it will take a few hours until we get home. Akira, I have your food here, but if you want to try something something from the tribe, auntie can help you three wit that.”

“Eh!? No way! I’m won’t take that responsibility to get them inside again, or are you saying you will go back to your previous invitation if I don’t do that?”

The one to interfere in the aunt-niece conversation was Ulrika.

[Milly, thank you, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to return inside either way.]

“Well, suit yourself.”

With her free hand, Vermillion drinks some water from a large cup. She got dragged in the middle of a drama by everyone without caring to properly explain, now she wants her peace of mind back. It felt good.

And while she calms herself down, Flare tells Vermillion that she will get her things and return later, so don’t go without her.

“Hey Akira, can you lend auntie a Communication Artifact, please?”

[Sure...]

Flare had stopped once she heard what Vermillion asked, but of course, she couldn’t hear the reply.

“If you don’t mind auntie, take it with him and place in your ear, then I will call once you are done, wanna test?”

Flare who reluctantly crouched and took the item with Akira, placed in her ear, could hear the conversation now. She still didn’t want to deal with the humans, but at the same time she trusts Vermillion. She looks above at her smiling niece, and waves shyly at her.

And as soon as the non-“party members” went away…

“So, what should we do about you two?”

Looking at her hand still handed down, there were two people on it. They were silent and not moving, but anyone next to them would see them trembling for their lives.

-------

Vermillion had lifted both of them to her face, considering that the two would still fit in her hand, the height is quite something.

“So, first, what are your names?”

Completely intimidated by the huge face in front of them, the mother was still trying in vain to hide her daughter.

“M-My name is Nyx… T-This is my daughter Dia… I-It’s an honor to b-be in y-your p-presence, L-Lady Vermillion.”

“I see, it’s nice to meet you Nyx and Dia. Would you mind explaining what happened?”

“I-I’m sorry, we didn’t know that he was related to the Lady, w-we asked for help due to our situation, i-it was my mistake that caused all of this, if there is any punishment, a-all I request is to p-please l-let my d-daughter g-go.”

“How was the food? I guess you may need some water too. Hmm...”

Trying to guess how she would be able to offer them water, with her free hand she took the large container that is now half full, and tried inclining them in a way that the water would be approachable for them. The two were confused by what Vermillion was doing.

“Can you drink from there? Sorry that I don’t have a way to fill up with more water, or maybe we could get some from the river? But mine is colder, so it should taste better.”

“L-Lady Vermillion, w-what will hap-”

“Drink.”

Vermillion now serious face told her to stop talking and just drink, the completely intimidated mother approached the inclined container and tried to drink directly from there instead of taking it with her hands. She looked back at the face.

“Her too.”

She lifted her daughter to allow her to do the same. After she seemed satisfied.

“Do you feel better?”

“L-Lady Vermillion, t-thank you very much for your mercy.”

“Good. Now, tell me your story, just wait for me to get trio down there to listen too.”

As the mother and daughter were still trembling, Vermillion, with a smile on her face, focused on Akira, Ulrika and Anastacia who remained quiet during this exchange. Vermillion was being very direct and didn’t seem to be accepting any unwanted replies. They climbed her hand, were lifted, and then asked to jump to the other hand, since she wanted to keep at least one hand free.

“Now you can go.”

While still unsure of what was happening, the mother explained her story. She and her daughter have nothing, so they live out of donations from the tribe, but because the natives are unfriendly to her conditions, they remain mostly in the visitor district where they get more sympathy, hence more earnings.

The mother was initially ignored by her family due to her inability to use magic, something essential for females on hunts. For some reason she was also born with an unusual black colored hair and eyes, and like this she wouldn’t be able to survive by herself in the long term, still her family expected that she could give a normal child, so she was thrust to others who were interested in her to make a child.

Once she was pregnant, her child came with the same hair, and after confirming that she also couldn’t use magic, she was treated as garbage since she can’t do anything properly.

She considered leaving the tribe, however the territory of the Banebdjed Tribe is one of the most dangerous, for someone without talent like her, she couldn’t get any help to leave, and there weren’t many tribes capable of supporting her and her child due to their necessities, besides the Banebdjed, only the Titans would surpass their resources, however that tribe is one of the most distant tribes from her position, and she wouldn’t survive the journey with her daughter, especially since they are already weak from the start.

Ulrika and Anastacia were shocked by the story, wondering if that sort of stuff could really be true. Akira was also feeling bad, but he could imagine the events. Vermillion however listened without any particular emotion.

“Hmmm, so, what should we do?”

Akira was the first to reply.

“Milly, didn’t you listen? Don’t you think we should help them?”

“Not really? That’s how it is here after all, not that I know well, since I was always strong.”

“That’s…”

“Akira, I don’t know what you are thinking, oh, you want them as pets?”

“Milly, that’s-”

“I know, I listened to your pleas, they are people, but didn’t you treat them as pets first?”

“!?”

“So, you two, we are kinda in need for some people to help in the castle since everyone is out. Would you accept working there? We need people that can be trusted, would I be able to trust you?”

In the end, not only Vermillion dealt with them as people, she demonstrated how Akira was the one that treated them as pets by simply deciding to help them instead of helping them to help themselves. Sure he had little means of doing anything, but that’s even more reason to avoid creating problems.

Although Akira felt frustrated from the words thrown at him, Ulrika tried to console Akira, she didn’t really knew how she would be able to help him, but she felt that Vermillion’s words were necessary. That reminded her of the naiveness that Akira had shown in the past, although that same naiveness was what she now considered the right answer, the fact that she couldn’t understand Akira’s thoughts made her frustrated thinking that she couldn’t see his “superior” intentions, even when she is just imagining that he has anything proper in mind.

“L-Lady Vermillion, t-that would be… I-I don’t know what to reply… Can us- W-Would you allow us to work in the Demon King’s castle?”

“Sure, as I said, we are in need of some help, especially with the recent guests, so if you don’t mind. Mama will probably still deal with cooking and things like that, since she has been having fun with that, so I don’t think there is much work for now. Though It may increase as our peaceful negotiations continue.”

“W-We would be h-honored, i-if you p-please. W-We accept the p-proposal, r-right Dia?”

“Y-Yes mom.”

“Good, everything is solved, right? Akira, anything to add?”

“No… You did it. Thank you.”

“So you guys can resume lunch while we wait for auntie to arrive. [Auntie, just so you know that we will be ready to go soon.]”

-----

About an hour later, 2 people came from the entrance, one of them was Flare, the other was Celosia, both carrying some small luggage with them.

Celosia was firmly looking at Vermillion, while Flare seemed a little anxious and slightly behind the Elder.

Vermillion then prepared herself to go, but she was also confused by the Elder who wasn’t supposed to arrive.

“Here, I decided to pay for my present here. Vermillion, take this with you.”

“Hmm? Thank you? May I ask what is this?”

“You can see for yourself. And that’s all, don’t forget to warn your parents about the castle.”

”I see, understood, however we were supposed to leave quite early tomorrow, since we plan to go to visit the Fairy Tribe. So it would help if she could arrive early.”

“I see, I will keep that in mind, otherwise I believe you will be available at night. Then that’s all for now.”

“Until next time Elder Celosia.”

The mother and daughter were nervous hearing the conversation, Akira was also expecting more, but in the end, the conversation was smooth between both parties.

Down there however, Flare was also in high tension, but just saw Celosia leaving like nothing happened, she then looked at Vermillion’s face and flew up there, landing on the free hand. She looked with an annoyed face at the two who were sitting more calmer than before. Because they didn’t have communicators, and their faces were away from Vermillion and the trio while talking in a just sufficient voice, it doesn’t seem that she or Celosia heard much of the story, nor they were interested in it.

Still, when Flare changed hands, she suddenly jumped to Vermillion’s shoulder, her face expressing that she faced something nasty.

“I can’t stand that smell! You! What the heck! Don’t you have manners at least”

Dia and Nyx get more nervous again after hearing that, they worry that something will be done against them. Akira wanted to answer back, but he couldn’t deny, they were taking some distance because of that from the start, they just didn’t mention anything because they knew the circumstances.

“Hmm, well, it’s still early, my waterfall is on the way, so I guess I will take a bath, would that be ok auntie?”

“Milly… *Sigh* you really are carefree… What are you going to do with those humans? And shouldn’t you warn your mother first?”

“Hm? I won’t change much considering me. I will just deal with it if Mama complains.”

“You know that she won’t complain, right?”

“Fufu, auntie knows me well. So, shall we go?”

*Sigh* “I can’t say I’m proud when you act like your mother…”

--------------

The place was almost like a small but deep canyon, instead of being a high mountain, the water would fall on a large hole and follow its path from there, there wasn’t much more to that, but it was still quite a view for tourists. And there Vermillion landed. Vermillion let everyone leap down to the ground.

“So, you two, are you fine after the flight? I noticed that both of you were looking all around.”

“L-Lady Vermillion, I’m sorry, p-please forgive us!”

“No, it’s not really about that, I just wondered if you were feeling unwell.”

“W-We are fine.”

“Good, so now I will ask you to take a bath with me here. I will take the chance and take one now too. Anyone else wanna join in, I believe the one in the castle should be warmer through, the one here should be a little colder”

Ulrika was the one who replied.

[Milly, we thank you for your consideration, but we have no spare clothes with us, so we shall wait until you are done.]

“I see then, I don’t think there are any monsters around here, but please take care. Auntie? You joining?”

“Nah, I will pass, I will take my chance on the castle, it has been a long time since I took one there.”

“Then I guess it will be just us three.”

Vermillion starts taking out her clothes in a fast manner, this was not the first time Akira saw Vermillion nude, however that was inside the castle where everything was off-scale, seeing her towering in this canyon, with some trees quite some distance in the horizon, this was a mesmerizing first.

She took out her clothes then left them with the rest of the things she was carrying, then walked to go under the waterfall. The enormous waterfall, it didn’t have a large water stream, it looked less than a modern small shower, but as the water travelled from her hair then to her curves and down, with a new smaller but not less amusing waterfall in between her legs. Spreading her wings, she also starts to properly wash them, besides her tail.

The feet were fully underwater, it seemed to have some depth, likely due to the strength of the water during long periods of time, but when talking about it on the way, she said she made some “manual reforms” for herself in this place. She also suddenly started to glow a little, although she is bad with magic, it seems she is able to use some level of Fire Magic thanks to her father’s natural ability, and it’s enough to warm her own body.

Nyx and Dia were still unsure if they should enter too, they had taken their clothes since that was obvious what Vermillion wanted, but they didn’t dare to enter, rather, they were actually afraid of approaching. Although compared to the humans around they were giants, but compared even to Vermillion’s feet, that would be visible once she started cleaning them, they felt so much inferior, like the “trash” that they were being called before.

Vermillion looked down at them, the water moving all around her body.

“I think the middle here may be a little too deep for you, so you can take the shallower part, you think just the water is good? Or do you want to be under the stream? I can hold you up here if you want. What I need from you two now is to clean yourselves a little. Please?”

The two looked at each other, and Nyx guided the daughter to a “shallower” part, some distance away from Vermillion’s feet. The two were certainly unhealthily slim.

Akira turned around, although usually he more than wanted to look, and he knew Vermillion wouldn’t mind, but in respect for the mother and daughter, he decided that. The girls however were another story, there were some small shakings everytime Vermillion would lift a foot and drop it down again, and Ulrika would seriously watch at Vermillion’s. Anastacia had her head faced upwards through, she seemed to hold her own and turned to Akira.

“So, you like them big or small?”

“”Pfff! What!?””

Both Akira and Ulrika looked at Anastacia who was looking confused if she did something bad.

As Ulrika noted that Anastacia was holding her own chest, Ulrika moved her hands to her own, feeling a little distressed over the contents that could make her into the absolute winner or the absolute loser.

“It’s not like I prefer either or an in-between, I don’t know, it depends on the mood or something like that.”

Ulrika blushed, thinking that her extremity was also appreciated. All the native women on her kingdom usually have small breasts, but hers are especially small. And then, in the morning, it seemed like Anastacia’s breasts had grown reasonably.

“So then, I guess with the Princess on one extreme, I will work on the other, how about it?”

Akira was confused, “What are you talking about?”, but Ulrika felt like dismissing her part.

“I’m focused on wanting to support Akira in his heroic endeavors. We still have a lot of work ahead, and I shall show my value in action.”

The trio was sitting side-by-side, but Akira had turned around, so he was facing each of them diagonally in front of him. Ulrika’s hands slowly moved to encounter Akira’s.

“I guess you are right, I also have to train, to get used to the magic here. Magic is so much easier to use here… Ah, sorry, you two are not very good at it.”

Flare was sitting somewhat far away, looking at the trio, but at the same time listening to the conversation through the communication device. She didn’t seem to trust the humans after all.

-----

As they finished the bath, Vermillion use her own flame magic to dry herself, then helped the two smaller ones. As she was taking her clothes, she took out the luggage that Celosia had sent them.

“Hey, you two, it seems that Elder Celosia gave some clothes for you to use.”

She then moved that luggage filled with clothes to Nyx and Dia, who didn’t know how to react.

“It’s fine, you can just wear them now, maybe it’s just some used clothes or something, it’s still better than what you had. Now go that I need to report today’s visit to Papa.”