Chapter 1 The Next Day

In this age of war-torn South Continent.

From the Knox Mountains to the Obsidian Isle of Pulton, from the Brin Muxue Canyon to the Isanti Starfall Bay, the Eastern Kingdom's homeland and strategic points were riddled with holes. Towns were razed to the ground, the harvest from the farmlands and the treasures of the city-states were looted, innocent civilians were brutally murdered, and the enemy was cruel and merciless. The warriors were still fighting against them with iron and blood clad bodies.

Even though the southern front in the eastern region of the Kingdom Allied Council was in critical condition, Ikerite in the heartland of the Hutton Kingdom was still the safest place.

In the early morning, the sky was filled with a faint blue-gray color. In this early autumn, the whole city was more solemn than usual, as if winter would come exceptionally early this year.

Ikerite East District, next to a wooden house standing on a street east of Ikerite Academy.

In the courtyard of Cat Boss Restaurant, flowerbeds were in full bloom with various colorful flowers, the fragrance of which drifted with the wind.

It was not yet time for business today.

In a wooden house on the second floor, the walls were painted in soft cream, light orange, and beige colors, and the wooden furniture showed a natural texture after being polished by Cat Boss.

"The cool south wind blows"

"The nightingale sings softly"

"The flowers under the moon are all in dreams"

Hyperion leaned back in a carved wooden chair, holding a cup of fine flower tea in her hand, sipping it gently, the fragrance of the tea filling her clear red and white lips.

The antique magic phonograph next to her was playing a soft tune, the melodious melody flowing in the air, as if able to bring people back to the gentle and moving old days of Ikerite this early morning.

"Sigh, I can't go out."

Hyperion was wearing a loose silk dress, the base color being elegant beige, adorned with embroidery from her Duke's family.

Her long silver hair was tied into an easy-to-manage bun, with two slender strands draped over her shoulders.

Now, even if she goes out, she has to bring at least two Greater Demons to prevent any empire spies who have infiltrated Ikerite from targeting her.

With Antanas and Sinnora accompanying her, even if enemies want to use any tricks, it is impossible to bypass both Greater Demons at the same time, or successfully lure away one Greater Demon, causing Hyperion to be alone.

However, from the current point of view, it is basically suicide for a sixth-order empire assassin to come looking for Hyperion. The following of two eighth-order demons is too reliable.

Even the exploration of the Duke's mansion has been temporarily put on hold.

She was almost able to open the treasure house under the Alanzar family's mansion, but considering safety, Planey still forbade Antanas and Sinnora from fooling around with Hyperion.

Hyperion couldn't help but miss the days when she could go wherever she wanted.

Although having three Greater Demons fully protecting her now feels reassuring, it seems no different from being in Nicalis, the Demon King's castle, and the Cat Boss Restaurant has become another small Demon King's castle.

During the previous period, Antanas and Sinnora liked to go to the Duke's mansion to play together, trying on various clothes, and also liked to dress her up according to their preferences. Over time, Hyperion gave up resisting and let them enjoy themselves.

Her current style was dressed up by Antanas.

With Talia not at home, either Antanas or Sinnora would come to sleep with her, protecting her around the clock.

Planey, on the other hand, often pays attention to the Wilford family.

Every time she secretly went to the Wilford family to reinforce the barrier, she would be stopped by the head of the family, Noe, and be entertained and chat about the war. She would also listen to Noe complain about his son, Ranch, who liked to run around during the war and made him worry. Noe would also praise her, "Planey, you are still good. As expected of a friend from Tata's old home, you are knowledgeable, reasonable, and reliable." Planey seems to have almost become a nominal family member of the Wilford family.

"It's a good thing the Wilford family moved from the South Wantina Territory to the royal capital Ikerite early. It would be great if they could just settle down in Ikerite in the future."

Hyperion picked up the newspaper on the coffee table and started reading.

Although the South Wantina Territory is also good, she honestly prefers Ikerite.

However, based on her past understanding of Ranch, he should be the type who is very willing to be adopted into a family as a husband, as long as he can retire peacefully at the age of 20. So even considering matters long into the future, he would most likely still choose Ikerite.

"Oh dear, what am I thinking about?"

Hyperion shook her head violently.

It is easy to overthink when alone in a room.

Sinnora is in the room next door. The three of them have their homes on the second floor of Cat Boss, which can be called neighbors. This morning, Antanas helped her comb her hair and then went downstairs to look for breakfast, and will be back soon.

Hyperion unexpectedly finds the feeling of having girlfriends dreamy, at least she has never experienced it since she was a child.

"Awoo, awoo!"

The fox's cry attracted Hyperion's attention, and she came back to her senses.

A black-furred fox was squatting at her feet, its golden eyes were bright, its body was light, and it was obediently looking at her.

Hyperion gently picked up a delicate pastry from the silver plate on the small round coffee table and reached out to feed it to the fox's mouth.

The fox carefully took it and ate it with relish, shaking its head happily.

What Hyperion didn't notice was that Antanas had already returned to the door with a box of breakfast in a paper bag.

"..."

Antanas watched Hyperion in the house listening to music and feeding the fox, leaning on the armchair and reading the newspaper.

She felt as if something was stuck in her throat, as if she had seen an old friend.

"Hyperion, do you have the feeling that you have already become Tata-fied?"

Antanas finally walked into the living room and came to Hyperion's side, complaining.

After more than two months, Hyperion lived here alone without Talia by her side, and she became more and more like Talia.

The only difference is that Hyperion has an inherent nobility, which makes her look not retired, but like a rich wife.

"Really? Can I become like Tata?"

Hyperion thought for a while and asked incomprehensibly.

The ideal type of woman in her heart is like Talia, noble, aloof, and with the maternal nature accumulated over the years. No matter how carefully you taste it, you will feel that Tata is a perfect woman.

She feels that the difference between herself and Tata is still quite big, at least Ranch wouldn't confuse the two of them.

"Forget it, let's eat first."

Antanas shook her head.

It is undeniable that although the war is tense outside, Ranch's instruction to Hyperion is to ensure absolute safety.

So in the end, it turned into Hyperion staying in Ikerite and doing nothing, which became the optimal solution.

Just as she opened the box, Hyperion suddenly seemed to hear something and took out a translucent communication card glowing with purple light.

Someone was contacting Hyperion.

She connected it, and a clear, cold voice came over—

"Hyperion, it's me."

These simple words made Hyperion's eyes widen.

"Teacher Almis, I miss you so much."

Hyperion quickly sat up straight from the recliner, her voice filled with surprise.

When Tata was not around in the North Continent, the Ice Witch teacher was her only spiritual comfort, and she had been looking forward to the teacher contacting her.

But the Ice Witch is now even busier with her official duties, almost taking over all of High Priest Loren's work in the Hutton Kingdom, so Hyperion cannot disturb the Ice Witch.

And Hyperion doesn't know why, but the teacher seemed to be deliberately avoiding her before, like acting for someone to see, telling that person that her relationship with Hyperion was not that close, so don't think about using Hyperion to threaten her.

Before Hyperion could reminisce too much.

"Where are you now? I'll come find you."

The Ice Witch's voice was tired and solemn.

"34 Gedeng Street, east of the Yala Moat, Cat Boss Restaurant."

Hyperion replied immediately.

Her heart was beating faster, feeling that the Ice Witch teacher was coming to find her.

"Wait for me a quarter of an hour."

The Ice Witch replied and hung up the communication magic.

Hyperion looked hesitant for a few seconds after the communication ended, then stood up from the recliner and cheered.

"Hyperion, do you think you have a passive skill that allows you to summon a demon mother when no one is taking care of you?"

Antanas could feel Hyperion's joy through the air and complained.

"No, sometimes neither Talia, Almis, nor Kali Ella can take care of me."

Hyperion glared at Antanas pretending to be annoyed. She did not approve of this "calling mom" passive.

"Uh, if you fall into a desperate situation and cannot summon a demon mother, then you will pay merit and summon a male mother."

Antanas thought carefully and added.

"..."

Hyperion couldn't refute it.

It seems that it is true...

"But no matter what, that's not called a male mother..."

She lowered her head and said shyly.

"What is it called then?"

Antanas raised her eyebrows and asked with great interest.

"That, that's called..."

Hyperion poked her fingers, her face starting to turn red, but she couldn't say it.

Until she said a few words in an imperceptible voice, which Antanas couldn't hear clearly, she quickly ran away while Antanas was stunned.

...

More than ten minutes later.

A slender figure came to the entrance of Cat Boss Restaurant.

She was wearing sunglasses, and her silver pupils under the dark lenses reflected the sunlight on the glass of the wooden house restaurant, her long white hair dancing gently in the wind, as soft as snowflakes.

Before she could raise her hand to touch the door, her hand stopped.

There is an overly powerful isolation barrier in the store.

It's like a black box. Before going in, you can't use any magic to explore the situation inside.

There is no doubt that this is the work of Antanas, Sinnora, and Planey.

This restaurant is unusually close to Ikerite Academy, and even Loren's student Asna is working here as the head chef. The Ice Witch does not believe that Loren did not know that a demon fortress was hidden under his nose.

If it were in the past when Loren was still alive, the Ice Witch would have thought that Asna being a chef was just an illusion, just to obey Loren's will and build a bridge with the demons.

But now that the news of Loren's death has come, the Ice Witch has been stunned for a long time.

She investigated all night, and the final result was that Loren really lost to the three war gods.

She always felt a little empty in her heart, and even found that she might have been fighting wits with the air for too long and misunderstood Loren, a great man.

Every time, she firmly believed that Loren had planned everything and would definitely make a comeback in the end and win everything. But this time, the Ice Witch felt a chill in her heart when she looked at the investigation report from the Yarolan Kingdom.

She even didn't know why, but she still couldn't get rid of the last bit of fantasy, suspecting that this man might have deliberately faked his death and had already started the evil path in the Cretea Empire.

But the cruel fact is that she will never see this man again. She was so stupid to always suspect such a kind person.

The Ice Witch wiped her tears, her eyes became firm again, and pushed the door open.

She also has her mission.

The first floor of the restaurant still smelled of oatmeal and cheese.

Obviously, it was a relaxed chat moment shortly after the resident employees finished breakfast.

They were chatting with Hyperion on the first floor.

The wind chime in the Cat Boss Restaurant suddenly rang, breaking this usual tranquility.

A major feature of this wooden house is the large area of roof curvature, with the eaves far exceeding the walls, and a string of wind chimes hanging under the deep eaves. Whenever a breeze blows or a customer visits, it will emit a melodious bell sound.

They all looked towards the door.

It was obviously not business hours at this point, and the wind chime rang, which meant someone had returned.

Of course, for the three Greater Demons, they had already discovered that there was a guest at the door even without the sound of the wind chime.

A figure with white hair and light pupils pushed open the door and stepped into the restaurant.

In an instant, she stopped.

She seemed to feel that this place was unusual.

On the surface, the interior of the restaurant is simple, with wooden tables, chairs and floors exuding a faint pine aroma, and some handicrafts and old books are placed in the corners.

In fact, she soon discovered that the wooden house was filled with carefully constructed ancient demon barriers. Even if she stepped into this place, she would probably have no return if she wanted to take action in this building. Only a few Greater Demons could cooperate to complete such a feat.

Obviously, it was the three Greater Demons and Talia from Herlom Prison that Hyperion brought back from the Northern Continent who spent a lot of time to complete the transformation.

This is no longer the standard that a restaurant should have.

She would believe it if someone said this was a small Demon King's Palace.

But Loren is dead, and all misunderstandings have been resolved.

"Hyperion, long time no see."

The Ice Witch looked at the familiar girl figure who was already looking at her, and the three figures in the restaurant behind her who looked like employees.

No matter how complicated the magic environment here is, she believes it is to protect Hyperion.

"Teacher Almis! I thought you didn't want me anymore!"

Hyperion was a little timid at first, but after confirming the other person's gentle eyes, she gradually quickened her pace and excitedly rushed over to hug the Ice Witch, Almis.

Although she didn't know what Teacher Almis was coming to her for today, Hyperion's heart was filled with a sense of security the moment they reunited as teacher and student.